The Firestone XR-14 was a proposed 1940s American

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 lightweight helicopter

Helicopter

A helicopter is a type of rotorcraft in which lift and thrust are supplied by one or more engine-driven rotors. This allows the helicopter to take off and land vertically, to hover, and to fly forwards, backwards, and laterally...

, designed by the Firestone Aircraft Company to operate in the liaison

Liaison aircraft

A liaison aircraft is a small, usually unarmed aircraft primarily used by military forces for artillery observation or transporting commanders and messages. The concept developed before World War II and included also battlefield reconnaissance, air ambulance, column control, light cargo delivery...

 and observation helicopter for the United States Army Air Forces

United States Army Air Forces

The United States Army Air Forces was the military aviation arm of the United States of America during and immediately after World War II, and the direct predecessor of the United States Air Force....

. Due to changing requirements no examples of the type were built.

Design and development

Three Firestone Model GA-50 helicopters were ordered by the United States Army Air Forces for evaluation in the liaison and observation roles, competing against the Bell XR-15 for a production contract. Derived from the Model GA-45 (XR-9} helicopter, the XR-14 was intented to be a four-seat aircraft, powered by a Continental A100 four-cylinder opposed piston engine

Opposed piston engine

An opposed-piston engine is a reciprocating internal combustion engine in which each cylinder has a piston at both ends, and no cylinder head.-Configurations:...

; unconventionally, the XR-14 was intended to be equipped with two tail rotor

Tail rotor

The tail rotor, or anti-torque rotor, is a smaller rotor mounted so that it rotates vertically or near-vertically at the end of the tail of a traditional single-rotor helicopter. The tail rotor's position and distance from the center of gravity allow it to develop thrust in the same direction as...

s. Prior to any of the aircraft being converted, however, the Army cancelled the contract; while Firestone attempted to market the GA-50 on the civilian market, no interest was forthcoming and the project was abandoned.