This paper deals solely with the operation of helicopters from ships in the Royal Navy

Since the great majority of helicopter flying at sea has been carried out from aircraft carriers, I propose first to deal with these operations, and secondly I shall describe a series of trials carried out in 1950 to determine the feasibility of operating from a specially constructed platform on a merchant type vessel

As an introduction I should like to give a brief history of the helicopter in the Royal Navy

In 1943 a small number of pilots were sent to the United States to learn the principles of Rotary Wing flying and on their return to this country a flight was formed equipped with Sikorsky R 4 machines Its task was to carry out communication, photographic and radar calibration duties

Mr Chairman, Ladies and Gentlemen I have been in some dilemma about the type of paper to read before such a technical body I would like very much to include a brief history of whaling, the zoology of whales, and the economics of whaling I would like to describe rounding Cape Horn in a full gale, and to tell you in an informal way of experiences during a hurricane in latitude 68 South last season, of terrible accidents and suicides, of personal sacrifice, of brilliant seamanship, of bitter disappointment, and of super-human efforts I would also like to recall some amusing, some sad and some frightening personal experiences that I had during two whaling seasons

Instead, I shall describe the structure of a whaling expedition and summarise last season’s work, trying to make a comparison between present whaling methods and new techniques offered to the whaling industry by the use of helicopters I shall conclude with a summary of the advantages to be gained by the use of helicopters for whaling

The paper describes some of the overseas operations which have been conducted by AIRWORK LIMITED in the last eight years and in places ranging from South America via the Middle East to New Zealand It examines some of the problems that have to be faced by an overseas operator, and suggests the possibility of using helicopters for certain of the work which is now earned out by fixed wing aircraft It concludes that providing certain conditions as to performance and operating cost can be met there is a definite place for the helicopter in such overseas operations

The paper attempts to underline the difficulties of determining, from the various recorded opinions, papers and performances, the possible usefulness of the helicopter and of its future It seeks to point out some of the technical and economic difficulties which must be surmounted before it can be considered a commercial project It suggests a different concentration of effort on present and future development work and finally concludes that not enough is yet known of the capabilities, operational or commercial, for any definite assessment of its transport use to be safely made

This talk should perhaps begin with a brief reference to the initial development and research made by the Company into the helicopter as a crop spraying machine Many will remember the early experiments made by Dr W E RIPPER, using one of the original Sikorsky R4 helicopters These trials were made at Henley and Cambridge m the early part of 1945 The results were sufficiently encouraging to consider helicopter possibilities in this industry However, the flying limitations of the R4 helicopter did not allow a full investigation into operational and economical findings

Casualty Evacuation Flight was formed in May, 1950, at Royal Air Force Station, Changi, and was disbanded on the 31st January, 1953, and its aircraft and personnel were absorbed into No 194 Squadron, on formation, at R N A S, Sembawary

The helicopters, Westland Dragonfly II (S 51 with fabric blades) were assembled and test-flown at Seletar in April, 1950 When the unit based at Changi trials were carried out to deduce the aircrafts performance using as many combinations of individual pilot and aircraft as possible at various times throughout the day to obtain varying humidity and temperature variations and their effects on performance