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"Helicopter?"
Ponton d’Amécourt had designed a model flying machine. It worked but a previous design with a steam engine had failed. He decided to call his machine "helicopteres," a word derived from the Greek adjective for "spiral" and the noun "pteron," meaning "wing." -
The Wright Brothers
Wilbur and Orville Wright designed and built the first airplane to attain powered flight, four years before the first helicopter inventors could claim such a feat for vertical flight. -
First Manned Flight
Emile Berliner created a 36-horsepower engine and used two of them on a platform designed by John Newton Williams. The air craft reportedly lifted both men about 3 feet off the ground. This was the first manned helicopter flight in the United States. -
Rotating Wing Aircraft
Juan de la Cierva was a Spanish engineer builds and flies the CA autogiro in 1923. -
First Flight in the US
In 1928 Harold Pitcairn orders a Cierva C.8W autogiro leading to the first flight of a rotating wing aircraft in the United States on December 18th. -
Many milestones in 29
In the year of 1929 Pitcairn licenses a patent and begins manufacturing air crafts in the US. He wanted to continue popularizing his air craft. In the same year Amelia Earhart breaks the altitude record in a Pitcairn Autogiro further popularizing the aircraft. -
Achievement of the year
In 1930, Pitcairn is awarded the Collier Trophy for the greatest aviation achievement of the year, but by the end of the decade, a new form of rotary wing aircraft was entering the scene – the Helicopter. -
Many uses
A Kellett K-3 autogyro is employed by Rear Admiral Byrd in his 1934 expedition to the Antarctic. Along with this Auto giros are being used in many ways from delivering mail to sightseeing. -
Uses for Germany
The first practical helicopter is built in Germany in 1937. The Focke- Achgelis FA-61 is a side by side twin rotor design. Hitler’s test pilot, Hanna Reitsch, flies the FA-61 inside the Berlin Deutschlandhalle at the 1938 Berlin Motor Show. -
First Helicopter
The first ever helicopter was designed by Igor Sikorsky and built by the Vought-Sikorsky Aircraft Division of the United Aircraft Corporation. The first time it took flight was in Stratford, Connecticut. -
Funds for the War Department
In 1940 the US Congress signs the Dorsey-Logan Act authorizing funds to develop rotary wing aircraft for the War Department. -
The First FAA certified helicopter pilot
In 1943 Frank Piasecki flies his PV-2 in Philadelphia. He becomes the first FAA certified helicopter pilot and goes on to develop a line of successful tandem rotor helicopters. -
Korean War
The Korean War validates the use of helicopters in a combat theater of operations. -
Takeoff
By 1955 vertical takeoff and landing had been secured in helicopters. -
The Helicopter War
The Vietnam war also known as the Helicopter War shows definite use of helicopters. Some of these uses included medical evacuation, fire fighting, construction, and logging. -
Today's Helicopter
Today helicopters are much more advanced. We use them for the military, hospitals, government just to name a few. These machines are also faster, stronger, and more reliable.
