Development
Stanley Hiller designed his first helicopter at the age of 15, and built and flew his first helicopter, the Hiller XH-44, when he was aged 19. With the help of shipping mogul Henry Kaiser, Hiller established the United Helicopters company in 1946. In 1947, United Helicopters developed the Model 360X, the prototype that would become the basis for the H-23. A year later, on 14 October 1948 the CAA issued a production certificate for the Model 360.
United Helicopters began producing the Model 360 as the UH-12. In 1949, the UH-12 became the first helicopter to make a transcontinental flight from California to New York. When Hiller upgraded the engine and the rotor blades, the company designated the new model the UH-12A. It was the UH-12A that would be adopted by both the French and United States militaries, as well as being used by civil commercial operators in several countries.
Read more about this topic: Hiller OH-23 Raven
Famous quotes containing the word development:
“I can see ... only one safe rule for the historian: that he should recognize in the development of human destinies the play of the contingent and the unforeseen.”
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