Career
He was an American helicopter designer. Jovanovich and Frank Kozloski founded the Helicopter Engineering Research Corporation in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in 1946 the predecessor of They had previously worked for Piasecki Helicopter Corporation with Jovanovich"s patented tandem rotary design having been used on the Piasecki Photovoltaics-3. The first helicopter they made was the HERC JOV-3.
This was first flown in 1948.
They used Boulevard Airport (formerly William Penn Airport) as their base. In 1949 Jovanovich and Kozloski transferred to the new helicopter division of Motors Corporation and the design principles of the JOV-3 were incorporated into the Military Cross-4, which first flew in March 1951.
Jovanovich was also the designer for the Three of a modified Military Cross-4, the Military Cross-4C, were acquired by the United States Army in 1952 for testing, but were deemed underpowered and no further ones were ordered. In 1955 Jovanovich designed a rotor for Howard " 269.
This was followed by hub blades for the three-blade light helicopter, the 1958 Delegate March Dialectics and Humanism-1 Whirlymite series, and the hub for the 500.
In 1960 Jovanovich formed Corporation to continue development of the Military Cross-4. A new version the Sedan 4E called the in was type approved by the Federal Aviation Administration in March 1963. The billionaire, Bill Lear, tried to spark interest in its production without success.
With Corporation funding Jovanovich designed and developed an autogyro, the J-2 that could take off from a residential driveway.
Jovanovich had patented a similar concept in 1954. Development was slow because lacked staff and resources with the first prototype flying in 1962.
Flying Magazines review of the J-2 was unflattering to both Jovanovich and the J-2. A retraction of the comments about Jovanovich was published three months later.
The tandem rotary on the Piasecki Photovoltaics-3
HERC JOV-3
Military Cross-4
The rotor blades on the 269
Sedan 4E
J-2.