Episode 34: American Helicopter Museum and Education Center

Curator's Choice

This week we meet with Bob Beggs, co-founder of the American Helicopter Museum and Education Center in West Chester, Pennsylvania. He shares with us the process of establishing a museum and what progressive programs have been developed there. We discuss rotor heads, whirly girls, and the impressive ingenuity of rotary flight, as well as Harold Pitcairn and his Collier Award for his development of the autogyro and the human-powered, award-winning Aerovelo Atlas helicopter.

Whirly-Girls

The Whirly-Girls are an international organization of women helicopter pilots that was developed “in hopes of sharing information and camaraderie regardless of country, race, religion or politics”-Jean Ross Howard Phelan, founder and first president of the organization. The first Whirly Girl, Hanna Reistch (WG#1) was the first woman in the world to fly a helicopter, an FW-61 Focke-Achegelis. She also holds the world record for sustained flight and altitude in gliders, flew horizontal bombers, dive-bombers, fighter planes, and a ME 163 rocket plane. She was the only person, male or female to ever successfully fly the V-1 rocket.

Harold Frederick Pitcairn

Harold is credited with developing the autogyro, the precursor to rotary-wing helicopters. For this, he won the Collier Award, which is a prestigious award given to someone in the aviation industry for the most significant accomplishment in aviation that year. The Collier Award trophy is kept at the National Air and Space Museum in D.C., but each winner is given a personal, mini replica. Harold’s trophy is now on display at the American Helicopter Museum.
Find a list of all the Collier Award Winners, click here: https://www.curatorschoicepodcast.com/collier-trophy-award-winners

Aerovelo Atlas

The Aerovelo Atlas is the first human-powered helicopter that achieved the goals of the American Helicopter Society International’s Igor I. Sikorsky Human Powered Helicopter Competition. It was designed by Dr. Todd Reichert and Dr. Cameron Robertson of the University of Toronto and constructed with the help of students and graduates of the University. Steering was accomplished by leaning the bicycle to tilt the rotor axes. On June 13, 2013, the Aerovelo team flew the Atlas for 64 seconds and achieved an altitude of 3.3 meters (11 feet) in a Toronto area arena, and captured the $250,000 prize.
Episode Links:

• American Helicopter Museum and Education Center webpage: https://americanhelicopter.museum/

• Whirly-Girls International Women Helicopter Pilots webpage: https://whirlygirls.org/history/

• Aerovelo website: http://www.aerovelo.com/

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Curator's Choice - A podcast for history nerds and museum lovers