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HELICOPTER AIR SERVICE PROGRAM      115

carry 50 men, and obviously, is available for the conventional user or any other user.

With regret, I must say that the Soviets have a helicopter almost twice as big as that. I hope that we will not let the priority too long stay with them in this very important factor.

With respect to the services of the helicopter, many competent people have testified here-and I would not need to repeat their testimony except to conform to the full extent that has been stated by Mr. Tipton; namely, the definite advantages and services which the commercial operator gives to the construction. As an engineering manager, I know that the operation of the early pioneers of helicopter airlines, which we have in this country, definitely helped to promote greater durability, better maintenance, better percentage of availability of our helicopters, because of the information and experience which they constantly supplied to us for their own interests but as well for the interests of the promotion of the helicopter in general.

With respect to the speed of the aircraft, we have ships which cruise at 150 miles an hour. The world record is beyond 200 miles per hour. Consequently, within this bracket can be considered the operating range of the helicopter now or within the very near future.

The so-called compound helicopter may be expected to be pushed to 250 miles per hour in the very foreseeable future, and even this would be without sacrificing a single one of the well-known and rather attractive characteristics of the helicopter, except only that it will call for a greater amount of horsepower installed per passenger.

With respect to the services of the helicopter, much has been said and the only item which I would like to add is the following: I am very firmly convinced that out of all the possible methods of communication between airport and the center of a city, the helicopter is by far the best and the most promising. I would prefer for this kind of a service rather than the crane helicopter carrying a port. By this we may easily visualize the following:

Suppose we consider the bus or limousine which is used at the present time at the Dulles Airport here in Washington. The limousine approaches the airliner, the passenger and luggage preferably in containers is transferred into the limousine, or if it is a large liner, it may be two or three such limousines, and each of these limousines is then bodily picked up by a crane helicopter-which is absolutely practical, feasible, and has been done by us already-not with the particular limousine, but with its equivalent, in which 50 passengers could have been carried and have been carried, in fact.

Then it is flown to a city heliport and one of the very attractive ways of operating would be to disconnect the port. Then if it is a rooftop airport, lower it down to a lounge, or if it is a heliport of any other kind, bring the port into the lounge, or in contact with the lounge, and permit the passenger to go out directly without even going outside in the open.

Meanwhile, the luggage-in containers-is being transferred inside the building, inside the hull, and the passenger passing by may pick up his luggage. Sometimes even heavy coats in the winter-because they wouldn't need them-and step out in the center of the city. 

Here in Washington, for example, between the moment that the passenger enters the runway-or wherever the airliner is parked and they