The Vought-Sikorsky VS-300 (or S-46) is an American single-engine

helicopter A helicopter is a type of rotorcraft in which lift and thrust are supplied by horizontally spinning rotors. This allows the helicopter to take off and land vertically, to hover, and to fly forward, backward and laterally. These attributes ...

Igor Sikorsky Igor Ivanovich Sikorsky (russian: И́горь Ива́нович Сико́рский, p=ˈiɡərʲ ɪˈvanəvitʃ sʲɪˈkorskʲɪj, a=Ru-Igor Sikorsky.ogg, tr. ''Ígor' Ivánovich Sikórskiy''; May 25, 1889 – October 26, 1972)Fortie ...

. It had a single three-blade rotor originally powered by a 75

horsepower Horsepower (hp) is a unit of measurement of power, or the rate at which work is done, usually in reference to the output of engines or motors. There are many different standards and types of horsepower. Two common definitions used today are t ...

(56 kW) engine. The first "free" flight of the VS-300 was on 13 May 1940.Munson 1968, p. 111. The VS-300 was the first successful single lifting rotor helicopter in the United States and the first successful helicopter to use a single vertical-plane

tail rotor The tail rotor is a smaller rotor mounted vertically or near-vertically at the tail of a traditional single-rotor helicopter, where it rotates to generate a propeller-like horizontal thrust in the same direction as the main rotor's rotation. Th ...

configuration for

antitorque A helicopter is a type of rotorcraft in which lift and thrust are supplied by horizontally spinning rotors. This allows the helicopter to take off and land vertically, to hover, and to fly forward, backward and laterally. These attributes ...

. With floats attached, it became the first practical

amphibious helicopter An amphibious helicopter is a helicopter that is intended to land on and take off from both land and water. Amphibious helicopters are used for a variety of specialized purposes including air-sea rescue, marine salvage and oceanography, in additio ...

Design and development

Igor Sikorsky's quest for a practical helicopter began in 1938, when as the Engineering Manager of the Vought-Sikorsky Division of United Aircraft Corporation, he was able to convince the directors of United Aircraft that his years of study and research into rotary-wing flight problems would lead to a breakthrough. His first experimental machine, the VS-300, was test flown by Sikorsky on 14 September 1939,

tether A tether is a cord, fixture, or flexible attachment that characteristically anchors something movable to something fixed; it also maybe used to connect two movable objects, such as an item being towed by its tow. Applications for tethers includ ...

ed by cables. In developing the concept of rotary-wing flight, Sikorsky was the first to introduce a single engine to power both the main and tail rotor systems. The only previous successful attempt at a single-lift rotor helicopter, the Yuriev-Cheremukhin in 1931 in the Soviet Union, used a pair of uprated, Russian-built

Gnome Monosoupape The ''Monosoupape'' (French for single-valve), was a rotary engine design first introduced in 1913 by Gnome Engine Company (renamed Gnome et Rhône in 1915). It used a clever arrangement of internal transfer ports and a single pushrod-operated e ...

rotary engines of 120 hp each for its power. For later flights of his VS-300, Sikorsky also added a vertical airfoil surface to the end of the tail to assist anti-

torque In physics and mechanics, torque is the rotational equivalent of linear force. It is also referred to as the moment of force (also abbreviated to moment). It represents the capability of a force to produce change in the rotational motion of th ...

but this was later removed when it proved to be ineffective. The cyclic control was found to be difficult to perfect, and led to Sikorsky locking the cyclic and adding two smaller vertical-axis lifting rotors to either side aft of the tailboom. By varying pitch of these rotors simultaneously, fore and aft control was provided. Roll control was provided by differential pitching of the blades. In this configuration, it was found that the VS-300 could not fly forward easily and Sikorsky joked about turning the pilot's seat around."A National Historic Engineering Landmark: VS-300 Helicopter (1939)"
. Crystal City, Virginia: ''The American Society of Mechanical Engineers, American Helicopter Society'', 17 May 1984.

Operational history

Sikorsky fitted utility floats (also called pontoons) to the VS-300 and performed a water landing and takeoff on 17 April 1941, making it the first practical

."Timeline"
. ''Sikorsky.com''. Retrieved: 22 September 2009. On 6 May 1941, the VS-300 beat the world endurance record held by the

Focke-Wulf Fw 61 The Focke-Wulf Fw 61 is often considered the first practical, functional helicopter, first flown in 1936. It was also known as the Fa 61, as Focke began a new company—Focke-Achgelis—in 1937. Design and development Professor Henrich Foc ...

, by staying aloft for 1 hour 32 minutes and 26.1 seconds. A two-seater version was delivered to the

US Army The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cla ...

in May 1942. The final variant of the VS-300 was powered by a 150 hp

Franklin Franklin may refer to: People * Franklin (given name) * Franklin (surname) * Franklin (class), a member of a historical English social class Places Australia * Franklin, Tasmania, a township * Division of Franklin, federal electoral d ...

engine. The VS-300 was one of the first helicopters capable of carrying cargo. The VS-300 was modified over a two-year period, including the removal of the two vertical tail rotors, in 1941, when a new cyclic control system gave it much-improved flight behavior.Chiles 2008, p. 104.

Surviving aircraft

In 1943, the VS-300 was retired to the

Henry Ford Museum The Henry Ford (also known as the Henry Ford Museum of American Innovation and Greenfield Village, and as the Edison Institute) is a history museum complex in the Detroit suburb of Dearborn, Michigan, United States. The museum collection contains ...

in Dearborn, Michigan. It has been on display there ever since, except for a trip back to the Sikorsky Aircraft plant for restoration in 1985.

Specifications (VS-300)

References

Notes

Bibliography

* Chiles, James R. ''The God Machine: From Boomerangs to Black Hawks: The Story of the Helicopter''. New York: Bantam, 2008. . * Dorr, Robert F. ''Chopper: A History of America Military Helicopter Operations from WWII to the War on Terror''. New York: Penguin Books, 2005. . * Munson, Kenneth. ''Helicopters and Other Rotorcraft Since 1907''. London: Blandford, 1968. . * Munson, Kenneth. ''US Warbirds, From World War 1 to Vietnam''. New York: New Orchard, 1985. . * Sikorsky, I. I
"Development of the VS-300 Helicopter (A paper read at the Rotating Wing Aircraft Session of the Tenth Annual Meeting of the Institute of Aeronautical Sciences by Sikorsky, I. I, Engineering Manager, Vought-Sikorsky Division of the United Aircraft Corporation)"
''Flight'', 3 September 1942.

External links

"Wingless Helicopter Flies Straight Up"
''

Popular Mechanics ''Popular Mechanics'' (sometimes PM or PopMech) is a magazine of popular science and technology, featuring automotive, home, outdoor, electronics, science, do-it-yourself, and technology topics. Military topics, aviation and transportation o ...

'', September 1940 article showing Sikorsky flying his first helicopter
Heroes of the Sky: VS300 exhibit
at the

{{DEFAULTSORT:Vought-Sikorsky Vs-300 1940s United States experimental aircraft Amphibious helicopters Experimental helicopters VS-300 1940s United States helicopters Single-engined piston helicopters Aircraft first flown in 1939