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Piasecki PV-18 H-25 series - Retriever / Mule / Mule / HUP
This tandem rotor design was evolved by Piasecki Helicopter Corp.
to meet a Bureau of Aeronautics requirement, issued in 1945, for a utility
helicopter to be based aboard aircraft carriers and other large warships of
the US Navy for search and rescue, plane guard, and general transportation
duties.
The proposed aircraft was given the works designation PV-14 and two
XHJP-1 prototypes (37976 and '77) were completed for US navy evaluation.
In 1948 work began on thirty-two PV-18's, or HUP-1 Retrievers, as the
production version was known. They differed little from the original XHJP-1,
the major apparent change being the addition of inward sloping endplate fins
to the horizontal stabilizers below the rear rotor head. Both sets of
three-bladed rotors could be folded for shipboard stowage and the HUP-1,
powered by a single 525hp Continental R-975-34 piston engine, could
accomodate four/five passengers or three casualty litters in addition to the
two-man crew.
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Successful tests with a Sperry autopilot in the XHJP-1 enabled
the next model, the HUP-2 , to be built without tail surfaces and the more
powerful Continental R-975-42 was installed in this and all subsequent
production models.
Another feature of the Retriever was a large rectangular
rescue hatch offset to starboard in the floor of the front fuselage, through
which a winch inside the cabin could lift weights of up to 400 lbs. at a
time.
One-hundred and sixty-five HUP-2's were built for the US Navy; fifteen
were supplied to the France's Aeronavale, and the US Navy also operated
about a dozen HUP-2S submarine hunting aircraft with dunking sonar
equipment. Another HUP-2 was given a sealed, watertight hull and outrigged
twin floats for waterborne tests. US Navy units, which included HU-1 and
HU-2, began to recieve the Retriever in February 1949.
In 1951, the US Air Force, on behalf of the US Army, ordered a version of the HUP-2 with a
reinforced cabin floor and hydraulically boosted controls, for general
support and evacuation work. Seventy of these were delivered as H-25A Army
Mules from 1953, as were fifty similar Naval HUP-3's (including three for
the Royal Canadian Navy) for ambulance and light cargo duties. Production of
the last aircraft was completed in July 1954.
A proposal to boost the speed, range, and payload of all H-25/HUP aircraft still in
service by refitting them with 700hp Wright R-1300-3 engines did not take place, and by the time
the new tri-service designation system was introduced in July 1962 only the
HUP-2 and HUP-3 remained in service; these became the UH-25B and UH-25C
respectively.
HUP-3
Engines: 1 * 550 hp Continental R-975-42
Speed: Max: 170 km/h
Range: Max 550 km
Weight: Empty: 1780 kg -- Max: 2770
Rotor Span: 10.67 m
Length: 17 m
Height: 3.80 m
Disc Area: 179 m2
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Contribution : Steve Jones
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