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1953 airlift helicopter series by Sikorsky From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Sikorsky CH-37 Mojave (company designation S-56) is an American large heavy-lift military helicopter of the 1950s. It entered service as the HR2S-1 Deuce with USMC in 1956, and as the H-37A Mojave with the U.S. Army that same year. In the early 1960s, the designation was standardized to CH-37 for both services, with the HR2S-1 redesignated as CH-37C specifically.
| CH-37 Mojave HR2S-1 Deuce | |
|---|---|
.jpg) H-37 Mojave of the US Army in flight | |
| General information | |
| Type | Cargo helicopter |
| National origin | United States |
| Manufacturer | Sikorsky Aircraft |
| Status | Retired |
| Primary users | United States Army |
| Number built | 154 |
| History | |
| Introduction date | July 1956 |
| First flight | 18 December 1953 |
| Retired | Late 1960s |
| Developed into | Sikorsky S-60 Westland Westminster |
Developed in the early 1950s, with its first flight in 1953, it filled a 1950 Navy requirement for an assault helicopter. The design includes a front-loading ramp with side opening clam shell doors on the nose. It is powered by two radial piston engines. It served in active military service well into the 1960s, including in Indochina, before being replaced, and many ex-military models went onto civilian service in the 1970s. This was the biggest helicopter in the world to enter service at the time, and one of the earliest twin engine models. It was known for being noisy but earned a good reputation for reliability. The Navy also adapted it to carry a naval radar, with two entering service as HR2S-1W.
The design led to a production attempt as the Westland Westminster in the United Kingdom; prototypes were produced, but it did not go into full production. The S-56 was also the basis for the S-60 Skycrane helicopter prototype.
The S-56 came into being as an assault transport for the United States Marine Corps (USMC), with a capacity of 26 fully equipped Marines. An order for the aircraft was placed in 1951 using the U.S. Navy/U.S. Marine Corps designation of the time of HR2S. The first prototype, the XHR2S-1 flew in 1953, and production deliveries of the HR2S-1 "Deuce" began in July 1956 to Marine Helicopter Squadron One (HMX-1), with a total of sixty aircraft being produced.[1]
The United States Army evaluated the prototype in 1954 and ordered 94 examples as the CH-37A, the first being delivered in summer 1956. All Marine Corps and Army examples were delivered by mid-1960. Army examples were all upgraded to CH-37B status in the early 1960s, being given Lear auto-stabilization equipment and the ability to load and unload while hovering. In the 1962 unification of United States military aircraft designations, the USMC examples were redesignated from HR2S-1 to CH-37C.
At the time of delivery, the CH-37 was the largest helicopter in the Western world and it was Sikorsky's first twin-engine helicopter. Two Pratt & Whitney R-2800 Double Wasp radial engines were mounted in outboard pods that also contained the retractable landing gear. This left the fuselage free for cargo, which could be loaded and unloaded through large clamshell doors in the nose. The early models could carry a payload of either three M422 Mighty Mites (a lightweight jeep-like vehicle) or 26 troops. For storage, the main rotor blades folded back on the fuselage and the tail rotor mast folded forward on the fuselage.[2]
The CH-37 was one of the last heavy helicopters to use piston engines, which were larger, heavier and less powerful than the turboshaft engines employed in later military helicopters. This accounted for the CH-37's fairly short service life, all being withdrawn from service by the late 1960s, replaced in Army service by the distantly related CH-54 Tarhe and in the Marine Corps by the CH-53 Sea Stallion.
Six CH-37C's were deployed to Vietnam in September 1965 to assist in the recovery of downed U.S. aircraft, serving in this role from Marble Mountain Air Facility until May 14, 1967.[citation needed] They were very successful at this role, recovering over US$7.5 million worth of equipment, some of which was retrieved from behind enemy lines.[citation needed] The CH-37 was also used to recover film capsules descending from space by parachute.[citation needed]
A total of 154 were produced by the time production ended. Of those, 94 were H-37A, and 90 that were converted to H-37B (later CH-37A and B respectively). It remains the largest piston powered helicopter.[citation needed]
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Data from U.S. Army Aircraft Since 1947[9]
General characteristics
Performance
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