I thought the math was obvious. It was a test. Frank Tefft flew it and lives in Killingworth CT.
There are several events that escaped notice in the book besides the Sheridan lift. “ Twin Lift”, two Cranes picking up a spreader truss from which two cables went to a 35000 lb load was flight tested. Then there was a two point load stabilization system connected into the AFCS, which allowed IFR flight speeds of 80-90 KIAS with high volume/low density loads that went unstable at 30-40 KIAS*, and oh yes, a remote, radio controlled CH-54 with a Precision Hover system that was very successfully flown.
*this project was sponsored by the Army and they owned the technology, which they then gave to Boeing for inclusion in their HLH proposal. Now that was irony.
Sorry about the extra N.
Last edited by JohnDixson; 14th Mar 2018 at 03:10.
Reason: Clean up verbage