A Sikorsky R-4 Flight Restoration Project

I always thought it curious that the British PN for the R-4 gave a hover taxy height of 10 feet for an underpowered machine. I trained on the Hiller 12B/Cs, our height for hover taxy was 4 feet.

Hats off to all: great to see such an imaginative and worthy project.

“How cool would it be to fly in an R-4…

I would imagine it would be a bit more basic than an early Bell 47…which is only a few years newer.
The cockpit, instruments and controls, especially the collective, reminds me of tractors of the period.
I’ve read that R-4s controls were un-boosted and transmitted a lot of vibration to the pilot.

Good man. A rarely-seen era in aviation history that deserves to be preserved and showcased.

Plus, how cool would it be to fly in an R-4?!

Yes, we have every intention of making this fly. I am the one that started the push
to get this going and took it to HAI. We are very much in the preliminary stages but we do plan to get this flying.

A couple of years ago they ran a “12 Planes Of Christmas” fundraising campaign and the R-4 was one of the projects being promoted, and – for me at least – the most exciting of the lot. So pleased to see it at HAI!

The CAF talked about restoring and flying it back in the 80s…I’d assumed they’d given up.
They have rotor blades to copy, but obviously they’d need new ones one wonders if they’d use the original wood with fabric covering design (they look like wood wings or control surfaces) or if they’d use something a bit more modern?

I certainly wish them luck.