Sikorsky’s Mojave — Igor’s first helo twin

Sikorsky’s Mojave — Igor’s first helo twin

The H-37 (CH-37) Mojave on exhibit in the U.S. Army Aviation Museum — photo by Joe May

Showing its USMC heritage, the Mojave's folding tail rotor assembly — photo by Joe May

The Mojave's rescue hoist, note the ammunition crates though hand unloading was not desirable in "hot" landing zones — photo by Joe May

The U.S. Marine Corps desired a larger and heavier lift helicopter in the late 1950s and awarded that contract to Sikorsky with its H-37 (later known as CH-37) Mojave design, one that could carry 26 combat equipped troops or cargo. That load was exceptional in back in the day, two infantry squads could be deployed with a single landing or a Jeep towed artillery piece with ammunition, as shown in these images. The Mojave had powerful two reciprocating air-cooled engines (Sikorsky’s first twin engine helicopter design), retractable main landing gear, clam shell loading doors at the nose and a five blade rotor hub — and as modern as these traits were the Mojave was overtaken by events. The CH-54 Tarhe , another Sikorsky design, came into service only a few years later at the same weight but four times the load capacity, thanks to the turboshaft engines which were much lighter and much more powerful that the Mojave’s reciprocating engines.

The Mojave's flight deck is above the cargo deck, a desirable trait for cargo aircraft — photo by Joe May

Detail view of the H-37's right-side cargo door and emergency exit window — photo by Joe May

Note the Mojave's retractable main landing gear and small artillery piece in the tow of the Jeep — photo by Joe May

The images of the Mojave in this post is on display at the U.S. Army Aviation Museum* near Daleville AL.

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* a post of the museum, and others about its aircraft, can be found by entering the name into the search window (which will take you the blog’s WordPress site) and selecting ENTER.