![Helio H-295 N68858 Lake Hood AK](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/26/Helio_H-295_N68858_Lake_Hood_AK.jpg)
The Helio Courier is a cantilever high-wing light
STOL utility aircraft
A utility aircraft is a general-purpose light airplane or helicopter, usually used for transporting people, freight or other supplies, but is also used for other duties when more specialized aircraft are not required or available.
The term can a ...
designed in 1949.
Around 500 of these aircraft were manufactured in
Pittsburg, Kansas, from 1954 until 1974 by the
Helio Aircraft Company. The design featured four
leading edge slats that deployed automatically, and large trailing edge
flap
Flap may refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media
* ''Flap'' (film), a 1970 American film
* Flap, a boss character in the arcade game ''Gaiapolis''
* Flap, a minor character in the film '' Little Nemo: Adventures in Slumberland''
Biology and he ...
s. The engine was the 295 hp
Lycoming GO-480
The Lycoming O-480 is a family of six-cylinder, horizontally opposed fixed-wing aircraft engines of 479.6 cubic inch (7.86 L) displacement, made by Lycoming Engines. The engine is a six-cylinder version of the four-cylinder Lycoming O-320.
Desig ...
, which had a gearbox that lowered the output RPM and allowed for the use of a large three-bladed propeller to further improve takeoff performance. Couriers were famous for their takeoffs, which often took only a few plane lengths and then climbed at very high angles. During airshow demonstrations, it was common for the aircraft to actually take off across a 100 - 200 foot wide runway. The geared engine, however, required constant maintenance and was a major downside to the design.
During the early 1980s, new owners (Helio Aircraft Ltd.) made an attempt to build new aircraft with direct-drive Lycoming engines, to replace troublesome and expensive geared engines. In a further effort to reduce weight, a new composite landing gear was featured. The new models also featured modest winglets. Two models were produced, the H-800 and H-700. A total of 18 aircraft were built. The rights to the Helio Stallion and Helio Courier were acquired by Helio Aircraft of Prescott, Arizona.
Design and development
Professor
Otto C. Koppen designed aircraft for the
Stout Metal Airplane Division of the Ford Motor Company
Stout Metal Airplane Division of the Ford Motor Company was an American aircraft manufacturer founded by William Bushnell Stout as the Stout Metal Airplane Co. in 1922. The company was purchased by Ford Motor Company in 1924 and later produced th ...
, including the
Ford Flivver
The Ford Flivver is a single-seat aircraft introduced by Henry Ford as the "Model T of the Air". After a fatal crash of a prototype into the ocean off Melbourne, Florida, production plans were halted.
Development
The Ford Trimotor was Henry Ford ...
, an aircraft that was supposed to be mass-produced by Ford. Koppen went on to design the Helio Courier.
The demonstrator for the Courier's concept, "Helioplane #1", was converted by the then-local
Wiggins Airways
Wiggins Airways is an American cargo airline based in Manchester, New Hampshire, operating from Manchester–Boston Regional Airport. It is a subsidiary of Ameriflight.
History
Wiggins Airways was founded in 1929, by E.W. Wiggins, operating ou ...
firm from a
Piper PA-17 Vagabond Trainer, one of the so-named "short-wing Pipers" in production following World War II. Only the cabin area of the PA-17's original airframe remained unmodified, with the fuselage lengthened by four feet (1.2 meters), given a taller fin-rudder unit, clipped the Vagabond's stock 29 ft-3 inch (8.92 meter) wingspan down to only some 28.5 feet (8.7 meters), fitted the shortened wings with full-span
leading-edge slats, long-span
wing flaps that forced the
ailerons to be much diminished in their span - only occupying the two outermost
rib bays inboard of the
wingtip
A wing tip (or wingtip) is the part of the wing that is most distant from the fuselage of a fixed-wing aircraft.
Because the wing tip shape influences the size and drag of the wingtip vortices, tip design has produced a diversity of sha ...
; and a longer-travel
main landing gear of a taller design, not unlike that of the 1930s-origin
Fieseler Fi 156
The Fieseler Fi 156 ''Storch'' (, "stork") was a German liaison aircraft built by Fieseler before and during World War II. Production continued in other countries into the 1950s for the private market. It was notable for its excellent short fie ...
German military short take-off and landing (
STOL) pioneer aircraft. The powerplant for the demonstrator was switched to the
Continental C85
The Continental O-190 (Company designations C75 and C85) is a series of engines made by Continental Motors beginning in the 1940s. Of flat-four configuration, the engines produced 75 hp (56 kW) or 85 hp (63 kW) respectively ...
boxer-four cylinder air-cooled engine, upgraded with fuel-injection, and uniquely equipped with a multi-belt speed reduction unit to drive its Aeroproducts nine-foot (2.75 meter) diameter, variable-pitch two-blade propeller, which contributed greatly to the amazing STOL flight characteristics of the demonstrator aircraft.
The demonstrator's first flight took place on April 8, 1949, flying from what was then called the
Boston Metropolitan Airport
Boston Metropolitan Airport was an airfield in Canton, Massachusetts, on the northeast side of Neponset St just southeast of the Neponset River. In the 1930s it had four gravel runways. The May 1956 sectional chart shows one 2100-ft turf runway; ...
.
For the construction of the production Courier aircraft, its all aluminum-clad airframe features a welded 15G steel-tube center section fuselage, with shoulder harnesses that protect the occupants in an emergency. The wings are of conventional aluminum construction, but feature
Handley Page leading-edge slats that deploy automatically when the aircraft's airspeed falls below a certain value — 55 to 60 miles per hour (89 to 97 km/h). The slats contribute to the Helio's outstanding short takeoff and landing capability, and allow for stall/spin-proof controllable flight. In conjunction with the leading-edge slats, 74% of the trailing edge incorporates high-lift slotted
flaps, which together with interrupter blades atop each wing when roll control is lost at very low airspeed, allows for a tight turning radius. The Helio Courier could maintain control at speeds as low as .
The design of the Helio features a large vertical tail surface and rudder for control at very low flight speeds. However, on
conventional geared aircraft (taildraggers), the airplane tends to be sensitive to crosswinds, thus a crosswind gear option is available, allowing the main tires to caster left or right 20 degrees, increasing the crosswind component to . The Helio has its main gear placement far forward of the cabin, enabling hard braking on unprepared landing areas. A
tricycle-gear model was produced, but is unsuitable for unprepared rough terrain.
Helios are also capable of being equipped with floats; both straight and amphibious floats being offered.
Operational history
![Von Richthofen LYNN GARRISON - DICK BACH](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/0b/Von_Richthofen_LYNN_GARRISON_-_DICK_BACH.jpg)
With a minimum-control speed of around 28 mph, the Courier is perfectly suited for confined off-airport operations. The first one was certified in July 1954 and powered by the 260 hp
Lycoming GO-435-C2B2. The first production Courier (Serial Number 001, dubbed "Ol' Number 1")''C-G001'' was previously owned and operated by
JAARS
Founded in 1948 as Jungle Aviation and Radio Service by William Cameron Townsend, JAARS is a world-wide, non-profit, mission aviation and support organization that reduces barriers and eases burdens with a primary focus on Bible translation suppo ...
as ''N242B'' until 2010. Jaars Helio Courier has been a frequent airshow performer at
EAA AirVenture Oshkosh
EAA AirVenture Oshkosh (formerly the EAA Annual Convention and Fly-In), or just Oshkosh, is an annual air show and gathering of aviation enthusiasts held each summer at Wittman Regional Airport and adjacent Pioneer Airport in Oshkosh, Wisconsi ...
for decades, displaying its slow flight capability in front of thousands and serving as a drop plane for the Liberty Parachute Team.
In 1957, a "Strato Courier" set an altitude record over Mexico City, Mexico at 31,200 ft powered by a geared Lycoming GSO-480-A1A5 (340 hp), only one was built. The Super Courier, a more powerful derivative, was used by the
U.S. Air Force
The United States Air Force (USAF) is the air service branch of the United States Armed Forces, and is one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Originally created on 1 August 1907, as a part of the United States Army Sign ...
from 1958 onward, by the
U.S. Army Special Forces
The United States Army Special Forces (SF), colloquially known as the "Green Berets" due to their distinctive service headgear, are a special operations force of the United States Army.
The Green Berets are geared towards nine doctrinal m ...
in the 1960s and 1970s and by
Air America during the
Vietnam War
The Vietnam War (also known by other names) was a conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. It was the second of the Indochina Wars and was officially fought between North Vietnam a ...
as the U-10. In U.S. Army and Air Force service, the U-10 Super Courier was used for liaison work, light cargo and
supply drops,
psychological warfare
Psychological warfare (PSYWAR), or the basic aspects of modern psychological operations (PsyOp), have been known by many other names or terms, including Military Information Support Operations (MISO), Psy Ops, political warfare, "Hearts and M ...
,
forward air control (Air Force), insertion and extraction by land and sea (Army), and
reconnaissance
In military operations, reconnaissance or scouting is the exploration of an area by military forces to obtain information about enemy forces, terrain, and other activities.
Examples of reconnaissance include patrolling by troops (skirmisher ...
. Various versions were produced up through the 1980s, including
turbine
A turbine ( or ) (from the Greek , ''tyrbē'', or Latin ''turbo'', meaning vortex) is a rotary mechanical device that extracts energy from a fluid flow and converts it into useful work. The work produced by a turbine can be used for generating ...
-powered variants.
The Super Courier saw military service in the United States as the U-10 (ex L-28). Over 120 were built: The L-28A (2, later redesignated U-10A), U-10A (26), U-10B extended range and paratrooper doors (57), and the U-10D with a higher gross weight(36). There was no U-10C.
Helios remain very popular among
bush pilots
Bush flying refers to aircraft operations carried out in the bush. Bush flying involves operations in rough terrain where there are often no prepared landing strips or runways, frequently necessitating that bush planes be equipped with abnormally ...
in Canada (32 current) and Alaska and missionaries who fly into rough, relatively unprepared jungle airstrips because of its superior
STOL abilities. Some operators use the Helio Couriers for aerial observation. Both Winged Vision Inc. of
Gaithersburg, Maryland
Gaithersburg ( ), officially the City of Gaithersburg, is a city in Montgomery County, Maryland, United States. At the time of the 2020 U.S. Census, Gaithersburg had a population of 69,657, making it the ninth-largest location in the state. Gai ...
and the
Pima County, Arizona, Sheriff's Department each operate two of the rare tri-gear model and mount gyro-stabilized cameras under the wing for aerial observation. Pima County mounts a
FLIR
Forward-looking infrared (FLIR) cameras, typically used on military and civilian aircraft, use a thermographic camera that senses infrared radiation.
The sensors installed in forward-looking infrared cameras, as well as those of other thermal ...
camera for law enforcement, and Winged Vision mounts a high definition television camera for coverage of major sports events.
Variants
;Koppen-Bollinger Helioplane
:Original prototype soon re-named Helio Courier.
;Helioplane Four
:unknown possible variant.
;Helioplane Two
:unknown possible variant.
;Hi-Vision Courier
:unknown possible variant.
;H-291
:Prototype, one built.
;
:Variant with a Lycoming GO-480-G1D6, purchased by USAF as U-10D, 173 built.
;HT-295 Super Courier or Trigear Courier
:H-295 with tricycle undercarriage, 19 built.
;H-250 Courier
:H-295 with lengthened fuselage and
Lycoming O-540-A1A5 engine, 41 built.
;H-391 Courier
:Prototype with
Lycoming GO-435
The Lycoming O-435 is an American six-cylinder, horizontally opposed fixed-wing aircraft and helicopter engine made by Lycoming Engines. The engine is a six-cylinder version of the four-cylinder Lycoming O-290.
Design and development
The p ...
-C2 engine, one built.
;H-391B Courier
:Production version of H-391, 102 built.
;H-392 Strato Courier
:High-altitude version of H-391 with
Lycoming GSO-480-A1A5 engine (340 hp).
;H-395 Super Courier
:H-391B with Lycoming GO-480-G1D6, purchased by USAF as U-10A and U-10B, 138 built.
;H-395A Courier
:Variant of the H-395 with a Lycoming GO-435-C2B6 engine, seven built.
;
H-500 Twin Courier
:Twin-engined H-395 for the CIA. Very little information available except seven delivered to the CIA under front designation U-5.
;
H-550 Stallion
:Turboprop powered development
;H-580 Twin Courier
:A longer nosed H-500 with twin wing mounted piston engines, five built.
[''Flying,'' March 1984, p. 54.]
;H-634 Twin Stallion
:Planned twin Allison C250 powered Stallion.
;H-700 Courier
:H-295 with redesigned wing and undercarriage and
Lycoming TIO-540-J2B engine.
;H-800 Courier
:H-700 with
Lycoming IO-720-A1B engine, 18 built (H-700 and H-800 together).
;L-24 Courier
:Military version of the H-391 Courier.
;L-28 Courier
:Military version of the H-395 Courier.
;U-5 Twin Courier
:Probable front designation for CIA Twin Couriers.
;U-10 Courier
:Re-designation of L-28 Courier
;
Helio AU-24 Stallion
:Military designation for H-550 Stallion
Operators
![Helio U-10B RTAF](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e2/Helio_U-10B_RTAF.jpg)
Military operators
;
*
Bophuthatswana Air Force – 2 operated from 1982.
;
*
Guyana Defence Force
The Guyana Defence Force (GDF) is the military of Guyana, established in 1965. It has military bases across the nation. The Commander-in-Chief of the Defence Force is always the incumbent President of Guyana.
History
The GDF was formed on 1 Nov ...
;
*
Italian Air Force
, colours =
, colours_label =
, march = (Ordinance March of the Air Force) by Alberto Di Miniello
, mascot =
, anniversaries = 28 March ...
operated 1 Helio Courier aircraft from 1961 to 1982
;
;
*
Royal Thai Air Force
"Royal Thai Air Force March"
, mascot =
, anniversaries = 9 April 1937 (Royal Thai Air Force Day)
, equipment =
, equipment_label =
, battles ...
;
*
Civil Air Patrol
*
United States Air Force
The United States Air Force (USAF) is the Aerial warfare, air military branch, service branch of the United States Armed Forces, and is one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Originally created on 1 August 1907, as a part ...
**4410th Combat Crew Training Squadron
*
United States Army
The United States Army (USA) is the land warfare, land military branch, service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight Uniformed services of the United States, U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army o ...
Civil operators
*
Air America
*
JAARS
Founded in 1948 as Jungle Aviation and Radio Service by William Cameron Townsend, JAARS is a world-wide, non-profit, mission aviation and support organization that reduces barriers and eases burdens with a primary focus on Bible translation suppo ...
*
North-Wright Airways
North-Wright Airways is an airline based in Norman Wells, Northwest Territories, Canada. It operates commuter services to several communities in the Northwest Territories, and charter services. Its main base is Norman Wells Airport and they ope ...
*
Wright Air Service
Wright Air Service is an American commuter airline based in Fairbanks, Alaska, United States. It was established by Al Wright and started operations in 1967. It is located off the east ramp near the Fairbanks International Airport. The preside ...
Aircraft on display
;Thailand
* 7135 – Type 1 on display at the
Royal Thai Air Force Museum
The Royal Thai Air Force Museum is located in Don Mueang District, Bangkok, Thailand. It is located on the Phahonyothin Road just to the south of Wing 6 of the domestic terminal of the Don Mueang Airport. It was served by the Royal Thai Air Force ...
in
Bangkok
Bangkok, officially known in Thai as Krung Thep Maha Nakhon and colloquially as Krung Thep, is the capital and most populous city of Thailand. The city occupies in the Chao Phraya River delta in central Thailand and has an estimated populati ...
. It has the USAF serial number 66-14332.
;United States
* Original "Helioplane No.1" demonstrator aircraft is in storage at the
Paul Garber Facility of the
National Air and Space Museum in
Suitland, Maryland.
* 62-3606 – U-10A on static display at the Memorial Air Park at
Hurlburt Field
Hurlburt Field is a United States Air Force installation located in Okaloosa County, Florida, immediately west of the town of Mary Esther. It is part of the greater Eglin Air Force Base reservation and is home to Headquarters Air Force Spe ...
in
Mary Esther, Florida
Mary Esther is a city in Okaloosa County, Florida, Okaloosa County, Florida, United States. The population was 3,851 at the United States Census 2010, 2010 census. It is part of the Fort Walton Beach, Florida, Fort Walton Beach–Crestview, Flo ...
.
* 63-13096 – U-10B on static display at the
Museum of Aviation at
Robins Air Force Base
Robins Air Force Base is a major United States Air Force installation located in Houston County, Georgia, United States. The base is located just east of the city of Warner Robins, south-southeast of Macon and approximately south-southeast o ...
in
Warner Robins, Georgia
Warner Robins (typically ) is a city in the U.S. state of Georgia, located in Houston and Peach counties in the central part of the state. It is currently Georgia's eleventh-largest incorporated city, with an estimated population of 80,308 in t ...
.
* 66-14360 – U-10D on static display at the
National Museum of the United States Air Force
The National Museum of the United States Air Force (formerly the United States Air Force Museum) is the official museum of the United States Air Force located at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, northeast of Dayton, Ohio. The NMUSAF is the ...
at
Wright-Patterson Air Force Base
Wright-Patterson Air Force Base (WPAFB) is a United States Air Force base and census-designated place just east of Dayton, Ohio, in Greene and Montgomery counties. It includes both Wright and Patterson Fields, which were originally Wilbur Wr ...
in
Dayton, Ohio
Dayton () is the sixth-largest city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Montgomery County. A small part of the city extends into Greene County. The 2020 U.S. census estimate put the city population at 137,644, while Greater D ...
.
* 1216 – H-295 on static display at the
Alaska Aviation Museum in
Anchorage, Alaska. It was formerly owned by
Lowell Thomas Jr.
Lowell Thomas Jr. (October 6, 1923 – October 1, 2016) was an American politician and film producer who collaborated with his father, the accomplished reporter and author Lowell Thomas, on several projects before becoming an Alaskan state s ...
Specifications (U-10D Super Courier)
See also
References
Notes
Bibliography
*
* Ogden, Bob. ''Aviation Museums and Collections of North America''. Tonbridge, Kent, UK: Air-Britain (Historians) Ltd, 2007. .
* Simpson, R. W. ''Airlife's General Aviation.'' Shrewsbury, UK: Airlife Publishing, 1995, pp. 208–210. .
* Taylor, Michael J. H. ''Jane's Encyclopedia of Aviation.'' London: Studio Editions, 1989. .
* ''World Aircraft Information Files.'' London: Bright Star Publishing, File 896, sheet 18.
External links
Helio Aircraft homepageSmithsonian NASM page on Helioplane #1, awaiting restorationNMUSAF Page on Helio Super CourierHelioCourier.Net"Rugged Light Plane Takes to the Air After 30-yard Run."''Popular Mechanics'', November 1954, p. 144.
A Low-Cost Air Transportation and Communication System for Remote Areas of the Philippines – Internet Archive
{{DEFAULTSORT:Helio Courier
1940s United States civil utility aircraft
Courier
A courier is a person or organisation that delivers a message, package or letter from one place or person to another place or person. Typically, a courier provides their courier service on a commercial contract basis; however, some couriers are ...
Single-engined tractor aircraft
High-wing aircraft
Aircraft first flown in 1949
STOL aircraft