This diminutive, foldable (!) helicopter was designed to be dropped over an ennemy zone, to be used by downed crewmembers to fly back to friendly positions. Even if it could fly properly, there were too many problems to overcome and the type never entered production.

The YROE-1 was developed for a USMC competition for a lightweight helicopter that could be dropped to downed pilots as well as for reconnaissance use. It was not put into production primarily due to it being very difficult to fly. They were never assigned Bureau Numbers, only being identified by their Hiller MSNs. This a/c at last report was located at the Evergreen Air Museum in McMinnville, OR.

This is the second XROE-1 Rotorcycle, sent on a European demonstration tour following military testing. The FAA lists N6728C as a Hiller HH-120, which is claimed elsewhere to be the 1950 predecesor of an earlier type, the HJ-1 Hornet. Photo by: Ary Groeneveld / Stadsarchief Rotterdam

also known as Hiller/Saunders-Roe YROE-1 Rotorcyle

NASA Ames conducted tests to compare the Hiller YROE-1 Rotorcycle's handling qualities with those of larger VTOL aircraft, long after the Marines had rejected it as dangerous to fly. The red box underneath the pilot contains an instrumentation package. This example was later N777MV. Photo by: Dave West / NASA

First flown in 1956, the ROE Rotorcycle was an innovative, collapsible, air-droppable one-man helicopter developed for the USMC. While Hiller claimed that anyone could fly the craft after just a few hours of training, it was actually far from easy and Hiller chief pilot Richard Peck found each flight very exciting. ROE and Gyrodyne RON airframes apparently assigned four-digit serials in a special series.