History of the Helicopter

The first visions of helicopter flight can be traced back to as early as 1490, when Leonardo Da Vinci drew a picture of a machine that most resembled what we know today as the modern helicopter.

The breakthrough in helicopter flight, however, didn’t come until the 19th century. It was the French that were the first to get a helicopter off the ground. In 1907, the first design became airborne for mere minutes; then officially in 1924, a helicopter took its first 7-minute and 40-second flight. It was historic.

Choppers have come a long way since then. The advancements came fast, and eventually vertical flight was perfected. The evolvement of rotary wings was collective, perfected by years of new ideas. And as a result, the helicopter has become one of the most versatile vehicles known to man, able to fly at low altitudes, hover, rest on water or fly fast enough to dodge bullets.

Helicopters made history in WWI when Germans designed a lifting device to replace kite balloons used for observation. It wasn’t until the latter half of WWI, though, that high-tech technology advancements out of the United States and Europe contributed to helicopter flight.

In the 1950s, the first commercial transport helicopter lifted off the ground, pushing the choppers advancements further up the success ladder. The Vietnam War, however, was what really put helicopters on the map. For the first time, helicopters were not only used to fly at low altitudes in search of wounded soldiers on the ground, but they were also used as weapons. Soon afterward, in the 1970s, infrared cameras were installed to most helicopters to make for easy night vision.

Since Vietnam, helicopter technology has never stopped improving. Now helicopters are used in all areas of public service and recreation — from police, fire and emergency rescue to transportation, observation and the entertainment of geographical tours. Advancing technology has not only left the helicopter in its most reliable form, helicopter flight is now one of the safest forms of transportation.