User:Colin Douglas Howell/Light piston helicopters, 2-3 seats
Two-seat and three-seat light utility helicopters powered by a single piston engine. The very first mass-produced helicopter, the Sikorsky R-4, was of this type, as are such notably common helicopters as the Bell 47, Hiller UH-12, Hughes/Schweizer 269/300, and Robinson R22. Helicopters like this are often seen in police patrol or traffic-reporting duties, as well as being used for training new helicopter pilots. In military service, they have been used for observation, liaison, medevac, search and rescue, and training work.
These helicopters usually have an engine of a "flat" (horizontally-opposed) type, a flat-six in earlier models and a flat-four in later ones, but the British-made Saunders-Roe Skeeter used an inverted straight-four, and both the Sikorsky R-4 of the 1940s and the Soviet-built Kamov Ka-15 used radial engines. The engine is almost always air-cooled; the Ukrainian-made Aerokopter AK1-3 Sanka is an unusual exception in having a Subaru liquid-cooled automotive engine.
Over time there has been a gradual trend for these helicopters to become lighter, with smaller engines, most markedly with the transition from six-cylinder to four-cylinder engines starting in the later 1950s.
![](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/d2/Sikorsky_R4B.jpg/640px-Sikorsky_R4B.jpg)
American two-seat light utility helicopter. The first mass-produced helicopter and the first to be used by the U.S. military, including the U.S. Army Air Forces, U.S. Navy, and U.S. Coast Guard, as well as the Royal Air Force and Royal Navy.
- Produced: 1942–1944
- Number built: 131
- Capacity: 2
- Gross weight: 2,540 lb (1,152 kg)
- Engine: Warner R-550-3 Super Scarab 7-cylinder radial, 200 hp (150 kW)
- Maximum speed: 75 mph (121 km/h, 65 kn)
- Range: 130 mi (210 km, 110 nmi)
- Service ceiling: 8,000 ft (2,400 m)
![](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/3/33/S-49_Sikorsky_R-6A_USAF_museum.jpg/640px-S-49_Sikorsky_R-6A_USAF_museum.jpg)
American two-seat light utility helicopter. Used by the U.S. Army Air Forces, U.S. Navy, U.S. Coast Guard, Royal Air Force, and Royal Navy.
- Introduced: 1945
- Number built: 225
- Capacity: 2
- Gross weight: 2,600 lb (1,179 kg)
- Engine: Franklin O-405-9 (6ACV-403) flat-6, 240 hp (180 kW)
- Maximum speed: 100 mph (160 km/h, 87 kn)
- Service ceiling: 10,000 ft (3,000 m)
![](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/7/7c/Bell_47G-5_Uni_Fly%2C_STA_Stauning%2C_Denmark_%28cropped%29.png/640px-Bell_47G-5_Uni_Fly%2C_STA_Stauning%2C_Denmark_%28cropped%29.png)
American two or three-seat light utility helicopter. Used by many civil and military operators, including the U.S. military. One of the most-produced helicopters in history. Possibly most famous for its prominent role in the U.S. television series M*A*S*H, set during the Korean War.
- Produced: 1946–1974
- Number built: 5,600
- Capacity: 3
- Max takeoff weight: 2,950 lb (1,338 kg)
- Engine: Lycoming TVO-435-F1A flat-6, 280 hp (210 kW)
- Maximum speed: 105 mph (169 km/h, 91 kn)
- Range: 246 mi (396 km, 214 nmi)
- Service ceiling: 16,100 ft (4,900 m)
![](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/54/OH-23_inflight_colour_photo.jpg/640px-OH-23_inflight_colour_photo.jpg)
American two or three-seat light utility and observation helicopter. Used by civil and military operators such as the U.S. Army.
- Introduced: 1948
- Number built: 1,836+
- Capacity: 3
- Max takeoff weight: 2,700 lb (1,225 kg)
- Engine: Lycoming VO-435-23B flat-6, 250 hp (190 kW)
- Maximum speed: 95 mph (153 km/h, 83 kn)
- Range: 197 mi (317 km, 171 nmi)
- Service ceiling: 13,200 ft (4,000 m)
![](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/df/Saro_Skeeter_XM564_CFS_X_TH_15.09.62_edited-2.jpg/640px-Saro_Skeeter_XM564_CFS_X_TH_15.09.62_edited-2.jpg)
British two-seat light utility helicopter, used by the British and West German militaries.
- Introduced: 1956
- Number built: ~80
- Capacity: 2
- Max takeoff weight: 2,300 lb (1,043 kg)
- Engine: de Havilland Gipsy Major 215 inverted straight-4, 215 hp (160 kW)
- Maximum speed: 109 mph (175 km/h, 95 kn)
- Range: 260 mi (420 km, 230 nmi) at 86 mph (138 km/h, 75 kn)
- Service ceiling: 12,800 ft (3,900 m)
![](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/2/2a/Kamov_Ka-15_Hen_%28ID_unknown%29_%289838722505%29.jpg/640px-Kamov_Ka-15_Hen_%28ID_unknown%29_%289838722505%29.jpg)
Soviet two-seat light utility helicopter used by the Soviet navy and Aeroflot. Has the typical Kamov layout of twin coaxial counter-rotating main rotors, with twin tail fins and rudders instead of a tail rotor.
- Introduced: 1955
- Number built: 375
- Capacity: 2
- Max takeoff weight: 3,109 lb (1,410 kg)
- Engine: Ivchenko AI-14V 9-cylinder radial, 250 hp (190 kW)
- Maximum speed: 93 mph (150 km/h, 81 kn)
- Range: 240 mi (390 km, 210 nmi)
- Service ceiling: 9,800 ft (3,000 m)
![](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/41/G-BPIJ_-_Brantly_B-2.jpg)
American two-seat light utility helicopter used by civil operators.
- Introduced: 1958
- Number built: 334 (as of 2011)
- Capacity: 2
- Max takeoff weight: 1,670 lb (757 kg)
- Engine: Lycoming IVO-360-A1A flat-4, 180 hp (130 kW)
- Maximum speed: 100 mph (160 km/h, 87 kn) at sea level
- Range: 250 mi (400 km, 220 nmi)
- Service ceiling: 10,800 ft (3,300 m)
American two to three-seat light utility helicopter. Used by civil and military operators such as the U.S. Army. Produced since 1983 by Schweizer (under Sikorsky for a limited period).
- Introduced: 1961
- Number built: 2,800+
- Capacity: 2-3
- Max takeoff weight: 2,050 lb (930 kg)
- Engine: Textron Lycoming HIO-360-D1A flat-4, 190 hp (140 kW)
- Maximum speed: 109 mph (176 km/h, 95 kn)
- Range: 224 mi (361 km, 195 nmi)
![](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/c/c5/GBBPO-F28A.jpg/640px-GBBPO-F28A.jpg)
American three-seat light utility helicopter used by civil operators.
- Introduced: 1965
- Capacity: 3
- Max takeoff weight: 2,600 lb (1,179 kg)
- Engine: Lycoming HIO-360-F1AD flat-4, 225 hp (168 kW)
- Maximum speed: 112 mph (180 km/h, 97 kn)
- Range: 277 mi (446 km, 241 nmi)
- Service ceiling: 12,000 ft (3,700 m)
![](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/54/R22_N4044D_%28cropped%29.jpg/640px-R22_N4044D_%28cropped%29.jpg)
American two-seat light utility helicopter used by many civil and some military operators. One of the most produced helicopters in the world.
- Introduced: 1979
- Number built: over 4,600 as of 2015
- Capacity: 2
- Max takeoff weight: 1,370 lb (621 kg)
- Engine: Lycoming O-320-A2B or -A2C flat-4, 124 hp (92 kW)
- Maximum speed: 117 mph (189 km/h, 102 kn)
- Range: 241 mi (387 km, 209 nmi)
- Service ceiling: 14,000 ft (4,300 m)
![](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/c/c4/Aerokopter_AK1-3_Sanka_helicopter_%284728582894%29.jpg/640px-Aerokopter_AK1-3_Sanka_helicopter_%284728582894%29.jpg)
Ukrainian two-seat light utility helicopter used by civil operators.
- Introduced: 2006
- Number built: 102 (up through 2020)
- Capacity: 2
- Gross weight: 1,433 lb (650 kg)
- Engine: Subaru EJ25 liquid-cooled automotive flat-4, 156 hp (116 kW)
- Maximum speed: 110 mph (180 km/h, 97 kn)
French two-seat light utility helicopter used by civil operators.
- Introduced: 2008
- Number built: 220
- Capacity: 2
- Gross weight: 1,543 lb (700 kg)
- Engine: Lycoming O-360-J2A flat-4, 145 hp (108 kW)
- Maximum speed: 115 mph (185 km/h, 100 kn)
- Range: 430 mi (700 km, 380 nmi)
- Service ceiling: 13,000 ft (3,963 m)