Platt-Le Page XR-1

Platt-Le Page XR-1
Type	Experimental Helicopter
Manufacturer	Platt-Le Page Aircraft Company
Maiden flight	1941
Primary user	United States Army Air Force
Number built	2

The Platt-Le Page XR-1 was an early American twin-rotor helicopter built by the Platt-Le Page Aircraft Company of Eddystone, Pennsylvania. They were the first helicopters tested by the United States Army Air Force.

Design and development

Platt-Le Page were contracted in 1941 to supply two prototype helicopters to the United States Army Air Force designated XR-1. The company had licensed the patented Focke-Wulf Fw 61 transverse twin-rotor design prior to the outbreak of war. The first prototype (Serial Number 41-1) first flew on the May 12 1941, it had a fuselage with a fixed tailwheel undercarriage and a conventional tail unit. It had two counter-rotating rotors mounted on faired outriggers (stub-wings) on each side of the fuselage. The rotors were powered by a 440hp (328kW) Pratt & Whitney R-985-21 engine mounted in the fuselage. The second prototype was designated XR-1A (Serial Number 42-6581) and had increased glazing around the two-seat cockpit and a 450hp (336kW) Pratt & Whitney R-985-AN-1 engine.

Operational history

The two prototypes were accepted by the Army Air Force and were used for test and evaluation but no further orders were placed.

Variants

XR-1

First prototype

XR-1A

Second prototype with increased cockpit glazing and more powerful engine.

Operators

• Template:USA

References

• The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Aircraft (Part Work 1982-1985). Orbis Publishing. 

See also

This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Platt-Le Page XR-1".