Hiller YH-32 Hornet

what is it?

The Hiller YH-32 Hornet (company designation HJ-1) was an American ultralight helicopter built by Hiller Aircraft in the early 1950s. It was a small and unique design: it was powered by two Hiller 8RJ2B ramjet engines mounted on the rotor blade tips, which weighed 13 lb (5.9 kg) each and delivered an equivalent of 45 hp (34 kW) for a total of 90 hp (67 kW). Versions of the HJ-1 Hornet were built for the United States Army and the United States Navy in the early 1950s.

🔎How to recognise it: 2 turboshaft engines · 7 m main rotor

base stats

• speed 111 km/hcruise speed
• seats 1passengers
• size 490 kgmax take-off weight
• built 18made in total

Bars compare against all aircraft: 3,500 km/h, 20,000 km, 850 seats; size and number built on a log scale up to 640 t (An-225) and 45,000 built (Cessna 172).

fun facts

• 🎂First flew 76 years ago, in 1950.

turboshaft: A turbine that turns a shaft, usually a helicopter rotor.

spec sheet

first flight

1950

introduced

1954

number built

18

role

experimental helicopter

makers

Hiller Aircraft Company

engines

2× Hiller 8RJ2B

crew

1

passengers

1

length

7.2 m

rotor diameter

7 m

height

2.4 m

max take-off weight

490 kg

top speed

—

cruise speed

111 km/h

range

—

ceiling

2,103 m

Specs are for the version in the Wikipedia article's specification section. Blank means the sources don't say.