Utilizing large flaps and slats for better performance at high angles of attack, the wing also incorporated roll control spoilers that deployed with the ailerons to improve roll response at low airspeeds. To maintain the single-engine Courier’s utility in challenging, off-airport operations, they retained the tailwheel configuration as well as the traditional Helio wing design. When combined with the glass nose, the tiny panel afforded pilots outstanding forward visibility. This had the added benefit of placing engine-related controls and gauges closer to the engines themselves. To improve forward visibility even further, they also shrunk the instrument panel, relocating many gauges, switches, and the throttle quadrant to an overhead panel. This angle of the Twin Courier shows the thin slotted airfoil spanning the engine nacelles, an aerodynamic improvement added to the type after initial production. With nothing remaining in the nose, they cleverly solved one common challenge among taildraggers-poor forward visibility-by incorporating a helicopter-style bubble window in the nose. Starting with their successful short takeoff and landing (STOL) Courier, Helio engineers removed the original engine and placed two 250 hp Lycoming O-540 engines on the wing. But what is clear is that aircraft owners and operators had twin fever, and in the rush for market share, even smaller, more specialized companies like Helio responded to the demand and began designing twins. Whether the demand for twins was a function of a real or perceived lack of engine reliability, or whether it was simply a sign of the industry taking advantage of robust demand for aircraft across all categories is unclear. And Grumman created a twin-engine version of the single-engine Tiger called the Cougar. Cessna produced the Skymaster, which could be considered a twin 210. Piper produced the Seneca, which was essentially a Twin Cherokee Six.
During the 1960s and 1970s, many aircraft companies developed twin-engine derivatives of their existing single-engine offerings.
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