White House Whirlybird

Gently as a gnat touching meringue, a blue-and-silver three-seat helicopter last week eased down onto a yellow marker on the White House lawn. Correspondents duly noted the executive mansion's, first helicopter landing.* But the practice descent marked something else as well. Air Pioneer Dwight Eisenhower was the first President to use a light plane (the twin-engined Aero-Commander 560) in short hops, e.g., to and from his Gettysburg farm. Now Ike is ready to employ the air age's newest child in civil-defense evacuation and in flights of convenience over Washington's heavy ground traffic, especially to and from the National Airport. The search for machine and man safe enough to ferry him took nearly four years.

The President's chief pilot and Air Force aide, Colonel William G. Draper, found the machine last autumn after discarding other helicopter models one by one. Since its appearance in 1954, Bell Aircraft's H-47J had logged an impressive safety and maintenance record, though its range (151 nautical miles) and speed (92 knots) are not exceptional. Bent on safety first, Draper climbed aboard an H-47J for a tough six-part performance test, then began looking for an Air Force pilot who could match the copter.

Shell-Chopped Chopper. The Air Force culled its files for helicopter pilots who had 2,000 to 4,000 hours of flight time without accident. Ten were ordered to Washington for interviews with a three-man board headed by Draper. Their life histories were probed, their technical knowledge plumbed, and they were told only that they might have to fly some "very important people."

Chosen for the job: sturdy, blue-eyed Major Joseph E. Barrett, 33, a tough but affable World War II veteran from Rule, Texas. Flying B-175, Pilot Barrett was shot down over Schweinfurt, Germany, spent 19 months in a German prison camp. In 1947 he transferred to helicopters, logged 250 combat hours in Korea, won a Silver Star for flying a shell-chopped chopper 70 miles behind enemy lines to retrieve a wounded fighter pilot.

Secret Service Following. As Ike's pilot, Barrett will be called on for no such derring-do. But if troubles arise, he has been thoroughly schooled. Since his selection, Barrett has flown the H-47J 75 hours, has crisscrossed Washington pinpointing emergency landing sites, e.g., the Jefferson Memorial lawn.

Completing his first White House landing last week, Barrett lifted again, headed off to National Airport for more practice. Next month man and machine will return to the White House for the "Operation Alert" civil-defense drill. This flight will be the payoff: the first U.S. President to ride a helicopter will climb aboard to be whisked away from simulated danger-- accompanied by a second copter carrying two Secret Servicemen.

*The first White House Autogiro landing was made April 22, 1931, when James Ray stepped out of a Pitcairn to receive the 1930 Collier Trophy from President Hoover. President Taft witnessed the first airplane landing there (by Harry Atwood) in 1911.

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