Three killed as sole airworthy HUP crashes

Some sad news from over the weekend..

Three people were killed when the sole remaining airworthy Piasecki HUP crashed in California.

FAA records indicate it was restored in 2001 by Joseph W. Pike of Victorville. The helicopter was popular attraction at California airshows, including the Hiller Museum Vertical Challenge event where it flew in formation with its production successors: the Classic Rotors Museum H-21 (the sole remaining airworthy example) as well as a USMC CH-46 and US Army CH-47.

Considering the age of the aircraft, the amount of finite life parts and systems that needed regular overhaul (blades, transmissions, etc.) and the fact that not many (none to the best of my knowledge) were on the civil register, the restoration and operation had to be a huge undertaking.
It must have made most fixed wing restorations look easy. Helicopters don’t usually get the attention they deserve in the historic community so I’m guessing it was really a labor of love.
I had looked forward to seeing it fly, something now sadly not to be.

For those of you not versed in old helicopters, the Retriever was the standard carrrier based rescue craft from the mid-50s to early 60s.
Some served in the US Army as H-25 “Flying Mules”. The type also served in the Canada and France. Piasecki was later renamed Vertol, then Boeing Vertol.

Photos and details can be seen here:
http://www.warbirdregistry.org/heloregistry/hup1-124925.html

Classic Rotors site has a photo of the four-generation flyby…
Classic Rotors photo…

Condolences to the families of those involved…