Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1959-06-08
The
Rambler
Arrives
On q High Horse
By GEORGE KENNEDY

The Rambler went to
Friendship Airport yesterday
to witness the first departure
Of American Airlines Jet
flights to the West Coast.
AS always the helicopter
ride was an experience.
You proceed in a plastic
bubble perfect view at a
low altitude $500 feet and
q slow speed 100 miles an
hour.
You pass over streets
and roads and highways
that you have traversed by
motor again and again, and
you see new buildings and
vast earth-moving projects
that prompt you to ask:
what is that?p
To take this wonderful
ride, the Rambler arrived by
appointment at the heliport.
The whirlybird has brought
about a fascinating nomen-
clature. The heliport is at
Twenty-sixth street and
Virginia avenue NV. in the
old gas tank district Of
Foggy Bottom.
There he was met by John
B. Hichborn, president of
Pilgrim Helicopter Services,
Inc, the pioneer in helicab
service in the Nations Cap
ital. Also Jim Shafer, the
pilot, who is starting his
third year OF whirling above
Washington.
We mounted to the cabin,
and took off, a swing over the
river scanned by the wake of
speed boats and flecked with
sail to the south below the
Highway Bridge.
John Hichborn is a YAM
kee. You should hear him
talk. He comes from Maine.
In the 18th century a Miss
Hichborn (this was in Mas
sachusetts before the family
moved down east) married
a silver smith and alarmist
named Paul Revere. Johns
family has some Revere
sterling pieces.
He served in the Navy in
the Pacific in World War II
and that's where he got in
terested in helicopters.
He Is assistant secretary
and assistant controller of
the Southland Life InSur-
ance Co, with Offices in the
Investment Building. BY ar
rangement with his employ
er 1.-THE insurance company
he runs the helicopter serv-
ice from his desk. This also
means luncheon at the desk
and bringing work home.
He started his corpora
ton early in 1857 with $780,
600 in capital. With this he
purchased a Bell Helicopter
(pilot and two passengers
for $4,000, $4,000 down and
sgt, 900 to 60.
mo matter whether it Is
a 15-passenger Vertol (the
flying bananal or the IL
passenger Sikorsky, a pas
senger seat costs about ST.
600 and that's twice too
much" he said yesterday.
Recently he doubled the
stock subscription to $4,000
to buy another Bell two
passenger (plus pilot cop
ter. But now his corporation
owes only $4,000 and pur-
chase of equipment from in
come has brought the in
vestment to $4,000.
He figures that Friendship
and especially Chantilly are
going to make his helicopter
service; that as airports get
further from the city, the
role of the helicopter will be
to get people forth to the
airport and back to their
homes. So far it has been
living on sightseeing and
training helicopter pilots.
For the Chantilly service
he intends to buy a a couple
of 15-passenger vertols at
$350,000 each or 12-passen-
ger Sikorskys at $250,000.
"But the fun is riding
these plastic bubbles" he re-
minded the Rambler, and
sure enough the scene un-
derneath was enjoyable.
We were going along the
Baltimore Expressway, pass
ing over the pattern of the
dwellings of Greenbelt, the
ideal farming operations of
the Agriculture Departments
Research Center at Beltsville,
the red-roofed barracks 81
Fort George Gordon Meade,
and the industrial complex
about Friendship.
The Boeing TOT five hours
to the COAST has So windows
on each side. 1t TAXED away
A. A. 49,. Ill. 1~.,x,akf,ar