Helicopter pioneer Stanley Hiller died on 20 April at the age of 81. Hiller began his career as one of the world’s three principal developers of vertical flight, while still a teenager. After leading a company that produced thousands of helicopters for military and commercial markets worldwide, Hiller began a remarkable second career, applying management techniques widely sought in the turnaround of troubled US companies. His innovations included the first helicopter flown in the western USA; the first successful co-axial helicopter; the “Flying Platform”; a one-man foldable “Rotorcycle”; a unique “Hornet” helicopter powered by rotor-tip-mounted ramjet engines; and the first high-speed vertical take-off-and-landing tilt-wing troop transport.
Source: Flight International