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The Focke Achgelis Fa-330 was a type of rotary kite, essentially an unpowered Autogyro. They were towed behind German U-boats during World War II to allow a lookout to see further, giving the submarines a better chance of escape in a war that was becoming increasingly dangerous to them.
Because of their low profile in the water, the submarines could not see more than a few miles over the ocean. Extremely vulnerable on the surface, the U-Boats often could not escape from destroyers because of the limited warning they had. To solve this, the German admiralty considered a number of different options, including a folding seaplane. In the end, they chose the Fa-330, a simple, single seater Autogyro kite. It could be deployed to the deck of the submarine by two people. The airflow on the rotors as the boat would motor along on the surface would spin them up. The kite would then be deployed behind the submarine with its observer/pilot aboard, raising him high above the surface where he could see much further.
The pilot and craft were considered expendable. In the case of an aircraft attack, the submarine captain would be forced to abandon them on the surface.
After the war, the British government did experiments with towing these behind ships and jeeps and had good success, but helicopter development quickly drew the focus of the military.
See also
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