Platt-Le Page XR-1

Infobox Aircraft
name=Platt-LePage XR-1


caption=
type=Experimental Helicopter
manufacturer=Platt-LePage Aircraft Company
designer=
first flight=1941
introduced=
retired=
status=
primary user=United States Army Air Force
more users=
produced=
number built=2
variants with their own articles=

The Platt-LePage XR-1 was an early American twin-rotor helicopter built by the Platt-LePage Aircraft Company of Eddystone, Pennsylvania. They were the first helicopters tested by the United States Army Air Force.

Design and development

Platt-LePage Aircraft were contracted in 1940 to supply a single prototype helicopter (PL-3) to the United States Army Air Force designated XR-1. The company followed a rotor layout similar to the Focke-Wulf Fw 61 transverse twin-rotor design, that appeared prior to the outbreak of war. [Francillon, René J. McDonnell Douglas Aircraft since 1920: Volume II. London: Putnam, 1997. ISBN 0-851-77827-5] The first prototype (Serial Number "41-001") first flew on the May 12 1941, it had a fuselage with a fixed tailwheel undercarriage and a conventional tail unit. It had two counter-rotating rotors mounted on faired outriggers (stub-wings) on each side of the fuselage. The rotors were powered by a 440hp (328kW) Pratt & Whitney R-985-21 engine mounted in the fuselage. The second prototype was designated XR-1A (Serial Number 42-6581) and had increased glazing around the two-seat cockpit and a 450hp (336kW) Pratt & Whitney R-985-AN-1 engine.

Operational history

The two prototypes were accepted by the Army Air Force and were used for test and evaluation but no further orders were placed.

Variants

;XR-1:First prototype;XR-1A:Second prototype with increased cockpit glazing and more powerful engine.

Operators

*

pecifications (XR-1A)

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crew=two
capacity=
length m=
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length in=
span m=
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rot number= 2
rot dia m= 9.6
rot dia ft= 31
rot dia in= 6
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eng1 number=1
eng1 type=Pratt & Whitney R-985-AN-1
eng1 kw= 336
eng1 hp= 450
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References

*cite book |last= |first= |authorlink= |coauthors= |title= The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Aircraft (Part Work 1982-1985)|year= |publisher= Orbis Publishing|location= |issn=

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