[b]Pat:
You might be thinking about the Hiller "Hornet." It had a ram jet engine at each rotor tip, and a hand crank in the cockpit for the initial spin of the rotor - necessary to get the air flow for the RJ engines to start.
Unsuccessful for several reasons. Not the least was the noise, also sealing problems feeding the fuel through the rotor hub, Tou also needed Uncle Sam paying your fuel bill, ram jets are anything but economical.
But an air start? Doubt it.
A couple interesting pages on the H-23 Hornet:
http://www.fantasyofflight.com/aircraftpages/hornet.htm
http://kapowiezone.blogspot.com/2004...net-coupe.html
Bill.