The DASH came about because Gyrodyne had worked with the United States Marine Corps to develop a small, experimental co-axial helicopter, the RON Rotorcycle, for use as a scouting platform. This system was occasionally set up and used aboard ship, but never used in rough seas to launch a helicopter. The helicopter was attached to the steel rails so that it would not slide off the flight deck in heavy seas. This system consisted of steel rails that were screwed to the flight deck and a cable system to pull the helicopter out of the hangar bay. Ī tethered landing system was developed to land and take off in up to Force-6 seas. These DASH SNOOPYs were also used as airborne spotters for naval gunfire. Late in the program, there were successful experiments to add a TV camera to the drone. The CIC controller could not see the aircraft or its altitude and occasionally lost operational control or situational awareness. The controller in the Combat Information Center (CIC) would fly DASH to the target's location and release weapons using semiautomated controls and radar. The flight-deck controller handled take-off and landing. The DASH's control scheme had two controllers: one on the flight deck, and another in the combat information center. Sumner (DD-692) during a deployment to Vietnam between April and June 1967. Operations A QH-50C on board the destroyer USS Allen M. For landing on water the floats were rotated to the vertical position and the helicopter settled until the floats were approximately 75% submerged, giving a high degree of stability. Each float could rotate 90° from horizontal, oriented to straight ahead, and incorporated a pad at the end for landing on hard surfaces. A long cylindrical float was added to each corner of the extended skid framework. A total of 378 QH-50Cs were produced before production ended in January 1966.Ī single QH-50A, (DS-1006), which had been retired in 1961 after contractor testing, was re-activated in 1964 to test tilt-float landing gear. Serial production of the DASH began with the third version, the DSN-3/QH-50C, in which a 255 hp (190 kW) Boeing T50-4 turboshaft engine replaced the piston engine and the payload was increased to two Mark 44 torpedoes. The next developmental version was the DSN-2/QH-50B that was powered by two Porsche YO-95-6 engines and also carried a single Mk 43. The manned Gyrodyne Rotorcycle program of the mid-1950s provided prototype work for the DASH, and ultimately the Rotorcycle was modified to produce the initial drone version, the DSN-1/QH-50A The DSN-1 was powered by a Porsche YO-95-6 72 hp piston engine and carried one Mark 43 homing torpedo. The original DASH concept was a light drone helicopter that could release a nuclear depth charge or torpedoes. The old destroyers had little room for add-ons such as a full flight deck. The navy could upgrade the sonar on World War II-era destroyers but needed a stand-off weapon to attack at the perimeter of the sonar's range. Instead of building frigates, the FRAM upgrade series allowed the US to rapidly update by converting older ships that were less useful in modern naval combat. FRAM was started because the Soviet Union was building submarines faster than the US could build anti-submarine frigates. Several are still used today for various land-based roles.ĭASH was a major part of the United States Navy's Fleet Rehabilitation and Modernization (FRAM) program of the late 1950s. The Gyrodyne QH-50 DASH ( Drone Anti-Submarine Helicopter) is a small drone helicopter built by Gyrodyne Company of America for use as a long-range anti-submarine weapon on ships that would otherwise be too small to operate a full-sized helicopter.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |