| VZ-1 Pawnee | |
|---|---|
| Role | direct lift rotor aircraft |
| Manufacturer | Hiller Aircraft Corporation |
| Status | Experimental |
| Primary user | United States Army |
| Number built | 6 |
The Hiller VZ-1 Pawnee (U.S. Army designation; earlier Army designation: HO-1) was a unique direct lift rotor aircraft, using contra-rotating ducted fans inside a platform that the single pilot stood upon for lift, and controlled by the pilot shifting his body weight around to tilt the platform. The platform was developed starting in 1953 under an Office of Naval Research contract to Hiller Aircraft Corporation, and flew successfully, starting in 1955.
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The original concept had been developed by Charles H. Zimmerman in the late 1940s. Further development followed, both by Hiller and the De Lackner Company. There were two main models, the ONR model the 1031-A-1, and a somewhat larger VZ-1 Pawnee model produced in 1956 for the U.S. Army. Three of each model were built as prototypes. Neither of the variants was put into production.
The smaller models used two 44 horsepower Nelson H-59 piston engines. The larger models used three of the aforementioned engine and had an extended duct area. The largest variant had ineffective "kinesthetic control" and instead had the operator seated on a platform controlling the flight with conventional helicopter controls.[1]
Due to aerodynamic effects in the duct within which the propellers rotated, the platform was dynamically stable, even though the pilot and center of gravity of the platform were fairly high up. In testing, the prototypes flew well enough, but the U.S. Army judged them to be impractical as combat vehicles as they were small, limited in speed and only barely flew out of the ground cushion effect.[2]
Two of the six prototypes are known to survive today: one ONR smaller model at the Hiller Aviation Museum in San Carlos, California, and one VZ-1 Pawnee model at the National Air and Space Museum's Udvar-Hazy Center in Chantilly, Virginia.[3] The latter aircraft was formerly on loan to the Pima Air Museum.
General characteristics
Performance
Armament
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