Spectacular Footage Of H-21 Shawnee Crash Tests-Slow Motion Destruction

Testing, Testing, Testing.

In the 30s and 40s aircraft, aviation took a tremendous leap. From the beginning of flight to biplanes to the first jet fighter, World War II sped up aviation by an unquantifiable amount. Helicopter flight too, had its origins here.

The first operational helicopter, the Focke-Wulf Fw 61, first flew in 1936. Although the wide use of helicopters wasn’t common until the Vietnam War, their evolution progressed.

In this video, you’ll see the testing of a Piasecki H-21. First taking off in 1952, it was a tandem rotor multi-mission helicopter. Built for the United States Navy, it was used as a transport aircraft which was later used by the Army to haul supplies and troops.

Before becoming operational, however, this design went through rigorous testing (as does any new design) to see what kind of damage the aircraft and crew would sustain in the event of a crash.

We found two videos for you folks. One is of multiple crashes shot from the outside. The second one is of one of these crashes except the camera was placed in the cockpit. That one is pretty crazy. Notice how the camera was just ejected from the inside and spun out of control on the outside of the fuselage.

Helicopter crashes are no joke. Duh.