Helicopter pioneer Piasecki dies...
Helicopter pioneer Piasecki dies...
Philly.com
Helicopter pioneer Piasecki dies
By Henry J. Holcomb
INQUIRER STAFF WRITER
Frank Piasecki, the aviation pioneer who invented the tandem-rotor helicopter that has carried soldiers into battle and rescued thousands from disasters, died today.
The helicopters he developed, the Army's Chinook and the Navy's Sea Knight, are now built by the Boeing Co. Rotorcraft Division in Ridley Twp., a Philadelphia suburb.
In 1943, Piasecki became the second American to build and fly a helicopter, following Igor Sikorsky who flew his first helicopter in 1941.
At age 88, Piasecki remained chief executive of Piasecki Aircraft Corp.
He was busy, working with his sons, John and Fred, both vice presidents of his company, perfecting his latest creation.
When Piasecki fell ill at his Haverford home yesterday, his chief test pilot, Steven A. Schellberg, was in the air completing phase-one tests of that invention, a ducted fan to replace tail rotors that increases speed and maneuverability.
Advanced age and strokes had diminished his physical agility, but his mind remained sharp and his death came as a shock to coworkers.
"He's the father of Boeing Rotorcraft. We would not be where we are without his mind and entrepreneural skills," J. Patrick Donnelly, Boeing's director of advanced rotorcraft, said in an October interview. "He struggles physically, but we still have conversations with him about our work. His mind is very fertile."
Donnelly made the comments in an interview at party in October honoring Piasecki's 87th birthday party. The event was held in Boeing's hangar at New Castle County Airport, where Piasecki is testing his latest invention on a modified Sikorsky Black Hawk combat helicopter, which he renamed the "Speed Hawk."
"Pi," as his friends called him, "was really a visionary . . . a creative engineer with a lot of energy and imagination," said Joseph P. Consgrove, his friend and colleague since 1955, also interviewed at the birthday party.
He did not set out to find uses for ideas that came to him, Consgrove said. Instead he was always working to solve a problem or fill a need.
The tandem-rotor helicopter that became the Chinook and Sea Knight was invented, Consgrove said, because the military needed to lift and transport more weight than conventional single-rotor helicopters could handle.
The first versions were dubbed "the flying banana" because of its shape. The rear curved upward to elevate the rear rotor over the forward rotor and keep the two rotors from striking.
The Navy's Sea Knight is being replaced by the V-22 Osprey, which takes off like a helicopter, then tilts its rotors to fly like an airplane.
But updated versions of the Army Chinook have fresh transport and special operations missions. Yet another new model is competing to become the next Air Force search-and-rescue helicopter. Boeing says Piasecki's creation, which flew soldiers to remote parts of Vietnam in the 1960s, will keep flying well beyond 2030.
Piasecki gave up control of his first company to get funds to build the big factory in Morton, Delaware County, and produce the tandem rotor helicopter. While investors sought financial rewards of his invention, Piasecki wanted to keep creating new technology.
In frustration, he left the company and the name was changed from Piasecki Helicopter Co. to Vertol Aircraft Corp., which in 1960 was acquired by Boeing.
In 1950 Piasecki formed his current company, Piasecki Aircraft Corp., and went on to achieve a long list of firsts in expanding the capabilities of vertical take-off aircraft.
By Henry J. Holcomb
INQUIRER STAFF WRITER
Frank Piasecki, the aviation pioneer who invented the tandem-rotor helicopter that has carried soldiers into battle and rescued thousands from disasters, died today.
The helicopters he developed, the Army's Chinook and the Navy's Sea Knight, are now built by the Boeing Co. Rotorcraft Division in Ridley Twp., a Philadelphia suburb.
In 1943, Piasecki became the second American to build and fly a helicopter, following Igor Sikorsky who flew his first helicopter in 1941.
At age 88, Piasecki remained chief executive of Piasecki Aircraft Corp.
He was busy, working with his sons, John and Fred, both vice presidents of his company, perfecting his latest creation.
When Piasecki fell ill at his Haverford home yesterday, his chief test pilot, Steven A. Schellberg, was in the air completing phase-one tests of that invention, a ducted fan to replace tail rotors that increases speed and maneuverability.
Advanced age and strokes had diminished his physical agility, but his mind remained sharp and his death came as a shock to coworkers.
"He's the father of Boeing Rotorcraft. We would not be where we are without his mind and entrepreneural skills," J. Patrick Donnelly, Boeing's director of advanced rotorcraft, said in an October interview. "He struggles physically, but we still have conversations with him about our work. His mind is very fertile."
Donnelly made the comments in an interview at party in October honoring Piasecki's 87th birthday party. The event was held in Boeing's hangar at New Castle County Airport, where Piasecki is testing his latest invention on a modified Sikorsky Black Hawk combat helicopter, which he renamed the "Speed Hawk."
"Pi," as his friends called him, "was really a visionary . . . a creative engineer with a lot of energy and imagination," said Joseph P. Consgrove, his friend and colleague since 1955, also interviewed at the birthday party.
He did not set out to find uses for ideas that came to him, Consgrove said. Instead he was always working to solve a problem or fill a need.
The tandem-rotor helicopter that became the Chinook and Sea Knight was invented, Consgrove said, because the military needed to lift and transport more weight than conventional single-rotor helicopters could handle.
The first versions were dubbed "the flying banana" because of its shape. The rear curved upward to elevate the rear rotor over the forward rotor and keep the two rotors from striking.
The Navy's Sea Knight is being replaced by the V-22 Osprey, which takes off like a helicopter, then tilts its rotors to fly like an airplane.
But updated versions of the Army Chinook have fresh transport and special operations missions. Yet another new model is competing to become the next Air Force search-and-rescue helicopter. Boeing says Piasecki's creation, which flew soldiers to remote parts of Vietnam in the 1960s, will keep flying well beyond 2030.
Piasecki gave up control of his first company to get funds to build the big factory in Morton, Delaware County, and produce the tandem rotor helicopter. While investors sought financial rewards of his invention, Piasecki wanted to keep creating new technology.
In frustration, he left the company and the name was changed from Piasecki Helicopter Co. to Vertol Aircraft Corp., which in 1960 was acquired by Boeing.
In 1950 Piasecki formed his current company, Piasecki Aircraft Corp., and went on to achieve a long list of firsts in expanding the capabilities of vertical take-off aircraft.
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Sorry to hear the news. Frank was from the generation that did, rather than just talked about doing.
Most of us will be lucky to work on one-tenth of the programs he did.
RIP.
I/C
Most of us will be lucky to work on one-tenth of the programs he did.
RIP.
I/C
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Frank was a doer and a genius, a rare and valuable combination. He had the ideas, the knowledge, the work ethic and the guts to build a company and a radically new helicopter configuration single-handed.
We will miss him! RIP Frank.
We will miss him! RIP Frank.
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That is a great shame. Frank Piasecki has inspired several generations of rotorcraft engineers. The development which lead to the Chinook has rightly earned the respect of both it's pilots and fellow engineer's. Definately in the best tradition of innovative thinking.
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Take a look at his "world's largest aircraft" picture in the Times today:
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/com...cle3370729.ece
Looks like three Wessex mounted on a small version of the forth rail bridge !
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/com...cle3370729.ece
Looks like three Wessex mounted on a small version of the forth rail bridge !
