ABC Interview with Dave Hall

The Sikorsky H-5 Dragonfly, designated HO3S-1 in U.S. Navy service, was the helicopter that permanently changed naval aviation.

Introduced in the late 1940s, the H-5 became the first Navy helicopter to replace fixed-wing aircraft operating with the fleet. It established practical shipboard helicopter operations and laid the foundation for modern combat search and rescue doctrine.

Helicopters are now indispensable to naval operations worldwide. That integration began with the Dragonfly. 

The Yakovlev Yak-3 is widely regarded as one of the most effective Soviet fighters of World War II. Compact, lightweight, and optimized for low-altitude combat, it earned a strong reputation among pilots on the Eastern Front for its maneuverability and climb performance.

The Yakovlev Yak-3UA known as Full Noise carries that legacy into the modern era. Built in 1993 using original Soviet tooling and engineering drawings, later powered by an American Allison V-1710 engine, and campaigned in the Unlimited class at the Reno Air Races, this aircraft represents a rare intersection of wartime design, post Cold War reconstruction, and modern competition.

Working with a ship as historically significant as USS Midway carries a responsibility that goes beyond creation. Commissioned in 1945 and serving for nearly fifty years, Midway was not only a cornerstone of U.S. naval aviation, but a place shaped by daily work, movement, and life at sea.

This project, developed in partnership with the USS Midway Museum, is rooted in preservation first. The materials being used are not simply artifacts. They are elements that played essential roles in how the ship moved, operated, and sustained the people aboard her. Each piece tells a different part of Midway’s story, and together they offer a fuller picture of service aboard one of the most important aircraft carriers of the 20th century.