Hiller YROE-1 Rotorcycle

Hiller Helicopters developed the Rotorcycle in 1953 to meet a U.S. Marine Corps requirement for a single person collapsible helicopter that could support special operations missions or be air dropped to pilots trapped behind enemy lines. Hiller built the prototype, and the British firm Saunders-Roe built 10 production models, five of them for the Marine Corps, including this one. The Rotorcycle first flew in 1956.

The Rotorcycle was so stable a non-pilot could fly it after only 8 hours of instruction. However, the Marine Corps did not accept the YROE-1 for military service for several reasons: its slow speed of 84 km/h (52 mph), minimal range of 64 kilometers (40 miles), vulnerability to small arms fire, and lack of visual references on the structure, which could cause the pilot to experience spacial distortion at all but very low altitudes.

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On display at the Stephen F. Udvar-Hazy Center.