something alittle different, but wind driven

[Davie GSO480]

Last Sunday, a friend of mine who is a project superentnedant for a large A/C company in Davie Ivited me to watch a Helicopter lift 42 heavy A/C unites up on a 2 story roof. The company Pirate Helicopter has a Sikorsky S-58 Aircrane. This machine has a max load lift capacity of 3500 pounds, depending on weather conditions. we were talking with the Pilot about the engine. It had a Radial, Curtis Wright R-1820-84 Cyclone radial engine.a monster, which he gladly opend the front and showded us. The engneering was really something, when you think this machine was built in 1954! It was internaly supercharged. Front mounted engine.
It was 1525HP.......He truned it as high as 2750rpm's under heavy load, it burnes 100LL, at 2 gal. a minute while working, and JUST 1.5 gal. a min while crusing at 90 MPH....TBO is 600 hours at $36,000. The main gear box cost $40,000, and goes for 1000 hours....It took his 1 hr 20 min to lift all 42 units.....When He lifted the heavy unit, and the pilot gunned the motor, that was a powerfull sound ill tell ya,,badmofro

 

[Olf Art]

Davie, those old Sikorsky's will be around forever. You probably noticed that the engine was set at an angle ...... that's because the driveshaft to the main transmission runs up (enclosed) between the pilot and co-pilot.

They have a clutch in there. You can start the engine and let it warm up without the rotor head turning, and then when the oil is up to temperature, you hit a diverter valve and start filling the clutch and the rotorhead begins to turn. They did that for operation in cold climates.

I worked on the Sikorsky SkyCrane back in '68. That one could lift 16,000 lbs. 8)

olf

 

[fatboy0054]

WHILE ON THIS DEAL ! I WAS WATCHING THE LINE MEN REDO A POWER (HIGH LINE ) ACROSS THE MANATEE RIVER ! THERE WAS A SCORPEIN CHOPPER ! THE LINE MEN WAS HANGING OFF TO THE SIDE ON THE RAILS ! THEY WAS PUTTING THE BOLTS ON THE BRACES ! EVERYTIME THEY PULL ON THE WRENCH YOU COULD SEE THE CHOPPER MOVE WITH THE ACTION !THIS PILOT WOULD TAKE THEM OUT SIT THEM ON THE POLES AND FLY STUFF OUT TO THEM ALL DAY !HE WOULD FLY BETWEEN THE LINES! THE WIND WAS BLOWING ABOUT 15 THAT DAY ! HE KNEW HIS S---!I DONT THINK I WILL NEVER SEE ANYTHING LIKE THAT AGAIN! THEY WAS OTHER CHOPPERS THAT JUST HOVERED JUST WATCH THIS GUY !NEWS CHOPPER S CAME BY !THE SHERIFF S ONE CAME BY AND WATCH ! JUST A COOL DEAL !THE BOSS MAN CAME AND ASK WHAT H-LL GOING ON !I SAID JUST LOOK UP !HE STAY AROUND 2 HRS WATCHING HIM !IF SOME ONE TOLD WHAT I SEEN THAT DAY ! THE WAY I SEEN IT! I WOULD SAY THEY ARE TOUCH ! :shock:

 

[Whitebear]

This has been around since fairly early after the invasion of Afghanistan. It sure does show who trains the best chopper pilots in the world. Heres the Caption and then the image below.


If you don't think our military pilots earn their pay ... you need to take a look at this picture ... and then look again and realize what you're seeing
This photo was taken by a soldier in Afghanistan of a helo rescue mission. The pilot is a PA Guard guy who flies EMS choppers in civilian life. Now how many people on the planet you reckon could set the ass end of a chopper down on the roof top of a shack on a steep mountain cliff and hold it there while soldiers load wounded men in the rear??? If this does not impress you ... nothing ever will. Gives me the chills and a serious case of the vertigo ... I can't even imagine having the nerve ... much less the talent and ability ...

 

[Rich Andrews]

I have heard about this picture and the events leading up to it, but WOW that's one hell of a picture. I have watched these guys fix the lines of 27 for years, and it is amazing how good some of these pilots are...hats off

 

[jdotson]

I have a few pics in my gallery showing some work I was involved with using helicopters on powerlines. I spent about a year working with them and saw two accidents during that time. One was pilot error and the other was lineman error.

 

[FoMeAirboater]

Thanks for the post and the story Davie.

Igor Sikorsky was a genius when it came to aviation design. I watched a show about him not too long ago on the Military Channel and what alot of people don't know is that he also designed the first 4 engine fixed wing airplane.

Those helicopter linemen got some serious nads.