via Niagara Aerospace Museum
67 years ago on March 8, 1946 the Bell Model 47 helicopter NC-1H was certified by the CAA as the world’s first certified commercial helicopter. The helicopter was designed by Arthur Young and assisted by Bart Kelley. The flight test program was flown by Bell’s Chief Test Pilot Floyd Carlson. The dedication of these men changed the world of vertical flight.
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Bell Aircraft Corporation group photo of Test Pilots in 1942.
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Happy birthday to Col. Bud Day a true American hero. A pilot in WWII, Korea, and a POW in Vietnam.
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Happy birthday to Col. bud Day.
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Curtiss test pilot Bob Fussell sets a world speed record in a power diving Curtiss P-40 fighter — 661 mph! The P-40 wasn’t the fastest plane in World War 2 in level flight, but her strong structure and aerodynamic design enabled her to out dive many of her contemporaries without going out of control due ‘compressibility” effects. This was a lesson ‘Flying Tiger” pilots learned early on when they used the P-40s superior dive characteristics to escape from the more maneuverable Japanese Zero in China. A favorite tactic was to dive from superior altitude, make a quick pass, and then diving away and extending before the Japanese fighters could react.The Zero was hard to control in a dive at speeds over about 350 mph.
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The Niagara Frontier Aviation & Space Hall of Fame is pleased to annouce the Class of 2013. This years inductees are Donovan R. Berlin of Curtiss
Bell Helicopter in Niagara Falls, NY. 1947
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The 15,000th. Curtiss Fighter.
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