should go out to welcome them. By the time preparations were made, it was necessary to fly only approximately 50 miles to their estimated location; on arrival, however, there was no sign of them and it was only on turning back that we spotted the escorting aircraft, and then the H-19s themselves.

     Capt. McKeown closed right in on the helicopters, which were flying at approximately 500ft in close formation, and it was then that I had the satisfaction of doing one of those small things that many an airline passenger must have wished to try. We had permission to pull out the sortie de secour window-panels of the Viking for photographic purposes: it was surprising how little effort was required—I was most encouraged.

     As the Viking circled the two helicopters, one could see that their crews were delighted at the friendly welcome. After formatting two or three times with flaps down at about 100 m.p.h. our Viking gave a traditional aircraft salute; then we sped back to Prestwick to join the reception committee.

     Shortly after 4 p.m. the helicopters came sweeping into the airport low over the hangars, their fuselages glistening in the evening sun. They flew past the waiting crowds in a splendid beat-up and then stall-turned into their landing approach. First down was Hop-A-Long, flown by Capt. Vincent H. McGovern, the 29-year-old expedition commander, bomber pilot of War II and Korea veteran of 96 helicopter rescue missions. His co-pilot was Capt. Harry C. Jeffers, also a Korea veteran. The second machine, Whirl-O-Way, was captained by 1st Lt. Harold W. Moore, who has 112 Korean missions to his credit; its co-pilot was Capt. George O. Hambrick, who had been so keen to be included in the expedition that he offered to take orders from his junior officer.

     After the crews had been subjected to the usual broadside of press and newsreel cameras, General Griswold, Commanding General of the 3rd Air Force in Great Britain, welcomed the crews on behalf of the U.S.A.F. Also there to greet them were Mr. L. D. Lyman, vice-president of United Aircraft, Mr. Muir of the same organization, and Mr. Martin Graham of their Pratt and Whitney division.

     The British welcome was extended by Mr. J. Fearn, director of Westland Aircraft, Ltd.—who are building these Sikorsky S-55s as well as the smaller S-51s in this country—and Mr. A. H. Williams, the company's commercial manager. The writer was privileged to welcome the four pilots on behalf of the Helicopter Association of Great Britain, and they received a letter and telegram of congratulations from the Association's president, Mr. Eric Mensforth. 

     Although they had been flying for over ten hours, the four crew-members did not appear unduly tired, as, with Maj. Richard B. McVay, they told the story of their trip. As project officer, Maj. McVay had accompanied the helicopters in the C-47, one of the two aircraft that escorted the expedition across. The other was a Grumman Albatross amphibian.

The day-by-day story of the flight was as follows:

July 14th.— A farewell party was given in the officers' mess at Westover Air Force Base, near Springfield, Mass. Mr. Igor Sikorsky, pioneer designer of the Sikorsky range of helicopters, and Mr. Ben Whelan, general manager of Sikorsky aircraft, were amongst the well-wishers who gathered at Westover A.F.B.

July 15th.— The two helicopters took off from Westover on the first 380-mile leg, to Presque Isle, Maine. Each had three extra 100 U.S. gallon fuel tanks in the cargo hold, giving a total capacity of 480 gal. The machines took off at a gross weight of 8,125 lb, an authorized overload of 625 lb. A short running take-off was made to avoid any risk of sink between a hovering take-off and transition to forward flight. The trip to Presque Isle was uneventful.

July 16th.— Delay due to bad weather.

July 17th.— The 570-mile flight to Goose Bay, Labrador, was completed uneventfully.

July l8th-19th.— Bad weather over Greenland precluded the escort aircraft from attempting the 770-mile crossing.

July 20th.— A first and unsuccessful attempt was made at the long crossing, but the helicopters met headwinds when half way and were forced to return to Goose Bay. On the second attempt they were called back after 1 1/2 hours' flying, because the weather had again closed down over Greenland and would have prevented the escort aircraft from landing there. On the third try the helicopters struck extremely bad weather, with poor visibility and rain-storms, when only 1 hr 20 min out from the Labrador coast. They were therefore ordered to return. On the way back, headwinds of up to 50 kt were encountered and at times the H-19’s had a "sea speed" of only 25 kt. After 4 hr 40 min flying it was deemed impracticable to complete the return journey to Goose Bay against such head-winds and the helicopters therefore landed at an Army Camp at Cape Harrison (on the Labrador coast) for the night, returning to Goose Bay next day for refueling. There was now a weather hold-up of nearly a week.

July 27th.— On the fifth attempt, which was to prove successful, the helicopters and their two escorting aircraft had passed the point of no return when the American weather bases at Bluie West One and Bluie West Two in Greenland announced a complete close-down: the ceiling at B.W.1, the destination, was 50ft, with visibility of a little over 100 yards. The expedition was obliged to continue, however, and on arrival near Greenland the helicopters were forced down to 30ft, and a careful lookout had to be kept for icebergs and small islands. Eventually the helicopters were forced to land on a tiny island 42 miles short of their destination, where they stayed the night of Sunday, July 27th.

July 28th.— The aircraft flew on to Bluie West One.

July 29th.— The helicopters were rejoined by their escort aircraft, which had been forced to land elsewhere, and after take-off they all flew south around Cape Farewell, the southernmost point of Greenland. With a 35 kt tail-wind they arrived at Keflavik, Iceland (850 miles), after 9 hr 50 min, two hours ahead of their E.T.A. In Iceland the expedition was welcomed and entertained by Westland Aircraft agents Mr. Gisli Johnson and Mr. Paulsen.

July 30th.— Again the likelihood of head-winds precluded a start on the last 920-mile hop to Prestwick via the Hebrides.

Thursday, July 31st.— The weather report being favorable, the helicopters made a 6 a.m. B.S.T. take-off. All went well, and after their longest flight (947 miles)* of 10 hr 10 min the two aircraft completed the first helicopter crossing of the Atlantic when they landed at Prestwick at 4.10 p.m. B.S.T. The total flying time was 42 hr 25 min for the complete trip of some 4,000 miles from their base in Massachusetts. On arrival the pilots stated that they still had three hours' fuel remaining. Cruising speeds of 80 to 85 m.p.h. had been maintained, at altitudes varying between 50 and 3,500ft, as dictated by weather; usually the height was around 500ft.

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     It is interesting to note that jet fighters waiting at Goose Bay to be ferried across the Atlantic at the time of the departure of the helicopters were still waiting for suitable weather when the latter had completed their crossing.

     The flight was a most ambitious and courageous undertaking, and its success reflects credit on the Bridgeport team of designers and engineers responsible for Sikorsky helicopters. It is an appropriate addition to the long list of "firsts" that Igor Sikorsky's many helicopters have counted to their credit. It will be remembered that Igor Sikorsky was responsible for the design of the V.S.300, the world's first practical helicopter.

     The first commercial license for a helicopter was for a Sikorsky machine and many of these machines have since set up world records for speed, distance and altitude. It is fitting that it was two of Sikorsky's latest production machines that brought home the helicopter Blue Riband of the Atlantic to their pioneer designer.

     The two S-55s, or H-19s, which made the Atlantic crossing continued next day (Friday) to the Continent, on their way to join the 9th Air Rescue Squadron at Wiesbaden, Germany; on the Saturday (August 2nd) they appeared at the Ypenburg Display in Holland, an account of which appears on pages 181-183. For operational duty the extra fuel tanks will, of course, be taken out and rescue winches re-installed. It is understood that the crews will shortly return to the United States.

     Apart from its historical significance, the Atlantic flight has proved that it is possible to deliver rotor-planes from America to Europe by this method. Whether in peace-time it would be economically practicable has yet to be evaluated, for it is obvious that the elaborate escort arrangements used on this occasion could not be repeated for every delivery. Apart from their search and rescue responsibilities, the escorts acted as navigators: they gave the helicopter pilots their position every 15 minutes, and one, flying ahead, sent out a continuous signal. C.C.C.

*Subject to official confirmation, this will break the long-standing helicopter straight-line distance record of 1,132.337 kfn (704.5 miles), established in May, 1946, by Maj. F. T. Cashman, who flew a Sikorsky R.5A from Wright Field, Dayton, Ohio, to Logan Field, Boston, Mass.

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From Flight 15 August 1962 edition

 COURTESY OF SID NANSON