Michael Nichols

The Coast Guard had an urgent World War II need for at-sea rescue of crews from torpedoed ships along the U.S. east coast. There was much skepticism in the Navy about helicopters. Their experience with autogyros showed that weight empty…

To reduce the development risks, a conventional tail rotor was chosen for anti-torque and yaw control. This machine, the PV-2, single seat, single rotor helicopter, was built as a technology demonstrator of several advanced concepts in the undeveloped VTOL field.…

The Forum’s first design, the PV-1, was to demonstrate new ideas and a unique anti-torque system with a fan blowing air through the tail cone, turned by control vanes in the exit. This was considered a high development risk at…

The concept of joining several helicopters into one operational unit worked out well in detail designs and led to another important vertical lift concept, the augmentation of the helicopter’s dynamic lift with the static lift of an air buoyancy envelope.…

Substituting a gas turbine for the two piston engines and adding two inflatable floats enabled the AirGeep to operate from the water. Called the SeaGeep, its compact size and weight made it ideal as a small ship based rescue, antisubmarine…

The AirGeep was one of three winners of an Army competition for an “invisible” aerial vehicle in nap-of-the-earth flight, and the only one to be field tested. Type “Ducted-Fan” Flying Geep Length 26 ft Width 9.4 ft Height 6.75 ft…

AirGeep II was powered by two turbines to provide one engine out safety, and a larger payload. Compactness in width, length and height gave it a mobility that no other VTOL system possessed. It could operate with ease along roadways,…

Great efforts have been made to advance the lifting capacity of the helicopter, but as helicopter capacity was successfully increased the next growth became even more difficult. Since the ‘50’s, the U.S. Army has aimed at lifting its main battle…

With the advent of nuclear submarines, U.S. Navy efforts to base helicopters aboard destroyers as a weapon delivery system increased. Limitations of storage space gave impetus to a drone concept. Piasecki proposed such a concept – the “SeaBat” – specifically…

The PA-2C was designed to be a vertical take-off aircraft capable of sustained, high-speed level flight (operating from aircraft carriers, cruisers, destroyers, and unprepared landing sites). Called the “RingWing”, it combined two ducted propellers that contained an integrated system of…