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Vadim
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15.02.2008 07:12:14
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Рубрики
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Современность; ВВС;
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Фрэнк Пьясецки
Приветствую
Американский пионер вертолётостроения. Cкончался в понедельник в возрасте 88 лет.
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[86K]
"Летающий Банан"
Frank Piasecki
PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Aviation pioneer Frank Piasecki, inventor of the tandem-rotor helicopter used in troop-transport missions and land and sea rescue flights, died Monday. He was 88.
Piasecki's wife, Vivian, was with him when he fell ill Monday at his home in Havertown. The cause of his death had not been determined but he had suffered several recent strokes, his son, John Piasecki, said early Tuesday.
Piasecki was born in 1919 in Lansdowne and was involved in the earliest days of helicopters. Igor Sikorsky became the first American to build and fly a helicopter, in 1941, and Piasecki became the second, in 1943.
In the 1940s, Piasecki invented the twin-rotor craft that was developed into the Army Chinook and Navy Sea Knight helicopters still operating today. The Chinook was used for long-distance troop-ferrying in Vietnam in the 1960s, and newer models continue to fly special operations missions.
Piasecki eventually left Piasecki Helicopter Co. In 1955, he formed Piasecki Aircraft Corp. to continue exploring new technology. Piasecki Helicopter became Vertol Aircraft Corp. and was acquired by Boeing in 1960. Boeing now manufactures the Chinook and Sea Knight helicopters at its Ridley Township plant.
Piasecki was still chief executive of Piasecki Aircraft, and testing is under way on his latest invention. In place of a sideways facing tail rotor, the Speed Hawk helicopter has a rear-facing ducted propeller designed to improve stability and forward speed.
Карфаген должен быть разрушен
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