Author Description

As a rule, every ground vehicle, from the pack animal to the railroad and automobile, is in need of a trail or road from the point of depature to the point of arrival. This is also true with respect to ships which require a waterway sufficiently deep and free of ice along the entire route to be followed. Indeed, the airplane is free to fly anywhere, but its departure and arrival necessitate the availability of a hard-surfaced airport with a long runway, or a deck of an airplane carrier. The helicopter requires neither a prepared space for departure and arrival, nor a road to follow. It is free from both. It approaches closer than any other vechile to the fulfillment of the ancient dreams of mankind, which were woven around a flying horse, the magic carpet and the like.