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
Boeing Chinook (UK variants) Operation Granby in the 1991 Gulf War, attached to large peace-keeping commitments in the Balkans, the continued British presence in Afghanistan, and in Operation Telic in the 2003 Iraq War. They provide routine supply and support missions to the British military, notably in Operation Banner in Northern Ireland. The helicopter has also been of use in military humanitarian missions and the extraction of civilians from warzones, such as the evacuation of Sierra Leone in 2000, and the evacuation from Lebanon in 2006. One Chinook in particular, known by its original squadron code "Bravo November", has come to widespread public recognition