Aircrafttotal Encyclopedia


H-37 Mojave of the US Army in flight.
Role	Cargo helicopter
National origin	United States
Manufacturer	Sikorsky Aircraft
First flight	18 December 1953
Introduction	July 1956
Retired	Late 1960s
Status	Retired
Primary users	United States Army United States Marine Corps
Number built	154
Developed into	Sikorsky S-60 Westland Westminster

The Sikorsky CH-37 Mojave (company designation S-56) is an American large heavy-lift military helicopter of the 1950s. It entered service as the HR2S-1 Deuce with USMC in 1956, and as the H-37A Mojave with the U.S. Army that same year. In the early 1960s, the designation was standardized to CH-37 for both services, with the HR2S-1 redesignated as CH-37C specifically. Developed in the early 1950s, with its first flight in 1953, it filled a 1950 Navy requirement for an assault helicopter. The design includes a front-loading ramp with side opening clam shell doors on the nose. It is powered by two radial piston engines. It served in active military service well into the 1960s, including in Indochina, before being replaced, and many ex-military models went onto civilian service in the 1970s.

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 Marines. An order for the aircraft was placed in 1951 using the U.S. Navy/U.S. Marine Corps designation of the time of HR2S. The first prototype, the XHR2S-1 flew in 1953, and production deliveries of the HR2S-1 "Deuce" began in July 1956 to Marine Helicopter Squadron One (HMX-1), with a total of sixty aircraft being produced.

The United States Army evaluated the prototype in 1954 and ordered 94 examples as the CH-37A, the first being delivered in summer 1956. All Marine Corps 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, the USMC examples were redesignated from HR2S-1 to CH-37C.

Howard Sikorsky helicopters MD

Sikorsky, a Lockheed Martin Company
CH-37 Mojave "Cross-Eyed Monster" First flight 18 December 1953 Introduction July 1956

General Info

Crew: three
Capacity: 26 troops or 24 stretchers
Length: 64 ft 3 in (19.58 m) fuselage
Height: 22 ft 0 in (6.71 m)

Powerplant

Max takeoff weight: (14,061 kg)
Powerplant: 2 × Pratt & Whitney R-2800-54 Double Wasp 18-cylinder air-cooled radial piston engines, 2,100 hp (1,600 kW) each
Main rotor diameter: (21.95 m)

Specifications

Maximum speed: (130 mph, 209 km/h)
Cruise speed: (120 mph, 190 km/h)
Range: 126 nmi (145 mi, 233 km) with maximum payload
Service ceiling: 8,700 ft (2,700 m)
Rate of climb: 910 ft/min (4.6 m/s)

Armament

Aircraft of comparable role, configuration, and era
- List of military aircraft of the United States

Special Links CH-37 Mojave "Cross-Eyed Monster"
First flight 18 December 1953 Introduction July 1956

Links to Youtube & Others

A total of 154 were produced by the time production ended. Of those, 94 were H-37A, and 90 that were converted to H-37B (later CH-37A and B respectively). It remains the largest piston powered helicopter.

CH-37 Mojave
"Cross-Eyed Monster"

The CH-37 was one of the last heavy helicopters to use piston engines

Youtube Link

Six CH-37C's were deployed to Vietnam in September 1965 to assist in the recovery of downed U.S. aircraft

Sikorsky
CH-37 Mojave
"Cross-Eyed Monster"
First flight 18 December 1953 Introduction July 1956