Hiller ROE Rotorcycle

Development

The helicopter folded up and could be carried on a sled-like carrier by two people or could be air-dropped to pilots trapped behind enemy lines. The Marines did not accept the YROE due to its low performance, vulnerability to small-arms fire and the lack of visual references on the structure. This problem could cause the pilot to experience spatial disorientation at all but very low altitudes. The YROE or ROE never saw military service.

In 1954 the U.S. Navy Bureau of Aeronautics selected Hiller to build their proposed design of a one-man helicopter. The XROE Rotocycle completed flight testing in mid-1957.

It was demonstrated at the Pentagon in Arlington, Virginia for military and other government officials in early April 1958.

Production was by Saunders-Roe who made five for the US Marine Corps and five for Helicop-Air of Paris.

A Porsche engine of 62 hp developed for the YROE was trialled by 1961.

Variants

XROE-1

2 prototypes built as Model 1033 at the Hiller Helicopter Plant in Palo Alto, California The first flight in November 1956

YROE-1

5 test versions built by British Saunders-Roe company
One donated to the Smithsonian Institution after completion of its testing in 1961

ROE-1

5 production built by Saunders-Roe (built ten production models, including the five YROE-1s)

Specifications

Data from Smithsonian

General characteristics

Crew: 1 pilot

Length: 12 ft 6 in (3.81 m)

Rotor diameter: 18 ft 6 in (5.64 m)

Height: 7 ft 6 in (2.29 m)

Empty weight: 309 lb (140 kg)

Useful load: 270 lb (122 kg) ()

Loaded weight: 562 lb (255 kg)

*Fuel: 9.1 L (2.4 U.S. gal)

Powerplant: × Nelson H-59 piston engine, 40 hp (30 kW), later Nelson YO-65-2 four-cylinder, two-cycle engine, 43 hp (32 kW) each

Performance

Maximum speed: 70 mph

Cruise speed: 52 mph (84 km/h)

Range: 166 mi (267 km) () with 170 lb (77 kg) pilot and 86 lb (39 kg) of fuel

Service ceiling: 9,200 ft () in ground effect

Rate of climb: 1,160 ft/min (5,9 m/s)

Survivors

XROE-1, on display at Hiller Aviation Museum, San Carlos, California

YROE-1, ser. no. 4021, on display at Hiller Aviation Museum

YROE-1, on display at National Air and Space Museum, Washington, DC

YROE-1, N4230U, ser. no. 4024, El Cajon, California

YROE-1, N777MV, ser. no. 4020, Minicopter Inc., Saginaw, Texas

YROE-1, third one in production on display at Evergreen Aviation Museum

XROE-1, repainted in blue, powered by a Rotax 503 and renamed "fantacopter", in working order at Bois-la-Pierre, France,