AP 118 · No. 10 Section II · Aircraft 1948

Aircraft hub · 1948 · Cold War

American rotary visitors

Weston-super-Mare’s American wing — flying bananas, crash-rescue eggbeaters and a drone that hunted submarines. The gazetteer currently lists it at 3 UK museums.

1948
First flight
various
Built
various
Top speed
3
Museums

Last verified 2026-10-11 against the gazetteer Compendium. Airframes move — confirm on museum pages before travel.

On charge

Where to see the American rotary visitors in the UK

The gazetteer records 6 American rotary visitors airframes (including cockpit sections and replicas where noted) across 3 UK collections, in 2 regions: South West England, Midlands & Lincolnshire.

MuseumCityRegionAirframes recorded
Midland Air MuseumChecked 2026-10-08 Coventry Midlands & Lincolnshire Kaman HH-43B Huskie 62-4535
Royal Air Force Museum MidlandsChecked 2026-10-08 Shifnal Midlands & Lincolnshire Sikorsky MH-53M Pave Low IV 68-8284
The Helicopter MuseumChecked 2026-10-08 Weston-super-Mare South West England Gyrodyne QH-50D DASH DS-1482
Hughes OH-6A Cayuse 67-16506
Piasecki H-21C FR41
Piasecki HUP-3 Retriever 51-16622

3D model

The HH-43B Huskie in 3D

A procedural model built in Blender from the type’s published dimensions, painted as 62-4535, a Kaman HH-43B Huskie local base rescue and crash-fire helicopter of the United States Air Force, powered by a Lycoming T53 turboshaft driving two intermeshing two-blade rotors on outward-canted masts, which served with USAF rescue detachments in Britain including Upper Heyford and is kept by Midland Air Museum at Coventry; painted as it is shown there: Aircraft Gray overall with black ‘U.S. AIR FORCE’ lettering along the forward boom tubes, a black, yellow and black band on each tail boom, the star-and-bar with the rescue service shield on each side of the cabin, a yellow-bordered ‘RESCUE’ panel on each cockpit door, a black panel across the deck front carrying the serial ‘4535’ in a yellow-outlined lozenge, and yellow ‘24518’ serial panels on the outer fins, which came from sister aircraft 62-4518 and are shown as the museum displays them; the museum shows the aircraft with rotor heads only, so the black, yellow-tipped blades follow other HH-43Bs, and the parked blade positions are chosen to clear each other. Drag to orbit, scroll or pinch to zoom · all 215 models · download .glb (1.0 MB) · Plate 157 in The Hangar

Computed from the survey

Collection context

Types you’ll see alongside

Westland Whirlwind (helicopter), Aérospatiale Gazelle & Alouette, Aérospatiale Puma & Super Frelon, Armstrong Whitworth Argosy, Avro Vulcan.

Where the type is thickest

Midlands & Lincolnshire has 2 collections recording the type.

Type notes

The American rotary visitors in brief

TypeAmerican rotary visitors (HUP-3, H-21, Huskie, OH-6, QH-50)
UK museums holding one3
Airframes recorded in this survey6

Serials are the gazetteer's survey snapshot of what each collection records on charge — restorations move between workshops and reserve hangars, so check the museum page for opening times and current display status before travelling. Every type across 119 museums is indexed in the Compendium.

Aircraft questions

Frequently asked

How many American rotary visitors airframes are left in the UK?

The Aviation Gazetteer records 6 American rotary visitors airframes in UK collections.

Which museum has the most American rotary visitors airframes?

The Helicopter Museum has the most in this survey, with 4 recorded airframes.