NOTES
PROLOGUE
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3 the “mishap aircraft”: Judge Advocate General Manual Report 5830 B 0525 of 21 July 2000, Investigation into the circumstances surrounding the Class “A” aircraft mishap involving an MV-22B Osprey BUNO 165436 that occurred on 8 April 2000 at Marana Northwest Regional Airport near Tucson, Arizona (hereafter Marana JAGMAN Report).
CHAPTER ONE: THE DREAM
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9 Dr. Alexander Klemin, the highly: Hearings before the Committee on Military Affairs, House of Representatives, Seventy-fifth Congress, Third Session, on H.R. 8143, to authorize the appropriation of funds for the development of the Autogiro, April 26, 27, 1938, U.S. Government Printing Office, Washington, D.C., 1938 (hereafter 1938 House hearings), p. 9.
9 Only two years earlier: Orville Wright, Jr., letter to J. Franklin Wilkinson, Sept. 25, 1936. Copy provided to the author by Canadian Mountain Holidays CMH Heli-Hiking, Banff, Canada.
10 “A vehicle that can take you”: Proceedings of the Rotating Wing Aircraft Meeting, Philadelphia Chapter, Institute of the Aeronautical Sciences, 1938 (hereafter Rotating Wing Aircraft Meeting Proceedings), p. 63.
10 One dreamer who shared that vision: “G. P. Herrick Dies; Aircraft Expert,” New York Times, Sept. 10, 1955.
10 In a 1943 article: Gerard Herrick, “Half Helicopter, Half Airplane,” Mechanix Illustrated, June 1943.
10 While serving as a captain: Gerard P. Herrick, A Request In The Form Of A Proposal With Regard To Obtaining Certain Data Concerning The Performance Of The Herrick Convertible Airplane Which For Convenience Is Styled “Vertoplane,” Gerard Post Herrick Collection, National Air and Space Museum Archives (hereafter Herrick Proposal), preamble.
11 Spanish engineer and inventor Juan de la Cierva: Bruce H. Charnov, From Autogiro to Gyroplane: The Amazing Survival of an Aviation Technology (Westport, Conn.: Praeger, 2003), p. 19. For details of the Autogiro’s history also see Jay P. Spenser, Whirlybirds: A History of the U.S. Helicopter Pioneers (Seattle: University of Washington Press, 1998).
11 Gerard Herrick’s initial idea: Herrick Proposal, p. 2.
12 With the upper wing locked: Herrick Proposal, p. 5, and Gerard P. Herrick, “The Herrick Vertoplane,” Aviation Engineering, January 1932.
15 America’s armed forces numbered: Allan R. Millett and Peter Maslowski, For the Common Defense: A Military History of the United States of America (New York: Free Press, 1984), p. 655.
15 The first recorded sale: Donald M. Pattillo, Pushing the Envelope: The American Aircraft Industry (Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press, 1998), p. 6.
15 The youngest son: Charnov, Autogiro to Gyroplane, pp. 51–75.
16 Dorsey didn’t need much persuading: 1938 House hearings, pp. 13–14, and Sergei Sikorsky, “Rotary-wing revolution,” Professional Pilot Magazine, November 2003.
18 Suddenly a pot of real gold: Rotating Wing Aircraft Meeting Proceedings.
19 The Nazis were using it for propaganda: Hanna Reitsch, The Sky My Kingdom: Memoirs of the Famous German World War II Test Pilot, translated by Lawrence Wilson, (Drexel Hill, Pa.: Casemate, 2009). Originally published as Fliegen—Mein Leben (Stuttgart: Deutsches Verlags-Anstalt, 1951).
20 One man in the audience who probably agreed: Arthur M. Young, The Bell Notes: A Journey from Physics to Metaphysics (New York: Delacorte, 1979), pp. 9–15; also Spenser, Whirlybirds, and David A. Brown, The Bell Helicopter Textron Story: Changing the Way the World Flies (Arlington, Texas: Aerofax, 1995).
22 Igor Ivanovich Sikorsky was no starry-eyed dreamer: Spenser, Whirlybirds, and Sikorsky, “Rotary-wing revolution.”
22 Another was Lawrence D. Bell: Brown, Bell Helicopter Textron Story, and Young, Bell Notes.
23 The helicopter caught on slowly: The AAF Helicopter Program, Study No. 222, compiled by Historical Division, Intelligence, T-2, Air Materiel Command, Wright Field, October 1946. Declassified 1950. U.S. Army Air Forces.
24 “Engineers are devoting increasing attention”: “Convertaplane: Key to Speed Range,” Aviation Week, April 12, 1948.
25 Herrick, now seventy-five years old: Gerard P. Herrick, “Record of Invention,” May 8, 1949, Gerard Post Herrick Collection, National Air and Space Museum Archives.
25 Burke Wilford, the gyroplane developer: First Convertible Aircraft Congress Proceedings, Institute of the Aeronautical Sciences, New York, 1949, p. 4.
CHAPTER TWO: THE SALESMAN
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27 A specially modified blue and white: Brown, Bell Helicopter Textron Story, pp. 95, 107.
28 Tall, rail-thin, and cerebral: Dick Spivey, Troy Gaffey, Kenneth G. Wernicke, James F. Atkins interviews; Young, Bell Notes; Brown, Bell Helicopter Textron Story, p. 29; Joe Simnacher, “Pioneer helicopter designer Bartram Kelley dies at age 89,” Dallas Morning News, Dec. 24, 1998.
29 Unlike Kelley, the Philadelphia-born Lichten: Atkins, Gaffey, Spivey, Kenneth G. Wernicke interviews; “Robert Lichten Rites Scheduled for Tuesday,” Dallas Morning News, Sept. 20, 1971.
30 LePage came back from Germany with a film: Rotating Wing Aircraft Meeting Proceedings, p. 124.
30 Shortly afterward, LePage and Haviland H. Platt: www.globalsecurity.org/military/systems/aircraft/tiltrotor.htm.
32 Their frame of mind was illustrated by a cartoon: American Helicopter, July 1948, p. 25.
33 Against that backdrop, the U.S. military: John P. Campbell, Vertical Takeoff & Landing Aircraft (New York: Macmillan, 1962).
34 In the 1990s, aerospace engineer and VTOL: Michael Hirschberg, interview; also www.vstol.org/wheel/wheel.htm.
36 The first had been destroyed: Martin D. Maisel, Demo J. Giulianetti, and Daniel C. Dugan, The History of the XV-15 Tilt Rotor Research Aircraft From Concept to Flight, Monographs in Aerospace History No. 17, NASA History Series, National Aeronautics and Space Administration, Washington, D.C., 2000; Robert R. Lynn, “The Rebirth of The Tiltrotor—The 1992 Alexander A. Nikolsky Lecture,” Journal of the American Helicopter Society 38, no. 1 (January 1993).
41 In 1962, a board of officers and civilian experts: Lt. Gen. (ret.) Harold G. Moore and Joseph L. Galloway, We Were Soldiers Once . . . And Young (New York: Random House, 1992).
41 Bell was pumping them out: Brown, Bell Helicopter Textron Story, p. 117; Dorman Cannon, Spivey, Atkins interviews.
48 Bob Lichten had been killed: “Robert Lichten Rites Scheduled for Tuesday,” Dallas Morning News, Sept. 20, 1971.
48 NASA’s interest had actually increased: Maisel et al. History of the XV-15.
50 Shortly after NASA and the Army: Spivey interview; also, Spivey’s work diaries.
CHAPTER THREE: THE CUSTOMER
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52 The passing of the cake symbolizes: www.marines.mil/usmc/Documents/CAKE_CUTTING_SCRIPT.pdf.
53 “The mystique of the Corps transcends”: Victor H. Krulak, First to Fight: An Inside View of the U.S. Marine Corps (Annapolis, Md.: U.S. Naval Institute, 1984), p. xvi.
54 Barely eighteen months later: J. Robert Moskin, The U.S. Marine Corps Story, 3rd revised edition (Old Saybrook, Conn.: Konecky & Konecky, 1992), p. 430.
54 Geiger could see it would be suicide: LTC Robert M. Flanagan, “The V-22 Is Slipping Away,” Proceedings, August 1990.
55 This revelation came at an awkward: Krulak, First to Fight; Moskin, Marine Corps Story.
56 Truman later cemented the Marines’ victory: “When I Make a Mistake,” Time, Sept. 18, 1950, accessed at www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,813230,00.html.
56 The helicopter wasn’t advanced enough: Lynn Montross, “U.S. Marine Combat Helicopter Applications,” Journal of the American Helicopter Society 1, no.1 (January 1956).
57 The CH-46 was a tandem-rotor: www.globalsecurity.org/military/systems/aircraft/ch-46.htm.
59 A military helicopter is a relatively slow: The account of the Desert One incident is based on author interviews with Col. (ret.) Jim Schaefer, USMC; also Col. (ret.) Charlie A. Beckwith and Donald Knox, Delta Force
(New York: Avon, 1983), and Mark Bowden, “The Desert One Debacle,” Atlantic Monthly, May 2006.
68 The June 30, 1980, cover story: David C. Martin, “New Light on the Rescue Mission,” Newsweek, June 30, 1980, pp. 18–20.
72 Balch also helped Bell keep the XV-15 flying: Col. (ret.) Bob Balch, Lt. Gen. (ret.) Thomas H. Miller, Jr., USMC, interviews.
73 After the Navy started investing in the XV-15: Col. (ret.) William S. Lawrence, USMC. Lawrence provided the author his written report and cockpit audiotapes of his XV-15 flights.
CHAPTER FOUR: THE SALE
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77 James F. Atkins learned that: Atkins, interview.
78 The Iran contracts helped Bell remain profitable: Atkins, Leonard M. “Jack” Horner, interviews.
78 Jim Atkins saw the end coming: Atkins, interview.
78 One day Bell test pilot Dorman Cannon: Atkins, Cannon, Ron Erhart, interviews.
79 Not long afterward, a hundred or so Bell: Atkins, Cannon, Gaffey, Spivey, interviews.
79 Spivey had proved the previous summer: Spivey, Cannon, Erhart, Tommy Thomason, interviews. The explanation for the XV-15’s rotors hitting the trees is based on Maisel et al., The History of the XV-15 Tilt Rotor Research Aircraft. Erhart, copilot on the flight, disagreed with the book and with Cannon, who attributed the tree strike to a loss of altitude due to a failure to gain lift quickly enough. Cannon and Erhart also differed in their recollections of whether Cannon pulled the nose of the XV-15 up at the last moment. “We had sufficient airspeed,” Erhart said. “They were making a dadgum movie, or actually they were shooting stills, largely. If we had not been doing that and trying to hotrod a little bit, we would have pulled the aircraft up a little bit. We did not feel that we were going to hit any trees. We just neglected to think—you do that sometimes, you don’t think—neglected to think about how far those rotors actually came down below the airplane. All we had to do was pull the nose back a little bit and we would have cleared the trees. We were just trying to hold it straight and hold altitude. We did not lose altitude because we were not going fast enough.” Spivey’s recollection matched the book and Cannon’s. The source for Cannon’s statement to the engineers is Cannon.
81 Bell’s parent corporation, a Rhode Island: Atkins, Horner, interviews.
82 Cannon and Erhart flew a carefully: Cannon, Erhart, interviews.
83 Audiences just adored it: Susan Heller Anderson, “The Paris Airshow: Wining Dining and Dealing for Military Might,” New York Times, June 14, 1981.
83 That same day, the secretary’s military: Lehman, Spivey, Cannon, Erhart, interviews.
84 Once during his tenure, the deputy: Hedrick Smith, The Power Game: How Washington Works (New York: Ballantine, 1989), p. 193; Lehman, Gen. (ret.) P. X. Kelley, USMC, interviews.
86 One night toward the end of the air show: Spivey, Atkins, Horner, interviews.
86 The Navy Department had just done a study: Magnus, Spivey et al., interviews.
87 The Marines had been trying for more than a decade: Balch, Lundberg, Magnus, Spivey, Kelley, interviews.
87 seemed to be leaning toward the Model 360: Lundberg, Magnus, Kelley, interviews.
87 On September 24, Kelley was scheduled: Kelley, Lehman, interviews. The dialogue was recalled by Kelley.
89 his administration’s first defense budget: 1981 Congressional Quarterly Almanac, Washington, D.C. (hereafter CQ Almanac), p. 192.
89 Reagan’s new undersecretary: Scheuren, interview.
90 Joint programs had been in vogue: Smith, Power Game, p. 199.
90 literally turned into shouting matches: Ingemar Dörfer, Arms Deal: The Selling of the F-16 (New York: Praeger, 1983), p. 22.
91 In August, Scheuren and Magnus wrote a memo: Scheuren, Magnus, interviews. The quotation from the memo comes from LTC Robert M. Flanagan, “The V-22 Is Slipping Away,” U.S. Naval Institute Proceedings, August 1990.
91 who in turn sent a memo to Lehman: Gen. P. X. Kelley, Memorandum for the Secretary of the Navy A/WJW/jpc 10 Sep 1981, Subj: Rotary Wing Aircraft Development, Ref: USDRE Memo of 27 Aug 81, Department of the Navy, Headquarters United States Marine Corps.
91 Kelley didn’t even mention the tiltrotor: Gen. P. X. Kelley, Memorandum for the Record ACMC/CS:swb 28 September 1981, Subj: HXM Conversation with the SecNav, 24 September 1981, Department of the Navy, Headquarters United States Marine Corps.
93 Troutman, who died of cancer in 2000, was smooth: “Defense: How the weapons lobby works in Washington,” Business Week, Feb. 12, 1979: Atkins, Horner, Norwine, Spivey, former House Speaker Jim Wright, D-Fort Worth, interviews.
94 called this natural alliance: Smith, Power Game, p. 736.
95 The Paris Air Show was a first for NASA: Maisel, History of the XV-15.
95 Bell wasted no time putting its XV-15 to use: Cannon, Erhart, Roy Hopkins, Spivey, interviews. Goldwater’s comments in flight were recollected by Cannon. Goldwater’s comment in the hangar was recalled by Hopkins.
97 When Balch, Lundberg, and Creech finished their flights: Atkins, Balch, Creech, Lundberg, interviews. The quotes were recollected by Balch.
97 Two weeks after Atkins and the Marine colonels talked: Creech, Col. (ret.) Jim, USMC. “The Tilt-Rotor MV-22 Osprey, Transport Vehicle of the Future,” Amphibious Warfare Review, Fall/Winter 1986.
98 Reports in the trade press: “Washington Roundup,” Aviation Week & Space Technology, Dec. 20, 1982. The $41 billion figure was used by Sen. Ted Stevens, R-Alaska, in a July 28, 1983, Senate Defense Appropriations Subcommittee hearing.
98 The JVX program office also assembled: Charles Crawford, Magnus, Lt. Col. (ret.) Gregory McAdams, USMC, interviews. Crawford provided the author a copy of the report, titled NASA Technology Assessment of Capability for Advanced Joint Vertical Lift Aircraft (JVX), Summary Report, Analysis and Preparation Chaired by AVRADCOM, May 1983.
99 Spivey didn’t know it at the time: Boeing-Vertol Company Inter-Office Memorandum by R. F. Wischer, Dec. 21, 1981, Subject: Advanced Technology Program. Copy provided to the author by Wischer.
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