touched down at Wright Field in Dayton. Although this type of trip would be considered commonplace today, it was a historic event in helicopter history. The total trip lasted 5 days, covering 761 miles in 16 separate flights. The total flight time was over 16 hours. Numerous unofficial records were established.
These
included the helicopter single flight distance record (repeatedly broken) which was set at 92 miles, the first interstate helicopter flight (4 states covered), first interstate helicopter passen- ger flight, and the world helicopter endurance record which ended up at 1 hour and 50 minutes
stration flight for the Army was extremely suc- cessful, largely due to Morris’s by now expert piloting abilities.
After the success of the XR-4 demonstration flights the Army required that the helicopter be delivered by air to Wright Field in Dayton, OH. Wright Field was nearly 700 miles from Stratford, CT and the XR-4 had not traveled more than one mile from the Sikorsky factory. So starting in May of 1942, Morris began making short cross country flights in the XR-4 to check its ability for sustained flight and evaluate the effects of longer flight times on the engine and transmission. Finally on May 13, 1942, Morris departed the Vought-Sikorsky factory to deliver the XR-4 to the Army. Five days later, Morris
Top: This photo shows what is believed to have been the first helicopter formation flight in the world. Les Morris is flying the XR-4 in the background while Igor Sikorsky flies the VS-300 in the foreground. Bottom: Les Morris is shown demonstrating the Sikorsky XR-4, the passenger is retrieving a camera from an observer on the ground. Photo: Courtesy of the collection of Mr. Charles G. Morris
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