New York Airways  Sikorsky S-55  N417A           (55-433)

                              
           
                                    New York Airways started service on 15 October 1952 using a small fleet of Sikorsky S-55s
                                    The first helicopter passengers in the U.S. were, in fact, carried by the machine seen above in
                                    this image from the collection of the late Peter R. Keating at Idlewild in the mid-1950s.  NYA's
                                    route connected the three main airports of Idlewild (now JFK), La Guardia and Newark.  Since
                                    much of this service was over water, the chopper used flotation gear.  I found the poor old thing
                                    languishing rather forlornly as N111VA at Tomorrow's Aeronautical Museum at Compton Muni-
                                    cipal Airport  in Southern California in August 2007.       Incidentally, the epithet "museum": could
                                    only be used in the loosest possible context to describe the motley collection of artifacts I found
                                    there at that time..  I was, as they say, "underwhelmed".    In May 2012 I have been informed by
                                    Phil Zizza that N111VA has recently been acquired by Kermit Weeks to add to his collection at
                                    Fantasy of Flight.  Kermit hopes to fully restore it and have it flying again.   (It would be nice if it
                                    could be completed and liveried as N417A again).

                              



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