Frank Piasecki, the second American to fly a helicopter died on Monday.
By: Newforest - 14th February 2008 at 08:00
Aah, the good old days! I remember writing to all the British aircraft manufacturers in the U.K. (believe it or not, there used to be more than one!) and receiving lavish product brochures and photographs. I think the best reply came from Short Brothers.
By: J Boyle - 13th February 2008 at 23:15
A real pioneer and a very generous person.
In the mid-90s I was I was adding to my collection of aviation artifacts.
I acquired a nice color photo of a H-21 and sent it to him for a signature…his post-Vertol/Boeing address was listed in Jane’s.
In reply I not only received that, with a very warm inscription, but also a soft cover history book put out by his firm along with a collection of photos. His note gave me the imprression that he still felt the excitment and wonder of flight.
The inscription on the H-21 photo was:
“The Grandeur of yesterday…”
An an inscription on photo of an advanced Helistat (airship/helicoter hybrid) concept :
“To the future of VTOL……”
The book reminded me that his twin rotor machines set altitude and speed records in their time and the YH-16A was the world’s first twin turbine helicopter.
RIP Mr. Piasecki.
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February 13, 2008 at 10:38 pm