HISTORY OF THE HELICOPTER 1950s SHELL OIL COMPANY FILM 32122

Made in the 1950s by the Shell Oil Co., this film “History of the Helicopter“ features a look at the revolutionary machine that, at the time the film was made, had only recently come into wide use. The film features a brief look back at some of the failed attempts to build a helicopter, and discusses Breguet, Sikorsky, Berliner and others who were convinced that rotary wings were the answer to the problem of flying. The film also shows the autogiro, a relative of the helicopter. Modern helicopters shown include the Bristol 171, the Airhorse by Cierva, Sikorsky S-51, Piasecki flying banana, and the Fairey Gyrodyne. The Cierva Air Horse was a helicopter developed by the Cierva Autogiro Company in the United Kingdom during the mid-1940s. The largest helicopter in the world at the time of its debut, the Air Horse was unusual for using three rotors mounted on outriggers, and driven by a single engine mounted inside the fuselage. Louis Charles Breguet (January 2, 1880 in Paris – May