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I don't know about you, but all those obscure early rotorcraft fascinate me...
Here's a list of the known entries to a 1951 specification calling for an HO class helicopter (Observation) which would also be used for Liaison purposes:
Apparently none of these types made it and the competition may have been cancelled... And yet, some strange element appears in the Spangenberg Index: the "XHOC-1" mention next to the Convertawings Quadrotor, which probably signifies that the type got a contract and therefore presumably won over the others. This is all the more surprising since the only Quadrotor prototype known (displayed at the Long Island Museum) is described as having once won a contract with the USAF, not the Navy.
Even more surprising, all the other contenders (apart from Medvedeff) were established companies in the field of rotary aircraft with solid proposals (the Convertiplane was procured by the USAF as the XH-35 / XL-25 / XV-1, but the Retractoplane, although carried over by Vertol, never generated any military interest).
Last but not least, the presence of Flettner, a famous German manufacturer of Luftwaffe fame, is kind of odd... Was there a US Flettner company at some point after war? Haven't found any trace of it...
Here's a list of the known entries to a 1951 specification calling for an HO class helicopter (Observation) which would also be used for Liaison purposes:
- Convertawings C Quadrotor (XHOC-1)
- Flettner (designation unknown)
- Gyrodyne 22
- Gyrodyne 23
- Hiller HO-352
- Kaman K-8
- Kellett KH-14
- McDonnell 82 Convertiplane
- Medvedeff Monocopter
- Piasecki PH-49
- Piasecki PH-51/A Retractoplane
Apparently none of these types made it and the competition may have been cancelled... And yet, some strange element appears in the Spangenberg Index: the "XHOC-1" mention next to the Convertawings Quadrotor, which probably signifies that the type got a contract and therefore presumably won over the others. This is all the more surprising since the only Quadrotor prototype known (displayed at the Long Island Museum) is described as having once won a contract with the USAF, not the Navy.
Even more surprising, all the other contenders (apart from Medvedeff) were established companies in the field of rotary aircraft with solid proposals (the Convertiplane was procured by the USAF as the XH-35 / XL-25 / XV-1, but the Retractoplane, although carried over by Vertol, never generated any military interest).
Last but not least, the presence of Flettner, a famous German manufacturer of Luftwaffe fame, is kind of odd... Was there a US Flettner company at some point after war? Haven't found any trace of it...
if that was 1951. Concept looks very current like some of the high speed demonstrators.
