1979 Sikorsky Spirit Flight Test Team
The Sikorsky Aircraft SpiritTM Flight Test Team was the 1979 Kelly Johnson Award recipients for outstanding achievement in the field of Flight Test Engineering.
The following is the original text from the proposed citation from Society of Flight Test Engineers:
"KELLY JOHNSON" ENGINEER OF THE YEAR AWARD
The SpiritTM Helicopter Engineering Flight Test Team, led by Ken Mard and Richard McCutcheon, and later by Jim Nedin, is awarded the "Kelly Johnson" Engineer of the Year Award for engineering excellence for development and qualification flight testing of the SpiritTM Helicopter manufactured by the Sikorsky Aircraft Division of United Technologies Corporation. The flight test team, through an accelerated and innovative flight test program which led the industry in the certification of composite materials, advanced the SpiritTM helicopter from its first flight in March of 1977 to FAA pilot test flying and Type Inspection Authorization in March of 1978, and then to FAA Type Certification in November 1978. At that time, the SpiritTM became the first commercial transport helicopter, designed and built from the wheels up, to be certified by FAA and Part 29 of the FAA regulations.