Warplanes of the USA: Ohio, Dayton, National Museum of the USAF: Sikorsky

Warplane Survivors USA: Ohio, Dayton, National Museum of the USAF: Sikorsky

(NACA Photo)

Sikorsky YR-4B Hoverfly, USAAF (Serial No. 43-28229), at the NACA Langley Memorial Aeronautical Laboratory at Hampton, Virginia.  It was transferred to the U.S. Navy and designated HNS-1 (BuNo. 39034).  It was test flown at Langley in March 1945.

(NMUSAF Photos)

Sikorsky R-4B Hoverfly (Serial No. 43-46506), 16, C/N 39.  Suspended from the ceiling.  The R-4B on display was donated to the museum by the University of Illinois in 1967.

(NMUSAF Photos)

Sikorsky R-6A Hoverfly II (Serial No. 43-45379).  The helicopter on display in the NMUSAF was acquired by the museum in 1986.

(NMUSAF Photos)

Sikorsky YH-5A Dragonfly (Serial No. 43-46620).  The YH-5A on display in the NMUSAF was obtained from Eglin Air Force Base, Florida, in March 1955.

(NMUSAF Photo)

Sikorsky UH-19B Chickasaw (Serial No. 52-7587).  The UH-19B on display in the NMUSAF is painted and marked as an H-19A known as Hopalong, one of two H-19s to make the first transatlantic helicopter flight, traveling during the summer of 1952 from Westover Air Force Base, Massachusetts, to Scotland in five stages.

(NMUSAF Photo)

(Valder137 Photo)

Sikorsky CH-3E Jolly Green Giant (Serial No. 63-9676), C/N 61508.

Sikorsky HH-3E being refueled by a Lockheed HC-130 Hercules.  Aerial refueling enabled the helicopters to rescue downed aircrew from any location in the Southeast Asia theater of operations. (USAF Photo)

(Clemens Vasters Photo)

(NMUSAF Photo)

(Ken LaRock, USAF Photo)

Sikorsky HH-3E Jolly Green Giant (Serial No. ----709).  The USAF developed the HH-3E helicopter, nicknamed the "Jolly Green Giant," to perform combat search and rescue (CSAR) to recover downed Airmen during the Southeast Asia War.  A highly modified version of Sikorsky's CH-3 transport helicopter, the HH-3E carried both armour plating and armament to protect it from hostile forces during rescues of aircrews in a combat area.  Fifty CH-3Es were converted to HH-3Es with the addition of armor, defensive armament, self-sealing fuel tanks and a rescue hoist.  With a watertight hull, the HH-3E could land on water, and its large rear door and ramp permitted easy loading and unloading.  The first air-refuelable helicopter to be produced, the HH-3E's retractable fuel probe and external fuel tanks gave it a range limited only by the endurance of the aircrew.  In fact, in 1967, two aerial refueled HH-3Es set the long-distance record for helicopters by flying non-stop from New York to Paris, France.  This long-range capability allowed HH-3Es to conduct CSAR operations anywhere in the Southeast Asia theater of operations, and they participated in the attempt to rescue American prisoners of war from the Son Tay prison camp in 1970.  The first USAF HH-3Es arrived in Vietnam in 1967, and they operated out of Udorn Air Base, Thailand, and Da Nang Air Base, South Vietnam.  During the Southeast Asia War, HH-3 crewmen were awarded one Medal of Honor, twenty-four Air Force Crosses, and over 190 Silver Stars.  A quarter of a century later, HH-3Es participated in OPERATION DESERT STORM, and they provided rescue support in the early years of the Space Shuttle program.  The USAF retired its last HH-3Es by 1995.

(NMUSAF Photos)

(Valder137 Photo)

Sikorsky MH-53M Pave Low IV Helicopter (Serial No. 80357).  Air Force special operations forces used the Sikorsky MH-53M to covertly enter enemy territory.  Capable of operating at day or night or in bad weather, these helicopters conducted long-range, low-level missions to insert, extract, and resupply special operations forces.  Equipped with forward-looking infrared (FLIR) sensors, inertial global positioning systems (GPS), Doppler radar navigation systems, and terrain-following and terrain-avoidance radar, the MH-53 could fly clandestine, low-level missions in any weather, day or night. This system gave the aircrew instant access to the total battlefield situation on a color, digital map screen that was compatible with night vision goggles. Using feeds from satellite links, the system displayed nearly real-time information about potential hazards along the flight route such as power lines or enemy electronic threats.  The aircraft on display in the NMUSAF was assigned to the 20th Expeditionary Special Operations Squadron and its last flight was a combat mission in Iraq on 28 March 2008.  During its 38-year career, this helicopter participated in many important missions.  It carried the "command element" on the mission known as Operation Kingpin, to rescue American prisoners of war thought to be held at the Son Tay prison near Hanoi, North Vietnam.  It is the last among the five HH-53s that participated in that raid.  After Vietnam, it also flew in many more combat engagements including Operations Desert Storm and Iraqi Freedom before it was retired.

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