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Aviation History
1958
1958 - 0368.PDF
384 FLIGHT, 21 March 1958 WHO BELIEVES IN HELICOPTERS?... of the affair. So it is worth recording here that 415 men and24 tons of stores were ferried over the nine miles from ship to shore in 2 hr 20 min, during which just on 100 casualties werebrought back to the parent ships by JEHU aircraft alone. This unit's Sycamores were able to land-on and take off again within90 sec, and required only an extra 90 sec for refuelling. Medium-size helicopters like the Whirlwind, and the laterS'korsky S-58 or Wessex, are probably large enough for work in the actual front line. Their duties under a Pentana concept wouldinvolve ferrying individual companies to tactical positions, hauling guns, rocket launchers and supplies quickly over any terrain,independently of roads and bridges, and perhaps even taking a hand in the fighting. Under the code-name of "Skycav" (Sky cavalry), the U.S. Armyhas been experimenting for some time at its Aviation Center, Fort Rucker, Alabama, with the use of helicopters for closesupport of ground forces, and the results are fairly promising. The idea is not to send helicopters ranging into enemy territoryin the manner of fighter-bombers, but purely to support local groups of men, perhaps even the ones they have ferried to thefront line. They can carry a surprisingly effective armament. A small Bell H-13 or Hiller H-23, for example, can have fourmachine-guns and sixteen 3.5in rockets slung on the crossbars Soviet scientists have made considerable use of Mi-4 helicopters tor purposes of polar exploration and research. of its skid landing gear. A Sikorsky H-34 (S-58) has been equipped experimentally with forty 2.75in rockets, two 5in anti- tank rockets, two 20 mm cannon and nine machine-guns all at once. Nor would helicopters necessarily be too vulnerable for suchwork. Very few were destroyed by enemy fire in Korea, where they were seldom far from the front line; and their unique flyingcharacteristics would enable them to fly below enemy radar beams and to take advantage of every scrap of cover offered bytrees and hills. Finally, there must be ever-wider use of light helicopters forobservation, liaison, casualty evacuation and similar duties, for even the rugged Jeep is no longer versatile enough for Pentanatype operations. Surface vehicles are out—not in a half-hearted manner, but almost entirely—and that goes even for motor cycles.Why else would the U.S. Services be concentrating so much effort on developing one-man helicopters and "flying platforms"? The Hiller XROE-1 Rotorcycle is a superb example of an air-craft that would give one soldier complete 52 m.p.h. mobility. Weighing only 270 lb, it can be air-dropped as a tiny package,assembled by one man in ten minutes by simple pin fixings, and flown by a person of average intelligence after very little instruc-tion. The Rotor-Craft Pinwheel is even lighter in weight, and faster, its rotor-tip rocket units giving a cruising speed of 60-70m.p.h. It is very much quieter than one would expect from a rocket aircraft and has been flown by soldiers with no previouspilot experience after only five hours' instruction. Nor is it the limit of simplicity, for Rotor-Craft's forthcomingSky Hook helicopter will weigh less than 75 lb, fit into an "over- sized suitcase," and offer an assembly time of two minutes,without tools. At sea, too, the military helicopter has a great part to play.Already it has been developed to the stage where the Royal Navy is able to plan the use of helicopters exclusively for anti-submarineduties. Last year's S.B.A.C. Display gave a first glimpse of such an aircraft, when a Whirlwind H.A.S.7 appeared with a recess fora homing torpedo under its cabin. This was a logical develop- ment, for a helicopter has the ability to hover over the suspectedposition of a submarine and hunt it down with sonar "listening" gear. It can operate from a small platform on almost any ship,and so reduce the need for carriers for convoy protection, and it should be able to provide better all-weather anti-submarinecover than either land-based or carrier-borne fixed-wing aircraft. The turbine-powered Wessex should be ideal for anti-sub-marine work, carrying rockets, torpedoes or depth charges. It will also be useful for reconnaissance when no other aircraft areavailable; but a machine like the Fairey Ultra-Light or Sud Aviation Djinn would be better, because its tiny bulk wouldoffer a chance of seeing over the horizon without being seen itself. Use of helicopters for all these duties ashore and afloat wouldrequire production in such great numbers that the aircraft indus- try would receive a powerful shot in the arm to help it recoverfrom the shock of reduced orders for bombers and fighters. It would cost a great deal of money; but, quite apart from military Keeping the current flowing; A Sikorsky S-58 (left) was used recently to plant 63 power-lint poles in previously-dug holes on an almost inaccessible mountainside. (Below) Power-line patrolling, using light helicopters like the Bell 47J seen here, is carried out on annual charter basis by several United States operators.
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