Existing comment:
"Aerial Navigation by mechanical means must depend on... vehicles.... capable of landing at any place where there is space to receive them, and of ascending from that point. They should likewise be capable of remaining stationary, or nearly so, in the air when required."
-- Sir George Cayley, 1843
"The aeroplane won't amount to a damn thing until they get a machine that will act like a hummingbird. Go straight up, go forward, go backward, come straight down and alight like a hummingbird."
-- Thomas A. Edison, 1905
"If a man is in need of rescue, an airplane can come in and throw flowers on him, and that's about all. But, a direct lift aircraft [helicopter] could come in and save his life."
-- Igor Sikorsky, 1967
"[The helicopter] will never compete with the airplane, though it will have specialized uses, and in these, it will surpass the airplane. The fact that you can land at your front door is the reason you can't carry heavy loads efficiently."
-- Orville Wright, 1942
These statements reflect both the value and limitations of the helicopter. Able to operate freely from nearly any place on earth, helicopters come closer than any other aircraft to achieving the birdlike freedom humanity has always envied. However, the same technology that makes this possible also prevents the helicopter from achieving the speeds and payload capacity of airplanes performing similar functions. |