H-34 "Seahorse" Helicopter (2024)


144655
Sikorsky C/N 58-510


Struck from Navy inventory May 27, 1969, NARF Pensacola.


144657
Sikorsky C/N 58-545



Official US Navy Photos - From Bruce Raymond

Struck from Navy inventory 1969 NARF Pensacola.
Sold to Stinson Field Aircraft in San Antonio, TX.
Purchased from Stinson in April of 1974 by Carson Services Inc,Perkasie, PA.
From Jeff Hill, Carson Helicopters: "This was a purchase of eleven aircraft that were incomplete.
We bought them for the transmissions and rotor heads, there were no engines or blades.
These aircraft were never assembled as aircraft and have been scrapped."
(Still listed on the FAA civil registry as N9468)


144658
Sikorsky C/N 58-546



Official US Navy Photos - From Bruce Raymond Official US Navy Photos - From Larry Lister

Crashed, McMurdo 23 Dec 1962.

I do have some info about it, as relayed to me from Bud English. This particular H-34 had a hydraulic servo throttle, and on engine start, there was a "run-away". (The normal throttle was a cable set-up, manually controlled). The engine oversped, shedding fan blades from the big cooling fan mounted on the prop shaft, cutting fuel and hyd lines in the clutch compartment, resulting in a fire. It couldn't be put out, so a Seabee on his cat pushed it over the side of the hill. When I
first got there in Oct '65, we were finding pieces of it just below the hill. Larry


144661
Sikorsky C/N 58-613



Photo from the VXE-6 Decommissioning CD

Struck from Navy inventory, sold to civil market as PT-HFV.
Written off Mar 1976 off Marana Island.


144662
Sikorsky C/N 58-614



Photos from Billy-Ace Baker

Unknown


145717
Sikorsky C/N 58-804
"Gentle 1"


Transfered to Naval Air rework Facility Quonset Point, RI in 1970.
Struck from the Navy inventory on 19 Oct 1973, transfered to Bradly Air Museum.

On Display at New England Air Museum, CT.
http://www.neam.org/


145719
Sikorsky C/N 58-806



Photo from Larry Lister

Crashed at Wright Dry Valley 11 Nov 1962.


148112
Sikorsky C/N 58-1240
"Gentle 2"

Unknown


148119
Sikorsky C/N 58-1263
"Gentle 119"

Unknown.

Kept at NAS Quonset Point RI for summer training - Larry Lister


148121
Sikorsky C/N 58-1265
"Gentle 3"


Struck from Navy inventory 1969 NARF Pensacola.
Sold to Stinson Field Aircraft in San Antonio, TX.
Purchased from Stinson in April of 1974 by Carson Services Inc, Perkasie, PA.
From Jeff Hill, Carson Helicopters: "This was a purchase of eleven aircraft that were incomplete.
We bought them for the transmissions and rotor heads, there were no engines or blades.
These aircraft were never assembled as aircraft and have been scrapped."
(Still listed on the FAA civil registry as N90937)


148122
Sikorsky C/N 58-1273
"Gentle 4"



Photo by Larry Lister

Sold to Stinson Field Aircraft in San Antonio, TX.
Purchased from Stinson in April of 1974 by Carson Services Inc, Perkasie, PA.
From Jeff Hill, Carson Helicopters: "This was a purchase of eleven aircraft that were incomplete.
We bought them for the transmissions and rotor heads, there were no engines or blades.
These aircraft were never assembled as aircraft and have been scrapped."
(Still listed on the FAA civil registry as N90938)


150220
Sikorsky C/N 58-1560
"Gentle 5"


Crashed and declared a loss in 1964, recovered by Sailors from VX-6 and USS Stanen Island, repaired and returned to service.
Crashed 19 Nov 1969 when the engine failed, LCDR Brandau auto rotated the H-34 down and it struck the side of a slope, slid down and caught fire. Two men were killed, Thomas E. Berg (USA) and Jeremy Sykes (NZ) The helicopter was destroyed.


New England Air Museum, CT.
http://www.neam.org/

National Air and Space Museum, Smithsonian Institution
http://www.nasm.si.edu/nasm/aero/aircraft/sikoruh34.htm
Igor I. Sikorsky Historical Archives
http://www.sikorskyarchives.com
DaveRiley's web page
http://www.radiocom.net/vx6/helos.htm
CLICK HERE TO RETURN TO THE VXE-6 AIRCRAFT PAGE

Photo from Larry Lister Picture taken on the helo pad in 1967. Ray McCracken, ADR2, is with me topping off the Herman Nelson with 115 / 145 AvGas. The aircraft is LH-34D, BuNo 148122, Gentle 4, tail letters JD. - Larry	Photo from Larry Lister Picture I painted on side of co*ckpit on Gentle 4 - '65 - Larry	Photo from Larry Lister Had to add a little 1065 AvLube. The R1820 liked to use a bit.- Larry

Photos by Larry Lister Larry on the OAE list: "Seeing as this site seems to refer to the "starched wing" side of the squadron more often than not, I feel that every once-in-a-while I need to throw a few pic's in, just to remind everyone that there was some REAL aviation in the squadron also. This is how we got our "toys". A basic "do it yourself kit". The "arrival" pic's are the way we received the H-34's. 72 hrs after removing them from the box, we could be flying them. They had the engine installed in the nose (R1820-84C 9 cyl radial). We had to install the transmission / head in order to lift them out of the box. The tranny and head was in another box, as was the tail assembly. The Seabee's would run the crane for us to mount the tranny and landing gear. then we would move the sucker into the hangar and finish putting it together. Larry Larry
Photo by Larry Lister Arrival of Gentle 5 (150220) - Nov '66	Photo by Larry Lister Unloading Gentle 5 in front of the Helo Hangar -Nov 66	Photo by Larry Lister Removing bolts from box for access (yours truly) - Nov 66
Photo from Larry Lister Gentle 5 BuNo 150220 - Nov 66	Photo from Larry Lister Installing transmission Gentle 5 - Nov 66	Photo from Larry Lister Installing tail boom Gentle 5 - Nov 66
Photo from Larry Lister Installing tail rotor Gentle 5 - Nov 66	Photo from Larry Lister Installing main rotor blades Gentle 5 Nov 66	Photo from Larry Lister Out the door for Check Flight Gentle 5 Nov 66
Photo from Larry Lister Lake Bonney - 1965	Photo from Larry Lister Me and Gentle 4 - '65	Photo from Larry Lister Helo Hangars - '65
Photo from Larry Lister Gentle 1 on Helo Pad - '65 (This was the oldest of the H-34's during my tour)	Photo from Larry Lister Gentle 4 with engine doors open	Photo from Larry Lister Helo pad - '65
Photo from Larry Lister	Photo from Larry Lister	Photo from Larry Lister




Unless otherwise credited photos from the VXE-6 Decommissioning CD
From Larry Lister Sun Mar 16, 2003 Subject: Larry - this page is for you! H-34 page! Prior to 1962 when McNamara did his "lets change designations of military airplanes to the Air Force way", the H-34 was known as HUS / HSS-1. The Deepfreeze H-34's were UH-34D's with some cold weather mods, making them LH-34D's. The biggest mod was the installation of the Andover APU instead of the small Waukesha unit. The Andover was a V-2 air-cooled unit with a starter/Gen mounted on it that could supply total electrical power to the aircraft in the event of an electrical failure. It was also used as a boost to start the big motor, instead of having to use external power. The other mod was the installation of the 150 gal external fuel drop-tank on the port-side of the fuselage, and a better heater system. The rest of the aircraft was just a regular UH-34D. The difference in the landing gear........... The earlier BuNo's had what was called the "Bent-leg" gear... this was a single "bent" strut, mounted in a sleeve bearing, allowing for "smoother (?)" landings. There was too much movement on set-down, as the fuselage move forward a bit as the collective was lowered and the entire weight was settled. The later aircraft had the "V-leg" gear, which gave better stability on landing. I'm not sure about the time the change took place, but I think it was around the 148xxx series. During my first tour in the Squadron (65 - 69), the Helo's were painted all orange. When 150220 returned to us, it was painted gloss grey, and remained that way. Was actually easier to see against the ice and snow, but VERY hard to see in the Dry Valleys. The numbers and letters were black on the orange birds, but white on 220. Larry The Sikorsky model S-58 was a very successful general-duty helicopter. The radial engine was fitted in the nose as in the H-19, but the fuselage was more streamlined: the box-and-boom design of the H-19 was replaced by a simple tapering structure, the aft end of which could be folded. The type was known as HSS or HUS in USN and USMC service. The S-58 also pioneered airline helicopter operations. Some are still flying, often converted with turbine engines. 2261 were built. Type: UH-34D Year: 1955 Crew: 4 Engines: 1 Wright R-1820 Speed: 200km/h Ceiling: 3660m Range: 400km Load: 18 seats

Photo from VXE-6 Decom CD	Photo by David Pawlikowski - http://www.cushdrive.com
Photos from Deborah Reed, Assistant Director, New England Air Museum

H-34 "Seahorse" Helicopter (2024)

References