bellsux
10th Dec 2002, 03:24
Just a bit of interesting trivia for anyone. I always thought that the pilot who was thrown into the rotors of the VS300 was Igor Sikorsky... but after reading an article in Octobers Aviation Maintenance, it was not old Igor but Bob Stanley, the chief of flight test.
quote
"On that fateful day, in Gardenville, New York, Bob jumped into ship#1. The ship allegedley had some early instability problems, making pilot-induced a concern. Being the fairly hard headed man he allegedly was, Stanley attempted to fly the helicopter without much attention to the checkout. He crashed! It was Bob stanley who flew through the rotors and miraculously ended up with only a broken arm."
further on
"Joiner recalledthat Ship #1 was 'damaged in an unnecessary accident,' after Stanley showed up at Gardenville one day, saying that he wanted to fly the aircraft. Stanley eventually climbed in and 'without a seat restraint', lit the fire and attempted to hover the beast. In doing so, Stanley overcontrolled the collective pitch lever and was rewarded by being tossed out of the ship and into the rotor blades'
my apologies to Dorcey Wingo for plagurising and condensing his excellent article...
quote
"On that fateful day, in Gardenville, New York, Bob jumped into ship#1. The ship allegedley had some early instability problems, making pilot-induced a concern. Being the fairly hard headed man he allegedly was, Stanley attempted to fly the helicopter without much attention to the checkout. He crashed! It was Bob stanley who flew through the rotors and miraculously ended up with only a broken arm."
further on
"Joiner recalledthat Ship #1 was 'damaged in an unnecessary accident,' after Stanley showed up at Gardenville one day, saying that he wanted to fly the aircraft. Stanley eventually climbed in and 'without a seat restraint', lit the fire and attempted to hover the beast. In doing so, Stanley overcontrolled the collective pitch lever and was rewarded by being tossed out of the ship and into the rotor blades'
my apologies to Dorcey Wingo for plagurising and condensing his excellent article...