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Aviation History
1953
1953 - 0092.PDF
90 FLIGHT The Helicopter: Messages from Six Authorities From ERIC MENSFORTH, C.B.E., M.A., M.i.Mech.E., F.R.Ae.s., M.I.P.E. President of the Helicopter Association of Great Britain * jjl ' I 'HIS is a momentous time for the helicopter. A Following upon years of patient and gallant pioneering, often with meagre resources, this new vehicle is now accepted and has undoubtedly j IL gripped public imagination. It is already em- Mr _JBlk ployed widely in military spheres and has proved ^"iB itself with the saving of many lives and the reliev- JSk ing of much pain in Korea and Malaya. The pat- mL tern of civilian use becomes clearer, and pioneer ^^^^^™ services such as those between London and Bir mingham, and Liverpool and Cardiff have proved the main elements of operation, including movement into and out of crowded international airfields for connecting purposes. Now, the availability from a British production-line of the first ten-to twelve-seater helicopter makes possible further develop ment with marginally economic operation, which, even with a single-engined machine can be achieved with safety from the outskirts of selected cities. The successful first flight of a similar- capacity British twin-engined machine holds promise for extension, in due course, to city centres. Meanwhile, the specification issued by British European Airways demonstrates the need for the development of a much larger and fully economic helicopter, the preliminary design of which is being studied by the main manufacturers. It is most desirable that those in charge of cities and other centres of population should plan now and decide where their rotorstations are to be sited. The challenge to the manufacturer is to make this new vehicle available as quickly as possible with the modest resources that may be forthcoming; particularly must he see that its noise-level is acceptable. In the final commercial manufacturing development of the helicopter there is a great British opportunity, as all our circumstances of climate, geography and population centres make our country an ideal proving-ground. Already we can be proud that Britain has led with the first scheduled passenger service and with the first scheduled flights in instrument conditions. A British lead in helicopter development and production could well be a prime factor in maintaining exports and in securing stability and continuity of employment in the United Kingdom aircraft industry and those many allied trades which supply it. *Mr. Mensforth is also vice-chairman of Westland Aircraft, Ltd., manag ing director of Firth Brown Tools, Ltd., and director of John Brown and Co., Ltd. and Normalair, Ltd. From Captain A. S. BOLT, D.S.O., D.S.C, R.N. WITH the arrival in Malaya of 848 Naval Air Squadron, equipped with S-55 helicopters, the Royal Navy's sustained interest in rotary-wing aircraft has been well demonstrated. As long ago as 1943 it was decided to train Naval pilots to fly helicopters, and a small number were sent to the U.S.A. to learn to fly Sikorsky R.4S—later known as Hoverflies. Since then a squadron of helicop ters has been in continuous operation in the Royal Navy. After the war, 705 Squadron at Gosport was equipped with Sikorsky S-51S, a three-seater helicopter known in the Royal Navy as the Dragonfly. These are now built under licence by Westland Aircraft and all carriers are equipped with at least one for air/sea rescue work and intercom munication between ships or between ship and shore. Their presence during operations in Korea has proved them to be invalu- Director of Air Warfare, Admiralty able in these roles. Dragonflies were also used in the Monte Bello atomic operation. The Sikorsky S-55 helicopter, with which 848 Squadron is equipped, is a ten-seater with a three-hour endurance at 80 knots. Westland's hope to have their own version of this aircraft, adapted to the Royal Navy's requirements, flying this year. The present squadron aircraft were shipped directly from the United States. The squadron pilots were trained on an S-55 which had been procured from Sikorskys by Westlands and loaned to the Royal Navy. The advantages of helicopters in jungle warfare are as obvious as they are considerable. Helicopters are now also destined to play an important part in anti-submarine warfare. Equipped with A/S gear they can operate successfully from small carriers in sea conditions which prevent conventional aircraft from flying. Without any doubt the heUcopter is now accepted as a vitalpart of Naval Aviation. From LORD DOUGLAS of KIRTLESIDE, G.C.B., M.C, D.F.C, R.A.F. Chairman, British European Airways Corporation TT gives me the greatest pleasure to send a mes- •*- sage to Flight on the occasion of this special HeUcopter Number. The mere fact that such a special number is thought desirable is in itself a significant measure of the progress which has been made by the helicopter in the last few years. Its status has increased from that of a rather amusing toy to that of a vehicle clearly offering the greatest potenr'aUties in both mili tary and civil aviation. We in B.E.A. believe that the large helicopter will eventually offer the best solution to the problem of economic and convenient short-haul air transport in Western Europe. As a result of care ful study, we have been able to outline in a specification the main characteristics of what we believe to be an economic transport heUcopter. The aircraft can be built, too, provided that the neces sary Government financial support for a project of this scale is forthcoming, and that the British industry puts forth its best efforts. But it must be reaUzed that a big effort will be needed to produce a successful heUcopter of this size by 1958 or even by i960. A heUcopter attractive to many of the major airlines of the world will, however, result, and it should command great export sales. The prize is very great, and this country must be prepared to devote more of its efforts to this end if we are to achieve success in this important part of the air-transport field. Otherwise the American manufacturers, who are now pushing ahead with de signs for large heUcopters, wiU capture the world market. We must not, however, try to run before we can walk; quite clearly, there is a big gap between our present relatively puny efforts with the three-seat helicopter and the large helicopter that we shaU eventually require. An interim aircraft is of vital im portance in this phase of helicopter development. This must have more than one engine and be capable of reasonably economi cal operation. With these two requirements, we will be enabled to make a real start on the many problems of direct inter-city heU copter travel. Typical questions to be answered by practical experience with an interim type are "How big must the rotor- station be?" "What are the Umiting meteorological conditions?" "WiU the noise-level be acceptable?" Clearly, in the national interest, the interim aircraft should be of British design and manufacture, and fortunately there is already one aircraft now flying which, in a developed version, looks very promising. I am referring, of course, to the Bristol 173. The Mk. 1 aircraft which flew at Farnborough this year impressed us all by its workmanlike appearance, especially in the air, and we look forward to its younger brother, the Mk. 3, to help us along the path towards economic helicopter "bus" services both in Britain and neighbouring countries. Your readers will thus see that we in British European Airways feel very strongly about the role of the heUcopter in our future operations, and I hope that all the hard work of development which has been put in by the manufacturers, Government depart ments and ourselves will eventually be rewarded by the great prizes which Ue before us aU.
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