This is a 1962 HH-43B Huskie built and owned by the Kaman Aerospace Company.  The design first saw service carrying U.S. military firefighters and their equipment to the scene of crashes near airbases in Vietnam.  While it was the first production helicopter to incorporate a turbine engine, it is best known for its side-by-side, intermeshing rotor system, which produces tremendous lift with minimal rotor downwash.  N43FK is one of only a few Huskies still in service, and is used by Kaman to transition pilots into its single-seat descendant, the K-Max.

This 1992 R22 Beta is owned by Bill Richards, co-owner of Atlantic Rotors of Montross, Va., and was one of 12 built by Robinson for the Turkish Army. After the helicopter was retired from military service and returned to the states, U.S. Army seals were placed over the Turkish army insignia and a U.S. registration number was added. “Olive-1,” as Richards calls it, retains the OD green mesh seats that were built with the lot of 12 helicopters.

The Search & Rescue Summit 2008 was held September 18 and honored three crews that were responsible for extraordinary heroism. Represented here are Government of the State of Mexico Air Rescue Unit, winners of the Public Service 2007 Above and Beyond the Call Award; the U.S. Coast Guard, winners of the Military 2007 Above and Beyond the Call Award; and the U.S. Army (SFC Peter Rohrs, fourth from left, top row) winner of the 2007 Helicopter Heroism Award.

Sikorsky Chief Test Pilot Kevin Bredenbeck takes off on the first flight of the company's X2 technology demonstrator Aug. 27 at the rapid-prototyping facility at its Schweizer Aircraft subsidiary in Horseheads, N.Y.

Pilot Scott Kasprowicz (left) and copilot Steve Sheik are attempting to set a new speed record for an around-the-world helicopter flight using an unmodified AgustaWestland Grand. The pair will cover more than 20,000 nm, 15 countries and 24 time zones to try to make the trip in less than 14 days. Having departed New York City Aug. 7, the pair flew east, planning to return to North America over the Bering Strait. In February 2008, Kasprowicz and Sheik broke the speed record for the fastest transcontinental helicopter flight from N.Y to Los Angeles, setting a mark of 15 hr, 9 min, 10 sec. They made six fuel stops and covered 2,139.8 nm.

Sikorsky Aircraft's X2 technology demonstrator on the tarmac earlier this year at the company's rapid-prototyping center, its Schweizer Aircraft subsidiary in Horseheads, N.Y. The prototype had accumulated about 14 hr of ground runs with its coaxial main rotors installed by mid-July. Sikorsky aims to fly the X2 this year.