Into Everyday Use

Interest in helicopters increased rapidly after World War II. In 1946, the first experimental delivery of U. S. airmail by helicopter was made in Chicago. A Sikorsky S-51 began the world’s first scheduled helicopter passenger service in Los Angeles in 1947. A helicopter landing station, or “heliport,” was opened in New York City in 1949, and the first international helicopter passen­ger flight was made in 1953 between Brussels, Belgium, and London, England.

For the military, too, the helicopter was soon in everyday use. During the Korean War (1950-1953), helicopters took on a variety of tasks, including observation, transporting supplies and troops, and evacuating casualties.

By the 1960s, the helicopter had a combat role-attack helicopters called “gunships” targeted enemy troops and tanks on the ground. Helicopters were used a great deal in the Vietnam War. The first combat helicopter widely employed by the U. S. military was the Bell Model 209 HueyCobra (1967).

Helicopters found useful roles with the U. S. Navy: they flew reconnaissance missions and hunted submarines with

guns, missiles, depth charges, and torpe­does. They were used to rescue pilots downed in the ocean and to retrieve spacecraft and astronauts. Large, troop­carrying helicopters flew soldiers and marines into combat zones. Even a rela­tively small ship, such as a destroyer, is able to carry a helicopter, and this type of aircraft is now an essential compo­nent of a modern navy fleet.