Does anyone know what became of the ex Marcel Poirée Collection open cockpit 1951 Hiller UH-12A which was offered for sale at auction in Paris on 10 April 2016? One website suggests that it did not sell at auction whereas another says it did (but this one provides additional information regarding sales only to paying subscribers – which I’m not and don’t want to be). Even if it didn’t sell at auction, it could, of course, subsequently, have been sold by private treaty. Enquiries on my usual French forum have, so far, drawn a blank.Thus it occurs to me that it may have found a non-French buyer and left France. Any ideas, anyone?
By: avion ancien - 15th December 2017 at 17:27
On the ‘aerostories’ forum (http://www.aerostories.org/~aeroforums/forumhist/) Dominique Roosens has provided an encyclopaedic reply detailing the history of the entire French military fleet of Hiller UH-12s. From that it appears that the UH-12A offered for sale by auction in Paris in 2016 was not c/n 158, as that seems to have been with M Hardelet since 2002 (although the DGAC doesn’t record this as being registered F-AZJZ). It could be c/n 274, which was delivered to France, but Dominique Roosens says that this was destroyed and de-registered in 1952. So if that is the one, where was it and what was it doing for the 64 years between 1952 and 2016? Just as one thinks one is closing in on an answer, suddenly the answer seems miles away!
By: Arabella-Cox - 14th December 2017 at 07:32
Another recommendation – the Hiller Museum at San Carlos Airport, just south of San Francisco, is well worth a visit if you are over that way.
By: J Boyle - 13th December 2017 at 23:16
Finally, an aircraft my Bell 47G could outrun!
I usually cruised at 75-80.
Good to see so many are still flying and the prices for restored ones are very reasonable…far less than the (Dangerous, IMHO) Robinson….and Bell 47.
By: Rosevidney1 - 13th December 2017 at 20:17
I’m afraid I must give my age away by admitting I was trained on Hiller 12Bs and Cs in the 1960s. They gave a cruise speed of 55 knots!
By: Auster Fan - 13th December 2017 at 19:25
I was very fortunate to get a short trip in the UH12-E4 G-ASAZ when it appeared at the Old Buckenham airshow along with Honor Blackman a couple of years ago…
By: avion ancien - 13th December 2017 at 17:43
Anyone with a few quid to spare and a penchant for a 1954 Hiller UH-12B, see https://www.leboncoin.fr/sports_hobbies/1316498676.htm?ca=20_s!
By: Arabella-Cox - 13th December 2017 at 15:50
Alan Bristow had some involvement with the acquisition of French Hillers and pilot training before he started Air Whaling/Bristow Helicopters. Recommend his biography.
By: J Boyle - 13th December 2017 at 14:58
As a US Army H-23A, it was delivered with a full cabin…easily removable.
For some reason, probably weight, early helicopter crop sprayers were often open top models.
Bell 47Bs had their bubble split and the top section was removable.
I’ve seen a preserved early Hiller with the hanging cyclic control, the roof opening being covered with a leather boot, rather like an upside down great shift boot in a car.
There is a preserved “C” model Hiller near here. I saw it fly a few years ago and later spoke with the owner. He said he was flying to his sister’s ranch on a Christmas eve and the transmission failed. He autorotated without any damage, but the aircraft was stored while he sourced a new unit.
I see in Trade-A-Plane that there are two Hiller specialists. One focuses on early A-C models, rebuilding them for private use (often with period military colours), the other focuses on the improved E models which are still used, often with turbine power, as sprayers or light weight external load aircraft.
By: Consul - 13th December 2017 at 14:39
The following link records it as 51-16120 and if you click on the serial listed it links further to an illustration of it now at Ferte Alais with its Perspex windshield detached and placed elsewhere on the airframe. It also provides a photo of the actual c/n plate too.
By: AlanR - 13th December 2017 at 14:06
Apologies for drifting the thread a little, but this brings back memories of an ATC camp at RAF Chivenor in the mid 60’s
It was a hot day and we were idly watching the Hunters taking off and landing, when 7 Royal Navy Hiller 12’s came in and landed close to where we were sitting.
Strange the things you remember 🙂
By: avion ancien - 13th December 2017 at 13:22
According to its data plate it is 51-16120 and c/n 274. It is said it served with ALAT. However according to https://drive.google.com/file/d/1WpSvzPnoSf_IGAUct3BDBFqBMCih_TF4/view only two UH-12As served with ALAT and these were c/n 126 and 133, the first of which crashed and the other of which is in the ALAT museum at Dax. The latter and one of the two ex ALAT Hiller 360s (c/n 157 – which was destroyed in the Musée de l’Air et l’Espace storage hangar fire) also were, I believe, formerly in the Marcel Poirée collection. So despite the c/n on its data plate, could the la Ferté-Alais example possibly be the other ex ALAT Hiller 360 c/n 158, which is recorded both as having been scrapped and having been preserved by a M. Hardelet? If it is, then its history is N8157H/F-BEEF/F-SEBE/YX/ABH over the period 1950-62. Whatever, I’m told that the la Ferté-Alais example is on static display with no intention to restore it to flying condition.
By: Arabella-Cox - 13th December 2017 at 11:50
Some of the earliest Hiller 360 on the UK register were open cockpit, then later modified to a cyclic control that went almost vertically out of the cockpit, through a glass fairing to the mast. It must have been fun (not) when dusting crops.
By: Consul - 13th December 2017 at 11:37
As I was not aware of that collection but was intrigued by your mention I have found an illustration on two sites. It sure is an early machine! Can anyone fill in its history and more on its individual identity other than just its c/n?
http://www.helico-fascination.com/flash/2591-hiller-uh-12a-de-1951-en-vente.html
By: avion ancien - 13th December 2017 at 08:59
Trouble ye not. I’ve been informed, on the French forum, that it stayed in France and went to la Ferté-Alais.
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December 12, 2017 at 11:36 am