@ San Carlos, CA
February 2023
This is the UH-4 prototype, currently on exhibit in the Hiller Aviation Museum, the sole survivor of three constructed. Designed in 1946, the UH-4 was Stanley Hiller’s fourth helicopter design, following his successful XH-44. During this time period, Henry J. Kaiser partnered with Hiller to form United Helicopters. Despite winning the Grand Award at the 1947 World Inventors’ Congress, the forecasted postwar aviation boom never quite happened and work on the Commuter ceased. The UH-4 would be Hiller’s final coaxial design, superseded by his new “Rotormatic” control system. The company was renamed Hiller Helicopters in 1948.
