President Trump made another basic change to the White House grounds, as usual,
without seeking Congressional approval. Curiously, this time, the media and all of us who react angrily to these decisions seemed to ignore it.
He approved the construction of a 100-foot in diameter helipad surface consisting of four-inch-thick durable granite slabs sourced from a California quarry designed to resist the intense heat and exhaust from the newer, heavier Marine One helicopters. It is located on the south lawn of the White House that was regraded so that the pad is completely flat and level with the horizon.
The Presidential Seal covers the entire diameter of the pad with an eagle-shaped centerpiece. Trump autographed the back of that piece before it was put into place.
Beyond helicopter landings and takeoffs, the sturdy pad is to double as a platform for outdoor events, gatherings and cocktail receptions.
The defense contractor, Lockheed Martin paid for the project. (Sikorsky, the Connecticut based helicopter manufacturer, now a subsidiary of Lockheed Martin, built the new presidential copters.)
After a great deal of debate, Congress, the Defense Department and the Marine Corp agreed to introduce the Sikorsky VH-92A Patriot Helicopter as the new chopper for the presidential fleet. The Patriot replaces the Sikorsky VH-30 Sea King that had been in use for four decades. No matter your political beliefs, I believe, “It’s about time.”
Why a concrete helipad? After all, helicopters have been using the White House South Lawn as a landing and takeoff pad since President Dwight David Eisenhower began using copters in 1957.
The reason is the exhaust from this more powerful chopper is more intense and could set the grass on fire. The federal organizations responsible for the president’s safety and the Marine Corp agreed that a concrete pad was necessary before they could sign-off on the VH-92A being named Helicopter Number One.
Trump noted: Dwight Eisenhower didn’t need a Helipad at the White House for those little choppers, but America needs one now.”
The history of Helicopter Number One began with Ike who loved Camp David. After all, he re-named the presidential retreat that FDR had called Shang Ri La after his brother, his grandson and his own middle name.
While Ike loved Camp David, he hated the amount of traffic he had to endure to make the trip by car from the White House. On July 12, 1957, Ike made his first flight on a helicopter from the White House to the camp using a Bell Ranger (H-13J). This was a bubble topped helicopter, the civilian version of the copter made famous during the Korean War. (Think of the helicopters who delivered the wounded to the field hospital in the TV series MASH.)
The Secret Service loved it because of its reliability. It could carry the pilot and two passengers, but only one in comfort. Also, it didn’t have air conditioning and it flew at a speed of
100 MPH with a range of 150 miles. The Secret Service insisted that James Rowley, chief of the White House detail, join the president in the bubble by squeezing into a third seat.
“When the president arrived at Camp David, he was sweating from an uncomfortable ride. After spending the night at Camp David, Ike drove with his family members to their home in Gettysburg, but then flew back to Washington in the Ranger. That was his second and last flight on that uncomfortable bird.”
His next helicopter ride was on Sept. 6, 1957 on a Marine HUS-1 also built by Sikorsky. Ike was pleased with this larger military transport helicopter and ordered his staff to switch to this model. The HUS-1 remained in presidential service for Jack Kennedy and Lydon Johnson before being replaced by the first version of the Sikorsky SH-30A, the Sea King.
Richard Nixon and Gerald Ford were the first presidents to use the Sea King. The A-model was succeeded by several newer versions of the Sea King that served Jimmy Carter, Ronald Reagan, George Bush, Bill Clinton, George W. Bush, Barack Obama, Joe Biden and Donald Trump, 45 and Trump 47.
The VH-92A should be this new bird! I envision that this copter will remain in service well into the future and the current model and its successors will serve at least a half-dozen of future presidents throughout the Twenty-First Century.
The new helipad was dedicated and went operational on Monday, September 21st.
What should have been a simple ceremony turned into another three-ring circus as
the Donald lost his national television coverage because he had banned certain networks from the White House. This brought about a TV boycott by the White House press pool.
Peter Baker of The New York Times explained what happened at his dedication of the new helipad: “He (the President) was left literally shouting into the wind as he cut the ribbon on his new helipad recorded only by (Newsmax) that could not capture his voice over the roar of Marine One.”
Oh well, it seems that Trump’s action to ban certain TV reporters from the White House has come back to haunt him, and so it goes.
