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| Some of the S-56 aircraft ordered by the Marine Corps were converted into radar patrol craft (military designation HR2S-1W), with a bulbous dielectric radome under the nose, but this transformation was unsuccessful. G.Apostolo "The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Helicopters", 1984
The most obvious visual difference between the CH-37 and the Navy HR2S- 1W prototype was the latter's huge chin radome covering the AN/APS-20E search radar. The Navy ultimately abandoned further development of the HR2S-1W because severe airframe vibration severely degraded the radar's performance.
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This is one of two Navy HR2S-1W helicopters configured for the Airborne Early Warning (AEW) role. The aircraft was not successful in the radar surveillance role mainly because of the vibration inherent in rotary-wing aircraft. A horizontal tail surface was fitted to the right side with the anti-torque tail rotor on the left side.
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Technical data for HR2S-1W
Engine: 2 x Pratt & WHitney R-2800-50 pistone engine, rated at 1415kW,
main rotor diameter: 21.95m,
fuselage length: 20.27m,
height: 6.71m,
take-off weight: 14060kg,
max speed: 196km/h,
service ceiling: 2438m,
range: 354km
| Daniel Rusanowsky, ch53erusky(@)optonline.net, 01.01.2009 You are correct, it was one of two modified Marine Duces HR2S (S56) for weather tracking and were to be stationed in Alaska. The aircraft was at PAX river and crashed while flying dead mans curve flights, chopping power at different altitudes on take-off to see if it could be landed safely. There were a lot of other parameters involved in this Test.As I recall the name of the Sikorsky test pilot that died in the crash was Furgason, FURGY.For further info go to the Sikorsky Archives www.sikorskyarchives.com. Daniel Rusanowsky retired service school instructor Sik Acrft. | | Joe Mount, joemountm(@)msn.com, 09.02.2007 I remember seeing this helicopter at NATC/NAS Patuxent River, MD while it was undergoing evaluation (I believe it was undergoing BIS trials). It WAS ugly and didn`t look like it was air worthy; cumberson seems like a good word. If memory serves me right, I believe one crashed at PaxRiver around `58 or early `59, right? Let me know as I have been curious about this chopper for quite some time. |
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Do you have any comments concerning this aircraft ?
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