Photo taken prior to its first flight, which was in December 1948. By the time it appeared at the 1949 Farnborough Air Show the fin area had been increased and it had the RAF serial VZ724. Crashed on June 13, 1950, as a result of the failure of the forward rotor leading to the death of the three crew. G-ALCV was still on the UK register at the time. It shows it as crashed with no accident date nor date of cancellation, and only the year given. Photo from: Imperial War Museums

The Air Horse was the world's largest helicopter when it first flew in December 1948, with one RR Merlin engine driving three main rotors. Two prototypes were built at Southampton - Eastleigh. VZ724 crashed here on 13 June 1950 and the three crew lost their lives. Saunders-Roe took over Cierva's helicopter programmes in January 1951 but the Air Horse was not developed further. Photo from: Saunders-Roe