A bizarre helicopter - the Hiller Hornet

[PeterNSteinmetz]

The Hiller Hornet and its Ill-Fated Ring of Fire

For a time in the early 1950s, a small number of U.S. military pilots flew experimental aircraft powered by ramjets that created streaks of flame, lighting up the night sky.

www.flyingmag.com

 

[rotorwrench]

The Hornet was one of over a dozen helicopter designs that powered the rotor with some type of propulsion at the main rotor blade tips. Some used turbine exhaust gases. Some used bleed air for turbine compressors. And some used ram jets like the Hornet.
I believe the design originated in the 1920s with airplane props or gyrodynes. There are a few books out there that get into more detail. Glad I never had to work on any of them.