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H-37 Mojave was valuable lifter for Army aviation

It never won a beauty contest, but the H-37 Mojave medium-lift helicopter performed well for soldiers in the 1950s and 1960s.

Resembling a mantis on steroids, the H-37’s shape was determined by its mission of carrying cargo, both internally and slung beneath the fuselage — and by giant clamshell doors at the front of the aircraft. Despite an odd-looking tail wheel that dangled from the rear fuselage, the H-37 was popular among soldiers, though not always among maintainers.

“It burned oil almost as fast as it did gas,” said retired Master Sgt. Cecil Shipp, 72, of Augusta, Ga., who worked on and flew H-37s in Korea in 1964. “We called it ‘Shake, Rattle and Roll.’ Still, it was a workhorse. It flew pretty well although it was a little sluggish when maneuvering.”

The first prototype flew in 1953 with the Marine Corps identity HR2S-1. The H-37 joined the Army the following year when 94 were built between 1954 and 1960. Army versions underwent several upgrades during their service lives.

Eighty-eight-feet long with a rotor diameter just over 72 feet, the H-37 was the largest helicopter outside the Soviet Union. It was powered by two 2,100-horsepower Pratt & Whitney R-2800 Double Wasps, the same piston engines that powered World War II-fighters like the P-47 Thunderbolt and F4U Corsair. The H-37 is credited with a maximum speed of 126 mph.

“It wasn’t the easiest aircraft to maintain,” said retired Sgt. 1st Class John Bradley, 69, of Los Angeles, who worked on H-37s in South Vietnam in 1962. “When it worked right, it worked like a charm. But when we needed parts or support, it could be a challenge.”

The lift capacity of the H-37 was the reason for its existence and the reason it was replaced when the more robust CH-47 Chinook came along in the early 1960s. On paper, the helicopter could carry two Jeeps, a 105mm howitzer, 26 combat troops or 24 medical litter patients. In practical terms, any of these loads was more than it could carry very far, and it’s doubtful it was ever called upon to haul 24 wounded.

The career of the H-37, renamed the CH-37 in 1962, was truncated by the arrival of new helicopters, including the Chinook, and by the advent of the gas turbine engine, which was more efficient and economical than piston power. Some veterans recall that the cost of operating the H-37, relative to other choppers, was close to being prohibitive.

The Army began retiring CH-37Bs, as they were called in the latter part of their service lives, in the mid-1960s. Today, a handful remain as museum display items, including one at the Army’s museum at Fort Rucker, Ala. h