Helio Courier Airplanes and Charles H. Britt
Helios Flown by Charles H. Britt
A Helio Courier airplane was used for a radio traffic survey in Columbus Ohio from about 1959 through 1971. The plane was owned by Worthington Aeronautical at first, later sold to Ronson areonautical. The traffic reporting was done on WBNS AM radio in Columbus by Columbus Police Department officers.
The main pilot and only mechanic for the WBNS traffic survey was Charles H. Britt. Other pilots included Ron Wright and Arthur Crawford.
1959?-1960? N4127D
1961?-1962? N4138D
1963?-1968? N4106D
For full Size JPG Files for these photos:
http://www.rasnoft.net/photos/helios/
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History of the Helio
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Helio Courier History
(“The Helio was the vision of Dr. Otto C. Koppen, Professor of Aeronautics Engineering at Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and Dr. Lynn Bollinger, Professor of Business Administration of Harvard Business School.”)
http://www.helioaircraft.com/aboutus_history.htm -
First test pilot of the “Helioplane” Jack Phillips (April 14, 1949)
This is an interesting account of a prototype helio wing tested on a Piper Cub fuselage. This hybrid test plane was called the “Helioplane”
http://stolaircraft.com/JP.html -
Photos from Collection of Helio chief engineer (in 1960s and 1970s), Ed Sampson:
http://stolaircraft.com/sampson.html -
Helio Stories
http://stolaircraft.com/stories.htm -
Larry Montgomery
Mr. Helio (Larry Montgomery) Note the Helio stallion, but also the “regular” Helio that landed on a sandbar in the Phillippines.
http://stolaircraft.com/mrheliostallion.html -
National Air and Space Museum article on “Helio no. 1” (prototype Helio: conversion of a Piper Vagabond, using a Helio type wing designed by prof. Otto Koppen of MIT)http://www.nasm.si.edu/research/aero/aircraft/helio.htm
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The Crop Duster Helio
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The Helio “Rat’ler Advertisement;
Especially Note: the chart and info about the Helio wing (applies to all Helio types), including the Leading Edge Slats and Spoilers
(The Rat’ler was a Helio crop duster (“single production ag plane”))
http://stolaircraft.com/ratler.html
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Other Stuff
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The 50th anniversary of the Helio at the Oshkosh air show.
http://stolaircraft.com/Oshkosh.html -
The (new) Helio Aircraft Company page (they say they plan to use the old helio stallion as a prototype for new production helios (as of 2004))
http://www.helioaircraft.com/ -
International Helio Association
Interesting. Has list of Helio types, and information about the “stall proof” features, including the “interceptor blades”
http://www.helioassociation.org/About.html -
California Helio Arial Photography Guy, with testimony about Helio flying characteristics http://www.chamoismoon.com/helio_courier.html
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Article in Wikipedia about Helios
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Helio_Courier -
Helio Courier General Links page
http://www.stolaircraft.com/
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