Although the American helicopter history is often dominated by the success of Igor Sikorsky and the VS-300 in the 1940's the development of the helicopter in the US also owes a lot to many other American pioneers: Arthur Young (Bell Helicopters), Frank Piasecki (first tandem rotor development), Stanley Hiller (Hiller Helicopters) and many more.

The museum has a number of helicopters in the collection that represent these pioneers as well as a number of development milestone aircraft from the 1950's to the present day.

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Bell 47H, G-AZYB, C/n. 1538.
Built in 1956 at Fort Worth, Texas, USA, as a deluxe version of the three seat light weight Bell 47 and powered by a single Franklin 6V4-200-C32 6-cylinder piston engine. The Bell  47H was a greatly improved and enhanced version of the early Bell 47G, the main difference being the metal monocoque tail boom, which contained a baggage compartment. G-AZYB was the sole example sold in Europe and one of only 33 built. Originally sold to Sabena Airways in Belgium it was operated in Antarctica to support a Belgian scientific expedition. The helicopter was eventually written-off after a forced  landing in the UK.

Bell UH-1H Iroquois, 66-16579, C/n. 8771.
Built in 1967 at Hurst, Texas, as a 13-seat utility transport helicopter powered by one Lycoming T53-L-13 turboshaft engine. Total production of the UH-1 family since 1956 has exceeded 13,000 aircraft. Originally built in 1967 as a UH-1D it was immediately shipped to South East Asia in support of the Vietnam War effort. Later upgraded to UH-1H standard and stationed in West Germany, in  August 1990 it deployed to Saudi Arabia for the Gulf War. Donated to the museum in 1992 and collected by road transport it arrived in August 1992. Re assembly began almost immediately, although some missing components had to be found through various sources before the work could be completed.

Brantly B.2B, G-OAPR, C/n. 446.
Built in 1965 at Frederick, Oklahoma, USA, as a 2 seat light helicopter powered by one Lycoming VO-360-B1A 4-cylinder piston engine. This airworthy example based at the museum is owned and operated by Mr. Elfan ap Rees. Imported into the United Kingdom from the United  States in 1989.

Robinson R22HP, G-OTED, C/n. H0209.
On Thursday 28th February 2002 the worlds most successful light helicopter of the 1980's-1990's, the Robinson R22 helicopter joined The Helicopter Museum  collection. Designed and developed by American aerospace engineer Frank Robinson, the R22 immediately met a demand from thousands of private pilots around the world for an inexpensive and reliable two-seater light helicopter, when it was launched on the market in late 1979.  More than 1200 R22s were sold  in the first ten years of production and by 1987.Thanks to Frank Robinson and his sponsorship, The  Helicopter Museum at Weston super Mare in Somerset in the UK has now been able to add a fully airworthy condition R22HP to its collection.

Hiller UH-12C, G-ASTP/N9750C, C/n. 1045.
G-ASTP was originally laid down on the Hiller production line at Palo Alto, California, U.S.A. in 1958 but was not completed until 1961. Originally sold into the US civil market and purchased in 1964 by Bristow Helicopters in the UK to join other UH-12s being operated by their flying training schools at Redhill and Middle Wallop. A 3 seat civil helicopter powered by one Franklin 6V4-200-C33 6-cylinder piston engine, it was withdrawn from service in 1976, and acquired by the museum in 1990. After several years on outdoor display, restoration of the aircraft was started in 1997 and is now nearing completion.

Hughes YOH-6A Cayuse, 67-16506.
Built in 1963 at Culver City, California, U.S.A. as the second prototype, this four-seat Army scout-utility helicopter is powered by a 317 shp Allison T63-A turboshaft. This airframe was delivered to the museum at the end of September 1999.

Piasecki HUP-3 Retriever, RCN 622/51-16622,C/n. 51.
Following the success of the early Piasecki HRP naval helicopter, which on the 7th March 1945 was the first practical tandem rotor (fore & aft rotors) to fly, the  Piasecki company began a smaller design, and the first prototype flew in October 1948.  The aircraft on display at the  museum, was one of the three HUP-3s to enter service with  the Royal Canadian Navy for utility and search and rescue missions. Built in 1954 at  Morton, Pennsylvania, U.S.A. as a 6 seat tandem rotor utility and rescue helicopter powered one Wright-Continental R975-46 9-cylinder piston engine. HUP-3s made their last flight in Canadian in February 1964 and N6699D was used for ground instruction into the late 1980s. With the help of The Helicopter Association International, the HUP-3 was donated to the Helicopter museum, which then negotiated its restoration in Philadelphia by volunteers at Boeing Helicopters. Following the official hand over on 19th October 1991, the restored helicopter was shipped via Newark to Liverpool Docks in the UK in November. It was then transported by road to Weston-super-Mare by museum volunteers the following day. The aircraft is the only example of a Piasecki helicopter in the UK.

Air and Space 18A autogyro, G-BVWL/SE-HIE.
A tandem two-seat gyroplane with a fully fully enclosed cockpit and pilot in the front. The aircraft is fitted with a fully-articulated main rotor driving three blades made of spruce and balsa wood, reinforced with fibreglass. Power to the rear-mounted pusher propeller is from a 180hp Lycoming O-360 engine which can be clutched to the lifting rotor, in flat collective pitch, to achieve the required RPM for jump take-offs. Raymond Umbaugh, a fertiliser manufacturer and rotorcraft enthusiast, founded Umbaugh Aircraft Corporation in Florida, in 1957, to develop a new gyroplane. The first prototype, Umbaugh U-17, flew in August 1959 with the fifth development machine being used to gain the FAA Approved Type Certification, in September 1961. Orders exceeded expectation but delays in production caused delivery backlogs and the dealership network finally brought out the company, but this also later ceased trading. The museums example was manufactured in 1966 and is one of four which were originally registered in Sweden and were imported to the UK, by a Scottish autogyro enthusiast, re-registered as G-BVWL. It was transferred to East Fortune in 2004 and joined the helicopter museum on 21st November 2007.

McCulloch J-2 Gyroplane
The J-2 was designed by Drago K.Jovanovich and first flew in June 1962. It went into quantity production in 1971, built by the McCulloch Aircraft Company in Lake Havasu City, Arizona. The J-2 Gyroplane, has a three-bladed rotor mounted above an enclosed cabin, stub wings, a fixed tricycle undercarriage and a horizontal stabiliser mounted on twin booms. A wooden pusher propeller, powered by a 180 hp Lycoming 0-360 engine, provides forward thrust. The museums example was built in 1971 and initially registered as N4329G in the United States. It was bought for the Bahrain Police in 1971, where it operated as BSP-3 until withdrawn from service in 1981. Transferred to the UK in 1981 and in 1989 registered as G-ORBV and was last flown in March 1992. In September 2007, it was re-registered it as G-HEKY. It was delivered to the museum in December 2008.

Bensen B-8M gyrocopter, G-BIGP, Serial No. PFA G/01-1005
It was built and owned by Richard Cooper of Shrewsbury, in the UK, and first registered in October 1980. By 1995 it had accumulated 204 hours of flying with its C of A permit expiring in 1997. The machine is fitted with the customary single McCulloch 0-100-1 flat-four two-stroke engine and the jump take-off (pre-rotator) option. It was delivered to The Helicopter Museum in May 2008.

Bensen B-8M Gyro-Boat.
Developed by gyrocopter designer and manufacturer Igor Bensen as a  variant of his B-8 Gyro-Glider in 1956, the Gyro-Boat adapted the basic free-turning, two-bladed rotor system, so that it could be mounted on a standard dinghy. A prototype was first flown on 25^th April 1956 and was followed by the production model in July 1956. To launch the Gyro-Boat, it was towed with an ordinary water-ski rope behind a speedboat capable of at least 50km/h(30mph). The Gyro-Boat was supplied to customers as a complete boat with the rotor system for £200, or the rotor dynamics could be purchased separately for £169. The museums example was assembled and test flown by the General Developments Company of Glasgow and purchased new in the 1960s. Originally in the Brooklands Museum, before being transferred to The Helicopter Museum in October 2003.

Bensen B-8M Gyro-Copter.
Construction of this unregistered B-8M Gyrocopter was started in 1984 at Westbury-on Trym, Somerset by Mr. Keith Brittan. A single seat light autogyro powered by a Victa Pixie 173cc 2-stroke single cylinder piston engine. Work on the project, including ground taxying tests, continued until 1991. The aircraft was put into storage and joined the museum collection in July 1995.