AFV Club Aircraft 1/144 SH3A/D Sea King Helicopter (2) Kit
Model Airplane Depot
At the end of WWII, the Soviet Union pursued aggressive technical upgrading of their submarines and increased the size of their submarine fleet. This effort paid off for during the Cold War Russian submarines surpassed all of their western opponents in terms of speed, diving capabilities, and production numbers. This posed a serious threat to both marine traffic and vessels of the western allies.To address this threat, the United States Navy began rapid developed of anti-submarine warfare equipment. At the end of the 1950’s, Sikorsky received a request from the US Navy to design a helicopter for this purpose. It was required to be able to carry sonar systems, 840 lbs of ordinance, and have an endurance of 4 hours. To fulfill this requirement, a two-engined helicopter was developed since such a design could remain on station even with one engine inoperative.
The two-engine design also resulted in a higher effective payload. Moreover, to adapt to shipborne operations the main rotor and tail were both designed to be folded or detached. The helicopter was to have a hull-like fuselage equipped with pontoons allowing the helicopter to float on water when necessary. In 1957, Sikorsky was given the order to construct a prototype named the HSS-2 “Sea King”. The Sea King made its maiden flight in 1959 and after the completion of carrier evaluation was mass produced and entered active service with the United States Navy in September of 1961. In 1962, the US Navy unified all its aircraft designation system and changed HSS-2 to SH-3A.
Besides military service, the Sea King was chosen as the United States president’s personal transport. Not only could it takes off and land on the south lawn of the White House, it could also be transported by C-5A Galaxy after retraction of its main rotor and tail.
Due to it's excellent amphibious and all-weather capabilities, Sea Kings were used for space capsule reclamation sorties for both the Mercury and Apollo 7 missions.
Sea King had no shortage of civilian service and large export market including being produced under license in Italy, Great Britain, and Japan. The Sea Kings is still in service in many parts of the world today.
