To fully appreciate our past employees and the time they spent working for
Gyrodyne, their contributions to this UAV system development, and to appreciate
the Department of Defense’s commitment to not risking American pilot’s lives
on missions too risky for a manned aircraft to execute, we submit the milestones
that our company has achieved, since 1952:
From 1952 to 1954 - Gyrodyne receives an R & D contract from the U.S.
Navy to prove the coaxial rotor concept.
1956 to 1959 - As part of a Marine Corp. contract, Gyrodyne incorporates
the tip brake directional control system into their one-man helicopter,
XRON-1. 1200 flight hours are accumulated (see above photo of
Marine-Gyrodyne team; Gyrodyne President, Peter J. Papadakos is top row, far
left)
1959 to 1960 - The first unmanned helicopter flight in history occurs on
August 12, 1960, under a Navy contract to Gyrodyne using a unmanned rotorcycle,
designated DSN-1. Later the aircraft would be designated the QH-50A. 350
flight hours are accumulated during trials.
January 25, 1962 - First Flight of the pure drone QH-50C at NATC, Patuxent
River, Maryland.
July 18, 1962 - Successful completion of Demonstration Program of QH-50C
Drone. By September 4, 1962 the successful completion of Initial Trials Phase
of Board of Inspection and Survey Trials had also been accomplished at NATC,
Patuxent River, Maryland.
November 15, 1962 - Initial production delivery of QH-50C drones commences.
January 7, 1963 - The USS Buck (DD 761)(seen right),
while operating off San Clemente Island, California, completed Ships
Qualification Trials and became the first United States warship to receive
operational drone helicopters, which were delivered by flying them from the
Island out to ship.
 1961
to 1964 - Introduction to the U.S. Naval Fleet of the QH-50C Drone (seen
left). 373 Aircraft delivered during this time with over 8,000 flight hours accumulated.
Aircraft flew with wooden rotor blades with low-level integrated circuit
digital avionics. Aircraft used the Boeing T50-BO-8A Turboshaft engine
yielding a military power of 300 BHP at 5950 RPM.
1964 to 1968 - Introduction to the U.S. Naval Fleet of the QH-50D UAV. 377
Aircraft delivered with a more modern Boeing T50-BO-12 engine, rated at 330 BHP.
Tail section removed from the earlier “C” model and the rotor blades changed
to an all fiber glass blade made at Gyrodyne. During this time over 12,000
flight hours are accumulated.
1965 - Under contract from the Navy, Gyrodyne develops the LAD/SLAD system
for Landing Assist device for high sea states.
1966 to 1976 - Introduction to the Japanese Marine Self-Defense Force
(JMSDF) of the QH-50C/D. See right. The
U.S. Navy supplied the JMSDF four QH-50C/D aircraft. The
Nissho-Iwai Trading Company procured an additional fourteen
QH-50D drones for the JMSDF DASH program.
Deliveries commence in early 1967. While flying over 2000 flight hours
during this period, they achieve the lowest operational losses of any deployed
system; their mean time before losses (MTBL) was 500 hours.
1966 - Under Navy Contract, Gyrodyne develops a Blade de-icing program.
1966 - Under Navy Contract, Gyrodyne qualifies the Allison T63 Turbo shaft
engine for use on the QH-50, designated QH-50E.
1968 -1969 - With Gyrodyne assistance, the Navy flies QH-50D’s with real
time camera’s over Viet Nam. This is the first time aerial surveillance and
gun spotting by a rotary wing UAV is achieved. Over 150 flight hours are flown
before ARPA assumes surveillance missions.
 1969-1972 - The Advanced Research Project Agency (now called DARPA) begins
modification program with Gyrodyne assistance and flies missions over Viet Nam
involving real-time data acquisition to support intelligence, surveillance and
reconnaissance (seen left). Aircraft used are basic NDI (non-developmental item) QH-50Ds
that DARPA modifies for 4 hour flight duration. Program names are “Blow Low”,
“Night Panther” and “Night Gazelle”. Over 2500 flight hours are
accumulated.
1982 to 1996 - Gyrodyne provides spares and technical assistance to NAS
China Lake as QH-50s are used as targets and target emulators. 500 flight hours are attained by this service during
operations.
1982 to Present - Gyrodyne continues to provide spare parts, technical
assistance to the Lockheed-Martin company, Flight Service Contractor for the
U.S. Army's Program Executive Office, Simulation, Training and
Instrumentation (PEO STRI) owned QH-50C/D UAVs.
1986 to Present - Gyrodyne continues its licensed-affiliation with
Dornier GmbH of Friedrichshafen, Germany. Three QH-50D’s were provided so that Dornier,
working under a contract award by the German Office of Defense Technology
and
Procurement (BWB), could
employ state-of-the-art hydraulic actuators, a Allison 250-C20S turbine
engine and an autonomous digital
autopilot to flight test under the name of SEAMOS
(Sea Reconnaissance and Location System).
The SEAMOS coaxial helicopter demonstrated its possible use for the German Navy’s new
K130 Corvette Class ships by its capability of landing on a rolling,
pitching ship deck, completely autonomously in 1996. The primary tasks of
the SEAMOS
are comprehensive reconnaissance and target acquisition. It is planned to
enter service in the year 2005. Radar sensors, electro-optical sensors, and
a data link are planned as payload.
 1987 to
1999 - Gyrodyne maintains its licensed-affiliation with
Israeli Aircraft Industries (IAI) in the development of their HELLSTAR UAV.
IAI has 3 QH-50’s that they are modifying for an specific Intelligence
type mission.
1999 - October - AVIODYNE USA enters into a
Asset Sales Agreement with Gyrodyne Company of America to re-locate all
Gyrodyne helicopter assets from its original Long Island, New York home, to
Los Angeles, California. This not
only allows the company to be closer to the U.S. Army at White Sands Missile
Range, but also prospective
vendors interested in re-equipping the QH-50 with modern avionics and an
autonomous takeoff / landing and flight systems.
2000 - EADS Dornier (formerly Dornier Gmbh) notifies
Gyrodyne in December of its election to exercise their rights to manufacture
drone helicopters using the QH-50 dynamic system "know how".
2001 - EADS Dornier pays Gyrodyne on April 20
for the rights to manufacture SEAMOS type drones using the coaxial
technology embodied within the QH-50E helicopter. Using modern materials and
manufacturing however 3 years later, Aviation Week and Space Technology
reports the program is cancelled.
2004: Aviodyne USA dba Gyrodyne-Ca Helicopter
Co. which continued the tradition of providing parts and technical services
to the U.S. Army's Program Executive Office for System, Training and
Instrumentation to keep the former DASH fleet of QH- 50C/D
drone helicopters flying, closes on March 20
after a 5 year effort to bring back the only mass-produced coaxial
helicopter in the history of the United States, and is dissolved. Per the
terms of the Asset Sales Agreement all helicopters and related materials are
scrapped.
09-May-2006: The U.S. Army's Target
Management Office flies their last QH-50 mission at Ft. Bliss, New Mexico; a
Drone Controller training mission. The Gyrodyne Foundation was at Ft. Bliss
for the May-4 and 5 flights to film and document these final flights. Upon
the last flight, all remaining aircraft were placed in storage and on
11-May-2006, the last DASH QH-50 Crew was laid off from work. A former DASH
Engineman that served aboard the DASH destroyer, USS FRED T. BERRY (DD-858)
from 1965 to 1967, was at White Sands to
witness and represent all DASH sailors (seen at right) at the last flights of the QH-50
DASH.
Present: The
Gyrodyne Helicopter Historical Foundation remains the last resource of
the first, the last and the only, deployed VTOL-UAV in history.
             
Helicopter Historical Foundation
P.O. Box 3838, Reno, Nevada USA 89505
Due to SPAM problems, please
Email us at the following address:
Gyrodyne_History@Yahoo.com
The name "Gyrodyne" in its stylized
form above, is the Trademark of and owned by the Gyrodyne Helicopter Historical
Foundation; unauthorized use is PROHIBITED by Federal Law.
All Photographs, technical specifications, and
content are herein copyrighted and owned exclusively by Gyrodyne Helicopter
Historical Foundation, unless otherwise stated. All Rights Reserved
©2004.
The Gyrodyne Helicopter Historical Foundation (GHHF) is a
private foundation incorporated in the State of Nevada as a Non-profit
organization.
GHHF is dedicated to the advancement of
the education and preservation of the history of the Ships, the Men and the
Company that built, operated and flew the U.S. Navy's QH-50 Drone Anti-Submarine
Helicopter (DASH) System and to the preservation of the history of the U.S.
Army's past and continued use of DASH.
Your support will allow for that work to continue. Many thanks for your support.
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