www.S-55.net Home S-55 History History With NYA History After NYA Contact N111VA HISTORY Personal History: Originally built for New York Airways in April 1953 to be used for their first scheduled passenger helicopter service. It was delivered on May 8, 1953 and was designated N-number N417A. It first began delivering mail and cargo regularly around the New York area. Then on July 8, 1953 it inaugurated the United States' First Scheduled Helicopter Passenger Service. All of the invited guests signed an airmail envelope. One of the signatures is Fred Dawson's, Sikorsky's Assistant Secretary, he also signed the Bill of Sale two months earlier. Another person that went on the historic flight was the Clarence Belinn, President of Los Angeles Airways. During its career with NYA N417A flew thousands of passengers on a regularly scheduled service. It flew to and from many destinations in New York, New Jersey and Connecticut. Photos and writing by Mr. Valentine "Val" White, Aerophilatelist on July 8, 1953 "The First Flight Cover" with autographs of the invited guests on the front. Returning mail from the following day. N417A also inaugurated the first combined passenger/airmail helicopter service. The dot matrix sticker on the cover was created for the returning mail on the 9th and is the same picture taken by Mr. Valentine "Val" White on the 8th. The above clipping is from The American Air Mail Catalog "AAMC" On September 26, 1956 N417A had another historical accomplishment. It was one of two helicopters that inaugurated the W. 30th St. Heli-port in New York, NY. At the time NYA equipped all five of their S-55's with floats because they were taking off and landing over water. I was told that from the man who installed them, Mr. Robert Halsted, NYA's chief mechanic. The 30th St. Heli-port is still operating today and is world famous. A card given out in First Flight Covers by NYA President Robert Cummings, Jr. "First Flight Cover" for W.30th St. inauguration "First Flight Cover" flown by Howard Higgins in N417A returning from Newark NYA's First Year - Magazine Article Page 1. Article Continued - Page 2. (photographs in article are all of N417A) During N417A's time at NYA it also carried cargo, freight and air mail on a contract with the United States Postal Service. The air mail route it flew on was AM-111 which is noted in the America Air Mail Catalog "AAMC" in the Fifth Edition, Volumes Three and Five. Perry H. Young Jr. was the first African-American pilot hired by a commercial airline in the United States. His historic flight occurred on Feb. 5, 1957. With Mr. Young as the copilot in a New York Airways Sikorsky helicopter from La Guardia Airport. Nine minutes later, the snub-nose helicopter landed at Idlewild Airport(now JFK), ending the racist notion "that blacks could not fly," said Perry Jones, the former chairman of the Organization of Black Airline Pilots. Up to that point, commercial airlines had refused to hire African-Americans in any on-board capacity, even though African-Americans had distinguished themselves as capable aviators during World War II. During the war, Mr. Young had also been one of the first African-American flight instructors in the United States Army Air Corps. Assigned to the 99th Pursuit Squadron, a black unit, he taught more than 150 pilots, many of whom saw action during the war. The squadron was highly decorated and went on to become part of the Tuskegee Airmen. "Very few of us knew anything about flying, few blacks did and we thought our instructors were going to be white," said Lee A. Archer, 77, an African-American fighter pilot who destroyed more enemy planes than any other in the squadron. "When I saw men like Perry Young, I was surprised and proud. They were like minor gods to me." After the war, when the commercial industry was unwilling to open its doors, Mr. Young went to the Caribbean to fly. Over the next 10 years, he was in Haiti, Puerto Rico and the United States Virgin Islands, working in various capacities: the owner and operator of his own commercial flight service, a contract pilot and a flight mechanic. During that time he earned his helicopter pilot's license. In December 1956, 17 years after he had earned his first pilot's license, Mr. Young was hired by New York Airways in an aggressive campaign to break the color barrier in the commercial airline business. Within months, he rose to captain and flew with the company for 23 years until it declared bankruptcy in 1979. After Mr. Young was hired by New York Airways, other men became emboldened to challenge the status quo. Marlon Green, a former Air Force captain, and Mr. Young took Continental Airlines all the way to the Supreme Court in 1963, winning a landmark judgment that opened interstate commercial airlines to all African-American pilots. NYA Inaugural Letter 417A helping out NYA ad 417A with floats NYA 55 at heliport NYA 55 NYA Mail (Cyanamid) NYA Mail NYA Mail NYA Luggage Tag NYA Wings AM-111 map Historical Links: wikipedia centennialofflight (see July 8) centennialofflight.gov(see New York Airways) Page 2. N111VA HISTORY & PHOTOGRAPHS Top Of Page