6. TRIP ON A HELICOPTER CARRIER

Sweden  purchased some V-107 aircraft from us with extended range fuel tanks. They carried so much fuel that in the event of an engine failure with full fuel tanks and some cargo they would not be able to sustain flight.  We included a fuel jettison system so that they could reduce the weight.

We tested fuel jettison in flight over New Jersey and had no impingement on the aircraft, however, we spotted up several automobiles in a Dupont parking lot.  Our insurance company passed out money for a car wash, at the gate, at quitting time. The fuel had been died  red.

We still had a requirement to test for fuel impingement when taxiing on the water.

We were going to go down to the lower end of the Delaware Bay and do the test. We made the mistake of notifying the U S Coastguard of our plan. They said no way, 50 miles at sea or no discharging fuel. The company would not permit us to go offshore that far and land on the water, so we had a problem.

The Philadelphia Navy Yard was building Helicopter Assault Carriers, had just completed the sea trails on one, and would be delivering it to Norfolk.  Thru the Chief of Naval Operations we got permission the catch a ride with them.  Our company was still a little leery, so they made us fill the helicopter with enough Styrofoam to keep it afloat in the event of a problem.

We joined them at the Philadelphia Navy Base and proceeded off the continental shelf to dispose of some WW11 decoding disks. Our test was successful and we left them about 50 miles off Virginia Beach and flew home. The crew treated us very well and we all learned some Navy tradition.

We had our meals in the officers dinning room and learned that your cloth napkin is used for a week. You replace it in your napkin ring using a special folding technique, and place it in a rack with your number on it, ready for the next meal. This was started years ago to reduce the laundry load.

Charles Kessler is a retired flight test engineer for Boeing’s Vertol helicopter division (formerly Piasecki Helicopter Co.). He joined Piesecki in 1947, in the company’s fourth year, and retired from Boeing in 1983. During his 37-year career he took part in the testing of prototypes and alterations of such models as the CH-47 Chinook and Sea Knight, the H-16, HRP-2, and the V-107. He taught the stability augmentation system to the German Luftwaffe. He has written about his experience in a blog called “Early Helicopter Years,” which can be found at http://helicopterstory.blogspot.com/.