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Author Topic: Helicopters?  (Read 1346 times)

Offline PhilSmith

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Helicopters?
« on: July 27, 2004, 10:53:10 PM »
Would anybody else mind seeing a helicopter added into the game somewhere?  I'm not sure what it could really be used for, other than say... getting that pesky general to some out-of-the-way installation :aok   But other than that I can't think of a really good reason for one other than I just love flying helicopters.  

Or how 'bout an autogyro?  

Maybe even add some pontoons to the helo, so that that aforementioned general has to wait for his U-boat to actually "arrive".

Okay, okay, I've just got whirlybirds on the brain...


Cheers
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Offline OOZ662

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Helicopters?
« Reply #1 on: July 28, 2004, 03:27:51 AM »
Choppers would be great anti-tank(If there were anti-tank choppers :confused: ). Not up on WWII choppers.
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Offline Flyboy

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Helicopters?
« Reply #2 on: July 28, 2004, 04:19:49 AM »
where there any helicopters in ww2? :confused: never heard of them.
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Offline SunTracker

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Helicopters?
« Reply #3 on: July 28, 2004, 05:14:52 AM »
Yeah, U.S. used a few helos towards the end of WW2.  Dont think they shot anyone, but they did rescue some troops.
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Offline GScholz

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Helicopters?
« Reply #4 on: July 28, 2004, 06:09:29 AM »
Which helos would that be Suntracker. AFAIK only the Germans had operational helicopters during WWII, and they mostly operated as recon/S&R in their navy.
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Offline SunTracker

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Helicopters?
« Reply #5 on: July 28, 2004, 06:15:13 AM »
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Sikorsky R-4 (1942). The Sikorsky (model S-47) R-4 (British name Hoverfly MK I), was the first mass-produced military helicopter. The XR-4 (VS-316A), first flown in 14 January 1942, had a fabric covered tubular steel fuselage. Model numbers ranged from A through C. The YR-4B was a two-place side-by-side, observation, reconnaissance, and MedEvac helicopter, with one external litter. The R-4 was first used in combat in May 1944. The model R4-B entered service in 1945. Many were fitted with twin pontoons for use aboard ships or over water. A YR-4, equipped with pontoons, made the first helicopter deck landing on the S.S. Bunker Hill on May 6, 1943. An Army YR-4B performed the first military/MedEvac rescue behind enemy lines in Burma on April 25-26, 1944. Taxed-to-the-limit, powered by only a 185 hp Warner R550-1 engine, it required the YR-4B pilot four trips over a two day period to rescue the downed Stinson L-1 Vigilant pilot and three British casualties. R-4Bs were used by the U.S. Army Air Force, U.S. Navy (as the HNS-1), U.S. Coast Guard, as well as the British Royal Air Force and the Royal Navy (as the Hoverfly MK I). The R-4B was replaced by the versatile Sikorsky (model S-51) R-5D shortly after World War II.
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Offline SunTracker

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Helicopters?
« Reply #6 on: July 28, 2004, 06:31:35 AM »
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Sikorsky R-6 (1943). The Sikorsky (model S-49) R-6 (British name Hoverfly MK II) was first flown on October 15, 1943. A refinement of the R-4, the R-6 (VS-316B) featured a larger, improved, streamlined metal fuselage with improved pilot visibility. This was a joint U.S. Army/U.S. Navy program. It had the same rotor and transmission as the R-4, but a more powerful 245 hp Franklin O-405-9 engine. It had a crew of two, seated side-by-side. It was equipped with a high-frequency radio. In the MedEvac role it could be equipped with two external capsules to carry litters. Bomb racks could be installed to carry 650 lbs. of bombs externally. The R-6A could also be equipped with pontoons for use over water.
The R-6A was the first USAAF helicopter to serve in combat in May 1944.  The initial XR-6 and all five XR-6As were produced by Sikorsky. All R-6As were produced in 1944 and 1945 by Nash-Kelvinator under license to Sikorsky. The R-6A was used primarily by the U.S. Navy (as the HOS-1) and the U.S. Coast Guard, as well as the Royal Navy (as the Hoverfly MK II). Models A thru C were powered by a Pratt & Whitney R-985-AN-5 450 hp engine. The D model was powered by a Pratt & Whitney R-1340 600 hp engine.


http://tri.army.mil/LC/CS/csa/aahist.htm#Igor
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Offline GScholz

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Helicopters?
« Reply #7 on: July 28, 2004, 09:44:17 AM »
That R-6A that saw action in 1944 must have been  one of the XR-6A prototypes since the R-6A didn't enter production until 1945, and the first squadron with R-6A's wasn't formed until 1946.

The R-4B on the other hand was in service from mid-late 1944, and 100 units were built.


The Flettner Kolibri was in service in 1942 to the end of the war, but few were made.

I think it is safe to say that WWII helicopters weren't very useful.
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Offline BUG_EAF322

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Helicopters?
« Reply #8 on: July 28, 2004, 09:54:56 AM »
they where usefull but they didn't knew its potential yet.
:)
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Offline Flyboy

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Helicopters?
« Reply #9 on: July 28, 2004, 10:16:54 AM »
i find it alll hard to belive without any pictures :o  :D
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Offline GScholz

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Helicopters?
« Reply #10 on: July 28, 2004, 10:19:35 AM »
No I don't think so Bug. Apart from Korea style medevac duty and some use in the navy there was little these early helicopters could do that the Storch or Bird Dog couldn't do better.
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Offline SunTracker

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Helicopters?
« Reply #11 on: July 28, 2004, 10:45:23 AM »
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Sikorsky built the first six of the helicopters (one XR-6 and five XR-6As), in addition to 219 R-6As that were produced in 1944 and 1945 by Nash-Kelvinator under a Sikorsky License.f


http://www.wpafb.af.mil/museum/air_power/ap30.htm



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Offline GScholz

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Helicopters?
« Reply #12 on: July 28, 2004, 11:11:09 AM »
"Five trials "XR-6As" with a 240 horsepower Franklin engine were built by Sikorsky, and 26 similar "YR-6As" were built by the Nash-Kelvinator company. Nash Kelvinator also built 193 production "R-6As", beginning in 1945, with 36 going to the US Navy as the "HOS-1" and 40 going to the British RAF as the "Hoverfly II". Like the R-4, the R-6 could be fitted with pontoons, and like the R-4, the R-6's service life was short, particularly because its engine proved unreliable."

http://www.faqs.org/docs/air/avheli.html#m6


Incredibly, the Sikorsky homepage doesn't even mention this helicopter.
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Offline B17Skull12

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Helicopters?
« Reply #13 on: July 28, 2004, 11:15:34 AM »
The helicopters where so limited in weight during WW2 they were pretty much useless.  On one rescue mission a Helicopter had to rescue 6 men from a mission somewhere in the pacific.  It took him something like 3 hours because he could only take 1 man at a time due to weight restrictions.
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Offline Flyboy

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Helicopters?
« Reply #14 on: July 28, 2004, 11:32:14 AM »
so what was the first mass produced helicopter?
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