12834 “THE STORY OF THE HELICOPTER” 1940’S U.S. ARMY AIR FORCES EDUCATIONAL FILM SIKORSKY XR-4

Presented by the U.S. Army Air Force’s Materiel Command at Wright Field in Dayton, Ohio, this 1940s film takes a look at helicopter technology, and features a look at some of the earliest practical rotary aircraft. It details the story of the birth of the helicopter and looks at its various uses and potential. The XR-4 / Sikorsky R-4 is featured throughout the film. The XR-4 is a two seat chopper first flown in 1942.

The film opens on May 18th, 1942 with an operator at the control tower providing light for the landing of the XR-4 (:50). This was the first successful helicopter landing (1:16) with a touch down on the flight line of an Army Air Forces base. The craft was created by Sikorsky of the Aircraft Division at Bridgeport Connecticut. The pilot, who had flown 761 miles to Wrightfield, Ohio, is pictured stepping from the craft (1:31). One particular skill of the chopper is its ability to hover in the air (2:05). Some of the helicopter’s maneuvers in air follow (2:21) such as rising vertically from the ground. Igor Sikorsky is pictured (2:41) whom began his career in 1903. On May 6th, 1941 the ‘skinless’ predecessor to the XR-4 is shown (3:00). Early history of the helicopter begins with sketches from Leonardo Da Vinci’s notebook of a craft utilizing a helix (3:51). These blueprints were never turned into actuality. The US Air Force took an interest in the helicopter and sponsored the Russian born engineer De Bothezat (4:11). In 1922, De Bothezat tested his craft at McCook Field in Ohio as General William Mitchell observed (4:28). A 3,600 pound craft takes off at College Park, Maryland (4:39). Corradino D’Ascanio built the craft shown here in 1930 (5:29) which broke records set in place previously to this flight. Simultaneously, the fixed wing aircraft was also making progress (6:01). The world’s records for helicopter flights are detailed from 1932 (7:42). Henrich Focke (7:58) of the Focke-Wulf Aeronautical Firm began working on a chopper for the German government. In the spring of 1938, the craft made it’s exhibition flight (8:10) with Hanna Reitsch at it’s controls. The large rotor is pointed to which caused much trouble in torque reaction during the development of the helicopter (5:35). Twin rotors were employed to fix the issue (5:42). The Autogiro (9:01) was first successfully flown in 1925 by Juan de la Cierva (9:07). The XR-4 appears again (11:39). The pilot operates the rudder pedals similarly to the way in which a fixed wing aircrafts rudder pedals are used (14:17). This craft (15:06) was created by Platt-LePage Aircraft Corporation at Edison, Pennsylvania. This same craft then touches down on an aircraft transport carrier vessel for a landing test (16:10). Another test shows two helicopters operating from merchant ships (17:20) in July of 1943. The low pressure floats (17:47) and the rope ladder (17:59) are pointed to. Colonel H.F. Gregory (18:41) is pictured as the head of the Army’s Rotary Wing Aircraft Program since 1936. The helicopter shows off some of it’s features including the ability to unreel communication lines behind advancing troops (19:17). During one of the first demonstrations of the helicopter to the American public was of an air express mail helicopter landing on the lawn on the White House (19:50). The VS-300 appears (20:31). A helicopter’s eye view of the craft taking off from the deck of a cargo ship follows (21:30). The film begins to wrap up as the helicopter approaches the deck again and lands (22:51).

The Sikorsky R-4 is a two-seat helicopter designed by Igor Sikorsky with a single, three-bladed main rotor and powered by a radial engine. Only 131 were built. The R-4 was the world’s first large-scale mass-produced helicopter and the first helicopter used by the United States Army Air Forces, the United States Navy, the United States Coast Guard and the United Kingdom’s Royal Air Force and Royal Navy. In U.S. Navy and U.S. Coast Guard service, the helicopter was known as the Sikorsky HNS-1. In British service it was known as the Hoverfly.