Piasecki H-16 Transporter
| {{Infobox Aircraft Begin
|name= H-16 / PV-15 Transporter |image= File:Piasecki YH-16 helicopter (cropped).jpg |caption=The US Air Force prototype Piasecki YH-16A Transporter. }}{{Infobox Aircraft Type |type= Tandem-rotor transport helicopter |manufacturer= Piasecki Helicopter |national origin= United States |designer= |first flight= 23 October 1953 |introduced= |retired= |status= |primary user= |more users= |produced= |number built= 2 |variants with their own articles= }} |
The Piasecki H-16 Transporter (company designation PV-15) was a tandem-rotor transport or rescue helicopter designed by Frank Piasecki and built by Piasecki Helicopter. The prototypes were evaluated by the United States Air Force and Army, but the crash of the second test aircraft led to cancelling the project.
Design and development
Given the company designation PV-15, the tandem-rotor helicopter was designed by company founder Frank Piasecki.{{cite magazine|title=Have You Seen?: Monster 'Copter|magazine=Flying|date=January 1954|volume=54|issue=1|page=41}} The design was publicly shown for the first time on 15 September 1953 at the Philadelphia airport.Associated Press, "Ready To Pick Up And Go", San Bernardino Daily Sun, San Bernardino, California, Thursday 16 September 1953, Volume LX, Number 14, page 14.
Operational history
=Crash=
On 5 January 1956, the second YH-16 test aircraft crashed while returning to Philadelphia from a test flight over New Jersey.Piasecki Helicopter Corporation newsletter, January 1956 The cause of the crash was later determined to be the aft slip ring, which carried flight data from the instrumented rotor blades to the data recorders in the cabin. The slip ring bearings seized, and the resultant torque load severed the instrumentation standpipe inside the aft rotor shaft. A segment of this steel standpipe tilted over and came into contact with the interior of the aluminum rotor shaft, scribing a deepening groove into it. The rotor shaft eventually failed in flight, which in turn led to the aft blades and forward blades desynchronizing and colliding.
The aircraft was a total loss; the two test pilots, Harold Peterson and George Callahan, were killed. This led to the cancellation not only of the YH-16, but also the planned 69-passenger YH-16B version.{{cite book |last=Harding |first=Stephen |title=U.S. Army Aircraft Since 1947 |year=1997 |publisher=Schiffer Publishing Ltd. |location=Atglen, PA, USA |lccn=96-69996 |isbn=076430190X |pages=[https://archive.org/details/usarmyaircraftsi0000hard_c0o7/page/202 202] |url=https://archive.org/details/usarmyaircraftsi0000hard_c0o7/page/202 }}
Variants
;XH-16/YH-16
: Powered by two Pratt & Whitney R-2180-E Twin Wasp E radial engines and room for 43 troops, one built later converted to a YH-16B.
;YH-16A
: Powered by two Allison T38-A-10 1,800 shp turboshaft engines; previously designated XH-27.
;YH-16B
: Prototype XH-16A re-engined with two Allison T56-A-5 2,100 shp turboshaft engines.
Specifications (YH-16B)
File:Piasecki H-16A orthographical image.svg
{{Aircraft specs
|ref=U.S. Army Aircraft Since 1947 Harding 1990, p. 264.
|prime units?=imp
|genhide=
|crew=3 (2 pilots and flight engineerBridgman 1955, pp. 302–303.)
|capacity=47 troops or 38 stretchers and 5 attendants
|length m=
|length ft=77
|length in=7
|height m=
|height ft=25
|height in=0
|empty weight kg=
|empty weight lb=25450
|gross weight kg=
|gross weight lb=45700
|max takeoff weight kg=
|max takeoff weight lb=
|more general=
|eng1 number=2
|eng1 name=Allison T56-A-5
|eng1 type=turboshafts
|eng1 shp=2100
|rot number=2
|rot dia m=
|rot dia ft=82
|rot dia in=
|rot area sqm=
|rot area sqft=10562
|perfhide=
|max speed kmh=
|max speed mph=156
|max speed kts=
|cruise speed kmh=
|cruise speed mph=125
|cruise speed kts=
|range km=
|range miles=216
|range nmi=
|endurance=
|ceiling m=
|ceiling ft=15600
|climb rate ms=
|climb rate ftmin=
|lift to drag=
|disk loading kg/m2=
|disk loading lb/sqft=
|more performance=
|avionics=
}}
See also
{{aircontent
|see also=
|related=
|similar aircraft=
|lists=
}}
References
{{Reflist}}
- {{cite book|last=Bridgman|first=Leonard|title=Jane's All The World's Aircraft 1955–56|year=1955|publisher=The McGraw-Hill Book Company|location=New York}}
- {{cite book |last=Harding |first=Stephen |title=U.S. Army Aircraft Since 1947 |year=1997 |publisher=Airlife Publishing Ltd|location=Shrewsbury, UK | isbn=1-85310-102-8 }}
External links
{{commons category|Piasecki H-16 Transporter}}
- [https://web.archive.org/web/20170102185822/http://www.piasecki.com/helicopters_yh16.php Piasecki H-16 page]
- [https://books.google.com/books?id=194DAAAAMBAJ&dq=1954+Popular+Mechanics+January&pg=PA119 "Biggest Transport Helicopter Cruises 150 Miles Per Hour."] Popular Mechanics, January 1954, p. 119, bottom of page.
{{Boeing Helicopters model numbers}}
{{Piasecki/Vertol aircraft}}
{{USAF helicopters}}
Category:1950s United States helicopters
Category:Tandem rotor helicopters
Category:Twin-turbine helicopters
Category:Military transport helicopters
Category:Cancelled military aircraft projects of the United States