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     The H-43 was produced by Kaman Corp. and was first flown in 1953. The emphasis was on ruggedness of construction and increased performance that would include medical evacuation capabilities at high altitudes. The Navy, Marines and USAF bought them. The Marines loved them, logging more than 10,700 flight hours in the western Pacific and western USA.

     The Air Force saw the H-43 as a crash rescue and firefighting helicopter to be used near air bases, referred to as “Local Base Rescue (LBR). This is because the Air Force had done a study that said the lion's share of its aircraft losses occurred within about 75 miles of an air base. As a result, the Air Force was satisfied with a 75 mile range for this helicopter. When there was a fire, or risk of fire, with a crash, the H-43 was seen as the first responder, aloft in a minute or so, and to the scene. The pilots would drop off the firefighters on the crew, and they in turn would use the FSK to suppress the fire as best they could until the fire trucks could get there. The rotor design was such that they created such a strong downwash that the smoke and fire would be blown away from the firefighters so they could get in close to lay down the foam from the FSK. The H-43 would also bring along a medical technician.

     In 1956, a Marine aircraft was tested with a new Lycoming T53 gas turbine shaft engine technology. The USAF liked that added power and in 1957 contracted with Kaman for the Huskie as a crash rescue helicopter, buying into the H-43A and the yet-to-be- flown H-43B. The Air Force began taking delivery of H-43As in November 1958, and assigned them to the Tactical Air Command (TAC), a fighter-oriented command. Assigning them to TAC reflected the requirement for the LBR mission for which the helicopter had been designed and was being procured. While the aircraft was not designed for combat SAR, you can see that it was designed as a “jack of several trades,” which is why it was not a major conceptual leap to add a SAR mission to its list of trades

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     Performance using the T53 turbine engine improved so much that the H-43B was developed and flown in 1958. Production began that year and deliveries started in June 1959. The USAF took about 175 HH-43Bs. In mid-1962, the USAF changed the H-43 designation to HH-43 to reflect its rescue role. The “Huskie” was retired in April 1973.

      While this helicopter looks like a toy, it was a heckuva flying machine. Two Air Force pilots, Major William J. Davis and Capt. Walter J. Hodgson, flew a production H-43B to an altitude of 29,846 feet in 1959, setting a new world altitude record for helicopters. By 1961, the H-43B set five new world records: two international altitude records and three new time-of-climb records that took the aircraft to 29,526 feet in 14 minutes 30.7 seconds. In 1962, the H-43B set two new records for distance: 655 miles closed course, 688 miles straight-line course.

     We want to show you a few close-ups of the aircraft so you can better understand our "war stories."

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View from the right side. Note cockpit at the front, for pilot and co-pilot, then the sliding door entry to the cargo bay, the rescue hoist outside that door entry with the yellow forest penetrator. In looking at that forest penetrator, about half way down, you can see the tops of the fold-out seats. They are joined to the penetrator at the bottom. The penetrator folded out to provide three seats. Also note the rear cargo bay opening and the skids under the landing gears, called "Bearclaws." Also note the warning to approach the aircraft from the front, or risk grave injury from the rotors. The rotors were made of wood and "drooped" down, not so much in flight, but a lot during engine startup and shutdown. Photo credit: Terry Summer.

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Forest penetrator (Yellow in the previous picture) made by Life Support International, Inc. Photo on left shows the closed forest penetration configuration. She went to the ground in that configuration with the helicopter hovering above. Photo on the right shows the three seats folded out. Each man sits on one of those, hugs the other, and holds on to the cable for the ride up.

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This is the cockpit from the left side. Two seats and two sets of controls for the pilot and co-pilot. Bubble windshield and large side windows provided the flight crew with excellent visibility. Also note nose-mounted bullhorns "to direct traffic" below. Photo credit: Michael Benolkin

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This is the instrument console on the left side. There are also a batch of controls above each pilot's head. Each pilot had such a console. Photo credit: Jay Rideout

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The cockpit starts to fill up with survival gear, M-16s and six-shooters. Note the pilots aren't in here yet! This is a photo taken of a NKP-based bird sometime between July-October 1964 when then SSgt Burns was stationed there flying. Photo credit: SMSgt Jim Burns, USAF (Ret.), presented by Kaman HH-43 Huskie, a web site done by Johan D. Ragay of the Netherlands.

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This is an empty cargo bay. You are looking from the rear forward. You can see the tops of the orange pilot and co-pilot seats. Looks big, from this view! Photo credit: Michael Benolkin

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Here's the cargo bay as it starts to fill up with equipment. We still have to put crewmembers in, save some troops on the ground, and get them in here! This is a photo taken of a NKP-based bird sometime between July-October 1964 when then SSgt Burns was stationed there flying. Photo credit: SMSgt Jim Burns, USAF (Ret.), presented by Kaman HH-43 Huskie, a web site done by Johan D. Ragay of the Netherlands.

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This is a good view because you can see the wrap-around rear cargo bay doors, referred to as the "clam shell doors," mostly window. You see the side door buttoned up, you see the hoist for the forest penetrator, on the right side, and you see the bend in the rotor blades, which were made out of wood. Photo credit: Michael Benolkin

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This is a good view from the rear, where you get a good look at the rear cargo bay window-doors, the tail section, and the turbine exhaust. We will later point out that these aircraft were unarmed, except for what the crews could find and install themselves. You will see that they opened these cargo doors, called the clam shell doors, and set up their automatic weapons to shoot out the rear. This was a good exit for patients on a litter, but of course, the engine needed to be shut down and the rotors stopped. Photo credit: Michael Benolki