I should like to express my gratitude to the Society, on behalf of the Federal Aviation Agency of the United States, for the opportunity of participating in this meeting.

Before speaking of the lessons gained in Helicopter Air Traffiic Control some background information is necessary on the types of helicopter operations which are being conducted in the United States.

As in many countries, helicopter operations are conducted by both the military services and civil operators. The military operations are primarily those of a tactical training nature and search and rescue work. Civil helicopter operations are conducted mainly for transport and utility purposes.

In addition to numerous civil air taxi operators providing transport by helicopter, we have three commercial scheduled helicopter airlines; New York Airways, Chicago Airways, and Los Angeles Airways. These three helicopter airlines serve the aerodromes and residential communities in the metropolitan areas of the cities from which they derive their names. Utility helicopter flying includes such services as forest fire fighting, insecticide spraying of farm crops, power line inspection, and construction work, just to name a few.