Piasecki HUP Retriever

This article is about the Piasecki PV-14. For other uses of "H25", see H25 (disambiguation).

H-25/HUP Retriever

A U.S. Navy HUP-1 Retriever aboard the USS Midway (CVB-41) in the early 1950s
Role	Utility helicopter
Manufacturer	Piasecki Helicopter
First flight	March 1948
Introduction	1949
Retired	1964
Primary users	United States Navy United States Army Royal Canadian Navy French Navy
Number built	339

The Piasecki H-25 Army Mule/HUP Retriever was a compact single radial engine, twin overlapping tandem rotor utility helicopter developed by the Piasecki Helicopter Corporation of Morton, Pennsylvania during the late 1940s and produced during the early 1950s. The company changed its name in the 1956 to Vertol Aircraft Corporation and subsequently was bought by Boeing Aircraft Company in 1960, and became Boeing-Vertol.

Design and development

The design was a product of a competition by the U.S. Navy in 1945 for a compact utility/rescue helicopter to operate from ships including aircraft carriers, battleships, and cruisers. The prototype was designated as the XHJP-1, and first flew in March 1948. It was selected for production, as the HUP-1 in a side-by-side flight evaluation against the Sikorsky XHJS-1. It entered service with the navy in 1949.

Operational history

H-25A Army Mule preserved in the US Army Aviation Museum, Alabama

A U.S. Navy HUP plane guard doing its work in 1953

Versions of the HUP built for the U.S. Army were designated H-25 Army Mule. The tandem overlapping rotor configuration was a development by Piasecki and was used in future helicopter designs by the company and successors including the H-21, HRB-1/CH-46, and CH-47.

The design featured two three-bladed, 35-foot-diameter (11 m) rotors in tandem in which blades could be folded for storage. The HUPs were powered by a single Continental R975-46 radial engine, with a take-off rating of 550 hp (410 kW). To provide rescue without crew assistance, an electrically-operated door, available after folding the copilot’s seat forward, opened through which a rescue sling could be lowered from an overhead winch.

The HUP was produced for the navy in four versions: HUP-1, -2, and -3. The HUP-2 was the first production helicopter equipped with an auto-pilot. The US Navy also tested a system called 'Raydist that allowed an unmanned HUP-2 to be directed from a ground station and by radio ordered to hover within five feet of the desired point.^[1] Edo tested a HUP-2 with a fiberglass hull and outrigger floats for amphibious operations.^[2] In addition to those delivered to the U.S. Navy and Army the HUP/H-25 helicopter was also delivered to the Canadian and French Navies. A total of 339 aircraft were delivered over the 20-year life of the aircraft.

The US Army H-25 designation was adopted by the other services in 1962. The final units were withdrawn from US service in 1964. It also served with the French Navy from 1953 to 1965.

Variants

XHJP-1: First prototype, beat out Sikorsky S-53/XHJS-1 in competition for a shipboard utility helicopter. Piasecki-Vertol designation was PV-14^[3]

XHUP-1: The first two pre-production examples. Piasecki-Vertol designation was PV-16.

HUP-1: Utility transport, search and rescue helicopter for the US Navy, powered by a 525 hp (391 kW) Continental R-975-34 piston engine. 32 built. Piasecki-Vertol designation was PV-18.

HUP-2: Improved version, powered by a 550 hp (410 kW) Continental R-975-46 piston engine. 165 built for the US Navy, 15 for French Aeronavale. Redesignated UH-25B in 1962.

HUP-2S: Anti-submarine warfare version of HUP-2 fitted with a dunking sonar. 12 built

HUP-3: Utility transport version powered by a 550 hp (410 kW) Continental R-975-46A piston engine. Similar to the H-25A, later redesignated UH-25C in 1962. 30 built, including 3 for the Royal Canadian Navy.

H-25A Army Mule: Utility transport helicopter for the US Army, powered by a 550 hp (410 kW) Continental R-975-46A piston engine, fitted with large doors, power-boosted controls and strengthened floors. Seventy were delivered from 1953, but they were unsuitable for front-line use, with 50 transferred to the navy from 1955, and the remaining helicopters used for training, being withdrawn from army service by 1958.^[4]

UH-25B: HUP-2 redesignated after 1962.

UH-25C: HUP-3 redesignated after 1962.

Operators

Royal Canadian Navy HUP-3 at the Canadian Museum of Flight

Canada

Royal Canadian Navy ^[5]

France

French Navy ^[5]^[6]

United States

Specifications (HUP-3)

Data from

General characteristics

Crew: 2 pilots
Capacity: 4 passengers
Length: 56 ft 11 in (17.35 m)
Rotor diameter: 35 ft 0 in (10.67 m)
Height: 12 ft 6 in (3.81 m)
Disc area: 1,924 ft² (179 m²)
Empty weight: 3,928 lb (1,782 kg)
Loaded weight: 5,750 lb (2,608 kg)
Max. takeoff weight: 6,100 lb (2,767 kg)
Powerplant: 1 × Continental R-975-46A radial, 550 hp (410 kW)

Performance

Maximum speed: 105 mph (169 km/h)
Range: 340 mi (547 km)
Service ceiling: 10,000 ft (3,048 m)
Rate of climb: 100 ft/min (5.01 m/s)
Disc loading: 3 lb/ft² (15 kg/m²)
Power/mass: 0.09 hp/lb (0.16 kW/kg)

References

Notes

↑ "Radio Waves Hold Helicopter In Fixed Hovering Position" Popular Mechanics, May 1954, p. 122.
↑ Popular Science. February 1958. Missing or empty |title= (help)
↑ http://1000aircraftphotos.com/Contributions/WatkinsRay/8891.htm accessdate:26 January 2014
↑ Harding 1990, pp. 197–198.
1 2 3 4 "Piasecki H-25 History". Boeing. Retrieved 2013-02-02.
↑ "Piasecki PV-18 (HUP/H-25/UH-25) (Photo)". pictaero.com. Retrieved 2 February 2013.

Bibliography

Harding, Stephen. U.S. Army Aircraft Since 1947. Shrewsbury, UK:Airlife, 1990. ISBN 1-85310-102-8.

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Piasecki HUP Retriever.

H-25 US Army Aviation history fact sheet

Piasecki Helicopter/Vertol/Piasecki Aircraft

Piasecki/Vertol helicopters	PV-2 PV-3/HRP PV-14 PV-15 PV-17 H-16 H-21 H-25/HUP

Piasecki Aircraft	16H PA-39 VZ-8/PA-59 PA-97 X-49

United States helicopter designations, Army/Air Force and Tri-Service systems

Numerical sequence used by USAAC/USAAF/USAF 1941–present; US Army 1948–1956 and 1962–present; US Navy 1962–present

Main sequence
(1941–1962)

Prefix R-, 1941–1948	R-1 R-2 R-3 R-4 R-5 R-6 R-7 R-8 R-9 R-10 R-11 R-12 R-13 R-14 R-15 R-16

Prefix H-, 1948–1962	H-5 H-6 H-9 H-10 H-11 H-12 H-13/J H-15 H-16 H-17 H-18 H-19 H-20 H-21 H-22 H-23 H-24 H-25 H-26 H-27 H-28 H-29 H-30 H-31 H-32 H-33 H-34 H-35 H-36¹ H-37 H-38¹ H-39 H-40 H-41 H-42 H-43 H-44¹ H-45¹

Main joint sequence
(1962–present)

1962 redesignations	OH-13/UH-13J UH-19 CH-21 OH-23 UH-25 CH-34 CH-37 HH-43

New designations	CH-46/HH-46/UH-46 CH-47 UH-48 XH-49 QH-50 XH-51 HH-52 CH-53/HH-53/MH-53/CH-53E/CH-53K CH-54 TH-55 AH-56 TH-57 OH-58 XH-59 UH-60/SH-60/HH-60/HH-60J YUH-61 XCH-62 YAH-63 AH-64 HH-65 RAH-66 TH-67 MH-68 H-69¹ ARH-70 VH-71 UH-72 H-73 to H-91¹ VH-92

1962 redesignations
reusing old numbers

¹ Not assigned

USN helicopter designations pre-1962

Helicopter, Anti-submarine

Bell	HSL

Sikorsky	HSS-1 HSS-2

Helicopter, Crane

McDonnell	HCH

Helicopter, Observation

Convertawings	HOC

Hiller	HOE

Gyrodyne	HOG

Kaman	HOK

Sikorsky	HOS HO2S HO3S HO4S HO5S

Helicopter, Trainer pre-1948

Sikorsky	HNS

Helicopter, Trainer 1948-1962

Hiller	HTE

Kaman	HTK

Bell	HTL

Helicopter, Transport 1944-1962

Boeing Vertol	HRB

McDonnell	HRH

Piasecki	HRP

Sikorsky	HRS HR2S HR3S

Helicopter, Utility pre-1949

McDonnell	HJD

McDonnell	HJH

Piasecki	HJP

Sikorsky	HJS

Helicopter, Utility 1950-1962

Kaman	HUK HU2K

Bell:	HUL

McCulloch	HUM

Piasecki	HUP

Sikorsky	HUS HU2S

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