PlaneSpottingWorld welcomes all new members! Please gives your ideas at the Terminal.
HRP Rescuer
The Piasecki HRP Rescuer (aka Harp) was an United States tandem-rotor transport or rescue helicopter designed by Frank Piasecki and built by Piasecki Helicopter. The Piasecki PV-3 was adopted as the HRP-1 Rescuer by the United States Navy, United States Marine Corps, and United States Coast Guard. An improved PV-17 variant was later produced as the HRP-2. As one of the first transport helicopters in military service, the HRP-1 was capable of carrying two crewmen and 8-10 passengers or 2000 lb. (907kg) of cargo.
Contents
Development
The prototype helicopter (designated PV-3 by Piasecki, though commonly known to test personnel as The Dogship) first flew at Morton, Pennsylvania in March 1945 following a development contract from the United States Navy in February 1944. The Dogship was a novel tandem-rotor helicopter with a fixed tricycle landing gear, powered by a 600hp (447kW) Pratt & Whitney R-1340-AN-1 engine. To ensure that the rotors did not hit each other, the rear end of the fuselage curved upwards so the rear rotor was higher than the forward rotor. The fuselage was constructed of ordinary mild steel tubing, filled out with wooden ribs, and covered with doped fabric.[1] Following a series of mechanical incidents with the prototype, including stripped transmission gears, it was determined that use of common automotive parts in the helicopter transmission were inadequate to the severe loads imposed by flight; subsequent prototypes built after the war used stronger components.[2] Two prototypes designated XHRP-1 were constructed; one was used as a static test aircraft and the other was used for development flying.
Operational history
As the first U.S. military helicopter in service with a significant transport capability, the HRP-1 was immediately put to use transporting cargo and personnel. Although referred to officially as the HRP-1, or 'Harp', the helo's distinctive shape soon earned it the nickname The Flying Banana. The first HRP-1 Rescuer flew on 15 August 1947, and a second batch of ten was built later, with the final machine delivered in 1949. All were powered by the 600hp Pratt & Whitney R-1340-AN-1 engine. In all, twenty HRP-1s were ordered by the United States Navy, which passed most of their order to the U.S. Marine Corps and the Coast Guard. Three additional machines were delivered to the Coast Guard with the designation HRP-1G. An improved PV-17 version with an all-metal skin was developed and 5 were ordered in June 1948 as the HRP-2; all HRP-2s were delivered to the Coast Guard for use as rescue craft. Nine HRP-1s formed the backbone of the first Marine helicopter transport squadron, HMX-1, and were used in various exercises designed to test the helicopter's ability to deliver troops in beach assault or forward battlefield operations.[3]
In service, the HRP-1 frequently suffered various teething and maintenance troubles such as broken engine mounts and loose fittings; it was not unusual for the canvas covering to rip loose from the helicopter in flight, often entangling the rotor blades.[4] Despite these issues, the relative success of Piasecki's tandem rotor design would lead to the Piasecki H-21 family of helicopters.
Variants
- PV-3
- Prototype tandem-rotor helicopter powered by a Wright R-975 piston engine, one built.
- XHRP-1
- Military designation for two further PV-3s, one for static testing and one for flight trials.
- HRP-1
- Production variant, 35 built including two HRP-1Gs.
- HRP-1G
- Three HRP-1s for the United States Coast Guard.
- HRP-2
- Metal skinned variant, 5 built.
Operators
Specifications (HRP-2)
See also
Related development
Related lists
Lists relating to aviation | |
|---|---|
| General | Timeline of aviation · Aircraft · Aircraft manufacturers · Aircraft engines · Aircraft engine manufacturers · Airports · Airlines |
| Military | Air forces · Aircraft weapons · Missiles · Unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) · Experimental aircraft |
| Notable incidents and accidents | Military aviation · Airliners · General aviation · Famous aviation-related deaths |
| Records | Flight airspeed record · Flight distance record · Flight altitude record · Flight endurance record · Most produced aircraft |
Notes
- ↑ Piasecki: The Dogship and the Flying Banana, U.S. Centennial of Flight
- ↑ Piasecki: The Dogship and the Flying Banana, U.S. Centennial of Flight
- ↑ Rawlins, Eugene W. (Lt. Col.), Marines and Helicopters 1946-1962, Washington, D.C.: History and Museums Division, U.S. Marine Corps (1976), p. 20
- ↑ Close, Robert A. (Cmdr), Helo Operations, Class of 1945 - U.S. Naval Academy Alumni Association & Foundation, Helo Operations
References
- Taylor, Michael J. H. (1989). Jane's Encyclopedia of Aviation. London: Studio Editions.
- The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Aircraft (Part Work 1982-1985). Orbis Publishing, 2716.
External links
Template:Piasecki/Vertol aircraft Template:USN helicopters
Lists relating to aviation | |
|---|---|
| General | Timeline of aviation · Aircraft · Aircraft manufacturers · Aircraft engines · Aircraft engine manufacturers · Airports · Airlines |
| Military | Air forces · Aircraft weapons · Missiles · Unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) · Experimental aircraft |
| Notable incidents and accidents | Military aviation · Airliners · General aviation · Famous aviation-related deaths |
| Records | Flight airspeed record · Flight distance record · Flight altitude record · Flight endurance record · Most produced aircraft |
| This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "HRP Rescuer". |
