Show new life for helicopters Heli copters promised by war born engineering studies I 1 17 4 T iza 4 LL k 0 M F M edw one of the new war born bom helicopters heli copters hovers almod motionless motion leu in flight bel 1 over beal 1 aircraft factory near buffalo and niagara falls NY most of the news we hear nowadays about aircraft is concerned with the bombers and fighters that are helping to conquer the axis but the war has also pushed ahead research on the helicopter a rotary wing aircraft which seems deenis almost sure to play an important role in postwar post war aliat aviation ion developed much more rapidly during in g the war years because of potential military uses the helicopter has lar aroused ed a lot of con com L nent Tient among experts in the field some are optimistic it some pessimistic but the e evidence v indicates that the helicopter is is now much closer to being a practicable tic aircraft than ever before and a number of companies have been flying helicopters heli copters and putting them through difficult tests there are many possible uses the army and navy could make of heli copters if they were available today in any quantity and it is possible that these rotary aircraft may see active duty one important military application of the helicopter would be its use in antisubmarine anti submarine patrol because it requires no space in which to take off a helicopter could be assigned to a ship and patrol the water through which it was passing and effectively guard against surprise attacks by enemy submarines the coast guard in its rescue service could make very good use of the helicopter and in fact already has done so in connection connect fon with a recent disaster near new york harbor in which medical supplies were flown to an isolated spot which was cut off by weather conditions from ordinary transportation A helicopter must be able to rise vertically from the ground travel in apy any direction hover motionless in the air air and make a vertical descent with power on or off A helicopter that mr air or mrs jones can fly must be able to do all these things with a minimum of simplified control in order to be practical one of the major problems in the tha helicopter is that of achi achieving evini stability in flight helicopter designers designer have worked on this problem for some time one of the most recent developments in this field is incorporated in the helicopter heli cotter recently announced by the bell aircraft corporation of buffalo new york in this craft the two bladed totor rotor is so adjusted that it tends to stay in a horizontal plane even if the cabin of the ship encounters gusts of wind this makes the helicopter very stable in flight and the development promises simplified controls and simplified operation the bell helicopter was devel developed ged a after er 15 years of research by arthur art ur bf M young the bell helicopter is being developed as a part of that companas comp anys overall war program pro gearn but company corn n officials are confident that their r helicopter I 1 will have many important commercial uses in peace time |