April 22, 1944: Sikorsky R-4 Becomes 1st Helicopter Ever Used in Combat

A Brief History

On April 22, 1944, the China-Burma-India Theater of World War II (CBI) was the scene of the first ever use of a helicopter in a combat zone. The United States had deployed the Sikorsky R-4 variants to the theater to assist with the recovery of downed airmen, a role helicopters would become synonymous with.

Digging Deeper

Recognizing the versatility of the helicopter, the R-4’s in the theater were quickly given other missions such as ferrying vital spare parts to remote locations, rescuing sailors from sunken ships, reconnaissance, and medical evacuation.

The R-4 was a two seat piston engine powered 3 blade rotor helicopter designed by Igor Sikorsky, a Ukrainian born Russian aircraft designer born in Kiev, 1889, that had designed planes for Imperial Russia. Sikorsky moved to the US in 1919 in the wake of the Russian Revolution. In the US, Sikorsky continued with this aviation design career building the first mass produced commercial flying boats, and in 1942 the R-4, the first mass produced helicopter.

The R-4 was primitive and weak compared to today’s helicopters, but back then it was a marvel of technological superiority, flying higher, faster and farther than other early designs. It had a listed service ceiling of 8000 feet, but could actually get as high as 12,000 feet and could operate in the field to around 10,000 feet. Capable of almost 90 mph, the listed top speed was 75 mph with a cruising speed of 65 mph. Weighing just under 2600 pounds fully loaded, the 200 horsepower engine worked hard just to lift the single pilot and single passenger.

The R-4 also became the first British military helicopter when 52 of the machines were delivered to the Royal Air Force and Royal Navy (1 subsequently turned over to the Canadians). In British service the R-4 was known as the Hoverfly I.

Only 131 R-4’s were built between 1942 and 1944, with some going to the US Coast Guard who would later make helicopters a key component of their service. The follow on model was the R-6, only incrementally more capable and with 225 units delivered to the US Navy and the British Royal Navy, as well as the US Army Air Force.

Today helicopters have become a vital tool of the military, forestry and other natural resource oriented divisions, law enforcement, construction, executive transport, tourism, search and rescue, inspecting powerlines and other remote areas, traffic and news reporting and the commonly seen medical transport choppers that save lives every day (including mine in 2012). There are close to 30,000 military helicopters in the world, and another 20,000 civilian or commercial versions out there for a rough total of about 50,000 working helicopters in the world today! Sikorsky Aircraft is now owned by Lockheed Martin (as of 2015) and is still building helicopters with a workforce of almost 16,000.

Question for students (and subscribers): Have you had a ride in a helicopter? If so, tell us about your experience in whirlybirds in the comments section below this article.

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