YH-16B
Army interest in heavy cargo helicopters had centered on the development of the H-16B. This helicopter could carry forty-seven troops or 8,500 pounds of cargo. The YH-16B Turbotransporter (a conversion of the YH-16 then in progress) would have flown with two 3,700 shp Allison T56 engines. It embodied Frank Piasecki's vision of interchangeable under-body pods for the rapid transport of differing loads such as field operating rooms, communications centers, and mobile repair centers. A tall stilt landing gear had already been designed to let the YH-16B accommodate such pods.
The US Army saw the H-16 as an answer to several of its military transport missions. The tall landing gear version was of particular interest since it allowed the rapid attachment of external loads or pods. The detachable pod could carry equipment and the troops could ride in main fuselage. In this way, both troops and their equipment could be landed simultaneously. The fuselage was designed with a flat bottom to permit slugging a container or other external payload thus eliminating payload swing. Various pods were designed for special functions, including a field operating room, an electronics center, and a mobile repair center.
In December 1952, the Army Transportation Corps presented requirements for 299 light and 614 medium cargo helicopters and a $670,000,000 program for their procurement from fiscal year 1953 through fiscal year 1957. It recommended procurement of H-21s and H-34s in the first three years and proposed that H- 16 and H-37 helicopters be procured in prototype quantities in fiscal year 1954 and in increasing numbers in subsequent years, as production capacity permitted. This program soon required important modifications. Changes in Air Force and Navy procurement planning left the Army as the sole buyer of H-21s and H- 16s with fiscal year 1954 funds, and resulted in the Army deferring its production planning for H- 16s by one year and providing orders for H-21 s to sustain the Piasecki facility until it could begin producing the H-16s.
The Army Field Forces study of aircraft requirements in the summer of 1953 resulted in a complete revamping of the procurement program. The new 8-year Transportation Corps procurement program, which cost approximately $1,700,000,000, placed major emphasis on cargo helicopters. The Army Field Forces review demonstrated an initial requirement for475 light, 224 medium, and 214 heavy cargo helicopters. The light cargo needs would be met by previous orders and by additional procurement of H-21s and H-34s. The medium cargo helicopter, the H-37, was scheduled to enter production in calendar year 1955. The heavy cargo helicopter, the H-16, was still in the development stage. Delays in approving and committing research and development funds for the H-16 resulted in the phasing back of an additional year of its pre-production financing and initial production.
Because controversy continued regarding various aspects of the Army Aviation Plan, the Department of the Army convened a conference in Washington on 24 January 1956 to settle on the recommendations to be made to the Chief of Staff of the Army. The conferees concurred in the requirement contained in the plan for a heavy helicopter to provide an interior 5-ton lift and to operate a crane with a capacity of eleven tons for short hauls. They believed that successful development of the H-16 helicopter would meet both these requirements.
The program encountered many problems, but in March 1955, CONARC recommended that the development of the H- 16B be continued with the objectives of obtaining a flying test aircraft by mid-calendar year 1958. In September, the Senior Research and Development Board indicated that the requirement for a heavy helicopter was not questioned. But in view of its size, cost, and complexity, the board doubted the utility of the H-16B in forward combat areas. It therefore recommended cancellation of the H-16B project; development funds were to be used to determine a better method of meeting the requirement.
Despite CONARC's objections, the Department of the Army canceled the H-16B program in April 1956. In June, the department informed CONARC that it was exploring alternate courses of action to achieve the heavy lift capability which was to have been met by the H-16B. It requested CONARC review the Army requirement for a heavy lift helicopter and to furnish the general operational requirement. CONARC responded that its Combat Development Objective Guide of February 1956 contained a requirement for a heavy transport helicopter which should have a normal payload of 5 tons at an operating radius of 100 nautical miles, an overload capacity of 8 tons, and substantially greater payloads at shorter distances. The helicopter would be employed as a basic transport of troops, supplies, and equipment in the combat zone, including aeromedical evacuation, and heavy lift in the field army area.
Consideration was given to the HCH-1 flying crane being developed by the Navy, an optimized configuration of the H-37A, a flying crane version of the H-37, and the British Fairey Rotodyne. No further significant progress was made in the development of a heavy cargo helicopter as interest shifted to light and medium cargo aircraft.
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