National Helicopter Museum National Helicopter Museum traces the evolution of the rotary wing from early predecessors like the boomerang and Chinese tops to designs by Leonardo da Vinci and George Cayley to early motorized experiments to modern helicopters of today. Igor Sikorsky's first helicopter success in Stratford on September 14, 1939 is documented as well as his subsequent productions. Also displayed are the small gas turbine engines developed locally by Dr. Anselm Franz at Avco Lycoming which power such helicopters as the Bell Helicopter UH-1 Iroquois or "Huey" and the Boeing CH-47 Chinook. Other exhibits include ones on tilt rotor development; current photos
Meadowcroft Chinook Meadowcroft Chinook The Meadowcroft Chinook is a two-seat mid-winged American homebuilt aircraft design first flown in 1958. The Chinook was designed for maximum stability on the ground and the air with a roomy cockpit. The wing was patterned from the Ace Baby Ace homebuilt. The aircraft is a tricycle geared side-by-side seat mid-winged aircraft with a steeply raked windscreen. Each wing is braced with two small wing struts attached to the lower fuselage. The low rudder is capped with a strut braced horizontal stabilizer in a T-tail arrangement. The main gear is sourced from a Cessna 140. The aircraft can