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AAHS Journal, Vol. 57, No. 3 - Fall 2012 Table of Contents
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"Number Two;" Helicopter Pioneer Stewart Ross Graham, Part II  “I have always been fascinated by the wonders of flight"the flying machines as well as the daring aviators who flew them. The flying machine I came to know best was the helicopter.” Steward Ross Graham, Naval/Coast Guard helicopter pilot number two. New Direction Then, as the New Year began, calamity struck. All helicopter training was terminated unexpectedly and without prior announcement on February 6, 1945. The school closed with the graduation of its sixth class. This ended Erickson’s access to helicopters for his experimental work, adapting this machine for search and rescue " his primary goal. Fixed-wing patrol aircraft were moved back to Coast Guard Air Station Brooklyn to resume routine Coast Guard flight operations. Most helicopters went into storage. Bitterly, Erickson noted “because [helicopters] did not fit into the air-sea rescue program as it was then envisioned by those in control of Coast Guard aviation.”[1] The war’s winding down further impaired the barely-developing helicopter industry. Most rotary-wing production contracts were canceled. The Coast Guard’s allocation of HO2S helicopters was cut from 50 aircraft to two. Erickson’s spirits were further crushed with the knowledge that “any hopes of converting the HO2S for Coast Guard rescue operations went dow the drain.”[2] Predictably to this point, when Erickson saw an opening, he acted immediately, aggressively, and generally without regard to conventional attitudes. His belligerent behavior, protecting the helicopter and his programs, also . . . |
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HM-1 Racer Time Flies Frank Hawks was a well-known racing pilot who set numerous speed records flying from city to city both in the U.S., Europe and South America. He flew a Travel Air Mystery Ship for Texaco Oil Co. during the early 1930s and put on a great show in several European cities. Hawks had wanted to design a special purpose aircraft and in 1936 he found the New England Aircraft Co. in Redding, Connecticut. He commissioned Howell “Pete” Miller, who had previously worked for the Granville brothers, to design a new racing plane using Hawks’ specifications. The project was launched on June 12, 1935, with Miller enlisting the aid of Don DeLackner, who had worked with him at Granville. Miller would become president of New England Aircraft while Hawks served as a vice president. |
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The night of December 16, 1975, was dangerous for both man and machine at Anchorage International Airport, Alaska. Treacherous high winds in the form of a dangerous mini-Chinook (Alaskans called them Aleutian Williwaws), drove mixed rain and sleet at gusts of 40 knots, occasionally reaching 60 knots, which coated the ramps, runways and taxiways with a slick glaze of ice. Japan Air Lines DC-8s and 747s landing daily often departed during the winter nights when no sunlight could melt and evaporate the slick ice coating everything that evening. During this inclement weather the JAL’s Boeing 747-200B, JAL 8122, s/n 20924, was pushed by ramp tugs away from the main terminal. It was disconnected and under its own power slowly trundled along the parallel taxiway to the east-west runway. The author observed the aircraft slowly disappear into the darkness.  |
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Getting the Word |
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World's Greatest Grumman Mallard Pilot     The first time I met George Sherwood he greeted me with a broad smile, a firm handshake and handed me his business card. On one side was a colorful photograph of a Grumman Mallard. On the other side, in addition to the usual name and phone numbers, were the words “Worlds Greatest Grumman Mallard Pilot.” After a few minutes of casual conversation I quickly realized that I was in the presence of a true aviation pioneer. George had done it all. He had been a barnstormer, flight instructor, test pilot, airline and corporate pilot and everything else in between!
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On January 16, 1970, a sleek silver jet bomber thundered down a two-mile runway in Jacksonville, Ark., on its last take-off roll. As the echo of its four engines faded to silence, the era of the strategic bomber ended at Little Rock AFB. Number 55-0668, the last Convair B-58 Hustler, was on its way to the final resting place of American warbirds: the “Boneyard” at Davis-Monthan AFB, Arizona. No one could have guessed that 668 would return more than four decades later. |
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Remembering the Thirteenth Mission: The Day the Milk Soured During WWII, flight crews of U.S. bombers stationed in England knew that all of their missions had the potential to be both dangerous and deadly. Air combat losses were all too common to assume otherwise. Occasionally, however, a crew received an assignment that, for all intents and purposes, appeared to be a milk run " a routine, easy mission " with little or no danger anticipated. |
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Spectre, the First Year, 1968-69 By February 1968, I had been at Charleston AFB, S.C., for six months, after 27 months in the B-52H at Grand Forks AFB, North Dakota. That was long enough to get checked out in the C-141A with the 41st MAS, and to become engaged to a navy nurse. In early April, base personnel called and asked, “Capt. Taylor, how would you like to go to Thailand?” |
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   This series focuses on sales literature that prompted light aircraft during the Golden Age of American aviation. It will illustrate sales and marketing messages for popular, and not so well known, aircraft from the 1920s and 1930s, illuminating insight into the perspectives associated with the aviation industry of that era. |
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    The FORUM is presented as an opportunity for each member to participate in the Journal by submitting interesting or unusual photographs. Negatives, black-and-white or color photos with good contrast may be used if they have smooth surfaces. Send submissions to the Editorial Committee marked "Forum of Flight," P.O. Box 3023, Huntington Beach, CA 92605-3023. Mark any material to be returned: "Return to (your name and complete address)." |
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    Additions, corrections and general comments from AAHS members and other individuals that have contact the Society. |
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