Helicopter Talent

Press, Volume CVI, Issue 31206, 2 November 1966, Page 16

Helicopter Talent

Most persons are aware by now of the astonishing versatility of the helicopter compared with the conventional type of aircraft. Its value in rescue operations has been dramatically demonstrated; and its ability to carry loads to or from awkward places is now well recognised in New Zealand. It can search in a few minutes—for lost trampers or even, as was seen on Monday, for an escaped prisoner—country that would take many men many hours to comb on foot. Laymen who watched the exhibition of flying given at Wigram yesterday must have been fascinated not merely by the adaptability of the Royal New Zealand Air Force’s new machines, but also by their astonishing manoeuvrability. The response to skilled handling gave cause for wonderment, as the aircraft were made to hover just off the ground, to turn in their own length, to take off and climb almost vertically at startling speed, to come in for a rescue exercise or to pick up a load and be away again literally in a matter of seconds, and to land, glider fashion, without engine power.

The wisdom of the Air Force policy of showing its new acquisitions to the people throughout the country will have been amply proved when the present tour ends. There should also be a much wider approval of the decision to create a helicopter squadron as part of our Air Force establishment. It may be wondered, indeed, why the value of helicopters in a country of such diverse physical features as New Zealand was not recognised much earlier—although delay, presumably, has had compensations in the improvement in design, construction, and quality of performance. The Wigram demonstration, especially for those fortunate enough to be taken aloft to see the city so spectacularly patterned below them, was convincing evidence of a new capacity by the R.N.Z.A.F. to act swiftly in response to peace-time emergency calls as well as to fulfil effectively its primary role in the nation’s defence.