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HELICOPTER AIR SERVICE PROGRAM

of 175 to 200 miles per hour. At the same time, it is working with Sikorsky in developing a twin-engine and three engine S-65 capable of carrying 48 to 65 passengers at 185 to 200 miles per hour. The initial design criteria for these machines were submitted by New York Airways in collaboration with Los Angeles, Chicago, Sabena, and British European Airways through IATA to the manufacturers in 1958. Moreover, the Hughes Tool Co. is developing the XV-9A hotcycle helicopter where the rotation of the blade is produced by the expulsion of air from the tips of the blade.

Continuation of certified helicopter service will contribute materially in the future, as it has in the past, to insure that manufacturers of vertical-lift equipment employ design criteria which meet the cost, safety, and operational requirements of short-haul VTOL commercial scheduled service. 

The next several years will continue to be of crucial importance in providing technological advances which will enable vertical lift operations between an increasing number of city centers. The Defense Department alone has already spent at least $300 million in engineering, development, and testing of vertical lift or short takeoff and landing aircraft (V/STOL) such as the XC-142 which is being produced by a team combining the resources of Link-Tempco-Vaught, Hiller and Ryan, the Curtiss-Wright X-19, the Bell X-22A, the Lockheed XV-4A, and the General Electric/Ryan lift fan configuration. If Federal Government sponsorship of schedule helicopter service is abandoned, there can be no assurance that these aircraft will be developed so as to meet not only military requirements but also meet commercial standards giving full consideration to the degree of safety and reliability, stability and control, passenger and crew features, and operating cost characteristics essential for commercial scheduled transport service. 

Moreover, intensive activity in this same area is being undertaken in England, Japan, West Germany, and France. If American manufacturers are to maintain their present lead in this area and if the United States is to be an exporter rather than an importer of vertical lift aircraft, it is essential that the close working relationship between the civil air carriers of the United States and the manufacturers working in the VTOL/STOL field be maintained.

(2) Instrument flight operations and navigation. On February 16, 1965, New York Airways received authority from the FAA to utilize the Decca navigator system to permit it to conduct operations both en route and at the terminal area under IFR conditions. The Decca system shows the pilot visually the geographical location of his helicopter and a stylus inscribes on a local area map the exact path being flow enabling the pilot to fly directly to his destination, much as a motorist follows a road map. The instruments comprising the Decca system are manufactured by the Bendix Corp., the Laboratory for Electronics, General Precision, and other companies.

The development of the Decca system for helicopters is a major advance in their more effective utilization in both commercial and military operations. Commercially, it will have a very important impact on the economics of scheduled helicopter service through dramatically increased reliability and consequent public acceptance. In military operations, the Decca system permits the operation of helicopters for tactical maneuvers including observation and troop, ammunition and supply drop, with assurance of reaching the designated target area precisely under all weather conditions. The importance of this development has recently been emphasized by FAA Administrator Halaby as follows:

"The introduction of the new twin-engine turbine-powered helicopters plus recent developments in aircraft instruments have made IFR operations possible for the first time in scheduled helicopter service. This will be a major advance and will bring the same kind of schedule reliability to helicopter service which the air traveler has come to expect for fixed-wing operations * * *. This improved reliability will be an important factor in attracting more passengers to helicopter service. The completion of a higher percentage of scheduled flights will also permit more effective utilization of equipment, personnel and ground facilities."

The long-run commercial implications are even more significant. Because of this development, we now know that with the next generation of helicopters, we can provide city center to city center service with maximum schedule reliability utilizing air space not now occupied by any other aircraft.

Appendix 9 contains a letter from Decca acknowledging New York Airways' substantial contribution to this significant development. As early as 1953, New York Airways realized that line-of-sigh navigation installations such as VOR systems were unsuitable for helicopter operations in cities where tall buildings interferred [[interfered]] with the line-of-sight signal. This same problem, of course, exists in