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Aviation History
1947
1947 - 1151.PDF
JULY 17TH, 1947 FLIGHT Helicopter Topics "Putting Them Over" in Europe Employment : The Controls : Problems and Limitationsr A landing area far every street and large building is fore- shadowed by this touchdown on a BJl. C. roof. The surface must be strong enough to support 3 tons per sq. ft. for this SSI. ALL sorts of people talk glibly about helicopters thesedays, b'ut the more deeply one digs into the factsL the less one finds one really knows about them. An almost parallel example is 4:he subject of atomic energy, which everyone must have mentioned at some time or other, but about which hardly anyone knows anything concrete at all The old saying about a little knowledge being a dangerous thing probably applies more truly to aviation matters than to any others, and according to the attitude adopted now by the self-appointed " experts " and prophets the character of the helicopter might in advance be made or broken in the public mind without its being able to raise so much as a fotor blade in its own defence. Before the war this country was in the forefront of rotating-wing developments, but it is estimated that we have lost as much as seven years of '' know-how '' by com- •parison with our fellow-enthusiasts across the Atlantic. We make no bones about this, and the Westland Com- pany's purpose in obtaining a licence to build the Ameri- can Sikorsky S-51, a scheme which has full official support, is intended to prevent the extension of this seven-year period. As a result of the agreement which, we under- stand, was on terms generous to this country, we are already profiting by practical experience with S-5IS. When, later on, Bristol and Fairey designs and others are per- fected and in production they will benefit greatly by being received in experienced hands and by being employed on work with which their species are already familiar. A Big Responsibility The Westland Company is under no illusions as to its responsibility in putting over helicopters in a sensible and practical manner to people in this and other European The attractive little two-seater Sikorsky S-52 (175 h.p. Franklin engine) seen here beside an S-51, should be ideal for the wealthy private owner. It seems, however, that production costs for small helicopters will be almost as great as for larger ones.
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