Piasecki passes on, but his pioneering work lives
Helicopter pioneer Frank Piasecki, who died two weeks ago at age 88, leaves behind a lasting legacy in the rotorcraft world.

Helicopter pioneer Frank Piasecki, who died two weeks ago at age 88, leaves behind a lasting legacy in the rotorcraft world. Piasecki is well known for developing the Army’s CH-47 Chinook and the Navy’s CH-46 Sea Knight twin-rotor helicopters, which are both now built by Boeing’s rotorcraft division in eastern Pennsylvania.

He was the president and chairman at Piasecki Aircraft, a company he founded in 1955 to continue research and development of advanced vertical takeoff and landing (VTOL) technologies. These efforts resulted in the successful development and flight testing of many innovative experimental aircraft, including the Sea-Bat VTOL drone, the Aerial Geep flying car, the Ring-Tail high-speed compound helicopter and hybrid heavy-lift aircraft. Piasecki was awarded more than 25 patents in the aerospace field.