Sikorsky CH-54 Tarhe

CH-54 Tarhe
A CH-54A carrying a parachute bomb
Role Heavy-lift cargo helicopter
Manufacturer Sikorsky Aircraft
First flight 9 May 1962
Status retired
Primary user United States Army
Number built 105
Variants S-64 Skycrane

The Sikorsky CH-54 Tarhe is a twin-engine heavy-lift helicopter designed by Sikorsky Aircraft for the United States Army. It is named after Tarhe (whose nickname was "The Crane"), an 18th-century chief of the Wyandot Indian tribe.[1] The civil version is the S-64 Skycrane.

Contents

Development

Initial work on the Sikorsky "sky-crane" helicopters began in 1958 with the piston-engined S-60.

The first flight of the turboshaft-powered S-64 Skycrane was May 9, 1962,[2] with the U.S. Army eventually purchasing 105, designating them CH-54. Used in Vietnam for transport and downed-aircraft retrieval, it was highly successful, thanks to the 'adaptable' nature of the module system first conceived by General James M. Gavin in his book Airborne Warfare in 1947. Early pods could not carry troops and external sling-loads at the same time. Advanced pods for the CH-54 could carry troops and cargo underslung at the same time but were not purchased. The Skycrane can not only hold its cargo up and tight against its center spine to lessen drag and eliminate the pendulum effect when flying forward, it can winch vehicles up and down from a hovering position, so the helicopter itself did not need to land. Due to budget cuts the Heavy Lift Helicopter (HLH) program was cancelled and the CH-54s not upgraded with larger engines. The Boeing CH-47 Chinook gradually supplemented it in combat and eventually replaced it in Regular Army aviation units, although CH-54 Skycranes remained in Army National Guard service until the early 1990s. The Soviet Union also created much larger crane helicopters with a similar skeletal design.

A CH-54B holds the record for highest level flight altitude: 36,122 feet (11,010 m) - piloted by James K. Church on 4 Nov 1971 in USA.[3]

Today, Erickson Air-Crane of Central Point, Oregon operates the largest fleet of S-64 helicopters in the world under the name Erickson S-64 Aircrane, which can be equipped with water-dropping equipment (some also have foam/gel capability) for firefighting duties worldwide. After obtaining the type certificate and manufacturing rights in 1992, Erickson remains the manufacturer and world’s largest operator of S-64s.

Variants

YCH-54A
Pre-production aircraft, six built.[4]
CH-54A
Production model powered by two 4,500 shp (3,400 kW) Pratt & Whitney T73-P-1 turboshafts, 54 built.[4]
CH-54B
Heavier version of the CH-54A with two 4,800 shp (3,600 kW) T-73-P-700 turboshafts and twin-wheeled main undercarriage, 37 built.[4]

Operators

 United States

Survivors

A large number of surviving airframes exist in flyable condition as well as in museum collections worldwide.

Specifications (CH-54B)

Data from The Complete Encyclopedia of World Aircraft[5]

General characteristics

Performance

See also

Related development
Aircraft of comparable role, configuration and era

Related lists

References

  1. ^ Ohio History Central page on Tarhe
  2. ^ Taylor 1976, p.386.
  3. ^ "Record File n°9918". Fédération Aéronautique Internationale. http://records.fai.org/file?i=2&f=9918. Retrieved 11 January 2011. 
  4. ^ a b c Harding 1990, p.243.
  5. ^ Donald, D. (1997). "Sikorsky S-64 / CH-54 "Tarhe" helicopter". The Complete Encyclopedia of World Aircraft. http://avia.russian.ee/helicopters_eng/sik_s-64-r.html. Retrieved 2006-10-08. 

External links