Aviation: Downdraft for the Choppers

The last three Presidents of the U.S. have given the helicopter industry its biggest boost by frequently and publicly taxiing from place to place in their whirlybirds. Having been aviation's ugly duckling for 20 struggling years, the industry finally saw some faint hope that it would win the wide public acceptance it wants. The number of helicopters in commercial use — for everything from patrolling game reserves to lifting men to offshore oil rigs — has risen from 936 in 1960 to 1,767 in 1964. The nation's three major helicopter lines, serving New York, Chicago and Los Angeles, last...

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