by Flying Leatherneck | Dec 5, 2013 | Marine Aircraft
By Lieutenant Colonel Ronald J. Brown U.S. Marine Corps Reserve, Retired The Sikorsky HO3S-1 was the first helicopter assigned to the U.S. Marine Corps. The HO3S was the naval variant of Sikorky’s model S-51 commercial helicopter. Despite its observation designation,...
by Flying Leatherneck | Dec 5, 2013 | Marine Aircraft
By Lieutenant Colonel Ronald J. Brown U.S. Marine Corps Reserve, Retired The first rotary-winged aircraft used by naval aviation was not a helicopter. It was an autogiro, an airplane propelled by a normal front-mounted aircraft engine but kept aloft by rotating...
by Flying Leatherneck | Dec 5, 2013 | Marine Aircraft
By Lieutenant Colonel Ronald J. Brown U.S. Marine Corps Reserve, Retired The first U.S. Navy experience with rotary-wing aircraft was not a good one. The Pitcarin OP-1 autogiro, an airplane not a true helicopter, had been tested and found wanting during the era...
by Flying Leatherneck | Dec 5, 2013 | Marine Aircraft
By Lieutenant Colonel Ronald J. Brown U.S. Marine Corps Reserve, Retired The HRS transport helicopter was the military version of the Sikorsky S-55 commercial aircraft. It featured the familiar Sikorsky design signatures, a single overhead main rotor and a small...
by Flying Leatherneck | Dec 5, 2013 | Marine Aircraft
By Lieutenant Colonel Ronald J. Brown U.S. Marine Corps Reserve, Retired Thanks to the opening credits of the long-running television series “M*A*S*H,” a helicopter delivering wounded men to a field hospital remains one of the most enduring images of the Korean...
by Flying Leatherneck | Dec 5, 2013 | Marine Aircraft
SiBy Lieutenant Colonel Ronald J. Brown U.S. Marine Corps Reserve, Retired The HO5S helicopter, developed from Sikorsky’s S-52 design begun in 1948, was the purpose-built replacement observation helicopter for the HO3S. The S-52 was first conceived as a compact two...
