- 18 hours ago
For educational purposes
The development of helicopters is chronicled from Da Vinci’s drawings, through Cierva and Pitcairn’s autogyros, to Sikorsky, Bell, and others whose post war helicopters vied for the civilian market.
As a crop duster during an agricultural crisis, and in the Korean War, the helicopter proved to be a practical flying machine.
Featured Aircraft:
- Pitcairn Autogyro
- Bell-47 & 47B
- Aérospatiale Gazelle
The development of helicopters is chronicled from Da Vinci’s drawings, through Cierva and Pitcairn’s autogyros, to Sikorsky, Bell, and others whose post war helicopters vied for the civilian market.
As a crop duster during an agricultural crisis, and in the Korean War, the helicopter proved to be a practical flying machine.
Featured Aircraft:
- Pitcairn Autogyro
- Bell-47 & 47B
- Aérospatiale Gazelle
Category
📚
LearningTranscript
00:01Hi, I'm Neil Armstrong. Join me for an adventure through time.
00:56The concept of the helicopter
00:59was described hundreds of years ago by Leonardo da Vinci. His rotating wing design looked like
01:05a corkscrew, but it foreshadowed the real thing. While this auto gyro, invented in the 1920s,
01:14looked like a helicopter, it could not hover. Precision hovering flight would require major
01:21breakthroughs in understanding control and the availability of lightweight, powerful engines.
01:30It ascends and descends like a bird. It hovers like a bee and serves man in an abundance
01:40of ways.
01:55A modern helicopter is an amazingly complex machine. Man's yearning to fly like a bird linked with
02:02a gluttonous desire for problem solving is probably why helicopters exist at all. In
02:08his genius, it may have been Leonardo da Vinci's intention for his helicopter to really fly.
02:14But he did not understand the principles of flight. He designed his model nearly five centuries
02:19ago. But it's only in the last two generations that this remarkable hovering aircraft has been
02:25fully developed. The first manned pre-flight by a helicopter took place in France. The year was 1907. It had
02:32tandem rotors and a meager 24 horsepower engine. It was crude and frail and collapsed on landing. There
02:39would be many failures before successes, even by those who would succeed. For helicopters to become reality,
02:46smaller engines would have to become more powerful, and we'd have to know how to control rotary wings. A quadruple
02:53rotor
02:54machine after World War I, developed jointly by the French and U.S. governments, never proved any significant results. A
03:01breakthrough came in 1925 with the design of the auto gyro, a hinged, flapping, freewheeling, unpowered rotor blade, and a
03:09conventional propeller to give the rotorcraft forward motion. It was invented by a Spaniard, Juan de la Sierra.
03:17Sierva, it seems, was inspired by da Vinci's early drawings. Though it could not truly hover, we were
03:23beginning to understand how rotary winged flight worked. In the U.S., male plane designer Harold Pitcairn, who saw
03:31the auto gyro as the personal transportation of the future, thought he could refine Sierva's design, and did. It was
03:38a
03:38cross between an airplane and a helicopter, and though slow and awkward looking, was a surprisingly responsive
03:43machine. Quite successful at the time, too, seen here landing on the White House lawn in 1931, where
03:51Pitcairn received the top aviation achievement award from President Herbert Hoover. Thirty machines were sold
03:57during the Great Depression at $15,000 each. Harold Pitcairn's auto gyro almost evolved into a true
04:04helicopter. He was careful to patent everything. Even so, the Depression took his money. He lost lucrative
04:11helicopter development contracts, but won a 26-year legal battle with the government in 1977. Pitcairn's
04:18contributions to rotary flight were finally recognized.
04:26Auto gyros still fly today. Harold's son, Stephen, lovingly found and restored this one his father built
04:35in 1930. Let's fly with him and Neil Armstrong in Robbinsville, New Jersey, not far from Harold Pitcairn's
04:43old factory. 1930 was the first year that the auto gyro actually flew in the United States
04:52for a machine that was built in the United States. My dad did bring over a Sierva auto gyro, which
04:57he
04:57flew slightly before that. Juan de la Sierva was the inventor of the auto gyro in the middle 20s, and
05:08my dad got
05:09interested in the auto gyro because he thought it was a safe aircraft. He went to Spain to see Sierva
05:14and
05:15eventually wound up with the rights to develop the auto gyro in the United States. The lift for the auto
05:20gyro
05:21is derived strictly from the rotor blades. In cruise, you might get about 10% lift out of the wings.
05:27So
05:27actually, the reason for the auto gyro was it could land with no roll and take off in a very
05:31short distance, and
05:33it proved to be a very safe aircraft, and it was really the forerunner of the helicopter.
05:38And how does it fly compared to an airplane or a helicopter, either one, whichever seems?
05:44Difficult to explain, but in the air when you're cruising, the auto gyro is very similar to an
05:48airplane. You have a stick for aileron, elevators, and a rudder pedal.
05:53Because there is no control of the rotor, whatever, control has to come from typical
05:59fixed-wing flying surfaces. That's right. And you have to have enough airspeed to get the effect of those
06:03flying surfaces.
06:16My dad knew Sikorsky fairly well, and Sikorsky, I think, saw the benefit in what the development work
06:24of the auto gyro had produced, and he agreed to have a paid-up license. So he bought the rights
06:30to
06:30develop the helicopter using the auto gyro patents.
06:36It has a very wide gear, which is to help in any kind of a ground loop tendency. It also
06:44has very long
06:45oleos, and you'll see it in flight, the wheels hang down very far, and when you land, if you land
06:50with a
06:50little bit of a drop, it just absorbs all the shock right into the struts.
06:55Tell me about this wingtip.
06:59Well, as you know, modern-day jets have wingtips, and that's to counteract vortexes that are developed
07:06out there. The auto gyro used this wingtip here because in coming in landing, if you're a little bit crosswind,
07:15as you slow down below 30 miles an hour, you lose control, and the ailerons actually have no effect
07:21whatsoever. So if a wing drops, and you're starting to slide to the left with a right crosswind,
07:26the idea was that this would tend to push it up.
07:29Good idea.
07:57Hovering flight had long been
07:58a dream.
07:59In the 1930s, the Germans and the Americans demonstrated sustained hovering
08:05flight. Each used a variety of rotor designs, but it was Igor Sikorsky who
08:12successfully used the main and tail rotor configuration which became the
08:17standard of the modern helicopter. This Bell Model 47B is an early post-war
08:24example. Generals wanted airborne observation platforms to help fight
08:33battles. Man's vision and the military would play the greatest part in
08:38developing helicopters. German and American inventors worked feverishly to
08:42develop a usable military helicopter. During World War II, Americans captured
08:47this German Flettner FL 282 Colibri. It had twin intermeshing rotors. As early as
08:541936, German engineer Heinrich Fox, FA-61, demonstrated extended precision
09:00hovering flight. German aviatrix Hannah Reich recalls flying her FA-61 for
09:05Hitler at the Reichel Sports Stadium indoors before an astonished crowd. But it
09:10was Russian-American Igor Sikorsky whose intriguingly simple idea gave us the
09:15true helicopter. A tiny tail rotor on his VS 300 allowed the helicopter to hang from
09:21its main rotors without spinning out of control. The US military ordered Sikorsky
09:28R4s which would help America win the war. Quizzed once by another prominent
09:33scientist on the helicopter's future, Sikorsky was quick with the answers.
09:38When would the helicopter go faster than the airplane? Do you know that? I said yes, I know.
09:44The answer is never. When would the helicopter be more efficient than the airplane? Do you know
09:49that? I also said yes, I know that. Never. But I said that the helicopter will do a number of
09:55jobs
09:56which no airplane will do and which in fact nothing else will do except the helicopter.
10:02Sikorsky R4s made many wartime rescues but adding one extra man stretched these fabric and tube
10:09aircraft to their design limits. But Sikorsky's next helicopter, the R5, later redesigned and modified
10:16to become the H5 and S-51 could do more. In November 1945, Sikorsky test pilot Jimmy Viner in an
10:24experimental R5 with Air Force Captain Jackson Bagel at the hoist made the first ever civilian rescue.
10:31In two flights, the entire crew was saved from a barge that broke up in a storm off the coast
10:36of
10:36Connecticut. Sikorsky's dream for the helicopter to save lives was fully realized. After 1945, the
10:44competition in the civilian helicopter market was intense. There was the Hiller Hornet,
10:51the Piasecki Flying Banana with twin tandem rotors. But two company's products stand out.
10:58Sikorsky's S-51. And Larry Bell's Bell Helicopters with its classic Model 47 designed by engineer Arthur Young.
11:09His ideas had been rejected by many companies. Young took a working model to Bell who gave him a chance.
11:16So I went up to Bell. I put the model in a suitcase. I'd been carrying it around various places,
11:22including the Philadelphia Navy Yard and Wright Field, making these demonstrations without getting
11:30any permanent promises. Well, so I went to Bell with my suitcase. And the man at the gate, of course,
11:42it was carefully guarded and so on. He wouldn't let me in.
11:47I called up the head of police and I said, call off your dogs. I have an appointment with Jack
11:53Strickler.
11:55And at any rate, I got in.
11:58Young's chopper, the Bell 47, was really astonishing in the Korean War. It could do things no one dared
12:05try in peacetime. It flew low through enemy fire, down mountain passes, and into impossible spots.
12:12The Bell 47 joined a host of other helicopters flying with Army, Air Force, Marine, and Navy units.
12:18It was the Korean War which assured the future of the chopper.
12:35A finely restored civilian model 47B is hangared at Orange County Airport in California.
12:43Neil spent a nostalgic afternoon with pilot Doug Daigle flying the 47B and the famous bubble version 47G.
12:54It was the only one of the most important things that he wanted to do.
12:56That door was.
13:02So how did Bell envision the early helicopter market?
13:07His vision was to build a helicopter that would literally everybody would be able to buy
13:12and it would be parked right in the garage next to the Oldsmobile.
13:17And so he, being that way, he decided in the first production that he would build 500 units
13:25on the first line.
13:26And that was this machine we're in?
13:28That was this helicopter, and they had them stacked up down the line,
13:31and they were assembling them, and they'd get to the end, and there were no buyers.
13:37And he'd bought all the equipment for?
13:39500 cabins, 500 engines, 500 rotors, 500 everything.
13:44Ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha.
14:09Tell me a little bit about how this helicopter flies as opposed to modern helicopters.
14:15Well, actually, this is one of the most reliable helicopters that we have.
14:21We actually chose this aircraft to set the world hover record with it
14:25because we couldn't do any maintenance for 50 hours.
14:30And this helicopter has no hydraulic controls,
14:34and it has no, you know, a lot of the systems that need to be maintained.
14:37Uh, therefore, uh, it's one of the simplest helicopters we have.
14:43It was a $25,000 luxury helicopter in 1946.
14:49Well, in 1946, you know, you could buy an airplane and several cars and a house on the beach
14:55for the same, for the same amount.
14:57So they, they, they just didn't sell.
14:59Uh, but at the time, uh, there was a, uh, crisis in the agricultural, uh, field, uh,
15:05uh, specifically in Argentina, but all over the world, they were combating, uh, insects.
15:11And it, they found that the helicopter, uh, did a, did an outstanding job, uh, as a, as a crop
15:17duster.
15:18There were very heavy aircraft, the cabin section, uh, all the weight, uh,
15:22and so what happened was they removed the cabin section.
15:25Okay.
15:26And the visibility wasn't very good for agricultural work.
15:28Yeah.
15:29Uh, so they put a bubble.
15:30Oh.
15:30And, uh, they took the tail fabric off because it was, uh, it was, uh, difficult to make crop
15:35dusting turns.
15:36Okay.
15:36Uh, they, they were landing in the fields and, and these tires were, would roll around
15:41in, in, in the furrows.
15:42So they, so they, uh, removed those and put skids.
15:45Okay.
15:45And, uh, and that, that became the primary, uh, application of helicopters early on.
16:05So, uh, it was very, uh, and the, uh, in the silicon.
16:12Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh.
16:13Oh, oh, oh, oh.
16:35TURBINE ENGINE DEVELOPMENT GAVE THE HELICOPTER ITS FIRST REAL BREAKTHROUGH.
16:46THIS LIGHTWEIGHT, HIGH HORSEPOWER AND RELIABLE POWER PLANT MADE THE HELICOPTER A TRULY
16:52PRACTICAL FLYING MACHINE.
16:54WITH IMPROVED RODER DESIGNS, THE MODERN HELICOPTER WAS ABLE TO MEET THE GROWING
17:00DEMANDS OF MILITARY AND COMMERCIAL MARKETS.
17:03IN THE QUEST TO DEVELOP THE TRUE HELICOPTER, THE NEED HAS ALWAYS BEEN FOR LIGHTWEIGHT MATERIALS
17:08AND POWERFUL ENGINES SO LIFT COULD EASILY OVERCOME GRAVITY.
17:12AGAIN, THE REAL TEST FOR MODERN HELICOPTERS HAS BEEN THE BATTLEFIELD.
17:17BY THE TIME HOSTILITIES ERUPTED FOR THE U.S. IN VIETNAM, THE MODERN CAVALRY WAS RELYING
17:22ON BELL HUEYS FOR RAPID DEPLOYMENT TO THE LZ, THE LANDING ZONE, AND THE FIGHT.
17:26THE HELICOPTER NOW IS A FEARSOME WEAPON ITSELF.
17:31WITH NIGHT VISION, LASER GUIDED MISSILES, AWESOME VERTICAL LIFT SPEEDS, AND MANEUVERABILITY THAT
17:38WOULD MAKE ANY PREDATORY BIRD ENVIOUS.
17:40BESIDES ITS MILITARY APPLICATION, THE HELICOPTER REMAINS THE SINGLE MOST IMPORTANT SEARCH AND
17:46RESCUE ASSET FOR CIVILIAN USE.
17:48HELICOPTERS ARE LIFE-SAVING EMERGENCY MEDICAL TRANSPORTATION USED FOR OFFSHORE OIL EXPLORATION
17:55AND CORPORATE TRANSPORTATION.
17:57AND NO MATTER HOW MANY WE SEE, THEY STILL INTRIGUE.
18:00JUST TRY TO KEEP YOUR EYES OFF A HELICOPTER IN FLIGHT.
18:03A POWERFUL FRENCH AEROSPECIAL GASELLE GATHERS THE NEWS IN LOS ANGELES.
18:08THE GASELLE HELICOPTER IS A FRENCH MACHINE BUILT BY AEROSPECIAL AND WAS ORIGINALLY DESIGNED
18:14AS A GUNSHIP AND WAS LATER MADE INTO AN EXECUTIVE TYPE HELICOPTER, WHICH THIS IS.
18:22THE MAIN REASON WE USE THIS TYPE OF HELICOPTER, GASELLE, FOR THE TYPE OF FLIGHT OPERATION WE DO, WHICH
18:28IS A NEWS MEDIA HELICOPTER, IS BECAUSE IT HAS A LOT OF SPEED, IT CAN HOLD A LOT OF WEIGHT,
18:34AND
18:35WE'RE ABLE TO MODIFY THE DOORS SO WE CAN SHOOT OUT THE SIDE.
18:39WE HAVE COMPLETELY LIVE SETUP HERE SO WE CAN MONITOR WHAT WE'RE SHOOTING.
18:42WE CAN GO LIVE AT ANY TIME DIRECTLY INTO THE TELEVISION STATION.
18:46IT IS ONE OF THE STANDARD-SETTING HELICOPTERS AMONG HELICOPTERS.
18:51FIRST, THE ENGINE WAS DESIGNED IN THE LATE 50'S AND IS BUILT LIKE A TANK.
18:57IT'S A VERY, VERY STRONG ENGINE.
18:59THE HELICOPTER IS VERY FAST AND VERY RELIABLE.
19:02THERE ARE FEWER AND FEWER OF THESE PARTICULAR TYPE HELICOPTERS IN THE UNITED STATES.
19:06MOST OF THEM ARE GOING BACK TO EUROPE.
19:19IT HAS BEEN NOW REPLACED BY A MORE MODERN VERSION.
19:22THIS IS NOT THE MOST MODERN OF THE AEROSPACE YARL HELICOPTERS.
19:26IT JUST LENDS ITSELF VERY WELL TO THE MISSION THAT WE HAVE FOR IT.
19:29WE WANT TO HAVE A REPORTER SITTING NEXT TO ME.
19:32WE CAN PAN FROM THE REPORTER OUT TO THE NEWS EVENT IN ONE SHOT.
19:36WE DON'T HAVE ANY OBSTRUCTIONS HERE, WHICH SOME OF THE OTHER HELICOPTERS HAVE.
19:39AND, OF COURSE, WE DO HAVE THE SPEED, SO WE GET THERE FIRST.
19:57IT SPOILS YOU, I MEAN, COMPARED TO HELICOPTERS, I STARTED OUT IN HELICOPTERS, AND THIS THING
20:01HERE, DUAL STABILIZATION SYSTEMS, AUTOPILOTS, YOU NAME IT, IT IS A VERY SMOOTH, WONDERFUL, WONDERFUL
20:09HELICOPTER TO FLY, THE ROLLS-ROYS OF THE SMALL HELICOPTERS, I WOULD SAY.
20:16WHAT LEONARDO DID IN THE 16TH CENTURY IS WHAT MEN AND WOMEN STILL DO TODAY, AND THAT'S DREAM.
20:21HE HAD A VISION TO HOVER, AS WOULD OTHERS.
20:24THE HELICOPTER IS THE PRODUCT OF WHAT ITS INVENTORS DREAMT.
20:32PITCARON SAW THE AUTO GIRO AS SUCH A FABULOUS IDEA, HE THOUGHT IT HAD THE POTENTIAL TO REPLACE
20:37THE FAMILY CAR, SO HE IMPROVED ON PITCARON AUTO GYRO'S WERE SO STRONG AND SAFE, THEY WERE USED
20:43ON U.S. AIRMAIL ROUES IN THE 1930S IN ALL KINDS OF WEATHER.
20:47IT WAS IGOR SIKORSKI WHO DEVELOPED THE TRUE HELICOPTER.
20:51IT COULD HOVER AND FLY AND SAVE LIVES.
20:53NO OTHER MACHINE INVENTED WILL DO WHAT A HELICOPTER CAN WITH EASE.
20:59IT IS A HOOK IN THE SKY.
21:00IT CAN PERCH ON AND LIGHT FROM THE SMALLEST AND MOST TREACHEROUS PLACES.
21:05IT IS THE ODDEST LOOKING OF ALL FLYING MACHINES.
21:08IT REALLY DOESN'T HAVE TO GO FAST.
21:10IT REALLY DOESN'T HAVE TO FLY FAR.
21:12IT IS THE RESULT OF DREAMS AND MAN'S PERSEVERANCE.
21:22THE HELICOPTER.
21:32ROTARY WING AIRCRAFT ARE CERTAINLY A FASCINATING PART OF AVIATION.
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