|
4th Quarter 2009 Hi
Twirly Birds,
Hope you
all had a
great summer, as did Chris and I. With two major motor home trips--One
counter
clockwise, going to North Dakota and then west over the mountains of
Montana,
Wyoming, Colorado, New Mexico and back through west Texas to home. Had
to be back
for Doctors appointments and prepare for the next trip to the east and
northeast. This second trip was delayed somewhat by a short, but
painful
hospital stay for Chris, which resulted from Chris' love of oysters'
on-the-half shell and a bout with food poisoning. The trip
to
Washington D. C./Maryland area was somewhat delayed as a result of the
hospital
trip, and therefore didn't have the time to visit Twirly Bird friends
in the
northeast, as we were scheduled to meet our tight-fisted T -Bird
Treasurer, Bill
Yarber at the Slattery home. We met Bill, Mrs. Slattery , and son
Mathew for
the purpose of accepting, on behalf of the Twirly Birds, a couple of
storage
units full of Slat's many, many years of helicopter history---both 2
dimensional and 3 dimensional. They had been paying for storage since
Slat's
death and were about ready to trash Slat's stuff unless we could meet
with them
and fulfill Slat's wish that the accumulation of helicopter history and
memorabilia would be transferred to the Twirly Birds. After
selecting 12
storage boxes full of 2 dimensional industry historical documents,
which by
prior arrangement, were shipped to the U. of Texas at Dallas. We also
consolidated dozens and dozens of boxes of helicopter models into a
more
compact load that could be stuffed into our motor home. This past week,
we
delivered the models into Bill Yarber's garage. We plan to inventory
the
models, donate some to the University, and make the rest available for
purchase, with the T-Birds having the first opportunity to evaluate and
purchase. The proceeds will be deposited in the T -Bird bank account,
which
badly needs some replenishing. While in
the
Plano/Dallas area, we concluded our arrangements with the University
and the finalization
of the Twirly Bird section in the library at the Richardson, TX (a
suburb of
Dallas) campus. In the next T-Bird letter in February I will get into
the
details of our agreement with the U. of Texas. By adding the T-Bird
collections to what is considered one of the premier aviation archives,
the
Twirly Bird papers will be preserved in an environment that will ensure
their
availability for research for future generations... Our T-Bird
collection will
join several great names in U.S. aviation, including the "General Jimmy
Doolittle" and the "Air America" collections, just to name a
couple famous names. For those
T-Birds
who do not know what to do with their collection of helicopter/aviation
memorabilia, here is a solution: Donate
your material
to the Twirly Birds collection to the McDermott Library, located at the
University of Texas at Dallas. The curators at urn will catalog and
store your
material for future helicopter students, researchers, and your
descendants. If
your material is extensive and contains high value items, you will be
entitled
to a tax deduction for the appraised value. UTD accepts items for
donation
only-not loans. Any unique non-paper item can also be donated. However,
3
dimensional items are transferred to the Museum of Flight, located at
Dallas
Love Field for display and storage.
Paul
A. Oelkrug Curator
of Special Collections McDermott Library University
of Texas at Dallas P
.0. Box 830643, MC 33 Richardson,
Texas 75083-0643 Donations
to UTD will
help assure that your helicopter memories and memorabilia do not end up
in the
city dump after you have gone "West". Twirly
Birds recently
lost fellow T-Bird, Walt Attebery, who passed away on October 23rd,
after a
long illness. Walt had a long and productive history in aviation that
spanned
nearly 50 years. Walt joined the Marines in 1942 as a Naval Aviation
Cadet.
Upon receiving his wings he headed for the Pacific war theater and flew
22
missions in F4U Corsairs. After the war, Walt spent many years with the
FBI,
but longed to get back into aviation. He resigned from the FBI and
accepted a
position with ERA Helicopters as V .P. Marketing and Administration. He
later founded
Condor Helicopters in Oxnard, CA, where he was engaged in pest control,
offshore, missile recovery , survey, and external loads, operating Bell
47's,
Jet Rangers, Long Rangers, Sikorsky W-58, MBB, and A-Star. Walt also
served as
President of Arctic Air. He brought the first FH -1100 to Alaska
and provided
the first turbine to work for the BLM, including the survey of the 600
mile
pipeline route. Walt was a regular attendee of HAA and HAI's annual
meetings.
Walt served as Chairman of HAI in 1964 and in 2001 was awarded the
Lawrence
Bell Award. He was a member of the Twirly Birds, the Tail Hook
Association, the
Caterpillar Club, and the Navy League. All Twirly Birds extend our most
sincere
and deepest sympathy to Walt's family and friends. You will
recall that
I have been urging you to write/record your experiences in the
aviation/rotary
wing industry. I know several T-Birds have been writing their personal
aviation
history, which will be of great interest to their descendants and to
all Twirly
Birds. Some time ago I received a letter from Paul Choate who had
completed his
project of writing of his experiences in the Army Air Forces flying the
Sikorsky R-4 and R-6. Paul stated that his primary objective was
to answer his
grandkids questions about what he did in the war! In the following few
paragraphs, I have taken excerpts from his writings and I hope you
enjoy
reading about his experiences flying the early machines as I did.
Thanks, Paul! Paul
begins with his
reporting to the 3502nd AAF Base Unit for Helicopter Pilot Training
Course a
Chanute Field in Rantoul, Illinois. The next day, he saw his first
Sikorsky R-4
for the first time and wondered if this was Leonardo deVinci's latest
design. In December 1944, the helicopter
training school
was transferred to Chanute Field. There was strict lid of secrecy as
helicopters were so new and revolutionary. A total of 14 R-4s were
available
for training. Students received 25-30 hours of flight in the R-4. The R-4's
specifications were as follows: Rotor diameter: 38 feet; Length: 33' 7
3/4";
Max gross weight: 2,5811bs.; Engine: Warner R-550 of 200 HP, 7cylinder,
fan
cooled, radial; Max speed: 75 mph; Cruising speed: 65 mph; Range: 130
miles;
Service Ceiling: 8,000 feet. Steel tubes welded into a box frame and
covered
with fabric made up the fuselage. The two-place side-by-side cockpit
contained
dual cyclic controls and a single collective pitch control with a twist
throttle, mounted between the seats. This configuration proved
difficult in
practice, since a left seat pilot would have to roll power on in a
manner
opposite to standard practice, in addition to controlling the cyclic
with his
left hand. This arrangement, combined with the need for a center
instrument
console that the pilot could reach with his left hand, began the
tradition of
the pilot-in-command occupying the right hand seat in helicopters. This
was
opposite to the usual arrangement in fixed-wing where the
pilot-in-command
occupied the left seat. Instructors in the R-4 encountered difficulties
training students by sharing the single collective control. Fortunately
the
R-4Bs at Chanute had been modified and were equipped with dual
collectives. Paul's
first training flight was on January 29, 1945, and he was discouraged
and wondered
if he would ever really learn to fly that machine. The first flights
were
lifting vertically, learning to hover. No hands off with this bird!
Confidence
quickly came and on February 3rd, after a 10 minute series of
maneuvers, my
instructor got out and said, "it's all yours"! So, he soloed the R-4B
after 5 hours of dual instruction. His first
look at the
YR-6 was in Michigan at the Nash Kelvinator plant where it was being
produced.
The R-6 was essentially a refined version of the R-4 with the same
rotor and
transmission. It was powered by a 245 HP Franklin engine. Nash
Kelvinator would
build 26 YR-6s, followed by 193 R-6s. The R-6 out-performed the R-4 and
was
easier to fly. Paul was sent to Orlando Army Air Field which was a YR-6
proving
ground-further testing this latest rotary wing aircraft. At the
conclusion of
this session in Orlando, Paul had logged a little over 12 hours in the
YR-6. On January
10th, 1946
he had orders to ferry one of the R-6As from Alexandria, LA to Brooks
Field,
Texas. An hour to Lake Charles, refuel and a 2 hour flight to
Houston, then a 3
hour and 20 minute flight to San Antonio when the low fuel warning
light came
on. Paul decided to land at a gas station with plenty of room to land
and
bought some gas. Poured in five gallons, then cautioned the people who
had
gathered to see this strange looking machine to stand clear and expect
a blast
of wind. Again in flight, he located Brooks and received landing
clearance for
the first helicopter to ever land there. The next day, the San Antonio
newspaper declared that an Army Helicopter landed at Brooks, having
flown all
the way from Alexandria, Louisiana to San Antonio in 6 hours and 45
minutes. On January
25th, he
ferried the R-6A to Kelly Field and leave it there---a 20 minute flight
and his
last in the R -6A. The R -6 was used in a variety of missions including
air/sea
rescue, casualty evacuation and observation. Our major accomplishment
was
probably the feedback to the Army Air Force and Sikorsky based on their
flight
experiences. Those in the early programs felt that they had a role in
helping
the helicopter to evolve into the machine that is known today. But, the
story
of the helicopter had just begun for the Coast Guard, for the
helicopter would
quickly become the backbone of their search and rescue missions. New
technology
and further developments would prove the early visionaries of the
helicopter to
be correct, that the uses of the helicopter are almost limitless. Thanks
Paul, for a
glimpse into the early pioneering stage in the development of the
rotorcraft
industry .Your writings will make a great donation to be placed in the
Twirly
Bird section at the U. of Texas at Dallas. They will be available for
all
helicopter students and enthusiasts to read and research. With
many new members asking about the origins of the Twirly Birds, I am
including
reprints of an article that was printed in VERTIFLITE magazine in 1985.
(last
page) I'm sure you will find this interesting and it will give you some
information
to help you to answer any questions asked by prospective Twirly Bird
candidates. Now is the
time for
ya'll to get your 2010 calendars out and highlight the dates of the
Heli-Expo to
be held in Houston, Texas commencing on Sunday, Feb. 21st through the
23rd. The
Twirly Bird annual gathering is traditionally the first night of the
convention, so that means we plan to meet at 5 PM on Sunday, February
21st. Bill
Yarber is making arrangements with HAl for our meeting/reception room
at the
convention hotel. We do not have any further information at this time,
but we
will forward the details to you in the next T-Bird newsletter. The
T-Birds depend
upon your generous donations for our continuing activities, but the
dues remain
at $10/year. In years past we have been surviving by the "above and
beyond the call of duty" support from folks like Wes Lematta, Jack
Homer,
Jim Ricklefs, Joe Kettles, Alan Bristow, Dale Taylor, and Dwayne Jose.
Being a
senior member of the "Over 39 Club", but still able to remember that
on occasion I've been known to make a mistake, I have probably missed
some
names, and sincerely apologize. Thanks to all T-Birds for their
generous
support throughout the years. Our tight-fisted Treasurer, Bill Yarber,
has
reminded me to remind you all to send in your annual dues to him at: 5129
Mustang Trail; Plano, TX 75093. We look
forward to
seeing you in Houston at the annual Twirly Bird meeting and reception,
and for
now I will close by wishing you all a "Merry Christmas” and a "Happy
New Year”!
|
