Your Flying Flivver 61 



are ideal as observation craft. Equipped with two-way radio 

 and manned by a pilot and observer, the Grasshoppers spot 

 enemy guns and direct the fire of our artillery. These planes 

 also can transport men and materials to front-line points which 

 could not be reached by heavy cargo planes. They have 

 served successfully as hospital planes for the evacuation of 

 wounded. Other types of light, unarmored planes are used as 

 training craft for pilots. 



Your First Plane the Helicopter 



Unless you are air-minded and have already had some expe- 

 rience in piloting a plane, your first flying ship may well be a 

 helicopter. You will regard this rotary- wing craft with affec- 

 tion and esteem because of the ease and simplicity with which 

 it can be operated. Its horizontal, revolving blades enable it 

 to fly straight up, straight down, forward, backward, side- 

 ways, and to hover stationary in the air like a gnat or hum- 

 mingbird. It can operate from your back yard, the roof of 

 an office building, or a side street. Most airplanes are still 

 demanding creatures when it comes to take-off and landing 

 space. The helicopter asks no favors. All it requires is space 

 large enough to contain its structure. 



Igor Ivan Sikorsky, the designer of one of the first success- 

 ful helicopters, contends that it is far simpler to handle than 

 a plane. "In the conventional craft," he explains, "you can't 

 make .the controls function effectively for flight under a for- 

 ward speed of less than 50 or 60 mph. But in the helicopter, 

 you can stay in one place and learn everything you need to 

 know in complete safety. 



"You can get in your new helicopter, speed up the rotor 

 blades, and pull the left lift lever, but you don't rise, as you 

 expect, to a disconcerting height; instead, a cable attached to 

 the helicopter holds it some four feet above the ground, per- 



