1st Quarter 2009

Hi Twirly Birds,

           Might as well get started with the bad news.  Since last letter, I have been notified of two of our pioneer Twirly Birds who have gone west.  Thomas E. Doherty of Forest Lake, MN, and Lucien Wigdor of New London, New Hampshire.

          Thomas Doherty, a decorated Air Forced Veteran, completed 40 years of active duty in 19977.  He began serving in 1937 with the 109^th Observation Squadron at Holman Field.  He served as a liaison pilot during WWII.  In the China-Burma-India theatre he learned to fly some of the first helicopters the Air Force had.  In 1943 he was chosen to work in secret Project Nine, described as a dangerous mission in which there was a slim chance of return.  An expert pilot, he was one of twenty-five men on the project who aided the British in Burma across the Bay of Bengal from Calcutta.  Following Project Nine, Tom was one of ten men sent back to the States to form the Second Air Commandos.  At that time, he was awarded the Air Medal and Distinguished Flying Cross.

          At the end of the war, he rejoined the 109^th as an Air Tech., flying P-51’s at Holman Field.  Later becoming a flight engineer on the C-97 Boeing and the C-130 Hercules.  After retiring from the Air Force, Tom flew fire watch for the DNR, and instructed flying students.  Tom and his wife Kay owned and operated the Forest Lake Airport until 1998.  Tom was interned at the Fort Snelling National Cemetery, Minneapolis, MN.

          Lucien Wigdor’s son, Christopher informed us that his father had died in August of this year.  Christopher said that the Twirly Birds, helicopters, and aviation in general were the most important things in his life.  In his office, he has a picture of Lucien in his RAF uniform flying an R4 in 1945, next to his “Helicopter Aviators Certificate” number 10---the 10^th such flying license issued in Great Britain.  It was Frank Piasecki who hired Lucien and brought him and his family to Philadelphia the first time around.

          “Wiggie”, Lucien’s nickname, won a scholarship to Chelsea College of Aeronautical Engineering.  Wiggie graduated in 1939 and a few weeks later, England declared war on Germany.  He volunteered for the Royal Air Force and they put him straight into an officer’s uniform with virtually no basic training.  He was sent to an operational squadron as an Engineering officer.  He served in India, Africa, and the UK and at various times, was posted to RAF Bomber Command and Fighter Command Squadrons.  His first experience working along with American engineers came about when he was Project Engineer for the RAF working to introduce the P-51 and the B-25 Mitchell bomber. 

          In 1944, the British War Office, purchased a number of the then brand-new Sikorsky R4 helicopters to be evaluated.  A call went out for volunteers to join the new helicopter unit.  Of the great number of applicants, Wiggie was the only non-pilot to be selected.  In 1945, he became the RAF’s first non-fixed wing pilot to become a helicopter pilot.  After a stint in British industry, Wiggie accepted a job with Frank Piasecki in Philadelphia, PA.  and after the Boeing company acquired Vertol, he was Boeing’s principal helicopter consultant in Europe for many years to come, and was part of the team which sold the Chinook helicopter to the RAF in the 1960’s. Wiggie passed away on August 12^th, very peacefully at the New London Hospital in New London, New Hampshire.

          Received an e-mail from Lydia Seagrave, saying that her husband Ian has been out of touch with the T-Birds for many years.  Now that we have their address, we will keep them informed and in touch.  Ian is a founder member having flown a C30 autogyro solo on 29 April 1940 and a Sikorsky solo on 18 May 1944.  Ian thinks he may have been the first helicopter pilot in the U.K., and at 90 years young, may be our most senior Twirly Bird.  Welcome aboard, Ian!

          Bill Yarber receive a note from Dr. Carrol Voss saying that he had just returned from the hospital having had a heart attack.  After receiving a few stints to keep everything open, he is back home and hopefully fully recovered.  Carrol said he was Navy Helicopter Pilot #199 having completed training at NAS Lakehurst, New Jersey in 1949. 

          Received a change of address notice and a note from Nancy Stratford.  Nancy recently returned from London where, on September 9^th, she received the Badge of Honor from the British government.  Nancy was one of 52 of the original 153 members of the British ferry organization, the Air Transport Auxiliary (WWII 1939-1945).  She was one of 27 American women who flew the aircraft for the ATA in 1942-1945.  Most of the pilots were British, but there were pilots (men & women) who were from 30 different countries.  Nancy was there 3 years and flew some 50 different types of aircraft, some 35 single engine aircraft and 15 twins as Pilot in Command!  (Helicopter flying had to wait until 1947 in the USA).  I know all Twirly Birds are proud of your service to your country and its major ally, Britain, and join me in giving you most hearty congratulations!!

          Last spring (May 6,’08), Jim Ricklefs copied me on a great note he sent to his Cardiologist.  What a great sense of humor Jim has, and relying on that great sense of humor, I hope he doesn’t mind me sharing this with you. 

          As Jim starts his letter:  Dr. Dr._______, Ten years ago today you performed a triple heart by-pass on me.  A couple days after the surgery you brought some of your students in to see me and made the following statement.  “See this old man here.  He is age 84.  Ten years ago we would not have operated on him because of his age, but now we do it routinely.  We have added ten years to this man’s life!” 

          Well, here it is ten years later, and I’m still upright and not horizontal.  I still have my hair, teeth, hearing, and mobility, and most of my marbles.  I gave up piloting my airplane ten years ago, but still drive, get my own meals (my wife died six years ago) and live in the house I bought in 1954 with two of my great grandchildren for company.  (I have 25 great, great-grandchildren).  My GP and my heart DR. take good care of me.  I spend part of my day at my office.  I play clarinet in the West Bay Community Band, and belong to and am active in a number of social and aviation related organizations.  I am enjoying a life that not many people my age are able to experience.

          I thank you and your team for making this possible, and humbly request from you an extension on my warranty!  Best wishes for your continued success. Sincerely, Jim S. Ricklefs

          Jim, God Bless!  What a wonderful story and what a great life you are leading, and hopefully, you received another 20-30 years extension on your warranty!

          In response to our encouraging ya’ll to put your aviation history in writing; we have received input from a couple of our Twirly Bird Pioneers, Keith Wilson and Paul Choate.  You all have expressed a genuine interest in reading about the exploits of our T-Bird Pioneers and it is a pleasure to include some of these in the T-Bird Newsletter.  We continue to encourage you to record your aviation past, not only for our Twirly Birds library, but also for your children, grand, and great-grandchildren to forever be able to know what their pioneering ancestor experienced in developing the rotary industry.

          In his cover letter, Keith Wilson said, “I attended the first meeting of the Twirly Birds at the McAlpin Hotel in New York City and sat at the head table between Dr. Sikorsky and Charles Lindbergh.  I had a few meetings with Dr. Sikorsky about a really small one-place helicopter.  Keith had dinner one evening at the Sikorsky home with Igor and Serge Gluhareff.  The dinner was served by Mrs. Sikorsky, dressed in a colorful costume.  Igor and Serge got into a debate about the shape of airplanes to come and proceeded to demonstrate their ideas with folded paper airplanes, which they tossed around the room.  I encountered Lindbergh again while inspecting the 5^th Air Base in Japan.  I have just passed my 93^rd birthday (Nov. ’08) and find things changing fast.” Activities from Sept. 1943 to Feb. 1947: In August of 1943 orders to 8^th Air Force were changed, sending me to N.Y. University to learn about rotary wing aircraft.  I joined a class of 10 people who were to work toward a Masters Degree in Aeronautical Engineering.  Upon completion, I was ordered to Wright Field, Ohio to serve in the Rotary Wing Branch under Col. Gregory.

          We (the pilots) were ordered to check out in the YR-4 helicopter.  Flights were of short duration, as there were only 2 0r 3 YR-4’s there, and they required lots of maintenance and were not always in working order.  Col. Gregory and Lt.Col. Cooper had been autogyro pilots which led to their assignment at Wright Field.

          I made a trip with Cooper to Florida to investigate the crash of a YR-5 near Cross City.  A rotor blade had failed in flight and we had to find the blade for analysis.  We did find the blade after 2 days of searching the brush.  A spar had failed near the hub.

          Col. Gregory was good boss.  He was the father of the helicopter as far as the army was concerned.  He was the expert and knew about everyone in the business.  He asked me to read the manuscript of a book he had written, entitled, “Anything a Horse Can Do”.  I think his motive was to enhance my education in helicopter history.

          Not long after checking out in the YR-4, Gregory said I needed to fly the YR-5 which Jimmy Viner of Sikorsky had brought to Wright Field.  The test pilots were away on other duties so Gregory took me on.  The 5 had controls only in the rear seat, so with Gregory in back and me in front, we flew around the field for 15 minutes and landed.  He got out, put me in the rear, and said, “Take it around”.  I waited for him to climb in but he waved me off.  After a 30 minute flight I returned to his office and was informed that I should go to Sikorsky in Bridgeport and bring back the second YR-5.  That was an adventure as I had never even started the engine in the 5.

          Gregory was soon transferred to the Pentagon, became a General and went to Paris as a Military Attaché.  I was named Chief of the Branch and my association with helicopters was truly launched!  We were the focal point of the helicopter business for some time.  Most everyone promoting the helicopter would sooner or later visit us.  Often the pentagon or members of congress would call on us to go out to evaluate a helicopter project and on a few occasions I was invited to fly these machines.

          Col. Al Boyd, Chief of Flight Test, called us to say that we were going after some World Records.  I was assigned the speed record.  We pulled one fuel tank from a YR-5, test hopped it, and on the appointed day, I flew it over a closed course for the officials and made 110 ½ MPH.  This brought the record to the U.S. from Germany.  This flight made the major newspapers and I was named as the pilot.  My brief and only claim to fame. 

This tour of duty has always seemed as the best of my military career.  We were the focal point.  We were privileged and had access to information from all helicopter companies and individuals with ideas and ambitions in the field.  I can’t claim to have made significant contributions to the helicopter other than to say that I was a participant in the program, had many interesting experiences, and made the acquaintance of most all of the key people in the industry.  Helicopters under army sponsorship that I was involved with and flew were the YR-4, YR-5, YR-6, XR-6, XR-9, and the Bell H-13.  It can be noted that the early designations were R for rotary, which was later changed to H for helicopter. In Feb. of 1946, three of us went to Bell in Niagara Falls and took delivery on the first H-13’s.

The companies involved at the time I arrived at Wright Field were: Sikorsky, Kellett, Platt-Lapage, and Bell.  A contract had been let with Nash-Kelvinator to build a production order of the R-6’s.  Sikorsky was building R-4’s and soon delivered the first YR-5 to Wright Field.  Sikorsky pilot, Jimmy Viner flew it in.

Several others were either building or planning to build experimental helicopters.  Frank Piasecki and Stan Hiller had made a good start.  There was Aeronautical Products in the Detroit area, Fred Landgraf in California, Higgins in New Orleans, McCulloch in California, and Allis Chalmers in Milwaukee.  Platt-Lepage (Howard Platt and Larry Lapage) had a contract with the government to build the XR-1, a side-by-side rotor helicopter.  Their test pilot was Buck Miller.  Buck brought the first machine to Wright.  Their plant was in the Baldwin Locomotive Works in Philadelphia.  I had the opportunity to fly it a few times.  General Ben Kelsey called me one day and asked my opinion of it, then said that I should go to the plant and fly it again.  I did, and told him that we should cancel the contract.  I was then required to go to Washington, D.C. to face a room full of delegates from government and industry to justify my action.

Sikorsky was number one at that time.  It had flown the VS-300, had R-4’s building, and YR-5’s and 6’s on the way.  The 6 had to be manufactured at Nash-Kelvinator in Detroit.  Dr. Igor Sikorsky was very active and highly regarded.  Less, Jimmy Viener (test pilot), Jack Beigley (plant rep.), and Adolph Plenefisch (field rep) were people I saw often.  Adolph flew with me when we brought the second YR-5 to Wright.  When flying across Pennsylvania, we became a bit lost and landed on a school play ground to get directions.  School was in session and there was pandemonium.  The school emptied.  Kids were jumping out of windows to see the helicopter.

Kellett had an order to build the XR-8 intermeshing rotor helicopter.  It had been known for its autogyros.  Wallace Kellett was president.  Dick Prewitt is in my mind as the most prominent engineer there.  Phil Spindell was a sales engineer who later joined Lockheed, and I believe Dave Driscol was test pilot.  Kellett won contracts to build the XH-10 and the XH-17 flying crane.  None of these models went into production.  The -10 crashed and the XH-17 was taken over by Hughes in California when Kellett folded.

Col. Gregory had early contact with Bell.  He witnessed early tests of Arthur Young’s helicopter rotor and control systems.  They built a test aircraft which was an open air machine with a bench type seat on the front.  I had my first ride in a Bell at the Bell facility.  My father visited me at the Bell plant and test pilot Floyd Carlson, took him out over Niagara Falls in that machine.  Bart Kelly, along with Art Young were most prominent in that program.  Joe Mashman was another one of the test pilots.  We received the first H-13’s in 1946.

About that time, Gen. Stilwell, back from China, was holding hearings to learn how the army should be equipped in the future.  Igor Sikorsky, Larry Bell, and yes—myself, were asked to come to Washington to talk helicopters.  The three of us spent an entire evening in Bell’s hotel room discussing what we would present.  This was a heady experience for me.

G&A Helicopter Co., located in Willow Grove, PA, had an order to build the X-9, a small single seat helicopter.  Cap Perry was Ch. Engineer.  Dick Huber was also prominent, while Slim Sewell was test pilot.  He had flown autogyros and learned to fly the -9 tethered to the ground and thus got used to its characteristics. They contacted me and said it was ready for the army to look and to fly.  Slim flew it around and landed.  The entire plant had turned out to watch.  I got in, they pulled the rope starter and I was ready to fly.  The instant I applied power and pitch, the tail went up and I started to roll.  I hauled the pitch up to avoid the ground and spent the next several minutes fighting to it level enough to land.  I did, but couldn’t let go of the stick.  I tried a second time and this time I managed to get airborne and slowly get it under my control.  Cap had a movie of the whole thing and called it, “Swing and Sway the Wilson Way”.       

Most of the pilots flying at that time had autogyro experience.  Jimmy Viener was at Sikorsky and flew all the early models.  I think he was the first to loop the helicopter.  Dave Driscol was with Kellett and flew the XR-8 and -10.  I believe he was killed in the -10.  Buck Miller was with Platt-Lapage.  Lou Leavitt was an early pilot who left to go to Alaska to start a helicopter operation.  Floyd Carlson and Joe Mashman were with Bell.  Slim Sewell was with G&A Helicopters (later Firestone).  Al Baer came to Kellett having autogyro time and he checked out in helicopters.  He late went to McCulloch and Hughes ending up as advisor to state of California.  In the Military, Frank Erickson of the U.S. Coast Guard was a YR-4 pilot and gave me my first ride at Floyd Bennett Field in 1943.  Harold Hermes and Chet Peterson were at Wright Field doing test in airplanes as well as helicopters.  Of course Col. Gregory and Lt.Col. Cooper were in the project office and doing much of the flying and evaluation.  Navy and the Army were getting interested in 1944, but had nothing to fly.  They had reps who watched up closely.

     There were several other projects going on back then.  Frank Piasecki and Stan Hiller, both very young men, were flying their experimental models.  They visited us often to sell us their programs.  Bendix had a co-axial model.  Langraf had a side-by-side rigid rotor model.  Higgins a more conventional single rotor design.  Aero Products had a conventional single rotor with an overhead control stick.  Hiller came up with a ram-jet powered model called the Hornet (which I flew once).  Denny in Calif. Had a pulse jet model.  I was asked by Allis-Chalmers to visit their plant.  I was met by the Board of Directors, dined, and taken to a fair grounds where they had, inside a horse-show building, a 6 rotor helicopter.  They cranked it up and flew it around the building.  I was invited to fly it.  The seat was a bench and I could touch the ground with my feet.  I learned to control it by keeping my feet on the ground.  After a few minutes of that, I was able to lift my feet and maintain control.  I flew around—inside the building at balcony level and landed successfully.

       The rotor blades were four feet long and coned-up sharply until up to full RPM.  There were several programs like this that never made it and I guess will not be remembered.  McDonald in St. Louis tried helicopters.  They had a ram-jet model called “Little Henry”, and later built a large side-by-side model under Navy sponsorship.  In 1949, while stationed in Japan, I received a letter from Mr. Mac himself asking me to come take over their helicopter program.  I decided that I liked what I was doing and decided to finish my Air Force career.

       Keith says the foregoing was written purely from memory without plans or notes.  There are probably errors and mis-spelled names.  I have a few pictures and slides dealing with some of these programs which could be made available for some serious work.  I do not feel capable of serious work along these lines. Written by Keith S. Wilson.  Retired Col., USAF, April 13, 1993, 50 years after the start of these events.         

          Bill Yarber and myself have, over the past couple years, been talking to the University of Texas at Dallas, Texas about their History of Aviation Collection and how they and the Twirly Birds could mutually benefit by working together to preserve the memorabilia of our membership, to ensure our Twirly Birds that their legacy will be available for their children, grand-children, and great, great grand children.  Many folks have asked me what they can do to ensure that their items/papers, etc. that they have collected over their career will not be lost—but, more than that, that their contributions will be forever available for their family, friends, and industry associates to view and study.  We have considered several museums and have decided to recommend to our Twirly Bird membership our number one choice—the University of Texas, which has the financial strength, the political clout, the central location, the rotary wing population (manufacturers and T-Bird members), and the long-time history of dedication to the preserving all aspects of the aviation industry. 

Contact the following for information about donation:

Paul A. Oelkrug

Curator of Special Collections

       McDermott Library

The University of Texas at Dallas

P.O. Box 830643, MC 33

Richardson, Texas 75083—0643

Donations to UTD will help assure you that your helicopter memories and memorabilia do NOT end up in the city dump after you’ve gone west.

Sincerely yours,  Jim Hamilton,  President

P. S.  New info from Bill Yarber. The annual meeting will be in the Marriott Hotel, Orange County Ballroom #2 & 3 at 5 P.M., Sunday Feb. 22^nd, Anaheim, CA

Bill reminds all Twirly Birds to send or bring your Dues.  We’re running a little short of where we would like to be and your attention to this detail will be much appreciated!

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