Mc Culloch MC-4 - Design and Development

Design and Development

The MC-4 was a larger version of the earlier Jovanovich JOV-3 tandem-rotor helicopter and was developed by the McCulloch Aircraft Corporation. The JOV-3 was developed by Jovanovich when he headed the Helicopter Engineering and Research Corporation. The JOV-3 first flew in 1948. In 1949 Jovanovich moved to the McCulloch Motors Corporation where an enlarged helicopter the MC-4 first flew in March 1951. It was followed by a similar MC-4C and three evaluation helicopters for the United States Army (as the YH-30). The MC-4C was slightly larger than the MC-4. When the MC-4C was certified in 1953 it was the first tandem-rotor helicopter to be certified in the United States for commercial use. Three examples were evaluated by the United States Army as the YH-30, but Army's evaluation showed the helicopter to be underpowered.

The YH-30 had a steel-tube framework with a light metal skin, A single 200 hp Franklin piston engine was horizontally mounted amidships and powered two intermeshing tandem rotors. It had a fixed wheeled tricycle landing gear with a castering nose wheel.

No civil or military orders were received and Jovanovich formed his own company, the Jovair Corporation where he modified the MC-4C as a prototype for a four-seat private helicopter designated the Sedan 4E. The Sedan 4E was powered by 210 hp Franklin 6A-335 engine. A version with a turbo-charged engine was designed as the Sedan 4ES and a more basic Sedan 4A for agricultural use. By 1965 a small number of Sedan helicopters were built. In the early 1970s McCulloch regained the rights to the helicopter designs.