Table Of Contentusmilitaryhelicopters...(1)-page1-Press
IMAGES OF WAR
UNITED STATES
MILITARY
HELICOPTERS
RARE PHOTOGRAPHS FROM
WARTIME ARCHIVES
Michael Green
usmilitaryhelicopters...(1)-page2-Press
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Contents
Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
Acknowledgements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
Notes to the Reader . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
Chapter One
Piston-Engine Helicopters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
Chapter Two
Gas Turbine Engine Transport Helicopters . . . . . . . . . . 62
Chapter Three
Gunships and Attack Helicopters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 114
Chapter Four
Special-Purpose Helicopters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 169
3
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Dedication
The author is dedicating this work to US Marine Corps Lieutenant Colonel Armond
H. DeLalio, recipient of the Navy Cross for heroism as pilot with Marine Scout-
Bomber Squadron 241 during the Battle of Midway in June 1942. He was also the
first Marine certified as a helicopter pilot on 8 August 1946 and commander of
theUSNavy’sfirsthelicopter squadron,VX-3.LieutenantColonel DeLaliowaskilled
during a helicopter test-flight accident in 1952.
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Introduction
T
his book covers in broad detail the American military’s long involvement with
helicopters that began during the Second World War and continues into the
twenty-first century. Reflecting their limited design capabilities, from the 1940s
into the 1950s the early piston-engine-powered helicopters were unarmed as they
lacked the lifting power to carry weapons. They did, however, prove their worth in
both the Second World War and the Korean War in the medical evacuation role.
By the time the American military became involved in the Vietnam War, experi-
ments had already demonstrated the potential of weapon-armed helicopters. The
main limiting factor remained the relatively low lifting capacity of reciprocating-
engine-powered helicopters. A focused study by industry and the armed forces
paved a path to the successful marriage of advanced relatively lighter airframes, light
yetpowerfularmamentsandgasturbineenginescapableofmatingallthoseelements
together in a rotary wing platform.
As successive generations of ever more powerful gas turbine engine-powered
helicopters have entered the American military inventory, they have demonstrated
that they have become more capable than their predecessors. Equipped with the
latestinavionics,theycanflyaroundtheclockinalmostanytypeofweatherdownto
tree-top level to deliver personnel or destroy with guns, rockets and missiles any
identified enemy threat.
The relatively recent introduction of tilt-rotor aircraft into the American military
arsenal in place of existing helicopters will also be examined in this book. Combining
into a single platform the useful aspects of fixed-wing and rotary-wing aircraft,
tilt-rotor aircraft may someday replace traditional American military helicopters.
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Acknowledgments
T
he bulk of the non-copyrighted images in this work belong to the various armed
services that make up the United States Department of Defense (DOD) and
their respective website photograph archives. Thanks must also be given to
Piasecki, Bell and Sikorsky for selected images.
SomecontemporarypicturesofcurrentandpreservedhistoricalAmericanmilitary
helicopters were supplied by friends named in the photo credits. As always, Paul and
Loren Hannah were most generous in sharing their photographs with the author. As
with all published works, authors also depend on friends for assistance in reviewing
their work and in this case Pete Shyvers was especially helpful.
6
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Notes to the Reader
1. The chapter headings are the author’s attempt to divide the history of American
military helicopters into manageable portions. With that said, many of the heli-
copters featured in this work transcend the author’s chapter headings, reflecting
the multi-purpose nature of many helicopters.
2. TheofficialdesignationcodesappliedtoAmericanmilitaryhelicopters areseldom
employed except in official documents. Many helicopters have been assigned
official nicknames, with others having acquired unofficial nicknames that reflect
some design feature or combination of their letter prefix designations. In some
cases the unofficial nicknames are better known than the official nicknames.
3. Thelistedoperationalparametersofthehelicoptersdiscussedinthisworksuchas
top speed, range, service ceiling and maximum loaded weight are theoretical.
Weather, altitude and outside air temperature can dramatically affect the opera-
tionalparametersofhelicoptersaswellastheamountofweighttheycancarryon
any given flight.
4. As some helicopter models are upgraded during their time in service, they may
be fitted with external features from newer versions. This can sometimes make
precise identification of a specific helicopter difficult without access to their indi-
vidual data plates.
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Chapter One
Piston-Engine Helicopters
A
merica’s first production military helicopter was designated the R-4B by the US
Army Air Forces (USAAF) in 1944. It was designed and built by the Sikorsky
Aircraft Company, with the pilot and a passenger sitting side-by-side. The
fuselage consisted of metal tubing covered by fabric. The prototype of the R-4B flew
in January 1942, with pre-production units being ordered for testing early the next
year.
Theprefix‘R’inR-4BaccordingtotheUSAAFwartimeaircraftdesignationsystem
stood for a rotary-wing aircraft. The number ‘4’ in the designation represented the
builderproductionsequencefortheaircraft.The‘B’wastodistinguishaminormodel
difference. In US Coast Guard service the R-4B was labelled the HNS-1.
TheUSNavyhadassignedhelicopterdevelopmenttotheUSCoastGuardinearly
1943. The US Coast Guard serves at the direction of the US Navy during wartime.
As a result of the US Coast Guard’s pioneering work with the helicopter during
the Second World War, the US Navy took over its development following the end
of the conflict.
The piston-powered (reciprocating) engine on the R-4B produced 185hp. Of the
100 R-4Bs built (including pre-production test units) during the Second World War
the American military took approximately half, with the other half going to the
BritishmilitaryviaLend-Lease.InBritishmilitaryservicethehelicopterwasnamedthe
‘Hoverfly’. Most went to the British Royal Navy.
Wartime Usage
DuringtheSecondWorldWartheR-4Bswereemployed bytheUSAAFindifferent
roles. This included, for example, moving small aircraft components between supply
vessels and air bases. The R-4B also performed the casualty evacuation (CASEVAC)
role, although no medical care was provided by the helicopter crew. A USAAF R-4B
executedthe firstcombatsearchand rescue(CSAR) missionin BurmainApril 1944,
saving four Allied soldiers trapped behind enemy lines. Non-combat rescue missions
are described as Search and Rescue (SAR).
The US Coast Guard was convinced early on of the helicopter’s potential as an
anti-submarinewarfare(ASW)platform.By 1944,ahandfulcouldbefoundonCoast
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