Piasecki HUP-3

  • Period: Postwar (1945-1959)
  • Uses: Utility
  • First Flight: 1949
  • Display Status: On the Museum Floor.

The HUP-3 was built to a US Navy requirement for a carrier-based helicopter for search-and-rescue and general transportation. Seventy similar aircraft went to the US Army under the designation H-25A. Considered too small, 50 were transferred to the US Navy as the HUP-3. The Royal Canadian Navy received three HUP-3s in 1954. Operating from HMCS Labrador in northern Canadian waters, they reported on ice conditions and conducted hydrographic and oceanographic surveys. The RCN HUP-3s were retired in 1964.

This aircraft was the last of a line of pioneer helicopters developed under the Piasecki name. Early versions of the HUP were called the “hupmobile” or “shoe”, because of their distinctive shape. A prototype performed the first known loop by a helicopter. A large cargo door in the side of the fuselage could accommodate a stretcher and hoist for rescue work. A floor hatch allowed 180-kg (400-lb) loads to be winched up into the cabin.

Museum Example

  • Registration #: 51-16623 (RCN)
  • Manufacturer: Piasecki Helicopter Corporation, United States
  • Manufacture Date: 1954
  • Construction #: Unknown
  • Aquisition Date: 1965
  • Provenance: Purchase

This helicopter manufactured as a H-25A for the US Army was modified in 1954 as a HUP-3 for the RCN, where it served until 1964. It was purchased by the Canadian War Museum in 1965 and restored by Boeing Canada between May 1981 and November 1982.

Specifications

Rotor diameter:
10.7 m (35 ft)
Length:
9.8 m (32 ft)
Height:
3.8 m (12 ft 6 in)
Weight, Empty:
1,874 kg (4,132 lb)
Weight, Gross:
2,608 kg (5,750 lb)
Cruising Speed:
129 km/h (80 mph)
Max Speed:
161 km/h (100 mph)
Rate of Climb:
305 m (1,000 ft) /min
Service Ceiling:
3,050 m (10,000 ft)
Range:
644 km (400 mi)
Power Plant:
one Continental R-975-46, 550 hp, radial engine