Photo of the Week

21 July 2008

Here is an interesting one from the slide stash. This is a Piaseki HUP-2, a type of aircraft used by the Navy for a variety of utility purposes and most frequently on board carriers as a plane guard during launches and recovery operations. It was a single engine aircraft, despite having twin rotors. Powered by an air-cooled radial in the back section, there were considerable air slots to provide cooling in addition to engine mounted fans.

There is little I can tell you about this image aside from what was on the slide. It was dated December 1958 and taken from the deck of CVS-11, which I believe was the USS Intrepid. As you can see, this one is in overall light gull grey. Previously the scheme was overall gloss sea blue, and many were still in this scheme during this time as they had not yet been repainted during overhaul.

Fortunately for us all, there are still several of these aircraft extant in museums, though I doubt any are still flying.

No copying allowed without express permission.