George W. Schmidt and the Pioneer Helicopter Co.

[Jemiba]

Built by Georg William Schmidt (Pioneer Helicopter Co. /Florida) around 1962/63:
Cold cycle two to four seat helicopter, 1 Lycoming VO-435 with 260 hp, driving a two
spool axial compressor, rotor diameter 10.06 m, cruising speed 270 km/h
From "Der Flieger", October 1963

 

[cluttonfred]

Neat! How did it handle yaw control with the torqueless power system?

 

[Jemiba]

Not mentioned, maybe with puffer jets in the tail booms ?

 

[Stargazer]

Very interesting. I don't have any proof toward this, but my assumption is that this prototype might have started life under Cessna, when they were still making helicopters (they stopped in 1962 I think). What caught my attention is the position of the engine (typical in Cessna helos) and the tail arrangement, which is reminiscent of a Cessna concept published in 1961. Also the designation follows nicely the CH-4 (last known Cessna helicopter project).

 

[Jemiba]

Yes, I thought of it, too (we had it here http://www.secretprojects.co.uk/forum/index.php/topic,2672.msg21527.html#msg21527),
but honestly I was never quite sure, how serious this drawing was. I'm still not convinced, that the prop
would pass between the booms and took it just as a design study and never thought, that metal was actually
cut. But you may be right about a relation, at least as a kind of pattern.

 

[Stargazer]

Yes, I thought of it, too (we had it here http://www.secretprojects.co.uk/forum/index.php/topic,2672.msg21527.html#msg21527),
but honestly I was never quite sure, how serious this drawing was. I'm still not convinced, that the prop
would pass between the booms and took it just as a design study and never thought, that metal was actually
cut. But you may be right about a relation, at least as a kind of pattern.

The fact that this drawing is from Cessna is not questionable, but to me it's merely the work of a designer with little consideration for the technical aspect of things. The PH5 looks pretty much like wat a proper engineer would have come to starting with that drawing.

 

[Stargazer]

I haven't been able to locate any information on George William Schmidt or his helicopter, but it is possible that the machine still existed in 2002. In the book California Warbird Survivors 2002: A Handbook on Where to Find Them by Harold A. Skaarup, there are two entries separated by three lines, one that says "Schmidt Commuter Helicopter" and the other "Schmidt Helicopter". Either it is an unfortunate duplication, or there were two helicopters. Why a machine from a Florida-based company would have ended up in California is unclear, but I doubt this could be another Schmidt helicopter.

 

[Stargazer]

Been doing some more digging and this is what I found:

George William Schmidt set up the Pioneer Helicopter Co. in the early 1950s, based in Hallandale, Florida.
Their earliest known product was a 1953 experimental tip-jet microlight helicopter called the Paracopter-2, apparently powered by an Argus engine.
Ten years later, they produced the PH-5B Pioneerhelicopter.

I'm enclosing a set of pictures for the Paracopter-2, as well as a different photo of the PH-5B.

 

[Jemiba]

Well done ! Had a look into Stingray's list and found a "Schmidt" design, even tip driven, too.
But as "Schmidt" is the second most common name in Germany, and the number of German emigrants
isn't and wasn't that low, the name alone hardly was an evidence.
About the Cessna Gyroplane: "...merely the work of a designer with little consideration for the technical aspect of things."
That's what I tried to say, too. A similar case in the field of Cessna's helicopter designs could be the one
in your post here http://www.secretprojects.co.uk/forum/index.php/topic,302.30.html, #37, I think.

 

[Stargazer]

That's what I tried to say, too.

Yeah. I noticed your replied after I'd written mine and realized that once again we thought along similar lines. "Great minds..."

A similar case in the field of Cessna's helicopter designs could be the one in your post here

Exactly. Same artist and same original publication.

 

[Stingray]

George William Schmidt set up the Pioneer Helicopter Co. in the early 1950s, based in Hallandale, Florida.
Their earliest known product was a 1953 experimental tip-jet microlight helicopter called the Paracopter-2, apparently powered by an Argus engine.

Good pic here:

https://sites.google.com/site/stingrayslistofrotorcraft/schmidt-paracopter-model-2

 

[hesham]

Also from Modern Mechanix;

http://blog.modernmechanix.com/new-in-the-air-2/