Sikorsky CH-37 Mojave

CH-37 Mojave
	CH-37 Mojave attempting to lift a crashed Piasecki H-21.
Role	Cargo helicopter
Manufacturer	Sikorsky Aircraft
First flight	1953
Introduction	July 1956
Retired	Late 1960s
Primary users	United States Army; United States Marine Corps
Number built	154
Developed into	Sikorsky S-60

The Sikorsky CH-37 Mojave (company designation S-56) was a large heavy-lift helicopter by the standards of the 1950s.

Design and development

The S-56 came into being as an assault transport for the United States Marine Corps (USMC), with a capacity of 26 fully equipped troops; the order was placed in 1951, the first prototype flew in 1953, and production deliveries of the HR2S began in July 1956 to the Marine Corps' HMX-1, sixty aircraft in total being produced.

The United States Army evaluated the prototype in 1954 and ordered 94 examples as the CH-37A, the first being delivered also in summer 1956. All Marine and Army examples were delivered by mid-1960. Army examples were all upgraded to CH-37B status in the early 1960s, being given Lear auto-stabilization equipment and the ability to load and unload while hovering. In the 1962 unification of United States military aircraft designations, USMC examples became CH-37C.

At the time of delivery, the CH-37 was the largest helicopter in the Western world, and it was Sikorsky's first twin-engined helicopter. Two Pratt & Whitney R-2800 Double Wasp radial engines were mounted in outboard pods that also contained the retractable landing gear. This left the fuselage free for cargo, which could be loaded and unloaded through large clamshell doors in the nose. The early models could carry a payload of either 3 Mighty Mites a light weight jeep like vehicles or 26 troops. For storage, the main rotor blades folded back on the fuselage and tail rotor mast folded forward on the fuselage. ^[1] The single main rotor was five-bladed, and designed to function with one blade shot away in combat.^{[citation needed]}

The CH-37 was one of the last heavy helicopters to use piston engines, which were larger, heavier and less powerful than the turboshafts subsequently employed. This accounted for the type's fairly short service life, all being withdrawn from service by the late 1960s, replaced in Army service by the distantly related CH-54 Tarhe and in the Marine Corps by the CH-53 Sea Stallion.

Four CH-37Bs were deployed to Vietnam in 1963 to assist in the recovery of downed U.S. aircraft. They were very successful at this role, recovering over US$7.5 million worth of equipment, some of which was retrieved from behind enemy lines.

Variants

XHR2S-1: Prototype Assault Transport for the US Marine Corps, powered by two 1,900 hp (1,400 kW) R-2800-54 engines, four built.
HR2S-1: Production model with modified engine nacelles, twin mainwheels and dorsal fin, redesignated CH-37C in 1962, 55 built (order for additional 36 cancelled).
HR2S-1W: Airborne early warning aircraft for the US Navy, two built.
YH-37: One HR2S-1 helicopter evaluated by the US Army.
H-37A Mojave: Military transport version of the HR2S for the US Army, changes included dorsal fin and modified rotor head fairing, redesignated CH-37A in 1962, 94 built.
H-37B Mojave: All but four of the H-37As were modified with a re-designed cargo door, automatic stabilization equipment and crashproof fuel cells. Later redesignated CH-37B.
CH-37A: H-37A redesignated in 1962.
CH-37B: H-37B redesignated in 1962.
CH-37C: HR2S-1 redesignated in 1962.
S-56: Sikorsky company designation for H-37.

Derivatives

S-60: a prototype "sky-crane" with a skeletal fuselage with a crew cockpit at the front.
Westland Westminster: Westland Aircraft used the S-56 physics and the rotor and gearbox as the basis for the Westminster. with a tubular frame and the Napier Eland turboshaft for power.

Operators

United States

Survivors

CH-37B (Army Ser. Np. 55-644) is on display at the U.S. Army Aviation Museum at Fort Rucker, Alabama.
CH-37B (Army Ser. No. 56-1005) "Tired Dude" is on display at the Pima Air Museum adjacent to Davis-Monthan Air Force Base in Tucson, Arizona.
CH-37B (Army Ser. Np. 57-1651) is on display at the U.S. Army Transportation Museum at Fort Eustis, Virginia.
CH-37B (Army Ser. No. 58-0999) is on display at the Evergreen Aviation & Space Museum in McMinnville, Oregon.
CH-37C (BuNo 145864) is on display at the National Museum of Naval Aviation at Naval Air Station Pensacola, Florida.

Specifications (CH-37 Mojave)

Data from U.S. Army Aircraft Since 1947 ^[4]

General characteristics

Crew: 3
Capacity: 26 troops or 24 stretchers

Performance

References

^ "Three Jeeps Ride in the Marine Corps Biggest Helicopter." Popular Mechanics, June 1954, p. 93.
^ ^a ^b "Sikorsky CH-37 Mojave review". olive drab.com. Retrieved 2013-17-01. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help); Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help) Cite error: The named reference "Sikorsky CH-37 Mojave review" was defined multiple times with different content (see the help page).
^ "H-37 Mojave / HR2S". globalsecurity.org. Retrieved 22-January-2013. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help)
^ Harding 1990, p.239.
^ Fuselage length
^ Swanborough and Bowers p. 437.

Harding, Stephen. U.S. Army Aircraft Since 1947. Shrewsbury, UK:Airlife Publishing, 1990. ISBN 1-85310-102-8.
Swanborough, F.G. and Peter M. Bowers. United States Military Aircraft since 1909. London:Putnam, 1963.

External links

[1] "Three Jeeps Ride in the Marine Corps Biggest Helicopter." Popular Mechanics, June 1954, p. 93.

[Sikorsky_CH-37_Mojave_review-2] "Sikorsky CH-37 Mojave review". olive drab.com. Retrieved 2013-17-01. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help); Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help) Cite error: The named reference "Sikorsky CH-37 Mojave review" was defined multiple times with different content (see the help page).

[3] "H-37 Mojave / HR2S". globalsecurity.org. Retrieved 22-January-2013. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help)

[Harding_p239-4] Harding 1990, p.239.

[5] Fuselage length

[Swan_Mil_p437-6] Swanborough and Bowers p. 437.

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]

v t e Sikorsky aircraft
Fixed-wing aircraft (company designations)	S-1 S-2 S-3 S-4 S-5 S-6 S-7 S-8 S-9 S-10 S-11 S-12 S-13 S-14 S-15 S-16 S-17 S-18 S-19 S-20 S-21 S-22/23/24/25/26/27 S-28 S-29-A S-30 S-31 S-32 S-33 S-34 S-35 S-36 S-37 S-38 S-39 S-40 S-41 S-42 S-43 VS-44 S-45
Fixed-wing aircraft (military designations)	C-6 C-28 JRS JR2S PS P2S RS XBLR-3 XPBS XSS XV-2
Helicopters (company designations)	VS-300 (S-46) S-47 S-48 S-49 S-50 S-51 S-52 S-53 S-54 S-55 S-56 S-57 S-58 S-59 S-60 S-61 S-61L/N S-61R S-62 S-63 S-64 S-65 S-66 S-67 S-68 S-69 S-70 S-71 S-72 S-73 S-74 S-75 S-76 S-80 S-92 S-95 S-97 S-100 S-102 S-103 S-300 S-333 S-434
Helicopters (military designations)	SH-3 Sea King HH-3E/F R-4 H-5 H-6 H-18 H-19 Chickasaw H-34 Choctaw CH-37 Mojave XH-39 HH-52A Seaguard CH-53 Sea Stallion CH-53E Super Stallion CH-53K King Stallion MH-53 CH-54 Tarhe UH-60 Black Hawk HH-60G Pave Hawk HH-60J/MH-60T MH-60R/S Seahawk SH-60B/F Seahawk H-60J/K VH-60 RAH-66 Comanche VH-92 Patriot CH-124 Sea King CH-148 Cyclone HLH
Experimental aircraft	Cypher/Cypher II Firefly Raider Raider X SB-1 X2 XBLR-3 XV-2

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