The first helicopter. The world's first helicopter, the Cornu helicopter, designed and piloted by the French aviator Paul Cornu. Its two rotors (upper & lower centre) were powered by a 24 hp Antoinette engine. On November 1907 the Cornu helicopter made the world's first free (non- tethered) helicopter flight. It was airborne for 20 seconds at a height of about 30 cm before breaking up on landing. This unspectacular flight was the first vertical take off by a heavier-than- air aircraft. It also demonstrated the feasibility of rotary-winged flight.