H-19 Chickasaw

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Sikorsky UH-19 Chickasaw

Type	utility helicopter
Manufacturer	Sikorsky
Maiden flight	November 10 1949
Introduced	1950
Variants	Westland Whirlwind

The Sikorsky UH-19 Chickasaw (formerly known as H-19, outside the US by its manufacturer's designation as S-55) was a multi-purpose helicopter used by the United States Army. It was also licensed to Westland Aircraft and manufactured as the Westland Whirlwind in the United Kingdom. US Navy and Coast Guard models were designated HO4S, while those of the Marine Corps were HRS.

The H-19's first flight was on November 10, 1949 and it entered operations in 1950. Over 1,000 of the helicopters were manufactured by Sikorsky for the United States. An additional 550 were manufactured by licensees of the helicopter including Westland Aircraft, Sud-Est in France and Mitsubishi in Japan.

The helicopter was widely exported, used by many other nations, including Israel, Chile, South Africa and Turkey.

Image:H19 showing engine.jpg

1 Combat Experience
2 In fiction
3 Civilian use
4 Military Operators
5 Specifications (H-19)
6 External link
7 References
8 Related content

[edit] Combat Experience

The H-19 underwent live service tests during the Korean War beginning in 1951 as an unarmed transport helicopter. Undergoing tests such as medical evacuation, tactical control and front-line cargo support, the helicopter succeeded admirably in surpassing the capabilities of the H-5 Dragonfly which had been used throughout the Korean conflict by the Army.

In 1956, the French Air Force experimented with arming the H-19 Chickasaw aka Sikorsky S-55, then being superceded in service by the more capable Piasecki H-21 and Sikorsky H-34 helicopters. The H-19 was originally fitted with a 20-mm cannon, two rocket launchers, plus a 20-mm cannon, two 12.7-mm machine guns, and a 7.5-mm light machine gun firing from the cabin windows, but this load proved far too heavy, and even lightly-armed H-19 gunships fitted with flexible machine guns for self-defense proved underpowered.

The H-19 was also used in the early days of the Vietnam War before being supplanted by the H-34 Choctaw, which was based on the H-19.

[edit] In fiction

Harold the Helicopter is based in the Sikorsky S-55 or its Westland counterpart.

[edit] Civilian use

New York Airways, founded in 1949, used modified Sikorsky S-55 to carry mail and cargo. Later they used helicopters designed specifically for the civilian market.

[edit] Military Operators

Argentina, Austria, Belgium, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Dominican Republic, France, Germany, Greece, Guatemala, Haiti, Honduras, Israel, Italy, Japan, Kuwait,Netherlands,Nicaragua,Pakistan, Philippines, Portugal, South Korea, Spain, Taiwan, Thailand, Uruguay, United States (US Army, US Air Force, US Coast Guard, US Marine Corps, US Navy) Venezuela.

[edit] Specifications (H-19)

General characteristics<h3>
Crew: 2 (pilot, copilot)
Capacity: 12 troops or 8 litters
Length: 62 ft 7 in (19.1 m)
Rotor diameter: 53 ft (16.16 m)
Height: 13 ft 4 in (4.07 m)
Disc area: ft² (m²)
Empty weight: 4,795 lb (2,177 kg)
Loaded weight: 7,200 lb (3,266 kg)
Max takeoff weight: 7,900 lb (3,587 kg)
Powerplant: 1× Pratt & Whitney R-1340-57 radial engine, 600 hp (450 kW)
<h3>Performance<h3>
Maximum speed: 101 mph (163 km/h)
Range: 405 mi (652 km)
Service ceiling: 10,500 ft (3,200 m)
Rate of climb: 700 ft/min (213 m/min)

[edit] External link

GlobalSecuity: H-19 Chickasaw

[edit] References

Duke, R.A., Helicopter Operations in Algeria [Trans. French], Dept. of the Army (1959)
France, Operations Research Group, Report of the Operations Research Mission on H-21 Helicopter Dept. of the Army (1957)
Riley, David, French Helicopter Operations in Algeria, Marine Corps Gazette, February 1958, pp. 21-26.
Shrader, Charles R., The First Helicopter War: Logistics and Mobility in Algeria, 1954-1962, Westport, CT: Praeger Publishers (1999)
Spenser, Jay P., Whirlybirds: A History of the U.S. Helicopter Pioneers, Seattle, WA: University of Washington Press (1998)

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