XR-4

[AVRoe]

The Sikorsky S-47 or XR-4 was delivered to the U.S. Army Air Corps in May 1942, the prototype for the first helicopter produced in quantity for the U.S. armed forces. An R-4 flew the first helicopter mercy mission through a snowstorm in January 1944, hauling blood plasma from Battery Park in Lower Manhattan to Sandy Hook New Jersey to aid victims of a steamship explosion. In November 1945, an S-51 conducted the first helicopter hoist rescue when it pulled two seamen from a sinking barge off Connecticut. In World War II, the fabric-covered helicopters flew the first combat rescue and Medevac missions.Were they out side of the US.

 

[evangilder]

Yes, helicopters were used for SAR in the Himalayas.

 

[AVRoe]

Could they fly that high

 

[Derfman]

I "think" they did medivac and SAR in Burma, but not sure.

 

[pbfoot]

In april 45 they rescued the crew of a Catalina (Canso) that had force landed in Goose Bay Labrador