Wed, Feb 23, 2011
Soloed A Helicopter After Only Three And A Half Hours
Instruction
Commander Stewart Ross Graham, a Founding Member of Twirly
Birds, will be the honored guest during the organizations annual
meeting planned during the HAI Heli-Expo in Orlando, FL. Commander
Graham, USCG, (Ret.) first soloed in a helicopter in 1943 and
signed the original membership roll helping form Twirly Birds in
1945.
Graham is credited with countless aviation firsts, awards,
designations, and multiple helicopter records during the early
years of helicopter evolution. He is also largely responsible for
helping develop the helicopter into the true multi-mission aircraft
that it is today. The 24 year U.S. Coast Guard career of Commander
Graham began in 1937 as a surfman, later earning his wings on 5 SEP
1941 as a naval aviation pilot (airplane).
After witnessing a helicopter demonstration by Dr. Igor
Sikorsky, Graham requested helicopter flight training. He soloed in
a helicopter after only three and a half hours of helicopter
experience and was designated as Coast Guard Helicopter Pilot
Number 2 -- having received his instruction from Coast Guard
Helicopter Pilot Number 1, Captain Frank Erickson. Graham later
wrote, "It was an extraordinary way to graduate; no written test,
no diploma and no curriculum to follow thereafter. Dr. Igor
Sikorsky identified those men who soloed at his factory as
pioneers. As such, I was set free to penetrate the unknown, with an
unleashed, unreliable underpowered vibrating revolutionary type of
flying machine."
Graham played a leading role during one of the world's first
documented helicopter rescues in Gander, Newfoundland on 18 SEP
1946 after a Sabena DC-4 crashed on a hillside 20 miles southeast
of Gander. The rescue was dubbed the "Miracle of Gander" and
resulted in the rescue of 18 survivors from the ill fated airliner.
Commander Graham and other pilots involved in the rescue were
awarded the Air Medal and the Belgian "Knight of the Order Leopold"
medal. The rescue also ensured a permanent place for helicopters in
the Coast Guard's aviation inventory.
Commander Graham is credited with many helicopter achievements
such as; the first night offshore helicopter hoist rescue over the
Gulf of Mexico in 1955, and was also instrumental in developing
techniques for Anti-Submarine Warfare (ASW) that are still in use
today by Naval ASW squadrons around the world. Graham successfully
completed the first night helicopter medical evacuation flight when
he flew a patient in North Carolina from Cape Hatteras to Elizabeth
City, using the phosphorescence from the waves as they washed up on
the beach as a navigation aid until he spotted the lights of
Elizabeth City in December 1947. He also served as the first
helicopter test pilot at the U.S. Navy Patuxent River Flight Test
Center.
CDR Graham received the Twirly Birds Les Morris lifetime
achievement award in 1990 and was inducted into the Coast Guard
Aviation Hall of Fame in 1995.
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