July 15, 1952
Two large Sikorsky H-19 helicopters took off from Westover Air Force Base (AFB) in Massachusetts to begin what would be the first transoceanic crossing of that mode of airborne transportation.
One of these helicopters was named “Hop-A-Long,” and it was piloted by Captain Vincent H. McGovern with Captain Harry C. Jeffers as his co-pilot. The other helicopter, was called “Whirl-O-Way,” was piloted by 1st Lieutenant Harold W. Moore, with Captain George D. Hambrick as his co-pilot. All of these U.S. Air Force officers except Hambrick were veterans of helicopter rescue operations in the Korean War. It was 29-year-old McGovern who came up with the idea of flying helicopters across the Atlantic Ocean to test the feasibility of delivering that aircraft to Europe in such a manner.
On the same day as their departure from Massachusetts, these comparatively slow-moving helicopters ended up at Presque Isle, Maine. Hop-A-long and Whirl-O-Way (both heavily loaded with gasoline for the long-distance trek) subsequently made stops at Goose Bay in Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada; Narsarsasnak, Greenland; and Keflavik, Iceland. Throughout this journey, the pilots of each helicopter avoided both bad weather overall and icebergs in the chilly waters just below. The helicopters were trailed by a Douglas C-54 Skymaster plane carrying mechanics on board in case of emergencies.
Finally, on July 31 and after covering a total of 3,410 miles (5,003.5 kilometers), the helicopters landed in the Scottish town of Prestwick. The Associated Press (AP) reported that same day, “The two big Sikorsky H-19’s, loaded down with extra gas and each carrying a pilot and copilot, thrashed across 850 miles [1,368 kilometers] of ocean between Keflavik, Iceland, and Prestwick — the last leg of a history-making journey from Westover Air Force Base in Massachusetts.”
This AP news story also noted, “Whirring along at a leisurely 90-mile [144.8-kilometer]-an-hour pace, the two craft sometime were sometimes so low today they had to dodge icebergs. They made the last hop in 11 hours ad had three hours of fuel left when they landed.”
Incidentally, those on hand for the July 15 departure of Hop-A-Long and Whirl-O-Way from Westover AFB included world-famous helicopter designer Igor Sikorsky. He opined at the time that the history-making flight “may open the door for great advances” by showing that helicopters could be flown to “points where shipment is now impossible.”
(The accompanying photo features the helicopter known as Hop-A-Long.)
Photo Credit: Public Domain
For more information on the 1952 transoceanic crossing of the U.S. Air Force Base helicopters Hop-A-Long and Whirl-O-Way, please check out https://sikorskyarchives.com/home/sikorsky-product-history/helicopter-innovation-era/sikorsky-s-55/ and https://www.rotorheadsrus.us/documents/221.html#:~:text=The%20two%20H%2D19s%20flew,on%20the%20long%20adventurous%20trip
A video about this record-setting journey is available https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PqIk-ck9hyg
Transportation History 
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