| 词条 | Gyrodyne QH-50 DASH | ||||||||||||||||||
| 释义 |
The Gyrodyne QH-50 DASH (Drone Anti-Submarine Helicopter) is a small, drone helicopter built by Gyrodyne Company of America for use as a long-range anti-submarine weapon on ships that would otherwise be too small to operate a full-sized helicopter. It remained in production until 1969. Several are still used today for various land-based roles. Design and developmentDASH was a major part of the United States Navy's Fleet Rehabilitation and Modernization (FRAM) program of the late 1950s. FRAM was started because the Soviet Union was building submarines faster than the US could build anti-submarine frigates. Instead of building frigates, the FRAM upgrade series allowed the US to rapidly update by converting older ships that were less useful in modern naval combat. The navy could upgrade the sonar on World War II-era destroyers, but needed a stand-off weapon to attack at the perimeter of the sonar's range. The old destroyers had little room for add-ons such as a full flight deck. The original DASH concept was a light drone helicopter that could release a nuclear depth charge or torpedoes. The aircraft was considered expendable. The manned Gyrodyne Rotorcycle program of the mid-1950s provided prototype work for the DASH, and ultimately the Rotorcycle was modified to produce the initial drone version, the DSN-1/QH-50A The DSN-1 was powered by a Porsche YO-95-6 72 hp piston engine and carried one Mark 43 homing torpedo. The next developmental version was the DSN-2/QH-50B that was powered by two Porsche YO-95-6 engines and also carried a single Mk 43. Serial production of the DASH began with the third version, the DSN-3/QH-50C, in which a {{convert|255|hp|abbr=on}} Boeing T50-4 turboshaft engine replaced the piston engine and the payload was increased to two Mark 44 torpedoes. A total of 378 QH-50Cs were produced before production ended in January 1966. A single QH-50A, (DS-1006) was re-activated after contractor testing to verify the tilt-float landing gear. A long cylindrical float was added to each corner of the extended skid framework. Each float could rotate 90° from horizontal, oriented to straight ahead, and incorporated a pad at the end for landing on hard surfaces. For landing on water the floats were rotated to the vertical position and the helicopter settled until the floats were approximately 75% submerged.[1] OperationsDASH's control scheme had two controllers: one on the flight deck, and another in the combat information center. The flight-deck controller handled take-off and landing. The controller in the Combat Information Center (CIC) would fly DASH to the target's location and release weapons using semiautomated controls and radar. The CIC controller could not see the aircraft or its altitude and occasionally lost operational control or situational awareness. Late in the program, there were successful experiments to add a TV camera to the drone. These DASH SNOOPYs were also used as airborne spotters for naval gunfire.[2] A tethered landing system was developed to land and take off in up to Force-6 seas. This system consisted of steel rails which were screwed to the flight deck and a cable system to pull the helicopter out of the hangar bay. The helicopter was attached to the steel rails so that it would not slide off the flight deck in heavy seas. This system was occasionally set up and used aboard ship, but never used in rough seas to launch a helicopter. DASH came about because Gyrodyne had worked with the United States Marine Corps to develop a small, experimental co-axial helicopter, the RON Rotorcycle, for use as a scouting platform. A co-axial helicopter has two contrarotating main rotors to control torque, unlike the more common main rotor/tail rotor found on most helicopters. Co-axial rotors put more power into lift, allowing shorter rotor blades. Both traits help a helicopter to be as small as possible. On the downside, the blades must be kept very far from each other to avoid colliding, since the blades flex as they rotate. This leads to increased complexity and decreased maneuverability. For a drone, these trade offs were fine. For the DASH role, the original marine version had a turboshaft engine for improved performance, and the replacement of the seats and controls with a remote-control system and stowage for two Mark 44 torpedoes. In this form the DASH could be flown up to {{convert|22|mi|km}} from the ship, giving a submarine no warning that it was under attack, at least until the torpedo entered the water.[3] Since it was expendable, DASH used off-the-shelf industrial electronics with no back-ups. The controls were multi-channel analog FM. Over 80% of operational aircraft losses were traced to single-point failures of the electronics. A total of 10% of the losses were from pilot errors, and only 10% of the losses were from engine or airframe failures. The DASH program was canceled in 1969, and withdrawn from service 1968–1973. DASH proved unreliable in shipboard service, with over half of the USN's 746 drones lost at sea. This was possibly due to inadequate maintenance support, as other services had few difficulties with DASH.[4] Although low reliability was the official reason, the manufacturer pointed to the expenses of the Vietnam War, and the lack of need for antisubmarine capability in that war. Modified DASH vehicles continued to operate for several more years in the Vietnam War. With attached television cameras, they were used as remote artillery spotters and organic reconnaissance by their ships. Until May 2006, a small number of QH-50D DASH drones were operated by the United States Army at White Sands Missile Range, where they were used to tow targets and calibrate radars and electronic systems.[5] The Japanese Maritime Self-Defense Force (JMSDF) operated a fleet of 20 QH-50 drones, for use on its Takatsuki-class and Minegumo-class destroyers. With the difficulty of maintaining DASH operations after the termination of the U.S. program, the drones and associated equipment were removed from JMSDF service in 1977. Variants
Operators
Surviving aircraftOne on display at the New England Air Museum, Windsor Locks, CT,[6] one QH-50 DASH on display at the Carolina's Aviation Museum in Charlotte, NC,[7] and one on display at the White Sands Missile Range,[8] New Mexico. One is also on display in Lake Charles, La. on the USS Orleck. The museum ship USS Yorktown (CV-10) has one on display on the hangar deck, as does the Gearing-class destroyer USS Joseph P. Kennedy (DD-850) at Battleship Cove, in Fall River, Massachusetts. Two are on display at the Hawthorne Ordnance Museum in Hawthorne, Nevada; one of these is equipped with Project Snoopy video camera equipment, and two anti-personnel rocket pods are mounted instead of torpedoes. The Smithsonian's Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center in Chantilly, VA has a QH-50C on display. One on display inside the original hanger of the USS Laffey (DD-724), Patriots Point, Mt. Pleasant, SC[9] The American Helicopter Museum in West Chester, PA also has a QH-50C on display. Pima Air & Space Museum in Tucson, Arizona has DASH Serial #DS-1045 on display.[10] There is also a Gyrodyne QH-50C on display at the Cradle of Aviation Museum in Garden City, New York.[11] Finally, two more QH-50C DASH drones can be found on display at the Military Heritage Collection of North Texas,[12] located 35 miles NE of downtown Dallas in Nevada, Texas. Specifications (QH-50C){{aircraft specifications|plane or copter?=copter |jet or prop?=prop |ref=Jane's All The World's Aircraft 1969-70 [13] |crew= |capacity= |payload main= |payload alt= |length main= 12 ft 11 in |length alt= 3.94 m |span main= 20 ft 0 in |span alt= 6.10 m |height main= 9 ft 8½ in |height alt= 2.96 m |area main= 314.2 ft² |area alt= 29.2 m2 |airfoil= |empty weight main= 1,154 lb |empty weight alt= 524 kg |loaded weight main= |loaded weight alt= |useful load main= |useful load alt= |max takeoff weight main= 2,285 lb |max takeoff weight alt= 1,036 kg |more general= |engine (prop)= Boeing T50-BO-8A |type of prop=turboshaft |number of props=1 |power main= 300 hp |power alt= 224 kW |power original= |max speed main= 80 knots |max speed alt= 92 mph, 148 km/h |cruise speed main= 50 knots |cruise speed alt=58 mph, 93 km/h |stall speed main= |stall speed alt= |never exceed speed main= |never exceed speed alt= |range main= 71 nmi |range alt= 82 mi, 132 km |ceiling main= 16,400 ft |ceiling alt= 5,000 m |climb rate main= 1,880 ft/min |climb rate alt= 9.6 m/s |loading main= |loading alt= |thrust/weight= |power/mass main= |power/mass alt= |more performance= |armament= 2 Mk.44 or Mk.46 torpedoes |avionics= }} See also{{aircontent|related= |similar aircraft= |sequence= |lists=
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}} ReferencesNotes1. ^:The Model QH-50A|." Gyrodyne Helicopter Historical Foundation. Retrieved: 22 May 2014 2. ^Peniston, Bradley. "Unmanned naval warfare: Retrospect and prospect." {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131224122132/http://armedforcesjournal.com/daily/2013/12/unmanned-naval-warfare-retrospect-prospect/ |date=2013-12-24 }} Armed Forces Journal (armedforcesjournal.com), 20 December 2013. Retrieved: 22 December 2013. 3. ^Apostolo 1984, p. 67. 4. ^Friedman 2004, pp. 280–283 5. ^{{cite web|url=http://www.gyrodynehelicopters.com/gyrodyne_today.htm |title=Gyrodyne Today |publisher=Gyrodynehelicopters.com |date=2006-05-09 |accessdate=2012-08-17}} 6. ^"Gyrodyne XRON-1 'Rotorcycle'." New England Air Museum. Retrieved: August 4, 2013. 7. ^ 8. ^"White Sands Missile Base Museum." White Sands Missile Range Museum 9. ^https://airandspace.si.edu/collection-objects/gyrodyne-qh-50c-drone-anti-submarine-helicopter-dash 10. ^http://americanhelicopter.museum/aircraft/gyrodyne-qh-50c-drone-dsn-3 11. ^ 12. ^"Military Heritage Collection of North Texas" 13. ^Taylor 1969, p. 519. Bibliography{{Refbegin}}
External links{{Commons|QH-50 DASH}}
9 : Gyrodyne Company of America aircraft|United States helicopters 1950–1959|United States military utility aircraft 1950–1959|Single-turbine helicopters|Coaxial rotor helicopters|Unmanned aerial vehicles of the United States|Unmanned helicopters|Military helicopters|Aircraft first flown in 1959 |
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