Re: Neat old Helicopter with radial engine...

[Ditch]

>Quite surprising to find one still active!

Not really...there are several flying after being converted with turbine
engines....and there even several (Like that one) that fly with the original
radial engine.
Fairly common sight.


-John
*You are nothing until you have flown a Douglas, Lockheed, Grumman or North
American*

[Jez]

"tongaloa" > wrote in message
...
> These guys were moving some airconditioning condensors to my neighbors
> roof Sunday AM. After almost blowing my shingles off, I got out the
> camera and went next door to make some photos...
>
> http://edebris.com/catalog2/item/1016
>
> Did not have opportunity to talk to pilots but AC guy said $2500 staging
> plus $100/lift beat the heck out of a day of crane rigging and months of
> dealing with complaints of damage to paving.
>
> Whatzit, H34?
>
> -Bob


Hey! This is the first helicopter I ever flew in! Over here in the UK it
was built under licence (from Sikorsky, as a version of the S-58) by
Westland Helicopters Ltd and was known as the Wessex. We only had the GT
powered version, but I did fly in an old Westland Whirlwind once, and that
was powered by the Alvis Leonides 9 cylinder radial. I've been winched up
on dinghy drills by a venerable Wessex many times over the years, as it was
our standard SAR helo for probably 25 years or more.

Jeremy

[Bernie the Bunion]

Jez > wrote:

> Hey! This is the first helicopter I ever flew in!

As a young kid I can remember seeing pictures of these helicopters in
magazines etc., and being captivated by the looks of the beast.

Recently while surfing the big WWW I came across some trivial
information that the Canadian government had bought 50 of
these machines at a cost of $10,000 each.

Don't know what that would work out to in current dollars but I'm sure
there is a big difference as too what a state of the art helicopter
cost in that era compared to what our government is going to have to
pay
for state of the art replacements for our (aging) Sea King fleet.

[Jez]

"Bernie the Bunion" > wrote in message
...
> As a young kid I can remember seeing pictures of these helicopters in
> magazines etc., and being captivated by the looks of the beast.
>
> Recently while surfing the big WWW I came across some trivial
> information that the Canadian government had bought 50 of
> these machines at a cost of $10,000 each.
>
> Don't know what that would work out to in current dollars but I'm sure
> there is a big difference as too what a state of the art helicopter
> cost in that era compared to what our government is going to have to
> pay
> for state of the art replacements for our (aging) Sea King fleet.

Jeremy replies:

I wonder if these were our old ones? We only stopped flying the Wessex a
few years ago, replaced them with the Sea King Mk 3a (again built under
licence by Westlands).

I understand that Westlands are bidding to replace the ageing Canadian Sea
King fleet with Merlins. IIRC an ASW Merlin comes out at around $30M US
each. Makes a $10,000 Wessex/Sikorsky S-58 seem a real
bargain...............................

Jeremy

[Kevin Horton]

On Mon, 15 Sep 2003 19:43:21 -0700, Bob Olds wrote:

> "karel adams" > wrote in message
> >...
>> "tongaloa" > schreef in bericht
>> ...
>> > These guys were moving some airconditioning condensors to my
>> > neighbors roof Sunday AM. After almost blowing my shingles off, I got
>> > out the camera and went next door to make some photos...
>> >
>> > http://edebris.com/catalog2/item/1016
>>
>> (snip)
>>
>> > Whatzit, H34?
>>
>> Looks a lot like the Sikorsky S-58's
>> Sabena used to fly in my boyhood days nigh on 40 years ago now Quite
>> surprising to find one still active!
>>
>> Karel
>
>
>
> ************************************************** *********************
>
> Didn't those have a R-985 radial in them. I remember they wee NOISY and
> didn't quite sound like a R-985 in a plane. ALL airplanes should have
> radial engines !!
>
> Bob Olds
> old timer too
>
>
> ************************************************** *********************
Apparently the H-34 was the military designation of the S-58. It's got an
R-1820.

http://www.shanaberger.com/H-34.htm

--
Kevin Horton RV-8 (finishing kit)
Ottawa, Canada
http://go.phpwebhosting.com/~khorton/rv8/

[Ed Wischmeyer]

Talk about maneuverability! In some of those pictures, the helicopter is
in knife edge flight, and with a sling load to boot!!

Ed "cum grano salis" Wischmeyer