Last flying HH-43 Huskie

The book I mentioned said the Classic Rotors museum in California (home of the last flying H-21/VERTOL 44) was rebuilding not one but two of the piston versions (H-43A, USN HOK) to fly. That was circa 2008…

Can you give us a few stats on the machine, mexicanbob? What weight could it lift, range, power, etc, etc.

TIA,

Anon.

Any chance K-Max blades would work?

Wonder if any are left in Iran or Burma?

I worked for Mosely Aviation, one of the last operators of the Husky. They used them for crop dusting, Long Line Logging, heavy lift and fire fighting. We once lifted 2 loaded bambi buckets as part of a test, it worked, the Husky lifted them, but we could not get them to empty at the same rate. At that time they had 2 or 3 flyable and 6 hulls in the boneyard. They did have a number of boxes with blades, I don’t know how many were usable. While I was there they had one balled up during a logging job when the pilot did not turn on all the boost pumps and flamed out the engine when he unported a fuel pick-up. They lost another when it came apart in the air, killing the son of one of the Mosely brothers.

[QUOTE=Kenneth;2356277but not quite deserving the NOTAR designation.[/QUOTE]

I knew all that – I was just using the acronym meaning – NO TAil Rotor to descibe the Huskie.

Ken

I’ve never seen any particular difficulty in the maintenance of it. We have some spare parts and a wrecked Huskie to use for a source on occasion. Most parts are not difficult to find if we look hard enough. The main rotor blades are the only exception. Those are hen’s teeth rare. They are fabric covered wood and operate via tabs on the trailing edge. Servicable spares do not exist. If we damage one, that is the end of flying this helicopter. Otherwise, I see no reason it won’t be operating for several more years.

Thanks for the reply. And I take it the main rotor blades are unique to the type!?

Rob

Fascinating machine – the original NOTAR

Ken

Impressive piece of kit, but not quite deserving the NOTAR designation. NOTAR is a yaw control and counter-torque device. With two counter-rotating rotors, there’s no torque around the yaw axis to counter in the Husky. NOTAR, as in the MD500 helicopters, relies on a transverse airflow from a fan blowing through the tail boom to vents at the end, and on rotor downwash over the tail boom to provide a force about the yaw axis…

Great effort to keep this thing flying; long may it continue!

Can you tell us what’s it like to maintain re spares etc?

I’ve never seen any particular difficulty in the maintenance of it. We have some spare parts and a wrecked Huskie to use for a source on occasion. Most parts are not difficult to find if we look hard enough. The main rotor blades are the only exception. Those are hen’s teeth rare. They are fabric covered wood and operate via tabs on the trailing edge. Servicable spares do not exist. If we damage one, that is the end of flying this helicopter. Otherwise, I see no reason it won’t be operating for several more years.

I never realised it before – but it has a variable incidence tailplane.

Fascinating machine – the original NOTAR!

………and you can only approach it from the front!!

Ken

Photo of a Kaman HH-43 Huskie taken at RAF Wildenrath Germany July 5th, 1970.

I still remember the Huskie demo’s at Wethersfield, showing how it was used for fire suppression.
Getting a pilot out of a burning aircraft.

Very pleased to hear that, Brad, it’s a fascinating piece of history.!

Can you tell us what’s it like to maintain re spares etc?

Rob

Shown here flying in 2011 – although I’m not sure if that’s still the case now

Yes, we still fly the Huskie. It doesn’t get far from the field but it does perform at the airshow in Olympia every year.

Brad

As usual, the video producers got something incorrect…it’s clearly not the last Huskie “in existence”.

Hence the careful wording of the thread title.

It’s a shame the commentators chose to talk every time it returned to the crowd line.

Rob

As usual, the video producers got something incorrect…it’s clearly not the last Huskie “in existence”.

Kaman had a flyable one for K-Max training, I don’t know what its status is.
One is reportedly under restoration not too far from me. I saw it years ago. It’s owned by a family that refurbished and used them for logging in the mountains north of here, so they might have the parts to make it airworthy.

Recommended reading about the Huskie post-service career: Kaman H-43 Huskie: A Lifetime after Military Service by Johan D. Ragay.
Heavily illustrated (virtually all in colour) and well-researched. It’s a good buy at 22 Euros and it’s written in English.
www.flash-aviation.nl

Great little museum that: visited in 2005 and highly recommended!