Dave,
The US Patent Office appears to agree with you, at least insofar as in the way Sikorsky claimed an invention embodying some of these concepts in US Patent Application No. 12/018,217.
US 12/018,217 includes 16 claims; the Office rejected all 16 claims on July 2, 2010 in view of published records of pre-existing work in the field.
Cheers!
United States Patent & Trademark Office