The Sikorsky S-50 was a smaller lighter version of the

Sikorsky R-6 The Sikorsky R-6 is an American light two-seat helicopter of the 1940s. In Royal Air Force and Royal Navy service, it was named the Hoverfly II. Development The R-6/Hoverfly II was developed to improve on the successful Sikorsky R-4. In order to ...

designed for the

United States Army Air Corps The United States Army Air Corps (USAAC) was the aerial warfare service component of the United States Army between 1926 and 1941. After World War I, as early aviation became an increasingly important part of modern warfare, a philosophical r ...

as an observation helicopter with dual controls in 1943. The design emphasized minimal weight and was to be powered by a

Franklin 6ACV-298 The Franklin O-300 (company designation 6AC-298) was an American air-cooled aircraft engine of the early 1940s. The engine was of six-cylinder, horizontally-opposed layout and displaced . The power output ranged between and depending on va ...

engine turning a three blade main rotor constructed of metal and plywood covered by 2 layers of fabric. The tail rotor also had three blades made from laminated wood. Further weight savings of the design included the rejection of a conventional

oleo strut An oleo strut is a pneumatic air–oil hydraulic shock absorber used on the landing gear of most large aircraft and many smaller ones. This design cushions the impacts of landing and damps out vertical oscillations. It is undesirable for an airp ...

tail wheel in favor of a tail skid on a pivot cushioned by three rubber doughnuts. One full scale wooden mock-up was built but no flying examples were ever produced.

Specifications

References

{{Sikorsky Aircraft Sikorsky aircraft