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HELICOPTER AIR SERVICE PROGRAM      43

consumption and high engine stress. This is in contrast to a fixed-wing aircraft which operates at maximum power normally only on takeoff, which is followed by a substantial period of operation at reduced power. The helicopter also operates at near-maximum speed. Operation at near-maximum power and speed means that the entire aircraft operating at near-maximum stress.
 
These special mechanical and stress factors require more frequent inspections and more frequent performance of maintenance and overhaul than for fixed-wing aircraft. Periodic inspections are required roughly twice as often for helicopters. Similarly, engine overhauls for helicopters are required about twice as often as in the case of fixed-wing aircraft. The result is that in 1963 the average maintenance costs, including direct maintenance and maintenance burden, for two engine, fixed-wing piston aircraft in local service operation was 35 cents per aircraft mile, but for piston helicopters the cost averaged $1.01 per mile and, for turbine helicopters in scheduled service, $1.89 per mile.

Experience has shown that the claims made by the helicopter operators in the past have been exaggerated. The aviation community has promised too much and has promised that it would be available too soon. From an economic standpoint, and from a technical standpoint as well, helicopters have not come along as rapidly as many of us had hoped and believed they would.

Under the Federal Aviation Act, the FAA is charged with the duty and responsibility for encouraging and fostering the development of civil aeronautics and air commerce. In this regard, helicopter operations are of particular interest to FAA because of the possible value the helicopter may have in contributing to a solution to the problems of urban travel, particularly  the problem of moving air passengers between airports and the city centers. From a long-range point of view, we would have to say that the helicopter appears to hold promise of making a contribution to the solution of those problems. At the present time, however, and for the immediate future, only a relatively small number of air passengers are directly benefited. The President has decided, after considering all factors, that the cost of subsidizing these scheduled services exceeds the benefits to the taxpayers. We will therefore support and carry out the President's decision that it is in the national public interest to discontinue financial support at the end of the year.

As a member of the administration, I find that the helicopter advocates for years have promised too much and promised that it would be available way too soon. The helicopter experiment has been underway for 17 years, and the passenger experiment with helicopters has been underway for 12 years.

The three subsidized carriers have not yet achieved economic self-sufficiency, though there has been quite substantial progress. 

We naturally are interested most in the safety of these operations. I am able to report that, in these 12 years, among these three subsidized carriers there have only been two fatal accidents in almost a million flights. The total accidents, as well as the fatal accident rate, compares favorably with that of fixed-wing aircraft.

During these years-the 9 years period from 1955 through 1963-there have been 31 million fixed-wing flights with 1.59 accidents per