Frank Piasecki
Aviation pioneer Frank Piasecki, inventor of the tandem-rotor helicopter used in troop-transport missions and land and sea rescue flights, died Monday (11 Feb). He was 88.
Igor Sikorski was the first American to build a helicopter - Frank Piasecki was the second. His were more interesting, in the end (sorry, Igor, but hey, you'll always have the Illya Muromets!).
Born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania to an immigrant Polish tailor, Piąsecki worked for autogyro manufacturers while still in high school. With his college buddy Howard Venzie he founded a small aeronautical company, Piasecki Helicopter. He built a single-person, single-rotor helicopter designated the PV-2 and test-flew it on April 11, 1943. This helicopter impressed the US Navy sufficiently to win Piasecki a development contract.
We know him because Piąsecki invented the concept of the tandem bladed helos. After the war, Piąsecki received a contract to build several military prototypes and this design principle came to be used in a number of helicopters that were very successful in both military and civilian use. These include the Piasecki H-21 (better known as the Flying Banana), which entered service in the 1950s, the Boeing Vertol CH-46 Sea Knight, and the CH-47 Chinook.
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 still makes the Chinook and Sea Knight helicopters.
Apparently not one to slow down, a 88 Frank was still chief executive of Piasecki Aircraft, and testing is under way on his latest innovation. Seeking a new idea to replace the tail rotor of single rotor designs like the Blackhawk, the Speed Hawk helicopter has a rear-facing ducted propeller designed to improve stability and forward speed.
The music may be a little different for the non-veterans we honor here at the Castle, but now is the time at Castle Argghhh! when we dance: In Memoriam, for Frank Piasecki, whose aircraft (including the Flying Banana) I've flown in, and upon whose ideas America's warriors still rely - as illustrated in the pictures that accompany this post. I'm guessing over in the Rotary Wing section of Fiddler's Green, there's a seat for Frank.
H/t, Mike L.
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