What does the Super Frelon owe to Sikorsky?

Short answer

Sikorsky provided the design of the Super Frelon's rotors: a six-blade main rotor and a five-blade tail rotor. The commission came when the customer revised its requirements upward and forced a redesign of the aircraft. The new main transmission was designed by the Italian company Fiat.

Published: November 1, 2026 · Updated: November 1, 2026 · Edited by Above Ten Thousand · Editorial policy

What does the Super Frelon owe to Sikorsky?

Super Frelon 4Guillaume Rueda (CC BY SA), vía commons

A redesign with foreign partners

The customer's requirements were revised upward, which led to the redesign from which the Super Frelon emerged. For that transformation, the American company Sikorsky was contracted to design a new six-blade main rotor and a five-blade tail rotor, while the Italian company Fiat contributed the design of a new main transmission. The resulting main rotor was 19 m (62 ft) in diameter and had those six blades. The tail rotor went from four to five blades.

A fuselage turned into a hull

The Super Frelon's fuselage was redesigned as a hull, with a bow, a planing bottom and watertight bilge compartments. On one of the prototypes, moreover, lateral stabilizing floats were attached to the landing gear.

First flight and speed record

The first Super Frelon prototype made the type's maiden flight on 7 December 1962. On 23 July 1963, a modified Super Frelon prototype was used to break the FAI absolute world helicopter speed record, reaching a maximum speed of 350.4 km/h (217.7 mph).