Boeing Vertol XCH-62

infobox Aircraft
name = XCH-62 HLH
type = Heavy-lift helicopter
manufacturer = Boeing Vertol


caption =
designer =
first flight =
introduced =
retired =
status = Program terminated
primary user = United States Army
more users =
produced =
number built = 1 (never completed)
unit cost =
developed from = CH-47 Chinook
variants with their own articles =

The Boeing Vertol XCH-62 ("Model 301") was a three turbine-engined, heavy-lift helicopter project for the United States Army. Approved in 1971, only one aircraft was built before it was cancelled in 1974. An attempt by NASA to resurrect the program was aborted in 1983.

Development

While the Chinook is a big brute of a helicopter by American standards, it is dwarfed by the huge Soviet-Russian heavy-lift helicopters designed by the Mil organization, and for a long time Boeing and the US military had an urge to match or top the Mil heavy lifters. [http://www.vectorsite.net/avcobra_1.html#m4 Greg Goebel's Vectorsite] ]

In the late 1960s, Boeing came up with designs for machines with broad similarities to the Sea Knight and Chinook, but about twice the size of the Chinook in terms of linear dimensions. Proposed machines included the "Model 227" transport and the "Model 237" flying crane.

Following award of an Army contract for a prototype of a "Heavy Lift Helicopter (HLH)" in 1973, Boeing did move forward on building an oversized flying crane machine, the "XCH-62". Rotor diameter was to be 28 meters (92 feet), fuselage length 27.2 meters (89 feet 3 inches), and footprint length 49.5 meters (162 feet 3 inches). Its widely-spaced landing gear would allow it to straddle heavy cargoes such as armored vehicles, and still carry twelve troops in its slender fuselage. Boeing also considered selling a commercial version, the "Model 301".

The XCH-62 prototype was in an advanced state of assembly in 1975, being readied for a planned initial flight the next year, when the US Congress cut funding for the program in August. The CH-53E Super Stallion/Sikorsky S-80 was felt to give adequate heavy-lift capability for US forces.

The incomplete XCH-62 prototype (73-22012} was stored at US Army Aviation Museum at Fort Rucker, Alabama. It was to be pulled out of storage in the mid-1980s when the Army, the US National Aeronautics & Space Administration (NASA), and the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) collaborated on a scheme to finish the XCH-62 for experimental flights. However, Congress declined funding, and it didn't happen.

pecifications (XCH-62A)

* Engines: 3 x Allison T701 of 5945kW
* Gross Weight: 70 Ton
* Length: 28 m
* Height: 11 m

References

External links

* [http://www.helis.com/70s/h_h62.php XCH-62 Boeing Vertol HLH]
* [http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/systems/aircraft/h-62.htm XCH-62 page on Globalsecurity.org]
* [http://avia.russian.ee/helicopters_eng/boeing_hlh.php Boeing Vertol 301 / XCH-62 page on Avia.Russian.ee]

ee also

aircontent
related=
* CH-47 Chinook

similar aircraft=
* CH-54 Tarhe
* S-64 Skycrane
* Mil Mi-10

sequence=
* XH-59 - H-60 - YUH-61 -XCH-62 - YAH-63 - AH-64 - HH-65

lists=
* List of helicopters

see also=
* Aerial crane