Question: The VS-300 was a type of what?
Answer: Helicopter

The Vought-Sikorsky VS-300 (or S-46) was a single-engine helicopter designed by Igor Sikorsky. It had a single three-blade rotor originally powered by a 75 horsepower (56 kW) engine. The first "free" flight of the VS-300 was on 13 May 1940.  The VS-300 was the first successful single lifting rotor helicopter in the United States and the first successful helicopter to use a single vertical-plane tail rotor configuration for antitorque. With floats attached, it became the first practical amphibious helicopter.

Design and development

Igor Sikorsky's quest for a practical helicopter began in 1938, when as the Engineering Manager of the Vought-Sikorsky Division of United Aircraft Corporation, he was able to convince the directors of United Aircraft that his years of study and research into rotary-wing flight problems would lead to a breakthrough.  His first experimental machine, the VS-300, was test flown by Sikorsky on 14 September 1939 tethered by cables.  In developing the concept of rotary-wing flight, Sikorsky was the first to introduce a single engine to power both the main and tail rotor systems. The only previous successful attempt at a single-lift rotor helicopter, the Yuriev-Cheremukhin TsAGI-1EA in 1931 in the Soviet Union, used a pair of uprated, Russian-built Gnome Monosoupape rotary engines of 120 hp each for its power.   For later flights of his VS-300, Sikorsky also added a vertical aerofoil surface to the end of the tail to assist anti-torque but this was later removed when it proved to be ineffective.

The cyclic control was found to be difficult to perfect, and led to Sikorsky locking the cyclic and adding two smaller vertical-axis lifting rotors to either side aft of the tail boom.  By varying pitch of these rotors simultaneously, fore and aft control was provided.  Roll control was provided by differential pitching of the blades.  In this configuration, it was found that the VS-300 could not fly forward easily and Sikorsky joked about turning the pilot's seat around. 

Operational history

Sikorsky fitted utility floats (also called pontoons) to the VS-300 and performed a water landing and takeoff on 17 April 1941, making it the first practical amphibious helicopter.[http://www.sikorsky.com/vgn-ext-templating-SIK/v/index.jsp?vgnextoid
208ae39d40a78110VgnVCM1000001382000aRCRD "Timeline."] Sikorsky.com. Retrieved: 22 September 2009. On 6 May 1941, the VS-300 beat the world endurance record held by the Focke-Wulf Fw 61, by staying aloft for 1 hour 32 minutes and 26.1 seconds.

The final variant of the VS-300 was powered by a 150 hp Franklin engine.  The VS-300 was one of the first helicopters capable of carrying cargo.  The VS-300 was modified over a two-year period, including removal of the two vertical tail rotors, until 1941 when a new cyclic control system gave it much improved flight behavior.Chiles 2008, p. 104.

Survivor

In 1943, the VS-300 was retired to the Henry Ford Museum in Dearborn, Michigan.  It has been on display there ever since, except for a trip back to the Sikorsky Aircraft plant for restoration in 1985.

Specifications (VS-300)

Untitled Document
VS-300A NX 28996 in Forward flight with Igor Sikorsky at the controls
Background
 
Igor Sikorsky dreamed of building  a helicopter from his youth.  In 1931, he  applied for a patent for a single main rotor helicopter which included nearly  every feature that would be incorporated in the VS-300.  By 1938, technology had caught up with his  dream.  When he was summoned to United  Aircraft Headquarters in Hartford, Connecticut to be told that the Sikorsky  Division which at that time was building fixed-wing aircraft was being shut  down due to a lack of business, he requested that he be allowed to keep his  design team together to design a helicopter.   His request was granted along with an initial $30,000 budget.  The VS-300 was America’s first practical  helicopter.  It was also the first  successful helicopter in the world with a single main rotor and a torque  compensating tail rotor
 
 
Sketch of a single main rotor helicopter submitted  for a Patent in1931which was granted in 1935.
 
 Some preliminary helicopter design work had  already been done by Igor Sikorsky, who was the Engineering Manager, and his  associates “off the clock” and they were ready to start work.  The basic VS-300 helicopter looked very similar  to the 1930 design.
The VS-300 was designed in the  spring of 1939 and built that summer.
 
VS-300 under construction September 8, 1939
 
 
The first flight version of the  VS-300 included a 28 foot diameter main rotor and a 75 hp Lycoming engine.  A 40” single blade tail rotor and rigid 4  wheel landing gear with a full swiveling nose and tail wheels were installed. The  VS-300 featured full cyclic main rotor control (pitch and roll) and a single  pedal tail rotor control (yaw). Vertical control was provided by a large wheel  to the right of the pilot.  The first  flight on September 14, 1939 by Igor Sikorsky lasted approximately 10 seconds  to a height of a few inches.  The  helicopter was tethered to a heavy plate by four cables which allowed the helicopter  to move in all directions by dragging the plate.  A ground crew was always present to stabilize  the helicopter if the pilot lost control to prevent a roll over.  No helicopter flight training was available,  so Igor Sikorsky got “On the Job” training learning with each additional  flight.  The design team was not familiar  with the fact that a spinning rotor had gyroscopic properties (precession)  which required an input 90 degrees in rotation before it became effective.  The VS-300 therefore rolled left when the  cyclic stick was pushed forward. The initial pilots, Igor Sikorsky and Serge  Gluhareff, had no idea whether the control problems were caused by the  helicopter design or pilot technique.
 
The VS-300 in a stable hover on November  24, 1939
 
Changes to the helicopter were made  after every flying day by the Night Crew. Obvious changes since the first  flight in the above photo are outrigger main landing gear with full swiveling  wheels, the tail wheel moved aft, and dampers have been added to the flapping  hinge on the main rotor
Flight of the VS-300 continued  with each flight a little longer than the last as the pilots adjusted to this  unruly machine until December 9, 1939 when a gust of wind tipped over the  VS-300 grinding the rotors into the ground and causing major damage to the  VS-300.  This ended the career of the  First Configuration.
 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ux8dBNX-rGM
 
The VS-300 was completely  redesigned and rebuilt.  A decision was  made to abandon cyclic control of the main rotor and adapt a design suggested  by I.A. Sikorsky, a draftsman and mathematician, and Michael Buivid, the Chief  Engineer, which locked out cyclic control and replace it with two additional  horizontal tail rotors. Collective pitch control for vertical control was left  on the main rotor.  Prior to flight  testing of the second configuration, the helicopter was mounted on a pedestal  and operated without the main rotor blades installed.  This allowed fine tuning of the new control  system and allowed the pilots to become comfortable with the new system before  actual flight.
 
An early version of the VS-300 second  configuration