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Aviation History
1956
1956 - 0747.PDF
Sikorsky HSS-1. MILITARY AIRCRAFT 1956 Ship-Borne Anti-Submarine Westland-built S-58 In March this year the ParliamentarySecretary to the Admiralty, dealing with helicopters and their employ- ment in connection with under-water warfare, said that ideas andinformation were being exchanged with the Americans, who shared our confidence in the great possibilities of this method of anti-submarinedefence. He added that the possibility of using helicopters for mine- sweeping was being investigated, and said that plans were on foot touse the Westland S-58 single-rotor helicopter. The Parliamentary Secretary also referred to the efficiency of helicopters "in operating anAsdic set free from ship noises and practically free from effective retaliation by a submarine." The British S-58 (U.S. Navy HSS) will have a Napier Gazelle gasturbine. U.S.A. Bell HSL-1 Of interest in having been designed specifically foranti-submarine warfare, the HSL-1 is understood to have encountered a number of operation problems, particularly associated with liftingpower, and rotor blades of larger diameter are apparently being fitted. An order on behalf of the Royal Navy was cancelled many months ago. The Pratt and Whitney R-2800 piston engine (1,900 h.p.) is installedaft on a hinged mounting and the twin rotors are arranged to fold for carrier stowage. In the original design provision was made for anti-submarine equipment and armament totalling some 4,000 1b in weight and including dipping, sonar and "lightweight homing weapons." Thusthe HSL-1 is both a hunter and a killer. A special Bell-developed automatic pilot relieves the pilot of tediousand constant manual control during the use of sonar equipment. By eliminating the margin of human error it also permits greater precisionof control. Two pilots and two sonar operators are carried. Grumman S2F-1 The U.S. Navy's counterpart of the FaireyGannet (though differing remarkably in technical make-up), the S2F-1 was designed to combine the dual functions—hunter and killer—of thetwo versions of its single-engined predecessor, the AF-2 Guardian. Itself twin-engined (two Wright R-1820-76 Cyclone piston engines) it is ofconventional layout and carries a crew of four (pilot, co-pilot, radio operator and radar operator). Equipment and armament includes detec-tion, radar (in a retractable "dustbin"), the magnetic airborne detector, homing torpedoes, depth charges or rocket projectiles. Sonobuoys arestowed in the tails of the engine nacelles, and a searchlight is mounted under the starboard wing. Navigational equipment is lavish, to permitoperation under severe weather conditions, and single-engine perform- ance is claimed to be exceptional. The S2F can operate from the decksof the smallest carriers in service with the U.S. Navy. The following is an extract from a report on S2F operations from anofficial U.S. Navy publication: "Because of the highly technical nature of anti-submarine warfare, the four S2F crew members must be welltrained, experienced men. Before a pilot can be qualified as first pilot of an S2F, he must have almost three years flight experience, includinga full year of theory and practice in the S2F. Added to the required knowledge of ASW tactics and all-weather techniques, the pilot mustmake 48 day and 32 night FCLs before taking an S2F aboard ship. After that are 28 carrier landings, including the eight night landings. "Only slightly less advanced in his training, the busy co-pilot servesas navigator and radioman, and he operates the powerful searchlights with the pistol-grip type controls installed immediately to his right."Directly aft of the compact cockpit, the radarman and Magnetic Airborne Detection Operator (MADman) are engaged in the operatingof their intricate equipment, centring around the retractable radar dome and the "Barber pole," the MAD gear. The radarman also evaluatessignals from the Sonabuoy [sic] listening devices, which are ejected from a special housing aft of each engine. The MADman's job is also alistening operation. Additionally, these two men are qualified to handle the ordnance aboard the plane." A version known as the CS2F is being built by de Havilland Aircraftof Canada, Ltd., for the Royal Canadian Navy, and the first of these machines should be coming through in the autumn.Grumman S2F-2 This developed S2F is designed to carry a newer, larger, "classified" type of anti-submarine weapon, and in orderto accommodate this an enlarged torpedo bay has been built into the port side of the fuselage. To compensate for the increase and redistributionof weight tail surface areas have been augmented. NAVY x- Grumman S2F-1 The S2F-2 is already in production, as is the TF-1—a passenger/ cargo/trainer/utility version. Sikorsky HSS-1 In the years immediately ahead the HSS-1 islikely to be the principal anti-submarine helicopter of the U.S. Navy and, as already intimated, a version has been adopted by the RoyalNavy. In some ways resembling an enlarged S-55, it is, in fact, notably more efficient, and although the anti-submarine loads may not be speci-fied, the civil version carries twelve passengers or a net payload of 4,000 lb plus a crew of two for a distance of 100 miles. Its normalrange is 270 miles and, equipped with auxiliary fuel, it has a ferry range of over 970 miles. Maximum speed is 132 m.p.h. and cruising speed104 m.p.h. Empty weight (equipped) is 7,530 1b and gross weight 12,600 lb. The engine is a Wright Cyclone R-1820. FRANCE Breguet 1050 Fifty of these carrier-borne anti-submarine air-craft have been ordered and five are expected to be delivered by the end of the year. The crew of three are staggered, the man to starboardand the rearmost occupant having radar scanners. The main wheels retract into "pinion" nacelles, which also house anti-submarine gear,and there is a large radome under the fuselage. Far aft is a ventral air brake. The engine can be an Armstrong Siddeley Mamba 6 orRolls-Royce Dart 7, and endurance 4 hours.
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