Piasecki Helicopter

He towed the helicopter behind his car in October 1943 to Washington, DC to demonstrate it to federal government officials; because the wheels had no bearings, he had to stop every 10 to 15 minutes to cool them.

[3][4] Because P-V Engineering lacked the capital to fund production, the company was reorganized and renamed to the Piasecki Helicopter Corporation in 1946,[3] with Laurance Rockefeller and A. Felix du Pont Jr. taking a controlling interest of 51% in exchange for $500,000.

[4] The HRP-1 was commonly nicknamed the "flying banana" because of the upward angle of the aft fuselage which ensured the large rotors did not hit each other in flight.

[6] In 1949, Piasecki provided the H-21 Workhorse to the United States Air Force, an improved version of the HRP-2 with a more powerful Wright R-1820 Cyclone radial engine.

[6] Piasecki's tandem-rotor helicopters flew higher than competing single rotor designs, and offered a smoother ride.

[6] The HUP was designed with overlapping main rotor blades, which reduced the size so they could be carried on aircraft carrier elevators.

He had formed a new company, Piasecki Aircraft Corporation to pursue the development of compound helicopters and other rotorcraft.

XHRP-1 during flight trials (1946)
YH-16 prototype in flight