Helicopters have proved extraordinarily versatile and valuable across a wide range of missions, but even after the first brief pioneering flights their successful development involved decades of trial and error. Many challenges had to be overcome and several configurations tested before the modern helicopter emerged. Aviation Week takes a visual journey through that history.
This gallery was originally published on June 17, 2016 as part of Aviation Week's centennial anniversary series.
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Aviation Week at 100: How The Helicopter Has Developed
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