Sikorsky CH-54 Tarhe (N178AC)

These aircraft have been redesignated as S-64 Aircanes (This is an F model) since Erickson owns the Type Certificate now. :)

Great shot.

These are the most amazing helicopters on the planet IMHO.

Always reminds me of Thunderbird 2! :-)

Thunderbirds are GO!

Awesome Helicopter !

Actually I've always reserved Thunderbird 2 for the McD / Boeing now C-17, but this would work as well.

Anyone know if these are designed with a "standard" shipping container in mind?

Thank you wylann, Paul,Red Comet, Hertz & Matt for your commentary.

Nope, negotiations for a "standard" for shipping containers had not yet been started when the USAF placed the first Operational Aircraft Order for these beasts. That said, the pin & clevis attach points you can see in the picture were designed for "maximum load flexibility" (Sikorski promo brochure). I strongly suspect any good fab-shop could put together an under-frame with controls that could pick and latch a full-size standard container in a matter of seconds. Might take them a few weeks to build the first one. After that you'd be out scrounging for flyable Sky-Cranes...

"Clear Prop" - What an amazing piece of machinery. Great pic!!

The CH-54 Army model beat the F4 phantom in a time to climb contest to 10,ooo ft. It could sling load a caterpillar D6 dozer with no strain.

Edward...........

That is an amazing piece of Aviation Trivia............

It was a real treat to see this Sky Crane land at our humble airport to refuel. The captain said their range is only 200 miles between fuel stops.

Wish the cranes would come back to Wisconsin