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NutmegCT

NutmegCT

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While preparing for our year-long exhibit on the life and work of Igor Sikorsky, I found some interesting photos of his early helicopter experiments. (He pronounced the word "heely-coopter".)

First Sikorsky prototype, late 1930s in Connecticut:

VS-300-first-flight.jpg


Second version:

image-12.png


Next:

image-13.png


Final version of the VS-300:

image-16.png


Which resulted in the R4, the first mass-produced helicopter contracted for US military use, in 1941.

Sikorsky_R-4_USAAF.jpg


The Design Evolution of the VS-300 Helicopter – Igor I Sikorsky Historical Archives

sikorskyarchives.com sikorskyarchives.com

There were *many* early helicopter designs which actually flew, dating back to the 1850s, in many countries.

What's your first memory of seeing/riding in a helicopter?
 
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On the way to Rhode Island,we passed by the Sikorsky factory,
but didn't see any copters flying.
 
A very cool evolution of Sikorsky's prototypes to production "heely-coopter."

I believe my first memory of a helicopter was the one at the Oklahoma State Fair when I was a kid. It would give passengers a ride over the fairgrounds. I never got to ride it but I certainly remember it.
 
Hate to admit, but my first - and last - ride was when I took some students to Niagara Falls back in the 1980s. I bought some "fly over the falls!" tickets. I had no idea what to expect, but guessed it would be like a small plane gradually gaining altitude. It wasn't.

We got in the machine (Bell 206?), buckled up, pilot said ready?, and vroom - we went straight up. I grabbed the seat in a death grip. Felt to me like I was in a falling elevator, but of course the kids loved it. I couldn't even turn my head to the side to look at the sights.

oy
 
First and only helicopter ride was at a fair in Ohio. Next year the same helicopter crashed - no major injuries or deaths. In the Vespa scooter world folks talk about the "[insert your favorite deity] bolt": a single bolt that holds the engine to the chassis, failure of which has major consequences. I think the same applies to the hardware holding the rotor in place!

(I like wings. :p )

When / where will the exhibit be? I'd love to come!
 
Mike - by coincidence, I just got a new cordless lawn mower. Assembled it, charged it, turned it on. Motor/blade assembly fell out.
Held onto the case by one bolt.

The god-bolt!

The "Life of Igor Sikorsky" exhibit will open in late September. I'll post a notice here in Pub later.
Thanks.
Tom M.
neam.org
 
NutmegCT said:
Mike - by coincidence, I just got a new cordless lawn mower. Assembled it, charged it, turned it on. Motor/blade assembly fell out.
Held onto the case by one bolt.
Click to expand...
Yow - hopefully no toes were removed as part of this event?? That could be frightening!

Looking forward to the exhibit (and a road trip when the weather cools down)!
 
NutmegCT said:
What's your first memory of seeing/riding in a helicopter?
Click to expand...
Many years ago, my wife had family living in Hawaii.
They would pay for the airfare and we would stay on Oahu for as few days as we could stand.
As soon as we could get to another island we would check out the free helicopter rides.
We had to sit through a condo offer or some other scam.
The helicopter rides were spectacular.
On one we went so close to an active volcano we could feel the heat.
As we were flying away, the volcano did a giant eruption.
Never felt we were in any danger on any of the rides.
 
My two helicopter flights were courtesy of the Canadian Armed Forces - Twin Huey. #1 on exercise in Valcartier Quebec - doors off going up a river. #2 training flight for the crew at Petawawa Ontario - pontoons on it. We flew into Algonquin Park, landed in a lake. went fishing, had a swim and flew back. Also flew up the Ottawa River. I hate <HATE> heights but I cannot adequately describe how much I enjoyed those flights. Especially with the doors off. Magic.
 
My brother came to me one day and said that we should learn to fly helicopters. When I reminded him how expensive they are, he said that we should buy one, learn to fly it , and then sell it. That way it would be little or no cost to us. As usual, I let him talk me into the deal. It was the most humbling thing that I have ever done. I have thousands of hours flying current and vintage military fixed wing airplanes and I was completely lost when it came to helicopters. After many hours of hard work, I finally mastered hovering and the whole experience became wonderful fun. WE both had so much fun with that first helicopter we decided to start a helicopter charter company. In the end we had seven helicopters and a great business. It was great fun, but it was never cheap.
 
I have always flows radio control planes, i do have afew rc helicopters, but just cant passed the hovering stage,
i can put an rc plane exactly where i want it, but not the copters.
they do say they are harder to fly than a real one because you cant feel what its doing,
the latest ones now don just have a tail giro you can get an everything giro and you can just let go of the sticks and it will sit till the fuel runs out,
but wheres the fun in that.

this is the world champ in action, extreme 3D
 
Never ridden in one (I'm deathly afraid of heights, so Tom M's tale has convinced me that I probably don't ever want to). My nephew is actually a helicopter pilot for the US Navy, making the entire extended family very proud.

My favorite bit of helicopter trivia is that the word is a combination of the Greek "helix" (meaning "spiral" or "spinning") and "pteron" (meaning "wing", as in pterodactyl). So shortening the word to "copter" is technically silly -- it should be either a "helico" or a "pter". Also... the "p" in "pteron" would be silent. We should be pronouncing it "HEL-i-Ko-ter".

I'm sure all of the pilots who fly the Apaches and Chinooks over our house would just love to hear all that.
 
JHaydon said:
Never ridden in one (I'm deathly afraid of heights, so Tom M's tale has convinced me that I probably don't ever want to). My nephew is actually a helicopter pilot for the US Navy, making the entire extended family very proud.

My favorite bit of helicopter trivia is that the word is a combination of the Greek "helix" (meaning "spiral" or "spinning") and "pteron" (meaning "wing", as in pterodactyl). So shortening the word to "copter" is technically silly -- it should be either a "helico" or a "pter". Also... the "p" in "pteron" would be silent. We should be pronouncing it "HEL-i-Ko-ter".

I'm sure all of the pilots who fly the Apaches and Chinooks over our house would just love to hear all that.
Click to expand...
I'm one who usually calls them CHOPPERS.
Back when there was a TV show about them they were call Wirlybirds.
 
Well guys, my first car was a Healey Mark III, which I had to turn into the finance company as a result of a Draft Notice received in early 1966. It was the first car my now wife and I dated in. After 4 days in the Army as a draftee, I was offered the opportunity to be discharged to re-enlist to go to helicopter flight school. I already had orders for basic training and advanced training as an infantry radio operator. I was told in advance Army helicopter flight school had a 50% drop out rate, but if I could not pass their flight tests, I would probably be given orders to become a helicopter crew chief, plus when I signed into the flight school, I would automatically receive E-5 (Sargent's) pay and in addition aviator's hazardous duty pay (then $110 per month) which alone was more than the $90/month I was then receiving as a E-1 draftee.

I took their offer. Basic training behind me, I signed into Ft. Wolters Texas, for basic flight training in April of 1966. The first month was totally ground school, covering everything from weather, map reading, weight & balance, and helicopter control systems. The second month we switched to 1/2 day flying and 1/2 day classroom. Hovering is a reflex action. If a pilot has to think about which control to move (cyclic, pitch control, rpm control or pedals) it was too late. It was comical to watch new pilots attempt to hover, up, down, swinging back and forth and the nose turning left and right Basic flight school was 5 months long and included normal approaches, steep approaches, traffic patterns, auto-rotations as well as cross country (day and night), pinnacle landings and confined area landings. We did lose 53% of our starting class.

Advanced flight training was in Ft. Rucker Alabama, again on a 1/2 day flight and 1/2 day ground school. The first two months were directed toward instrument flight training. The second two months was armament and tactical training. Upon graduation, I thought I could fly a helicopter. Four months later in Vietnam I found I still had a great deal to learn. 1,368 combat hours later, I returned to Instruct instruments at Hunter AAF, Stayed in the ARNG flying for 8 years, rebuilt two airplanes, built two, and owned another.

I am new to this site as a result of buying a 1964 BJ7 Healey about 2-1/2 years ago which was advertised as a complete frame off restoration. When it arrived on the truck carrier, and I first saw it, it simply did not look like the Healey I had owned before. The seller had butchered the body of the car. I took it to a professional body restoration expert. Long story short, I had to buy two new rear fenders, a new hood and a new trunk lid, plus there was a lot of bending, cutting and patching. Some areas had been filled with Bondo over an inch in thickness. The lesson I learned the hard way was: never buy any car you have not seen and inspected in person.

The body has now been finished and is beautiful. I am currently installing "Rattle Trap" in preparation for the new interior.
 
Some of you guys know that I have a commercial helicopter license, which I've had for years, plus an instructors license for fixed wing and rotary craft. Crazy as it might sound, the toughest student I ever had was a Boeing test pilot with over 5000 hrs. at the time. He did eventually get it but the torque is opposite of a fixed wing so peddle pressure is reversed on take off on this particular aircraft. At first he wasn't too happy, but eventually the professionalism came out and he was an excellent client! (y)
 
Paul - you are a lucky man!

Sikorsky tried to teach Charles Lindbergh how to fly a helicopter. After several hours, with Lindbergh unable to control the a/c, and becoming increasingly frustrated, Sikorsky invited "Lucky Lindy" to dinner. The normally chatty Lindberg sat in silence, not uttering a word.

Some have it, some don't.

You have it!
 
Since the days of Sikorsky, they have come a long way…

IMG_4726.jpeg



This is our new ride (an Airbus H145) which was the first one fielded to the USFS for fire suppression. It’s a very capable machine and can do everything an airliner can do as far as IFR capabilities but of course it doesn’t have the altitude, speed or range of a fixed wing…
But it can hover!
 
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