With Chicago, Detroit, New York City, Buffalo, Philadelphia and Jamestown now behind them, the cities of Dallas and Fort Worth, Texas were the next scheduled stops for Lucy and Desi on February 10th and 11th, 1956 on their Forever Darling/Heart Fund tour. For this leg of the journey, they will once again call upon the services of Bell Aircraft Corporation to shuttle them from Dallas to Fort Worth for their scheduled personal appearances. Just like the helicopter ride from Buffalo to Jamestown, their 'whirlybird' (as Desi will insist upon calling it) will again be piloted by Floyd Carlson, also a Jamestown native. (In the fourth photo they are met in Dallas by a young Heart Fund Ambassador.) 'Two television stars will be sailing around above Dallas skyscrapers Saturday. Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz will catch a helicopter ride from atop the Statler Hilton for a trip to Fort Worth. City Council officially sanctioned the ride at its Monday meeting.'—Dallas Morning News, Feb. 7, 1956 In a 2014 article that I found regarding the history of Dallas, one writer made an observation about this 1956 event, but hadn't quite put the pieces together: "There was some sort of cordial relationship between the Arnazes and the people at Bell Aircraft, because they availed themselves of this brand new deluxe chopper in New York as well as in DFW." The reality was that Bell Aircraft was a co-sponsor of this trip but also had another relationship with Lucy and Desi. In 1956, negotiations and production began on a new Desilu action/adventure series called 'Whirlybirds’ (1957-1960). The basic plot was crafted around a helicopter company that was employed to rescue people caught in perilous situations each week. #lucilleball #desiarnaz #foreverdarling #moviepremiere #tour #helicopterride #whirlybird #desilu #dfw #waynelvslcy #ilovelucy #skyscrapers https://www.instagram.com/p/CofVyQip4RR/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=
