Aviation History

A lot can be said about heroes and normal men and what makes them different. Bravery, commitment and nerves of steel have something to do with it I'm sure. I imagine a bit of ignorance helps. I have a few heroes but the group I'd like to make mention of are the brave men that flew the machines you are about to see.

Just before I left Fort Rucker, the Army's aviation center, I had the opportunity of photograph some of the most rare and historic army aircraft. All of them are the first of their kind and all of them flew. So, on a hot July afternoon, at an undisclosed location on Fort Rucker Alabama, I was escorted by one of my other heroes (a retired crew chief) through the following...

This is the original prototype army gun ship. The front seat was so compact, the gunner rested his feet in the chin bubble. There were no redundant controls for the gunner either. Check out the crude rocket rails on the wing stubs.

Below is the very first tandem rotor helicopter. The fuselage is only about 12 feet long and it sat only one. The test pilot. I looked at Jim, my guide, and said "I bet the pilot kissed his wife goodbye the morning he went to fly this for first time"

Then I stepped behind the tandem rotor and saw this. I just looked at Jim and laughed. This thing has four propellers (two per side) and it uses engine exhaust as thrust. The props to flap and feather but they are wooden propellers none the less.

How about the first NOTAR helicopter. NOTAR is short for No Tial Rotor. Well there it sits, The first one.

This is the only remaining Cessna helicopter out of four built. As the story goes, there was a horrbile malfunction and crash in one of them. Cessna acquired two and destroyed them. The army has the only one left. Its very unique in that the engine is in the nose and the rotor shaft sits between the two front seats.

Mind you, all of this was a surprise. I had no idea what I was going to see this day. And there it was , the original UH-1 Iroquois. Affectionately known as the Huey. The most famous and recognizable helicopter in the world. It revolutionized infantry warfare and evokes indescribable emotion in veterans all over our country. This is the very first one. I was in awe. The legends and bravery I don't dare claim to know, the stories that have inspired my own commitment to aviation center around this helicopter.

Here's an idea, instead of an engine providing power to he transmission to turn the rotor, lets see what will happen if we put jet engines on the blade tips. Apparently, you run out of fuel in about 20 minutes. That's what happens. It flew but I guess it was horribly inefficient.

This is a normal helicopter with a jet engine installed on one side. I guess it was never meant to be a production helo. Just a test bed for high speed rotary wing flight. When they wondered what happened at 400 knots, some poor SOB had to go find out.

This helicopter will go unnamed for the sake of security. All of you helicopter enthusiast and Orange County Chopper fans know exactly what it is. All I will tell you is it has three flat tires and its ridden with cobwebs. I did sit in it and everything is perfectly intact. Staggering!

So that concludes my trip to the Army Aviation Museum storage facility. I know some of you will not be interested and maybe don't understand the emotion this trip carried with it. I have trained for years and have had so many teachers in my career and I still get have a respectful fear of my helicopter. I can't imagine what the test pilots felt when they strapped on some of the machines in this warehouse. I'm not a good writer so I don't express it well but those of you that know me know I'm a fairly passionate person. I'm living my boyhood dream and some of these were flown by my boyhood heroes. Real live pilots.