Piasecki HUP Retriever – Photos & Videos

The Piasecki H-25 Army Mule/HUP Retriever was a compact single radial engine, twin overlapping tandem rotor utility helicopter developed by the Piasecki Helicopter Corporation of Morton, Pennsylvania during the late 1940s and produced during the early 1950s. The company changed its name in 1956 to Vertol Aircraft Corporation and subsequently was bought by Boeing Aircraft Company in 1960, and became Boeing-Vertol.

Source: Piasecki HUP Retriever on Wikipedia

The Piasecki HUP Retriever was a twin-rotor utility helicopter developed by Piasecki Helicopter in the late 1940s for the United States Navy, Army and Coast Guard. It was designed to meet a Navy requirement for an all-purpose helicopter capable of shipboard operations, cargo transport, air-sea rescue, and reconnaissance. The HUP Retriever had a distinctive tandem-rotor configuration with a front rotor that tilted up for increased lift and a rear rotor that tilted down for anti-torque. The helicopter had a crew of two and could carry up to four passengers or 1,000 lb (450 kg) of cargo in a spacious cabin. The HUP Retriever was powered by a single Continental R-975 radial engine mounted in the rear fuselage and driving both rotors through a complex transmission system. The helicopter had a fixed tricycle landing gear and a tailwheel that could be retracted for shipboard operations.
The HUP Retriever first flew in March 1948 and entered service with the Navy in 1949. It was also adopted by the Army as the H-25 Army Mule and by the Coast Guard as the HUP-1. The helicopter proved to be versatile and reliable, serving in various roles such as anti-submarine warfare, search and rescue, liaison, and training. The HUP Retriever was also deployed to Korea and Vietnam, where it performed admirably in harsh conditions. The helicopter was gradually replaced by more advanced models such as the H-34 Choctaw and the UH-1 Iroquois in the 1960s. A total of 339 HUP Retrievers were built, of which some are preserved in museums today.