Not Everything At Heli-EXPO Was Brand New…

People attend shows like Heli-EXPO to see what is the latest and greatest in aircraft and associated systems and equipment. But not everyone exhibiting at the show in Dallas in March had something brand new on display.

Such was the case with the Commemorative Air Force (CAF), which is dedicated to restoring and flying vintage military aircraft. At their booth, attendees saw the bones of an iconic rotorcraft, the Sikorsky Hoverfly.

Keegan Chetwynd, Curator for the Commemorative Air Force, told ANN CEO and Editor in Chief Jim Campbell that the Hoverfly was the first mass-produced, practical helicopter ever built.

The U.S. Army ordered about 100 of the aircraft from Sikorsky at the outset of WWII, with the caveat that Sikorsky modify the VS-300 into a two-place aircraft. Chetwynd said that the modifications became the standard design for the modern helicopter.

Chetwynd said there are about eight Hoverfly airframes surviving today, but most are in museums. The example displayed at Heli-EXPO by the CAF is the only known airframe that is a candidate for restoration to airworthy condition. It was acquired by the CAF in the 1970s, he said, "and our ambition is to fly this," he said. "It would be the world's oldest flying helicopter" having come out of the Sikorsky factory in Stratford, CT in 1944.

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