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(Redirected from Cessna CH-1 Helicopter)CH-1 Skyhook


The military version (YH-41A Seneca) at Army Aviation Museum in Fort Rucker, Alabama. cc
Type Light chopper
Manufacturer Cessna
Maiden flight July 1953[1]
Introduced 1956
Status Out of production
Primary user United States Army
Unit cost $79,960 (1961)


The CH-1 Skyhook is the only chopper ever built by the Cessna Aircraft Company. The single, twin-bladed main rotor helicopter used a front-mounted reciprocating engine which gave the aircraft a stable center-of-gravity (CG). Its semi-monocoque airframe greatly resembles its light airplane siblings built by Cessna. The chopper was named Skyhook for the civil market, similar to the marketing names used in the Cessna single engine airplane line, such as Skyhawk, Skylane and Skywagon. The CH-1's military designation for the United States Army was the YH-41 Seneca. The Skyhook would achieve several chopper "firsts" and set a world record, but ultimately, it would never be a commercial or military success.Contents [hide]
1 Development
2 Design
2.1 Engine
3 Operational history
4 Variants
5 Operators
6 Survivors
7 Specifications (CH-1C)
8 See also
9 References
10 External links


[edit]
Development

Cessna Aircraft Company acquired the Seibel Helicopter Company (pronounced "See-bull") of Wichita, Kansas on 14 January 1952 through a stock swap with Seibel investors. All equipment from the Seibel Helicopter Company, including the Seibel S-4B, was moved to Cessna's Pawnee Plant in Wichita and work began on the CH-1 design during the summer of 1952. Charles Seibel, who became the new Helicopter Division's chief designer as part of the acquisition, believed that the S-4B with a Cessna body would make an excellent chopper. Cessna pilots test flew Seibel's S-4B for several months to familiarize the engineers with helicopters, and then it was scrapped.

A quarter-size wind tunnel model of the CH-1 was created and tests were conducted at Wichita State University. The first full-size machine did not have an enclosed fuselage or cowling, nor a horizontal stabilizer. This test bed skeleton (referred to by the company as CH1-1) first hovered in July, 1953, eventually making test flights as high as 10,000 feet. The actual prototype CH-1 was built based on modifications made to the test bed aircraft and this second ship made its first flight in 1954, at the Prospect plant.

[edit]
Design

The CH-1 external design was created by Richard Ten Eyck, an industrial designer for Cessna. It was a low profile streamlined aircraft-style body, featuring the engine in front and cabin seating behind the powerplant. The forward engine location provided "ease of access,...efficient cooling, and [freed] the center of gravity behind the cockpit for use in disposable load,"[2] but also presented a problem for how to vent the exhaust which would prove to be a problem throughout the aircraft's short history. Additionally, the tail boom size, resulting from the airplane-style fuselage, created aerodynamic problems in hover and forward flight that had to be solved by later aerodynamic structural changes.

[edit]
Engine

The prototype CH-1 had a supercharged Continental FSO-470 engine rated at 260 h.p. at 3200 rpm. The supercharger and cooling fans were driven by belts. Cessna had a long relationship with Continental who provided engines for their light airplanes, but the use of the Continental engine in a helicopter was considered as much of a test as Cessna's foray into the helicopter market itself, especially in a time when most other light helicopter manufacturers were using Lycoming engines.[2]

[edit]
Operational history

The CH-1 established many firsts. The CH-1A was the first helicopter to land on Pikes Peak, at an altitude of 14,110 feet on 15 September 1955,[2] it had a higher cruise speed than comparable machines, and a CH-1B, modified with an FSO-526-2X engine, set an official FAI world altitude record for helicopters of 29,777 feet (Cessna's instrumentation showed 30,355 feet) on December 27, 1957.[2] The previous record had been set by a turbine powered Aérospatiale Alouette II and was later broken by another Alouette II, but the record set by the CH-1B remains the highest altitude ever achieved by a piston-powered helicopter.[1] The CH-1C was the first helicopter to receive IFR certification by the FAA.]]> Thu, 09 Sep 2010 09:57:28 GMT http://www.picturesphoto.info/r-cessna-ch-1-aircraftthe-military-version-%28yh-41a-seneca%29-at-army-aviation-museum-in-fort-rucker--alabama-16.htm Sun, 08 Jun 2008 23:31:59 GMT
General characteristics
Crew: 1-2
Capacity: 4
Length: 42 ft 6 in (13 m)
Rotor diameter: 35 ft (10.7 m)
Height: 8 ft 5 in (2.6 m)
Disc area: 962 ft² (89.4 m²)
Empty weight: 2080 lb (945 kg)
Loaded weight: 2440 lb (1109 kg)
Max takeoff weight: 3100 lb (1409 kg)
Powerplant: 1× Continental FSO-526 supercharged reciprocating engine, 260 hp (194 kW)]]> Cessna CH-1 Helicopter http://www.picturesphoto.info/r-cessna-ch-1-aircraftthe-military-version-%28yh-41a-seneca%29-at-army-aviation-museum-in-fort-rucker--alabama-16.htm http://www.picturesphoto.info/r-cessna-ch-1-aircraft-photos-15.htm Sun, 08 Jun 2008 23:30:39 GMT
Number of seats: 2, engine: 1 x Continental FSO-470-A rated 260hp, rotor diameter: 10.66m, fuselage length: 9.78m, fuselage width: 1.63m, height: 2.53m, gross weight: 1360kg, empty weight: 896kg, max. speed: 195km/h, cruising speed: 160km/h, rate of climb: 351m/min, range: 432km]]> Cessna CH-1 Helicopter http://www.picturesphoto.info/r-cessna-ch-1-aircraft-photos-15.htm http://www.picturesphoto.info/r-cessna-ch-1-pictures-14.htm Sun, 08 Jun 2008 23:30:12 GMT
The YH-41 was of all-metal construction and provided seating for a pilot and up to three passengers in a cabin closely resembling that of one of Cessna's light fixed-wing aircraft. The Seneca was powered by a single nose-mounted 260hp supercharged Continental piston engine driving the two-bladed main and anti-torque rotors via a shaft which passed between the two forward seats.

The Army's evaluation of the YH-41 showed it to be an excellent high altitude performer, though the type's limited payload and rather complex maintenance requirements precluded its large scale procurement by the Army. The ten YH-41’s were eventually relegated to miscellaneous flight test duties, most having to do with high-altitude helicopter operations, and in 1962 the surviving aircraft were redesignated NH-41A’s.]]> Cessna CH-1 Helicopter http://www.picturesphoto.info/r-cessna-ch-1-pictures-14.htm http://www.picturesphoto.info/r-cessna-ch-1-sales-13.htm Sun, 08 Jun 2008 23:29:45 GMT
Cessna first took an interest in helicopters when it acquired the patents and rights owned by Seibel, Seibel himself becoming chief designer of the Cessna Helicopter Division.

This rotorcraft is of all-metal construction, and its lines recall those of Cessna fixed-wing aircraft, while the two-bladed rotor, designed by Seibel, also recalls that of the Seibel helicopter.

The rotor blades are attached to the hub by light-weight stainless steel L-shaped angles, which carry the blades' centrifugal load: the short leg takes up the loads due to blade weight, the long leg the bending load caused by drag. As in the Seibel helicopter, this assembly not only provides angle movement for changing blade pitch but also eliminates trunnions, thrust bearings, hinges, etc. The supercharged engine is placed in the forepart of the fuselage, thus leaving more space for cargo or passengers in the cabin, which is that of a fixed-wing aircraft.

The first prototype flew in July 1953. In 1955 a CH-1 successfully landed on, and took off from Pike's Peak, Colorado, at a height of 4300 metres.]]> Cessna CH-1 Helicopter http://www.picturesphoto.info/r-cessna-ch-1-sales-13.htm http://www.picturesphoto.info/r-cessna-ch-1-pictures-12.htm Sun, 08 Jun 2008 23:28:13 GMT 10/17/1960. Skyhook, new entry in the commercial market, will cost $79,960 in four-place configuration. Skyhook is certificated for cruising speeds up to 122 mph (196 kmh). First deliveries are expected to be made in 1961.
01/07/1963. Cessna Aircraft Co. is discontinuing production of its Skyhook helicopter because a thorough study of the rotary wing aircraft market by the company indicates that the use of the helicopter for business and utility purposes has not been developing as anticipated earlier. Cessna entered the rotary wing field in l952 when it acquired Seibel Helicopter Co. It has developed about 20 Skyhooks including four or five military versions which went to South America.]]> Cessna CH-1 Helicopter http://www.picturesphoto.info/r-cessna-ch-1-pictures-12.htm