Sikorsky VS-300
| Sikorsky VS-300 | |
|---|---|
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| Type: | Light helicopter |
| Design country: | |
| Manufacturer: | |
| First flight: |
September 14, 1939 |
| Commissioning: |
Flight tests ended in 1941 |
| Production time: |
Was never mass-produced |
The Sikorsky VS-300 , built by Igor I. Sikorski , was the first practical helicopter in the United States.
The VS-300 (Vought-Sikorsky 300) had a three-bladed main rotor that was driven by a 55 kW motor. The tail rotor was used to compensate for the torque generated by the main rotor and was mechanically coupled to the main rotor via a deflection gear. The fuselage was made up of an uncovered steel lattice construction, which was only given an aerodynamically shaped sheet metal cladding for the longer flight tests on the last model.
The first flight took place on September 14, 1939, but still with a cable connection to the ground, the first free flight then took place on May 13, 1940. Only one year later, on May 6, 1941, Sikorsky set a new record of endurance flight times of one hour, 32 minutes and 26 seconds with the VS-300. In the following period until December 8, 1941, the helicopter underwent many technical changes. The final version of the VS-300 flew a total of 102 hours, 35 minutes and 51 seconds before it was handed over to the Edison Institute, now The Henry Ford , in Dearborn, Michigan.
The VS-300 served as a model for the series-produced VS-316 ( R-4 ). He also demonstrated the advantages of the tail rotor configuration , which is still used in the vast majority of helicopters today.
See also