Science: Hillercopter11

A 19-year-old inventor may have made aviation history last week. In San Francisco, before an audience of Navy officers and aviation bigwigs, including Grover Loening, head aircraft consultant of WPB, young Stanley Hiller Jr. demonstrated a helicopter of startling maneuverability. He held the machine steady in the air just a foot off the ground, turned it around while hovering, landed the craft within a foot of its take-off point.

The standard Sikorsky helicopter has a rotor on top, for lifting, and another in the tail, for steering and to counteract the twisting effect given the ship by the top rotor. Hiller decided...

Want the full story?

Subscribe Now

Subscribe
Subscribe

Learn more about the benefits of being a TIME subscriber

If you are already a subscriber sign up — registration is free!