This short 1960s U.S. Navy film (D-A-PHD-6-01) gives viewers a look at the development of the Navy’s helicopter escape capsule ballistic system and early tests of the system. The film opens with a helicopter crashing into a body of water. Another helicopter crashes into the sea next to an aircraft carrier. A UH-25B (Piasecki HUP Retriever) flies by, and the film shows soldiers sitting in the fuselage of the chopper. An image of the UH-25B is used to show how modifications are made to add a fuselage escape capsule (01:45). At the Naval Weapons Laboratory in Dahlgren, VA, men work on ballistics to separate the fuselage capsule (02:20). Men wheel a UH-25B into a hanger to work on the capsule design. The engineers look over the helicopter. The film reviews the objectives for creating the system, which are to solve the following five problems: Ballistic Initiator & Energy Transfer System, Severance of Fuselage & Aircraft Controls, Positive Separation Between Fuselage Sections, Severance of Blades and Rotors, and Deployment of Parachutes. A man shows the pieces used for the Ballistic Initiator and Energy Transfer System (04:22), including the electrical solenoid, ballistic actuator, and manifold for energy transfer. A helicopter sits out on a runway (05:24). Inside the helicopter, a man shows the linear-shaped charge running around the fuselage. Viewers see an initial test to blast the charge and separate the fuselage. A man puts a rocket on the exterior of the helicopter (07:07). Test footage shows the rocket igniting, demonstrating enough thrust to separate the fuselage from the trail. Next, the film looks at the task of severing the blades and rotors (08:11): a man shows a model of a rotor and blades with a charge attached to them. Slow-motion footage shows the detonation of the explosive and the severance of the blades and rotors. Graphics are used to show the deployment of the parachute (09:28). A man shows the parachute deployment system with pressure hoses and firing pins. Viewers see a series of tie-down tests for the escape system. The system is triggered, and a detonation occurs, and the chutes are successfully deployed. High-speed camera footage gives a slow-motion view of the system being tested (11:12), with blades being severed and displaced before the chutes are deployed. A lift helicopter holds a capsule and then drops the capsule (12:14); the parachutes are deployed. Aerial footage shows the capsule parachuting to the ground. Next, Navy personnel conduct a remote-control drone test of the system (13:26), and viewers see the full test of the system in slow motion. Additional footage shows another test at a higher altitude, concluding the film.
The Piasecki HUP Retriever/H-25 Army Mule was a compact single radial engine, twin overlapping tandem rotor utility helicopter developed by the Piasecki Helicopter Corporation of Morton, Pennsylvania. Designed to a United States Navy specification, the helicopter was produced from 1949 to 1954, and was also used by the United States Army and foreign navies. The HUP/H-25 was the first helicopter to perform a loop and to be produced with an autopilot.
The US Army H-25 designation was adopted by the US Navy in 1962 on introduction of the 1962 United States Tri-Service aircraft designation system. The final units were withdrawn from US service in 1964. It also served with French Naval Aviation (Aeronavale) from 1953 to 1965.
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This film is part of the Periscope Film LLC archive, one of the largest historic military, transportation, and aviation stock footage collections in the USA. Entirely film backed, this material is available for licensing in 24p HD, 2k and 4k. For more information visit http://www.PeriscopeFilm.com
