I can't believe I had never heard of Frank Piasecki. I have been flown into combat on Chinook helicopters with my vehicle slung beneath. When it came to helicopters all I had ever heard of was Igor Sikorsky. I really appreciate Boeing publishing this video, introducing me to the great rotary craft engineer Frank Piasecki
I am surprised that there was no mention of my father Steve Tremper .. who was not only a test pilot for Piasecki, he became lead test pilot and spend a huge part of his life getting the CH47 in the air ..
It' impressive that a large for-profit corporation can give recognition to one of the geniuses behind their success, even one who never worked directly for them. While exposing the major flaw in for-profit corporations, it's investor's greed.
After watching this documentary from beginning to end, it makes me love & appreciate more of the tandem rotor craft design. Excluding the dirty works of both Rockfeller & Dupont (I don't care for Rich People), Piasecki was an absolute genious!! To date this is why Tandem rotorcrafts like the CH-47 Chinook in my opinion, is THE BEST & most iconic Helicopter in the world!! Russia may have the largest "Mil Mi-26 Halo", but bigger doesn't always mean better. The Chinook Helicopter, is & always will be THE perfect helicopter to date!!
"...beat the air into submission." That's an alternative description to how the rotor blades provide lift to a copter. The vulnerabilities of helicopters in a contested battlespace has been well demonstrated in the Ukraine War, with 133 lost by Russia and 36 by Ukraine. This includes 17 of the mother of all attack helicopters, the Mi-24/Mi-35 Hind. Kinda makes the U.S. Apache, Viper and Lakota look like dead meat in a modern war, no matter how well they "beat the air."
@@jefferyroy2566 "Kinda makes the U.S. Apache, Viper and Lakota look like dead meat in a modern war, no matter how well they "beat the air." No, you're simply misunderstanding their specific purpose. A gunship wouldn't typically fly into a heavily contested (air) zone without proper cover from other vehicles like jets. Russia sending in single or two KA-52's at a time is just an example of poor planning and leadership, leading to easier pickings for the defending force.
Mr Piasecki was undoubtedly a genius before his time, exploring and perfecting engineering of helicopters that nobody, not even the great Sikorsky, was able to imagine let alone build. I was lucky enough to work on the mighty CH-47 Chinook for just over a decade, from the MK1 through to the Mk2a and beyond, it was a pain in the glass for its structural integrity on the MK1, spent many hours in the aft pylon making structural repairs and replacing items that were shot, but once the Mk2 entered service the Boeing designers had knocked the ball out of the park, I loved it, not just for working on but to fly in and have some great times working away from base with only us groundcrew to keep it fit to fly, a real test of our skills, something that fixed wing technicians are rarely, if ever, called upon to achieve. Thanks Boeing.
In addition to his engineering genius, Mr. Piasecki deserves heaps of credit for teaching himself to fly a helicopter. Learning to hover was the most daunting task of my life.
this is such a cool sequel to "when we left earth". I dunno if it's supposed to be or not, but this whole series follows that discovery channel feature style-guide implying a relationship. More Gary Sinise please.
Thank you for this presentation, I barely knew the name of the innovator I considered in the top 5 of all time! That his progeny carries on his name says so much of the man.
I worked on everything that came out of Boeing Philadelphia from 1985 till February of 2023. I started on the Ch-46 building wire harnesses to Ch47G models, to the V-22, to the Defiant prototype.
Frank and dad were classmates at NYU. Dad went off to the Merchant Marine during WW2. After the war Frank asked dad to join him, but while dad was at sea the technology had advanced so much dad felt he could not contribute.
Excellent historical doc of a great aviation pioneer. I spent quite a bit of time in the back of a Chinook, before going out the back ramp. But now every time I hear one (seems twice a month they fly over my remote place about 500"AGL) I get a burst of juice.
Spent a lot of time in Phrogs. Since they are all gone if I hear a Ch-47 my heart rate goes off the charts, anxiety…..chills…..and an instant split second response to jump up and grab my gear.
Worked on the Chinook for 11 years. It's my favorite aircraft bar none (A-10 is a close second). I never knew it's true legacy until now. The Piasecki name should be as well-known as Sikorsky in the rotary wing industry.
What an amazing man, who left a magnificent legacy and to top it off, his children carry forward in his footsteps within the aviation industry………… spectacular ❤
I'm a retired Army military helicopter pilot of thirty years and always admired the capabilities of the Chinook and remember hearing stories about "The Flying Banana" and how it would sometimes swap ends on the pilots while flying along, but they took it in stride. However, some of my buddies died in Chinooks and I named my son after one of them. Bummer! Thanks for the video and best of luck!
When I was in the Army, I was told by a Blackhawk pilot that helicopters are doing everything they can to vibrate themselves to pieces, all he does is keep that to a minimum and stay in the air
If you want to see the GOAT Chinook, one must visit the RAF Museum Cosford campus. There sits one Chinook with registration ZA718, but to many Brits, its know by its radio code, Bravo November. And before you dismiss it as just another 'Nook, one must look at its combat record: Falklands Both Gulf Wars Afghanistan And in those campaigns, four of its pilots were recipients of the UK's Distinguished Flying Cross (the third-highest award for valor in the British military). If Frank Piasecki were still alive, he would be grinning from ear to ear, and his chest puffed up a foot, at this Chinook's accomplishments.
To fly is heavenly, to hover is devine. Flew in The Army in Viet Nam, then Indonesia, Malaysia (Sarawak), Hong Kong as a civilian. And when I hear a certain sound, I still look up.
Thank you for an interesting and informative documentary. I have always thought the tandem rotor design made so much sense, saving both the wasted energy of a torque-countering, tail rotor and providing twice the lift for a given rotor load factor.
Arthur M. Young is another rotary wing pioneer that's worth having a look in to. Arthur's research was taken up by Bell at around the same time Frank was working on his 1st helicopter, and lead directly to the Bell 47, which is probably as iconic as the Chinook.
So pleased to learned about the designer of our favorite "Sh_thook", as we called it. I recall undergoing operations with Marine infantry in the Chinook in the late 1960's. It was like riding in a school bus, tail dropped, and out we went under arms.
I'm pleasantly surprised that Boeing supports a documentary that's so complimentary to Piasecki. I wish Piasecki better success with ARES and ducted fan vertical lift technology.
17:20 i totally get that the wheels on the helicopter weren't made for driving several hundred miles, but they couldn't build a wheel platform to put the helicopter on? Not even a full trailer but just something you could put under the wheels
@Boeing Thank you for giving us the Chinook kudos for that. But may you give us a morden one, something mean looking an enemy will go awol just buy seeing it.
I know more about aviation than most people and there was so much of this I diid not know. The pusher style is what they are looking at replacing the Blackhawk with. He had a version in the 50's.
Seem to remember a concept that he offered . A ground transport system using aircraft construction and material. Electric fan jet powered trains with control surfaces flying at aircraft speed suspended from a monorail .
Should we get rid of the propellar? I see the need for new, especially unmanned, energy and transportation ideas. I have an idea that utilizes tokamak fusion and Casimir and look forward to seeing more Casimir research.
Germany also had a few helios in WW2 . one of which was a two roter beast , but the polish an the russian got it together eventualy , well done boys , aye !
