Plane Facts: Helicopter

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First helicopter capable of hovering flight with pilot: Paul Cornu's unnamed helicopter, 1907
Height of that first flight: About 1 foot
Duration: 20 seconds
Fate of Cornu's helicopter design: Abandoned
Early design standoff: Dual contra-rotors vs. one plus tail rotor
Early enabling technology: Swashplate for collective pitch changes
First "practical" helicopter: Sikorsky VS-300
Fastest helicopter ever: Eurocopter X3 experimental, 250 knots
Fastest military helicopter: Boeing CH-47 Chinook, 170 knots
Largest helicopter ever: Soviet Mil V-12
Weight: 213,485 pounds max takeoff weight
Payload: Approximately 60,000 pounds
Rotors: Two main rotors, each 114 feet, 10 inches in diameter
Number built: 2
Most-produced civil helicopter: Probably the Bell 206 Jet Ranger, 8,460 built
Most-produced helicopter ever: Soviet Mil Mi-8, more than 17,000
Crew of Mi-8: Three---pilot, co-pilot and flight engineer
Useful load: About 10,000 pounds
Passengers: 23
Cruise speed: 123 knots
Helicopter made famous in the 1970s on the hit TV show M*A*S*H*: Bell Model 47
Number produced: 5,600
Production run: 1946-1974
Powerplant: 280-hp Lycoming TVO-435-F1A, six-cylinder vertically mounted
Top speed: Around 90 knots
Capacity: Pilot plus one passenger or two stretchers
Most-produced U.S. helicopter: Bell UH-1
Official nickname: Iroquois
What everybody calls it: Huey
Production run: 1960-1987
Number built: 16,000
Call sign when a helicopter is carrying the president: Marine One
First president to use helicopters for transport: Dwight D. Eisenhower
Model first used: Bell UH-13J "Sioux"
Helicopters used as Marine One: Sikorsky VH-3D Sea King or VH-60N White Hawk
Nickname for these helicopters: White Tops, for their livery
Proposed Marine One upgrade: Lockheed Martin VH-71 Kestrel
Fate of program: Canceled
Reason for cancellation: Projected cost of $11.2 billion for 28 helicopters
Coolest helicopter ever: Airwolf from TV series of same name
Helicopter used for the show: Bell 222 light twin
Supposed capabilities of Airwolf: Stealthy and supersonic
First U.S. use of stealthy helicopters: Raid on Osama Bin Laden compound
Helicopters used: Heavily modified Boeing-Sikorsky RAH-66 Comanche
First supersonic helicopter: Dream on

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