Gyrodyne QH-50
| Gyrodyne QH-50 | |
|---|---|
|
|
| Type: | Helicopter as a drone for submarine hunting |
| Design country: | |
| Manufacturer: | |
| First flight: |
August 12, 1960 |
| Commissioning: |
1962 |
| Production time: |
1962 - |
| Number of pieces: |
755 |
The Gyrodyne QH-50 was a helicopter used by the United States Navy as a drone for submarine hunting . The manufacturer was the Gyrodyne Company of America . The drone represented the airborne part of the DASH weapon system (Drone Anti-Submarine Helicopter).
history
In the late 1950s, Gyrodyne developed the RON-1 Rotorcycle, a single-seat micro-helicopter . In order to further develop it into an unmanned submarine fighter helicopter, the company received an order from the US Navy in April 1958 to make the Rotorcyle fully controllable from the ground with the slightest modification. To a large extent, commercially available electronic components should be used. The successful completion of the project study led to the follow-up order for the development of the flying DASH component on December 31, 1958, which took place in three construction stages.
designation
The original designation of the Navy helicopter was "Gyrodyne DSN" before "DSN" was changed to QH-50 in 1962 as part of the standardization of the designation systems of the three armed forces. The mission identifier "DS" stood for "Drone, Anti-Submarine" from 1959 to 1962 and "N" for the manufacturer (see designation system for aircraft of the US Navy from 1922 to 1962 ). The Gyrodyne DSN was the only aircraft that received the DS identification.
QH-50A (DSN-1)
The DSN-1 was the initial version, which still had the 72 HP Porsche YO 95-6 engine, the power transmission and the two coaxial two-blade rotors, as well as the rotor control system of the Rotorcycle. But it already had a modified hull and landing gear. To safeguard the test flights, it was also planned to accommodate a pilot who could intervene manually if the remote control equipment failed. The first such flight took place on July 1, 1960 on the USS Mitscher . The pilot's seat was then removed and the DSN-1 converted to pure unmanned operation. On August 12, 1960, the first prototype in this configuration finally took off from the Naval Air Testing Facility of Naval Air Station Patuxent River , Maryland , which meant the first pilotless helicopter flight.
On December 7th, the first landing without a pilot took place on a ship, the USS Hazelwood (DD-531) , which was later converted into a test ship. 38 flights were carried out from this ship, including 22 simulated anti-submarine missions based on the DASH concept. Nine QH-50A were built.
QH-50B (DSN-2)
Since the US Navy assumed that the concept would be successful even before the sea trials with the QH-50A were completed, they had placed an order with Gyrodyne for the QH-50C operational version. As an intermediate stage, three QH-50Bs were ordered, which compared to the previous model had two 86-hp Porsche engines and were only flown in the manned version.
QH-50C (DSN-3)
The model QH-50C was finally the series version with a 300 HP Boeing T50 shaft turbine, which was rigidly coupled to the rotor. The first machine of the initial series with ten copies, flew for the first time on April 6, 1961 and was delivered to the US Navy in July. The first series machines were handed over in November 1962, in January 1963 the USS Buck was the first ship in the US Navy to receive the series version of the QH-50C. The drone was transferred remotely to the ship lying off San Clemente Island.
The QH-50C had some problems with strong vibrations affecting the altitude measurement, causing several helicopters to be lost. On June 5, 1963, it was therefore decided to leave all drones on the ground until the problems were resolved, which was the case on July 1, 1963. In 1963, Defense Secretary Robert McNamara confirmed the budget to raise enough DASH for the 240 destroyers that had already gone through the FRAM program in previous years .
In 1970 the QH-50 were decommissioned in the entire fleet. According to McNamara, the reason for this was the excessive wear and tear on the drones with insufficient performance. The manufacturer assumed, however, that the real reason was the Vietnam War , which cost the US military a lot of money, but in which submarine hunting only played a subordinate role. A total of 755 QH-50s were produced.
In Germany, the Dornier company used the rotor system for the development projects / experimental systems Geamos and Seamos , for high-flying drones for battlefield and sea space reconnaissance.
DASH
The QH-50 could take off from the deck of a ship and then be controlled remotely from board. After take-off, she was steered from the CIC , then steered into the vicinity of the ship after the operation and landed from the deck. Since the drone had no return line to the ship, the pilot in the CIC had to calculate the position in each case; if an error occurred, it was lost.
The QH-50 was also used as a reconnaissance aircraft over Vietnam . For this purpose cameras were installed that sent images of the area overflown to the destroyer.
construction
The load-bearing structure of the QH-50 is a tubular steel frame and a skid chassis. The payload consists of two Mark 44 torpedoes with an acoustic seeker head.
Technical specifications
| Parameter | Data QH-50C |
|---|---|
| crew | 0 |
| Length (without rotor) | 3.94 m |
| Rotor diameter | 6.10 m |
| height | 2.96 m |
| Width over runners | 1.60 m |
| Rotor area | 29.20 m³ |
| Empty mass | 500 kg |
| Max. Takeoff mass | 1045 kg |
| Top speed | 112 km / h |
| Use radius | 37 km |
| Engines | 1 × Boeing T50 -BO-8A shaft turbine with 220 kW (300 PS) |
| Armament | two torpedoes type Mark 44 or a Mark 46 |
literature
- John WR Taylor (Ed.): Jane's All The World's Aircraft - 1965-66 , Sampson Low, Marston & Company Ltd., London, 1965, pp. 353 f.
Web links
- History on the side of CMGs Helicopter Historical Foundation (Engl.)
- http://www.gyrodyne-helicopters.com/index.html Site of the Gyrodyne company with pictures and description