Piasecki HUP Retriever

Piasecki Helicopter Corporation · United States · first flew 1948 · helicopter

The Piasecki HUP Retriever is a compact tandem-rotor utility helicopter developed for US Navy shipboard operations in the late 1940s. Its overlapping contra-rotating rotors eliminated the need for a tail rotor.

Recognition (WEFT)

W — Wings	High-mounted, rotary
E — Engines	1 × piston, fuselage-mounted
F — Fuselage	Compact banana-fuselage with cranked boom
T — Tail	No tailplane

WEFT is AircraftIQ's four-point recognition method — how it works.

Spot it by:

Tandem overlapping rotors — no tail rotor
Compact banana-fuselage with cranked boom
Early US Navy utility helicopter

The cranked, banana-shaped fuselage is the primary identifier, combined with the two overlapping three-bladed rotors of nearly equal diameter. No tail rotor is fitted; a small stabiliser fin sits at the tail.

Specifications

The Piasecki HUP Retriever has a length of 17.4 m (57 ft).
It has a wingspan of 10.67 m (35 ft).
Its maximum speed is 169 km/h (105 mph).
Typical crew: 2.

Figures are for the representative variant described above; marks differ. See how AircraftIQ sources figures.

History

First flying in 1948, the HUP entered US Navy service in 1949 and was used extensively for plane-guard, search and rescue, and utility duties aboard carriers. Piasecki's signature tandem-rotor design allowed a shorter overall footprint suitable for ship decks.

Variants

The H-25 Army Mule was the US Army variant; the HUP-3 featured an autopilot for instrument flight. Canada also received a batch designated HUP-3.

Where you'll see it

The Retriever served with the US Navy and US Army through the 1950s into the early 1960s, and with the French Navy, which operated it from carriers in the Mediterranean.

Related aircraft

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