James Bond Wiki
Register
Advertisement
James Bond Wiki
Header_Tag_Spacer.png
Cinematic Tag


Little Nellie was the nickname given to a heavily armed autogyro featured in the film adaptation of You Only Live Twice. In the film it was shipped by Q in four suitcases and assembled before use. Little Nellie was based on a modified Wallis WA-116 Agile, a British autogyro developed in the early 1960s by former Royal Air Force Wing Commander Ken Wallis.

History[]

To be added

Overview[]

An autogyro (from Spanish autogiro), also known as gyroplane, gyrocopter, or rotaplane, is a type of rotorcraft which uses an unpowered rotor in autorotation to develop lift, and an engine-powered propeller, similar to that of a fixed-wing aircraft, to provide thrust. While similar to a helicopter rotor in appearance, the autogyro's rotor must have air flowing through the rotor disc to generate rotation. Wing Commander Ken Wallis, a former RAF pilot, developed a number of improvements to the autogyro design, including the offset gimbal rotor head which gives the autogyro hands-off stability. Wallis' first prototype autogyro, registered G-ARRT, was first flown on 2 August 1961. In 1962, five WA-116s were built by Beagle Aircraft at Shoreham, three of which were for evaluation by the British Army Air Corps.

James Bond's autogyro[]

In 1966, one of the Beagle-built WA-116s, registered G-ARZB, was modified for use in the James Bond film You Only Live Twice.

Gadgets[]

Nellie - Machineguns Machine guns — There are two forward-firing synchronised machine guns mounted on the nose of the aircraft.
Nellie - Flamethrowers Flamethrowers & Smoke Ejectors — Attached to either side of the autogyro by pylons are twin rear-firing flamethrowers. Next to each of the flamethrowers are also twin smoke ejectors.
Nellie - Aerial Mines Aerial mines — For ground targets, the autogyro comes loaded with aerial mines. Equipped with miniature parachutes, the aerial mines are dropped from under the aircraft.
Nellie - Missiles Rockets - On either side of the cockpit are twin rocket launchers which fire a cluster of smaller rockets.
Nellie - AtA Missiles Heat seeking missiles - Twin heat-seeking air-to-air missiles are fixed under the autogyro.

Gallery[]

Little Nellie/Gallery

References[]

  • British Civil Aircraft since 1919 - Volume 3
Advertisement