Interesting Helicopter and Fixed-wing Facts for Tupelo, MS

If you include military helicopters it is estimated that there are more than 45,000 operating worldwide. The first helicopter to achieve completely untethered flight was the Cornu in 1907 which managed to hover one foot above the ground for 20 seconds.

The Wright Brothers first acquired this land in 1910 in the hopes of opening a flying school. Their endeavor lasted only a few months, and Maxwell became a repair depot for planes in 1918. Although it was slated for closure in 1919, delays in doing so gave city leaders an opportunity to petition for new spending to be performed at the newly-named Maxwell field. As a result of the massive spending that took place, the War Department eventually decided to keep it open.

Fun Helicopter and Airplane Facts for Tupelo, MS

Though most earlier designs used more than one main rotor, it is the single main rotor with anti-torque tail rotor configuration that has become the most common helicopter configuration. Tandem rotor helicopters are also in widespread use, due to their better payload capacity. Quadrotor helicopters and other types of multicopter have been developed for specialized applications.