STANLEY HILLER Designer of innovative, influential helicopter concepts.


Stanley Hiller Jr. was born Nov. 15, 1924, in San Francisco, California. His father, Stanley Hiller Sr., owned a shipping company and was an inventor and pilot who built his own aircraft in 1910. Hiller Jr. shared a passion for aviation and engineering


with his father, and the pair created a business to build aluminum parts for fighter aircraft during World War II. At the age of just 15, Hiller Jr. designed and produced


a working model of the world’s first successful coaxial helicopter, with two rotors mounted on one mast, but turning in opposite directions. At 17, he founded Hiller Industries and presented his design for the XH-44 “Hiller-Copter,” a coaxial helicopter that used metal rotor blades and a rigid rotor system, to the US Army in Washington, D.C. Te army approved his presentation as well as a draft deferment during World War II. On Jul. 4, 1944, the 19-year-old Hiller tested the XH-44 at the University of California at Berkeley. In 1945, Hiller Industries became United Helicopters


through a partnership with industrialist Henry J. Kaiser. Tree years later, the company was renamed Hiller Helicopters, and then Hiller Aircraft Co., becoming the fourth US helicopter company and the first to go into production without government funding. Te company received a production certificate for its Model 360, a multipurpose light helicopter, in 1948. Renamed the UH-12, that aircraft became the first helicopter to make a transcontinental flight from California to New York. Te company went on to manufacture more


than 3,000 Hiller Model 360/UH-12 helicopters and numerous variants for commercial operators and militaries worldwide. Perhaps the most widely recognized version was the


138ROTOR SPECIAL COMMEMORATIVE ISSUE


OH-23 Raven, which was used as a military utility, observation, and medevac helicopter, beginning in French Indochina and the Korean War. In 1964, Fairchild Aircraft acquired Hiller’s


company, changing the name to Fairchild Hiller, while Stanley Hiller remained on the board of directors as executive vice president. In 1966, Hiller left the company and started a new business, the Hiller Investment Co., using his management skills and techniques to become a turnaround specialist helping struggling companies improve their productivity, market share, and profits. In 1998, he founded the Hiller Aviation Museum at San Carlos Airport (KSQL) in San Carlos, California. In 1944, Hiller became the youngest recipient of the


Fawcett Aviation Award. He was also a charter member of the American Helicopter Society (now the Vertical Flight Society), receiving the organization’s Alexander Klemin Award in 1991. In 2002, he received the National Air and Space Museum Trophy (now the Michael Collins Trophy) for lifetime achievement. Te following year, Helicopter Foundation International awarded Hiller its Heritage Award. Hiller died on Apr. 20, 2006.


Hiller Aviation Group Hiller UH-12E | Mark Bennett Photo


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