Back Sikorsky S-54
1948

Sikorsky S-54

Sikorsky conceived this model to study the twin rotor configuration which he ultimately abandoned, since he considered that at cruising speed the tail rotor did not absorb any more power than that lost owing to rotor interference with twin rotors.

P.Lambermont "Helicopters and Autogyros of the World", 1958

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After losing to Piasecki's tandem-rotor configuration, Sikorsky bought back an R-4B from the US Air Force and modified it to the 'sesqui-tandem' configuration once tested on the VS-300, with an observer's seat added aft of the main rotor. The resulting S-54 was first flown on 20 December 1948 and logged 4 hours 25 minutes flying time before being abandoned in early 1949, probably when work started on the S-55.

John W.R. Taylor "Images of America - Sikorsky", 1998

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