The S-58 (aka H-34 Choctaw) is a military helicopter produced by the Sikorsky helicopter company that first flew on March 8 1945.
The S-58 was conceived, designed and produced as an anti-submarine helicopter. It’s essentially a longer and more powerful version of the S-55, upon which it was based.
The nose is similar to that model, but the tail-dragger rear fuselage and landing gear make it impossible to confuse it with the S-55’s high tail, four post pattern.
The S-58 represents the last of the piston-powered military helicopters which were replaced by turbine helicopters such as the UH-1 Huey and CH-46 Sea Knight.
The engine (there is only one) in question here is the Wright R-1820-84 Cyclone. This radial piston engine provided 1525 horsepower which gave the S58 a maximum speed of 138 miles per hour and a range of 280 miles.
The S-58 had a role in several theaters of war. It was active in the Algerian and Vietnam wars. The US armed forces continued to use the S-58 into the late 1960s. By the early 1970s the armed forces had terminated the service of all S-58/H-34 helicopters.
In total, 1868 of these helicopters were produced with at least 22 operators worldwide. It was also put into use by the United States Army, Navy and Marines.
About 50 variants of this helicopter exists. While production of the S-58 ran between 1954-1970 it is still in civilian use today. Production under license also continued after Sikorsky stopped making the S-58.
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Design features
Nose-mounted engine
Semi-monocoque structure fuselage
Three wheel, non retractable, landing gear
All metal main and tail rotors
Description
The S-58 (aka H-34 Choctaw) is a military helicopter produced by the Sikorsky helicopter company that first flew on March 8 1945.
The S-58 was conceived, designed and produced as an anti-submarine helicopter. It’s essentially a longer and more powerful version of the S-55, upon which it was based.
The nose is similar to that model, but the tail-dragger rear fuselage and landing gear make it impossible to confuse it with the S-55’s high tail, four post pattern.
The S-58 represents the last of the piston-powered military helicopters which were replaced by turbine helicopters such as the UH-1 Huey and CH-46 Sea Knight.
The engine (there is only one) in question here is the Wright R-1820-84 Cyclone. This radial piston engine provided 1525 horsepower which gave the S58 a maximum speed of 138 miles per hour and a range of 280 miles.
The S-58 had a role in several theaters of war. It was active in the Algerian and Vietnam wars. The US armed forces continued to use the S-58 into the late 1960s. By the early 1970s the armed forces had terminated the service of all S-58/H-34 helicopters.
In total, 1868 of these helicopters were produced with at least 22 operators worldwide. It was also put into use by the United States Army, Navy and Marines.
About 50 variants of this helicopter exists. While production of the S-58 ran between 1954-1970 it is still in civilian use today. Production under license also continued after Sikorsky stopped making the S-58.
In an operation code-named Shufly, the UH-34s often supported U.S. Army H-21 helicopters shuttling South Vietnamese soldiers to and from battle areas under heavy enemy fire.
This type had a variety of names depending on the role and timing, but included the aforementioned Wessex, Seahorse, Seabat, and Choctaw. Most of the H-34 (S-58) used radial aviation engines, though other powerplants were employed, and the Wessex used predominantly twin gas turbines.
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The Bell UH-1 Iroquois, commonly known as the "Huey," was a multipurpose utility helicopter famous for its widespread use during the Vietnam War. Bell developed the powerful helicopter in the mid-1950s and produced more than 16,000 units between 1955 and 1976, over 7,000 of which served in Vietnam.
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In Vietnam, both the Ai r Force and the Marine Corps employed forward air controllers (PAC ) (airborne), who in a variety of aircraft like the TA–4F jets, UH–l E helicopters, and small light fixed-wing prop-driven aircraft controlled attack, fighter, and fighter/attack fixed-wing aircraft and armed heli- copters in ...
Marine medium tilt-rotor (VMM) squadrons fly the V-22 Osprey, a tilt-rotor transport aircraft. Marine heavy helicopter (HMH) squadrons fly the CH-53E Super Stallion helicopter for heavy-lift missions. These will eventually be replaced with the upgraded CH-53K, currently under development.
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