Sep 28, 2023 - Sale 2646

Sale 2646 - Lot 57

Unsold
Estimate: $ 600 - $ 900
(AVIATION.) Research papers from a prominent helicopter engineer with Sikorsky Aircraft. 7 research papers (all but one by Philip L. Michel), plus a duplicate and related notes; condition generally strong except as noted. Various places, 1943 and 1959-1963
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Additional Details

These unpublished or privately published papers on helicopter technology and aeronautics were acquired from the estate of Philip L. Michel (1917-2012), who was head of advanced research at Sikorsky Aircraft of Stratford, CT from the 1950s through the 1970s.

Michel. "Post War Aeronautics." 16 typescript pages, unbound; a few pencil notes, paper clip stain, minor wear and soiling. Text of a speech given to an unidentified audience, predicting the near future of American aviation. He discusses the potential of airplanes for military, travel, and cargo purposes, rocket ships and jet propulsion. A paragraph is dedicated to helicopters: "In approximately a decade the helicopter should have the relative popularity and utility that the pre-war private airplane had." None in OCLC. No place, November 1943.

Michel. "An Evaluation of VTOL Aircraft Concepts . . . for Presentation to the Scientific Institute for Aeronautics." Illustrations. [1], 26 mimeograph pages plus printed wrappers. One in OCLC. Hamburg, Germany, 14 October 1959.

Michel. "Present and Future Helicopter Performance Capabilities . . . for Presentation at the Helicopter Seminar." Illustrations. [1], 26 mimeograph pages plus printed cover, with pencil notes. "We are on the threshold of a new era in helicopter flight resulting from the introduction of turbine powered aircraft with multi-engine reliability." None in OCLC. Kretz b. Andermach, Germany, 9 October 1959.

Miller A. Wachs of Sikorsky Aircraft. "The Helicopter Crane as a Prime Mover." 8 plates. 7 mimeograph pages plus printed cover, with inked notes. "This type of prime mover permits the imagination to run free on the types of tasks to which it can be put." 3 in OCLC. No place, 13 October 1959. With a folder of related notes and correspondence on the presentation, 22 printed and manuscript pages, including a script for the related promotional film, and January 1960 correspondence with the Society of American Military Engineers regarding a presentation of the paper.

Michel. "Rotary Wing Research toward Speed and Range Improvement." 7 plates. [1], 11 mimeograph pages plus printed cover. OCLC lists one copy of a later 1961 publication by the Aeronautics Research Council. No place, 5 July 1960.

Michel. "The Sikorsky Crane Helicopter . . . Presented to the Royal Aeronautical Society." Frontispiece plate, illustrations. [2], 49 pages. Worn comb binding, inserted into decorative gilt plastic binder; signed by Michel on title page. None in OCLC, but later published in the Aeronautical Journal 66: 620 (August 1962). London, 1 December 1961.

Another copy of the same, with light soiling to binder, not signed.

Michel. "Grundlagen der VTOL: Forschung und einige Eigenschaften der Kippflügler und Kippropellerflugzeuge." [8] pages of illustrations. 13 mimeograph pages plus printed cover. None in OCLC. No place, September 1963.