and UH-34D of the
United States Marine Corps. The H-34 was complementary to other types in US service. Nevertheless, it showed how a versatile and reliable medium helicopter could be adapted to many roles. Entering service in the 1950s, the type served numerous roles in the late 20th century. The type was internationally and commercially.
Algerian War The helicopters used by the French Air Force, including the Sikorsky H-34, aggregated over 190,000 flying hours in Algeria (over 87,000 for the H-21 alone) and helped to evacuate over 20,000 French combatants from the combat area, including nearly 2,200 at night. By the time the war in Algeria had ended, eight officers and 23 non-commissioned officers had been killed. The use of armed helicopters during the Algerian War, coupled with helicopter transports which can insert troops into enemy territory, gave birth to some of the modern tactics of
airmobile warfare.
Vietnam War French evaluations on the reported ground fire vulnerabilities of the CH-34 may have influenced the U.S. Army's decision to deploy the
CH-21 Shawnee to Vietnam instead of the CH-34, pending the introduction into widespread service of the
Bell UH-1 Iroquois. U.S. Army H-34s did not participate in Vietnam, and did not fly in the assault helicopter role, but a quantity were supplied to the
Republic of Vietnam Air Force (RVNAF). These saw little use due to a lack of spare parts and maintenance. Its higher availability and reliability due to its simplicity compared to the newer helicopters led Marines to ask for it by name. The phrases "give me a HUS", "get me a HUS" and "cut me a HUS" entered the U.S. Marine Corps vernacular, being used even after the type was no longer in use to mean "help me out". USMC H-34s were also among the first
helicopter gunships trialled in theatre, being fitted with the
Temporary Kit-1 (TK-1), comprising two
M60C machine guns and two 19-shot
2.75 inch rocket pods. The operations were met with mixed enthusiasm, and the armed H-34s, known as "Stingers" were quickly phased out. The TK-1 kit would form the basis of the
TK-2 kit used on the UH-1E helicopters of the USMC. An H-34 was featured in the famous early-Vietnam War
Time-Life photo essay "One Ride With Yankee Papa 13", photographer
Larry Burrows, which depicted stages of a disastrous combat mission in which several crew were wounded or killed.
Post-Vietnam War The H-34 remained in service with United States Army and Marine Corps aviation units into the late 1960s; at this time it was also standard equipment in
Marine Corps Reserve,
Army Reserve and
Army National Guard aviation units, eventually being replaced by the
UH-1 Iroquois utility helicopter. Sikorsky terminated all production activities in 1968, a total of 1,821 having been built. All H-34 helicopters were retired from service in the U.S. military by the early 1970s; the type having the distinction of being the last piston-engined helicopter to be operated by the Marine Corps. On 3 September 1973, the last flight of a USMC UH-34 occurred as Bureau Number 147191 which had been formally assigned to Headquarters Squadron, FMF Pacific was flown from
Quantico, Virginia to
MCAS New River to be placed on static display.
France France purchased an initial batch of 134 Choctaws; these were shipped in kit-form from the United States and locally assembled by
Sud-Aviation. Later, a further 166 were domestically manufactured by Sud-Aviation; these were operated by the
French Naval Aviation (
Navy) and
Air force.
United Kingdom The Wessex was used as an anti-submarine and utility helicopter with the Royal Navy and as a transport and search and rescue helicopter with the Royal Air Force. British Wessex saw action in several conflicts: Falklands, Oman, Borneo, Aden, etc. The twin-turbine Wessex served into the 21st century, and was one of the longest serving and successful of the H-34 types.
South Vietnam . Used by RVNAF 219th Squadron to insert MACV-SOG reconnaissance teams into Laos. The H-34 was the primary RVNAF helicopter until replaced by the Bell UH-1 Huey.
Israel Sikorsky S-58 (1967) Israeli S-58s flew numerous combat missions after the end of the
Six-Day War; these missions were mainly against Palestinians infiltrating Israel or against their bases in Jordan. On 21 March 1968, various S-58s participated in the
Battle of Karameh, bringing Israeli troops in and out of the theatre as well as evacuating the wounded. This was the last operation of the S-58 as it was retired shortly later, having been replaced by the newer
Bell 205 and
Aérospatiale Super Frelon.
Civilian use Twin-Pac turbine power plant The H-34's lift capacity was just sufficient to lift a
Mercury space capsule. In 1961, the hatch of
Mercury-Redstone 4 was prematurely detached and the capsule was filled with seawater. The extra weight was too much for the H-34 and the capsule,
Liberty Bell 7, was emergency released and sank in deep water, remaining on the ocean floor
until 1999. Sikorsky set up a production line in 1970 to remanufacture existing S-58 aircraft into the S-58T configuration, replacing the
R-1820 engine with a pair of
Pratt & Whitney Canada PT6T-3 Twin-Pac
turboshafts; Sikorsky obtained a
Federal Aviation Administration type certificate for the conversion in April 1971. The conversion enhanced safety, allowing the aircraft to continue flight after an engine failure, and greatly improved its
hot and high performance; whereas the R-1820 could only provide full power up to an altitude of , the paired PT-6s provide full power up to , and an S-58T can fly at maximum gross weight up to . The type certificate for the S-58T was sold to California Helicopter International in 1981. In the late 1980s and early 1990s, S-58T helicopters were operated by New York Helicopters in scheduled passenger airline service between
JFK International Airport and
East 34th Street Heliport,
New York. In the early 1970s, Orlando Helicopter Airways developed a novel civil conversion of the S-55/H-19, the
Heli-Camper, a
campervan-like conversion—featuring a built-in mini-kitchen and sleeping accommodations for four. Later in that decade, Orlando developed a larger version based on the S-58 and participated in a joint effort with popular American
recreational vehicle (RV) manufacturer
Winnebago Industries to market both aircraft as the
Winnebago Heli-Home. The S-58 version featured a larger kitchenette, sleeping accommodations for six, a minibar, and an entertainment system; optional floats were offered for
amphibious operations. The aircraft were featured in several American popular magazines and reportedly drew large crowds at RV shows and dealerships, but their high purchase price together with rising 1970s fuel prices resulted in very limited sales; production is not well documented but is estimated at only six or seven of the S-55 and S-58 versions combined. ==Variants==