Post by Jeannette on Feb 12, 2008 10:29:17 GMT -5
Inventor of twin-rotor helicopter dies at 88
Aviation pioneer Frank Piasecki, inventor of the tandem-rotor helicopter familiar from decades of troop-transport missions and land and sea rescue flights, has died at his home in the Philadelphia suburbs. He was 88.
Piasecki’s wife, Vivian, was with him when he fell ill Monday at his home in Havertown. The cause of his death had not been determined but he had suffered several recent strokes, his son, John Piasecki, said early Tuesday.
Piasecki was born in 1919 in Lansdowne and was involved in the earliest days of helicopters. Soon after Igor Sikorski became the first American to build a helicopter in 1939, Piasecki became the second in 1943.
“He was one of the original inventors of the helicopter and a pioneer in establishing the helicopter industry,” John Piasecki said early Tuesday. “He was the last of that generation that really created an entirely new industry.”
In the 1940s, Frank Piasecki invented the twin-rotor craft that was developed into the Army Chinook and Navy Sea Knight helicopters still operating today. The Chinook was used for long-distance troop-ferrying in Vietnam in the 1960s, and newer models continue to fly special operations missions.
“Pi was really a visionary ... a creative engineer with a lot of energy and imagination,” Joseph P. Consgrove, a friend and colleague since 1955, told The Philadelphia Inquirer at a birthday party for Piasecki in October.
Piasecki eventually left Piasecki Helicopter Co. In 1955, he formed Piasecki Aircraft Corp. to continue exploring new technology. Piasecki Helicopter became Vertol Aircraft Corp. and was acquired by Boeing in 1960. Boeing now manufactures the Chinook and Sea Knight helicopters.
Piasecki was still chief executive of Piasecki Aircraft, and testing is underway on his latest invention. In place of a sideways facing tail rotor, the Speed Hawk helicopter now in the demonstration phase has a rear-facing ducted propeller designed to improve stability and forward speed.
“He continued working up to the end — an incredible mind — the unique combination of a great imagination and sense of possibility coupled with the perseverance to bring those ideas to reality,” John Piasecki said.
Piasecki is survived by his wife and seven children.
Aviation pioneer Frank Piasecki, inventor of the tandem-rotor helicopter familiar from decades of troop-transport missions and land and sea rescue flights, has died at his home in the Philadelphia suburbs. He was 88.
Piasecki’s wife, Vivian, was with him when he fell ill Monday at his home in Havertown. The cause of his death had not been determined but he had suffered several recent strokes, his son, John Piasecki, said early Tuesday.
Piasecki was born in 1919 in Lansdowne and was involved in the earliest days of helicopters. Soon after Igor Sikorski became the first American to build a helicopter in 1939, Piasecki became the second in 1943.
“He was one of the original inventors of the helicopter and a pioneer in establishing the helicopter industry,” John Piasecki said early Tuesday. “He was the last of that generation that really created an entirely new industry.”
In the 1940s, Frank Piasecki invented the twin-rotor craft that was developed into the Army Chinook and Navy Sea Knight helicopters still operating today. The Chinook was used for long-distance troop-ferrying in Vietnam in the 1960s, and newer models continue to fly special operations missions.
“Pi was really a visionary ... a creative engineer with a lot of energy and imagination,” Joseph P. Consgrove, a friend and colleague since 1955, told The Philadelphia Inquirer at a birthday party for Piasecki in October.
Piasecki eventually left Piasecki Helicopter Co. In 1955, he formed Piasecki Aircraft Corp. to continue exploring new technology. Piasecki Helicopter became Vertol Aircraft Corp. and was acquired by Boeing in 1960. Boeing now manufactures the Chinook and Sea Knight helicopters.
Piasecki was still chief executive of Piasecki Aircraft, and testing is underway on his latest invention. In place of a sideways facing tail rotor, the Speed Hawk helicopter now in the demonstration phase has a rear-facing ducted propeller designed to improve stability and forward speed.
“He continued working up to the end — an incredible mind — the unique combination of a great imagination and sense of possibility coupled with the perseverance to bring those ideas to reality,” John Piasecki said.
Piasecki is survived by his wife and seven children.