Piasecki H-25 (HUP Retriever)

History

World War II (1939-1945) saw the birth of the military helicopter as a viable tool on the battlefield, where the Germans themselves made great strides. The Americans also dealt with new classes of aircraft and were finally able to display some prominent forms of their own.

In the post-World War II world, development was fairly steady, and companies like Piasecki Helicopter Corporation (founded in 1940) did a lot to add value to helicopters in the future.

Tour with the Hound

One of the company's contributions is the HUP "Retriever", a tandem rotor platform with a fairly simple appearance and handcrafted. Its design includes a sleek, tapered fuselage that places the cockpit crew (two pilots) on an extreme nose behind a large windshield for excellent visibility. One of the main rotors is located above the cockpit canopy and the other is on a vertical structure at the rear of the fuselage - the blades rotate in an overlapping fashion. In the middle is a cargo bay that can be reconfigured for other duties.

The landing gear is drivable and fixed, giving the helicopter a distinct "nose-up" appearance when stationary.

USN Request

The origin of the Retriever lies in the 1945 United States Navy (USN) requirement for a service-oriented helicopter with search and rescue (SAR) capability. This type is designed to take off and land on mobile warships in the U.S. Navy inventory, so special attention must be paid to structural strength and size. In addition to a proposal submitted by Piasecki, there is also a proposal from Sikorsky, the helicopter power plant is trying to attract the US Navy with its XHJS-1 proposal. Piasecki's prototype was designated the XHJP-1, and Piasecki referred to it internally as the PV-14.

It first flew in March 1948 and entered service in 1949 after being selected by the U.S. Navy.

Crawler variants

XHUP-1 used to label a pair of pre-production examples that Piasecki internally identifies as PV-16. The first production model was the U.S. Navy's HUP-1 (Piasecki Model PV-18) operating in utility and search and rescue (SAR) missions. Power for this variant comes from a Continental R-975-34 piston engine rated at 525 hp.

The production consists of 32 servings in total.

The HUP-2 is an improvement to the production line, it is powered by a 550 hp Continental R-975-46 piston engine with autopilot. The US Navy received 165 of them, while the French Navy (Aeronavale) received 15 of its own.

With the all-service reorganization of the U.S. military designation in 1962, this model became the UH-25B.

The HUP-2S is converted into a dedicated anti-submarine (ASW) platform, built on the existing framework of the HUP-2 variant, with submersible sonar for tracking/locating enemy submarines. Twelve of this type were produced.

The HUP-3 became a utility form based on the H-25A and was equipped with a Continental R-975-46A piston engine. A total of 30 ships were built, 3 of which were delivered to the Royal Canadian Navy. After 1962, these became UH-25C.

The U.S. Army's Failed Mule

From the H-25A brand, the H-25A "military mule" was born for the US Army. It is a utility transport platform powered by a 550 hp Continental R-975-46A series piston engine. The fuselage features oversized doors as well as a reinforced cab floor for the rigors of military service.

From 1953, production reached 70 units. However, once this variant entered service, its performance was subpar, and 50 of the stock were transferred to U.S. Navy service. Army service of the Army Mule only lasted until 1958, after which the series was relegated to helicopter training and more.

Operators and Total Production

The HUP/H-25 Retriever is operated in the air by Canada (Navy), France (Navy) and the United States (Army and Navy). Total production of the series reached 339 units, and the production line was officially closed in 1964.

Specification

Basic

Production

Roles

Dimensions

Weight

Performance

Performance

Armor

Changes