The first RAF helicopter pilot trainees learned their craft on the Sikorsky Hoverfly during 1945
AEROPLANEARCHIVE: SIKORSKY HOVERFLY
When the RAF started flying helicopters, there was really only one model it could turn to. After a maiden flight in January 1942, the Sikorsky R-4 had become the first machine of its type to enter true series production, and shown the huge potential offered by such aircraft during early wartime operations with the US Army Air Forces. No wonder Britain showed a keen interest, and procured the R-4B model under Lend-Lease.
The RAF had already amassed some experience of rotary-wing aviation through its employment of the Cierva C30/Avro Rota autogyro family. The helicopter, though, was a largely new ball game. It required a dedicated means of pilot instruction, to which end the Helicopter Training Flight was formed within No 43 Operational Training Unit at Andover in February 1945. It had nine examples of the Hoverfly I, as the R-4B was dubbed in RAF service, which had been built by Vought- Sikorsky at Stratford, Connecticut and shipped across the Atlantic.
Five instructors were on strength, all trained on type in the USA. Heading them up was Sqn Ldr Basil Arkell, a former Avr…
