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HELICOPTER AIR SERVICE PROGRAM       243

Senator MONRONEY. Most of the helicopter pilots that I have talked to, including the men who have been flying this permanental plane, have all been fixed-wing pilots. They were trained on about 500 hours of helicopters and then on fixed-wing and variable wings. 

Mr. RUBY. That is affirmative.

Senator MONRONEY. We appreciate your interest in this. We will be very happy to hear from your colleagues, Mr. Carter.

STATEMENT OF MR. LESLIE CARTER, CAPTAIN, NEW YORK AIRWAYS

Mr. CARTER. My name is Leslie Carter. I am a captain with New York Airways. I am the council chairman of our pilot group. I also represent the pilot groups from Chicago Helicopter Airways, and Los Angeles Airways. 

I have perhaps only one comment to make pertaining to some earlier testimony with with regard to the roof-top heliport on top of the Pan American building.

At the moment, our Safety Chairman of New York Airways is working very closely with our Company and with the FAA in trying to establish this as a very safe operation.
To our knowledge, right now, there is nothing that we know that will make this an impossibility. We feel that it can be done safely. 

Senator MONRONEY. As safe as if it were on a ground level heliport?

Mr. CARTER. Yes, sir.

Senator MONRONEY. I am glad to hear that, because updrafts being what they are, sometimes a helicopter just getting started, I was afraid might present more than a normal hazard, but not one that is insuperable.

Mr. CARTER. We are at the stage now where we have enough power and controllability to overcome any such situation.

Senator MONRONEY. The ability of the new aircraft are such that they can probably maneuver in weather and climates that were though to be impossible a few years ago.

Mr. CARTER. Yes, sir. Power was the big problem, years ago. We have some power now.

Senator MONRONEY. And you have the problem of unfavorable weather pretty well whipped by the new Decca guidance system.

Mr. CARTER. Yes, sir. We feel that will help us a long way, and we should achieve at least the schedule reliability of fixed-wing operations.

Senator MONRONEY. That will be pretty high. You are now at between 80 and 90 percent, are you not? 

Mr. CARTER. In the New York area, we are about 80 percent, on the average.

Senator MONRONEY. Do you notice that when the weather is bad and you have to cancel out flights, for the succeeding few weeks you have bad traffic, low traffic periods?

Mr. CARTER. I personally haven't noticed that too much. But it does seem that when the weather is bad, there seem to be a greater number of people ready to use our service.