Whirlybirds: A History of the U.S. Helicopter Pioneers

Study of the lives and work of four Americans--Igor Sikorsky, Frank Piasecki, Arthur Young, and Stanley Hiller, Jr.--who, working independently but concurrently, developed the helicopter in the 1940s. Discusses the confluence of entrepreneurship, corporate practices, and government influence and financing in the development of helicopter technology, and the applications of the technology for purposes of military, rescue, and commercial transportation. Annotation c. by Book News, Inc., Portland, Or.