The Sznycer SG-VI (aka Sznycer-Gottlieb SG-VI) was a single-engined three-seat utility helicopter designed and built in the United States and Canada in the late 1940s to the design of Bernard Sznycer, assisted by Selma Gottlieb and Engineering Products of Canada Ltd. (CanAmerican)

Design & development

Initial design work on the SG-VI began at

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...

in 1943 by a team led by Bernard Sznycer, including Selma Gottlieb,

Harold Pitcairn Harold Frederick Pitcairn (June 20, 1897 – April 23, 1960) was an American aviation inventor and pioneer. He played a key role in the development of the autogyro and founded the Autogiro Company of America. He patented a number of innovations ...

and Agnew Larsen. Pitcairn and Larsen left the partnership by August 1945 when Sznycer and Intercity Airlines of

Montreal, Quebec Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the second-most populous city in Canada and most populous city in the Canadian province of Quebec. Founded in 1642 as '' Ville-Marie'', or "City of Mary", it is named after Mount Royal, the triple-pea ...

, Canada, signed a contract for the detailed design, testing and certification of a prototype helicopter to be marketed and built by the Canadian helicopter Company. The contract did not develop as planned and the first prototype, the SG-VI-C, was built by Engineering Products of Canada Ltd., (a BF. Goodrich subsidiary at Montreal). Construction of the first prototype commenced, but with inadequate management of resources and poor supervision of workers resulting in a lack of confidence in the safety of the aircraft. A second prototype, (SG-VI-D), was built with the sanction of Intercity Airlines and satisfactory supervision. The SG-VI-D had a crude enclosed cabin and open tubular tailboom and was powered by an Franklin 6GA4-165-BGF engine positioned horizontally above the tailboom driving a four-bladed main rotor with a complex control system. Given the registration CF-FGG-X and named Grey Gull, the SG-VI-D gained its type certificate in February 1951, becoming the first Canadian and

British Commonwealth The Commonwealth of Nations, simply referred to as the Commonwealth, is a political association of 56 member states, the vast majority of which are former territories of the British Empire. The chief institutions of the organisation are the Co ...

helicopter to do so. After certification the SG-VI-D was re-engined with a Franklin 6A4-200-C6 engine and offered to investors for development and production as the SG-VI-E. Sznycer eventually sold the helicopter and production rights to an investor from

Brooklyn Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...

who failed to capitalise on his investment, ending the development of the SG-VI. Presently the sole remaining prototype is preserved at the Reynolds Alberta Museum,

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Alberta Alberta ( ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is part of Western Canada and is one of the three prairie provinces. Alberta is bordered by British Columbia to the west, Saskatchewan to the east, the Northwest Ter ...

, Canada.

Variants

; SG-VI-C: Initial prototype powered by a Franklin 6GA4-165-BGF engine. Apparently little flown due to lack of confidence in the structural integrity of the airframe. ; SG-VI-D: Second prototype used for flight testing and type certification. ; SG-VI-E: the second prototype re-engined with a Franklin 6A4-200-C6.

Design & development

Variants

Specifications (SG-VI-E)

See also

References

Further reading