1. Thisbookisdedicatedtothememory of Wesley A. Kuhrt, who led Sikorsky Aircraft as its president during the formativeperiodoftheBlackHawkdesign and development when the U.S. Army referred to it as the utility tactical transport aircraft system (UTTAS). Wes Kuhrt was appointed president of the Sikorsky Aircraft Division of the United Aircraft Corporation in 1969to rebuild the division's helicopter technology base and to turn around its
2. AtSikorsky,thekeytechnologiescreatedunderKuhrt'sleadershipincluded the high-performance titanium rotor blade, the low maintenance elastomeric rotorhead, andthebearingless compositetailrotor.Allprovedtobe critically importanttothesuccessoftheBlackHawkhelicopterandtoallofitsderivative models.These new technologies constituted the technical foundation around whichtheUH-60ABlackHawkwasdesignedin 1972,andtheyweresuccessfully employed aswell in several new Sikorsky helicopters that followed.
3. Most oftheevents,decisions, setbacks andvictories described inthisbook tookplaceover aquarter century agoduring the 1970decade.Because of this time span, putting together an accurate and coherent account of the Black Hawk success story could not have been possible without the enthusiastic helpofmanypeople whowerewiththeU.S.Army andwhowerethe author's fellow employees at Sikorsky Aircraft during that early period. They were among the heroes who built the foundation for the Black Hawk helicopter during its formative years when it was called the UTTAS program. They helped develop it to become one of the world's most successful utility helicopters, and they created an unmatched succession of derivative models employed worldwide. Their memories, personal diaries, and notes helped to sort out many key issues from winning uphill competitive battles to solving the vexing technical problems encountered during the early flight period of the Black Hawk prototype and finally to help to describe the succession of derivative Black Hawk models.Their many contributions made itpossible to document theevolution ofthisworld-class helicopter from thedrawing board to record-setting production and mission applications.