NHI H-3 Kolibrie

The NHI H-3 Kolibrie (Dutch for "Hummingbird") was a small helicopter developed in the Netherlands in the 1950s by Nederlandse Helikopter Industrie.

The design is typical of ultralight helicopters of the period, being powered by tip-jets — two ramjets, one at the tip of each rotor blade.

The Kromhout-designed-and-built ramjets generated 0.196 kN (44 lbf) thrust and made a complex gear box unnecessary.

Variants with skis, flotation devices, and medical evacuation stretchers were developed and tested, but these versions were never produced.

First, the Hiller OH-23 Raven was provided to the Royal Netherlands Air Force by the United States free of charge, under the Mutual Defense Assistance Pact (MDAP).

Third, the ramjets not only required a great deal of development to make them viable for production, but potential buyers regarded them as unsafe.

The seventh Kolibrie (manufacturers number 3007) on display at the Aviodrome museum at Schiphol Airport, Amsterdam, in 1967. Actually registered PH-NGV, it wears 'PH-NHI' markings.