Aircrafttotal Encyclopedia


General information
Type	Helicopter
Manufacturer	Sikorsky Aircraft
Designer	Igor Sikorsky
Primary users	United States Army Air Forces United States Coast Guard Royal Air Force Royal Navy
Number built	131
History
Manufactured	1942–1944
Introduction date	5 January 1943
First flight	January 14, 1942
Developed from	Vought-Sikorsky VS-300
Developed into	Sikorsky R-6

The Sikorsky R-4 is a two-seat light helicopter that was designed by Igor Sikorsky with a single, three-bladed main rotor and powered by a radial engine. The R-4 was the world's first large-scale mass-produced helicopter and the first helicopter used by the United States Army Air Forces, the United States Navy, the United States Coast Guard and the United Kingdom's Royal Air Force and Royal Navy. In U.S. Navy and U.S. Coast Guard service, the helicopter was known as the Sikorsky HNS-1. In British service it was known as the Hoverfly.

Development

The VS-316 was developed from the famous experimental VS-300 helicopter, invented by Igor Sikorsky and publicly demonstrated in 1940. The VS-316 was designated the XR-4, under the United States Army Air Forces' series for "Rotorcraft". The XR-4 first flew on 14 January 1942 and was accepted by the Army on 30 May 1942.The XR-4 exceeded all the previous helicopter endurance altitude and airspeed records that had been set before it. The XR-4 completed a 761 mi (1,225 km) cross-country flight from Bridgeport, Connecticut, to Wright Field, Ohio, set a helicopter peak altitude record of 12,000 ft (3,700 m), while achieving 100 flight hours without a major incident and top airspeed approaching 90 mph (78 kn; 145 km/h)

The British Admiralty, having learned of the VS-300, made a ship available, Empire Mersey, fitted with an 80 ft × 40 ft (24 m × 12 m) landing platform, intended to show the USN their work with ship-borne autogyros. After her loss in 1942 to a U-boat, she was replaced by SS Daghestan. The first deck-landing trials aboard Daghestan were carried out in 1944. The British received two of the first eight helicopters built

Howard Sikorsky helicopters MD

Sikorsky, a Lockheed Martin Company
Sikorsky R-4 Hoverfly utility helicopter
Introduction date 5 January 1943 First flight January 14, 1942

General Info

Crew: 2
Capacity: 1x casualty litter carried externally
Length: 48 ft 1 in (14.66 m) rotors turning

33 ft 8 in (10 m) fuselage only^{[citation needed]}

Height: 12 ft 5 in (3.78 m)

Powerplant

Empty weight: 2,011 lb (912 kg)
Gross weight: 2,540 lb (1,152 kg)
Powerplant: 1 × Warner R-550-1 7-cylinder air-cooled radial piston engine, 185 hp (138 kW)
Main rotor diameter: 38 ft (12 m)

Specifications

Maximum speed: 75 mph (121 km/h)
Cruise speed: 65 mph (105 km/h,)
Range: 130 mi (210 km, 110 nmi)
Service ceiling: 8,000 ft (2,400 m)
Time to altitude: 8,000 ft (2,438 m) in 45 minutes

Armament

Aircraft of comparable role, configuration, and era

Special Links Sikorsky R-4 Hoverfly utility helicopter Introduction date 5 January 1943 First flight January 14, 1942

Links to Youtube & Others

The helicopter was difficult to fly. The aircraft's blades were made of wood ribs around a steel spar and covered with doped fabric.

Sikorsky R-4 Hoverfly Utility helicopter

In Royal Air Force service, the R-4 was called the Hoverfly.

Youtube Link

On June 15, 1945, the Fifth Air Force received a request from the 38th Infantry Division to evacuate two soldiers with head injuries from a spot 35 miles (56 km) east of Manila.

Sikorsky
Sikorsky R-4 Hoverfly
utility helicopter
Introduction date 5 Jan 1943
First flight January 14, 1942