VALUE OF HELICOPTERS

Otago Daily Times, Issue 27387, 12 May 1950, Page 5

VALUE OF HELICOPTERS

Increased Interest In Britain Rec. 8 p.m. LONDON, May 11. British aircraft designers are showing increasing interest in helicopters. Since the war. Britain has built the world’s fastest and heaviest helicopter, and plans are now well advanced to produce machines even larger than the Cierva Air Horse, which holds the present record by carrying 24 passengers over a course of 232 miles at a speed of 116 miles per hour. The new British heavy helicopters will be powered by vibrationless turbo-pro-peller engines, and will have a reserve engine to ensure the fullest possible margin of safety. The designers have been greatly encouraged by the success of the helicopter night mail service, which is being successfully operated by an experimental unit of British European Airways. The experience gained in this service will be applied when BEA commences the world’s, first helicopter passenger service between Cardiff and Liverpool in June. The Royal Air Force is also making increased use of this type of machine, and recently sent three helicopters to Malaya, where they will be used for lifting wounded from jungle clearings. Each of the three machines is fitted with a winch which enables stretchers to be raised from the ground while the machine is still hovering. Helicopters are also now being used for spraying agricultural crops in Britain. Overseas countries are likewise showing increasing interest. Recently two British machines were sold to King Farouk of Egypt, and three more will soon be sent to Siam,