Word: vertol
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...supply runs, rescue missions and reconnaissance. Success in war is also producing spectacular results for the $900 million-a-year helicopter industry. With the increasing U.S. commitment in Viet Nam the Pentagon this year has ordered an additional $600 million worth of helicopters from Bell, Hughes Tool and Boeing-Vertol, which are (along with Sikorsky) the leaders of the industry...
...which provides more power than pistons and can fly about four times longer without an overhaul. The most common helicopter in Viet Nam up to now has been the workhorse Huey (the nickname for Bell's UH-1B), but the trend today is toward larger, more powerful craft. Vertol's 44-passenger, turbine-powered Chinook has already gone into service, and the 1st Cavalry Division (Airmobile) is using Sikorsky's turbine-powered CH-54As-or Skycranes-which can carry 87 men or six Jeeps. Because its Hueys were being hit by groundfire, Bell developed an armor-plated...
...industry's eleven companies are also working on some major innovations. Lockheed is experimenting with an odd-looking, stub-winged plane that takes off as a helicopter with rotors spinning overhead, folds the rotors into its body, then flies on at speeds of up to 500 m.p.h. Vertol is designing a tilt-winged aircraft that also lifts off as a copter, with its wings in a vertical position, then speeds forward as the wings are tilted horizontally and propellers take over to pull it along. Hughes's experimental XV-9A shoots hot gases out of rotor-tip vents...
...important innovation has been the recent development of sturdier, larger helicopters. Of the six major manufacturers, Boeing's Vertol Division and United Aircraft's Sikorsky Division are now producing twin-engine crafts with capacities of about 40 passengers. Once it gets federal clearance, New York Airways plans to begin in April Vertol-107 instrument flights from the top of Manhattan's 59-story Pan American Building. Since the new helicopters can operate at night and under the same visibility conditions required for jets, the line hopes to eliminate at least the complaint of unreliability in schedules...
Sikorsky barely beat its chief competitor, Boeing Airplane Co.'s Vertol Division, into the field. Vertol has converted its twin-turbine military helicopter into a civilian version called the Vertol 107, will begin turning out production models early next year. The 107 will seat 26-30 passengers, cruise at 150 m.p.h. New York Airways has already ordered...