Devon Francis. The Story of the Helicopter. New York:
Coward-McCann, Inc. , 1943, 182 pp. $ 3.00
- Out of the many early birds who ventured in the field of winging, there are few who succeeded in looking upon their planet from the high-arched cathedral of the sky. Since the early yearss of air power, when the first fixed flying aeroplane was born, there was no looking back. Then came the Second World War which non merely widened the market for aeroplanes, but made a pronounced betterment in the design of the aeroplanes every bit good. In the class of winging machines, there has emerged a trade name new type of vehicle, one that does non necessitate forward speed for sustention by air. This vehicle is the Helicopter.
- Devon Francis, the writer of the book, ‘The Story of the Helicopter ‘ is a celebrated author on air power related capable. The other air power related books by the same writer are ‘Aviation: What everyone should cognize ‘ and ‘Power to Fly: A history of the oil and air power partnership ‘ . The writer is both a review every bit good as an appreciator of the developments in the field of air power. His love for air power related undertakings, be it advancement in this field or the barriers in air power history can be good appreciated by his manner of presentation in this book.
- His book is in maintaining with the all right tradition of Hagiographas on the topic of air power. The book was authored at a clip when a great trade of research and development was been brought approximately in a new type of aerial vehicle-the chopper. The chopper required a great trade of polish before it could be put safely in the custodies of the population. This was the clip when a great trade of polish was traveling on in the design of chopper. In his book, the writer has canvassed his dream that choppers would put a new.era in personal transit in the clip to come.
- Many people who have been involved in the development of chopper may differ with the writer over his allocation of recognition for the technology accomplishments that were necessary to do the machine tractable. The writer has made a painstaking attempt to be just in measuring the research work that has gone in doing the chopper.
- Man had been winging since the twelvemonth 1783. Jean Francois Pilatre de Rozier, a immature French was the first homo to wing. He flew in a hot air balloon. Since so adult male has flown in many platforms: in powered balloon, dirigibles, sailplanes, exchangeable planes and autogyros. However, none of them were low-cost and safe at the same clip. Many all right technology betterments were made on the aeroplane ; nevertheless, greater public-service corporation and built-in safety could ne’er be achieved. This gave birth to a non-conformist attack in air power. The chopper was seen as a safe and utile agencies of transit. It
- Emile Berliner, a German, began his work on choppers in early 20th century and conceptualised the lifting capableness of a rotor in round gesture. However, the Berliner machine was excessively bulky and inefficient. In 1922, another Russian bookman, George de Bothezat made a lookalike of chopper which could remain in air for a minute. By the twelvemonth 1923, his chopper could raise more than two individuals and still stay airborne longer. Around the same period, another scientist, Juan de la Cierva, achieved sensible success in planing a simpler machine. However, the first successful and modern chopper was designed by Igor Ivan Sikorsky, a Russian by birth in 1910. By the twelvemonth 1939, he rolled out the first contemporary chopper from his ain fabrication works. The following decennary saw a quantum leap in chopper technology. Synchronous rotors, jet engine propelled choppers and light weight high velocity choppers came to remain. This decennary besides saw the military employment of choppers in a large manner.
- Visualizing what function the chopper will play in personal and common-carrier transit strategy of the hereafter depends on how loose a rein is given to imaginativeness, and no adult male at the minute is qualified to challenge prognostication of this character regardless of its extravagancy. To venture the belief that 1000000s will non wing choppers in the yearss to come is to run the hazard of being marked as a historical imbecile. The writer has right brought out that choppers are here to remain. Like a narrative Teller, he has presented the history of the choppers like a screen changeable film. His narrative makes a bracing impact on the head of the reader who finds himself vibrating in ideas like a hovering chopper.
- Some of the exposure of the paradigms of choppers runing from autogyro to PV-3 in the book add spirit to the historical position that the writer has meaningfully conveyed in his book. Priced at $ 3, the book is a delectation non merely to an aeronaut but besides to any ordinary individual who dreams to wing.
- Devon Francis ‘ “ Story of the Helicopter ” is a complete book on the history and development of chopper industry. In the modern times where choppers have seen a sea alteration both in civil and military air power, it is of import to understand how these
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required less room to take off and land, wing in any way unlike an aeroplane, force land safely in instance of an engine failure, avoided acquiring lost and above all could avoid acquiring into bad conditions. A distant cousin of fixed flying aeroplane, chopper was foremost conceived by Leonardo da Vinci- a talented Renaissance painter. Based on the rule of ‘Chinese Top ‘ , Vinci conceived the thought of a revolving wing that was subsequently developed as a chopper.
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developments were conceptualised and developed by the great interior decorators of the last century.
-Wg Cdr S M Yunus