jeffryfontaine Posted May 25, 2017 Share Posted May 25, 2017 Anyone ever seen a Sea Stallion with skis? While the CH-54 Tarhe/Skycrane did have skis for winter operations I was wondering if the Sea Stallion ever operated with skis. Search engine results were abysmal. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
tobiK Posted May 25, 2017 Share Posted May 25, 2017 I would wonder that they do....as the landing gear is retractrable. Not sure if the pilots can fly with gear out!? Quote Link to post Share on other sites
jeffryfontaine Posted May 27, 2017 Author Share Posted May 27, 2017 Long endurance flights might benefit from having the landing gear retracted to assist with fuel consumption. However, hauling equipment externally on a sling load is not going to make much of a difference on performance with gear up or down and with or without skis. Would be nice to discover that the CH-53 did have an option to be equipped with skis. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
hawg53 Posted May 28, 2017 Share Posted May 28, 2017 The USAF CH-53C's I flew did not have the option for skis. There was no mention of skis in the flight manual. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
jeffryfontaine Posted May 28, 2017 Author Share Posted May 28, 2017 15 hours ago, hawg53 said: The USAF CH-53C's I flew did not have the option for skis. There was no mention of skis in the flight manual. Thank you very much! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
FM-Whip Posted May 29, 2017 Share Posted May 29, 2017 On 5/25/2017 at 3:00 PM, jeffryfontaine said: Anyone ever seen a Sea Stallion with skis? While the CH-54 Tarhe/Skycrane did have skis for winter operations I was wondering if the Sea Stallion ever operated with skis. Search engine results were abysmal. Talked to a USMC CH-53 crewchief last week - he said he'd never seen that or ever heard of it... Quote Link to post Share on other sites
53 Marine Posted January 10, 2020 Share Posted January 10, 2020 Never saw skies in the NATOPS... also, flying with gear down happened.... not as a rule of thumb in cross countries, but doing external lifts you had them down Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Dutch Posted January 10, 2020 Share Posted January 10, 2020 (edited) The Austrians purchased two S-65Oe (S-65C-2) for mountain rescue work in the early 70s. They kept them for less than 10 years before determining that they were too expensive to operate and selling them to the Israelis in 1981. They may have had a ski option, but I can find no photo evidence. Try asking the Igor Sikorsky Historical Society Archive in Bridgeport, CT. Edited January 10, 2020 by Dutch Quote Link to post Share on other sites
ElectroSoldier Posted January 10, 2020 Share Posted January 10, 2020 No none never not while it was in American service. That wasnt the reason they got rid of them. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
smokeriderdon Posted January 10, 2020 Share Posted January 10, 2020 Nope. Not a thing for the 53s. There was never a need as far as I know. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
JohnEB Posted January 13, 2020 Share Posted January 13, 2020 When I was at an air base with HH-53s, never say slis...and I agree with previous pister, their retractable gear likely had something to do with it. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Dutch Posted January 17, 2020 Share Posted January 17, 2020 (edited) Sikorsky designed the H-53 hull to be water tight and for water landings, just like the earlier H-3 & H-52, so skis were redundant. I have seen photos of Norwegian SeaKings landing on snow with main wheels up and letting the sponsons steady the craft. Not sure if the 53 needed wheels up or down for snow landings. During one of our USMC & NATO exercises in Norway circa late 80s, I remember CH-46s coming into the LZ with UC down, but they were fixed. I don't remember any 53s landing, just sling loading with UC down. Edited January 17, 2020 by Dutch Quote Link to post Share on other sites
jeffryfontaine Posted January 17, 2020 Author Share Posted January 17, 2020 Thank you all for the thread revival. 🙂 My original inquiry on this was to establish whether or not skis were actually necessary for the Sea King after seeing the CH-47 and H-60 equipped with skis. TA! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
ElectroSoldier Posted January 17, 2020 Share Posted January 17, 2020 (edited) 12 hours ago, Dutch said: Sikorsky designed the H-53 hull to be water tight and for water landings, just like the earlier H-3 & H-52, so skis were redundant. I have seen photos of Norwegian SeaKings landing on snow with main wheels up and letting the sponsons steady the craft. Not sure if the 53 needed wheels up or down for snow landings. During one of our USMC & NATO exercises in Norway circa late 80s, I remember CH-46s coming into the LZ with UC down, but there were fixed. I don't remember any 53s landing, just sling loading with UC down. During NATO exercises over in Norway they used H-53s. Sometimes they did, sometimes they didnt have the wheels down... Sometimes they didnt even touch down. Edited January 17, 2020 by ElectroSoldier Quote Link to post Share on other sites
YF65_CH53E Posted December 17, 2020 Share Posted December 17, 2020 (edited) CH-53A/D/E crew chief here. 33 years on 53's. Skis on USMC/USN/USAF 53's were never designed into the helicopter. No need for them. The retractable landing gear on at least our USMC/USN 53's was for water landings, as well as long flights where aerodynamics may have a factor in fuel consumption, but c'mon its a 53 flying at maybe 150kts, maybe.....so getting the gear up was not a big "speed" option for us, more for water landings. When I did operations in Norway we could land in the snow with both gear up and gear down landings. 99% of the time the gear was down. The structure of the helicopter out on the fuel sponsons, as well as the aux tank attach points cannot take the load of the helicopter being repeatedly put on it without damage to it Was not designed to handle these loads -in those spots. For the last 10 years or so, all USMC 53's fly with the gear pinned down. A myriad of maintenance issues has caused the fleet to just leave it down. Its a bummer as no one likes to fly around "ugly", but it seems they accept that only in event of a water landing would they bring it up. my one cent. r/Gy Dan Edited December 17, 2020 by YF65_CH53E Quote Link to post Share on other sites
jeffryfontaine Posted December 17, 2020 Author Share Posted December 17, 2020 @YF65_CH53E - It is always nice to see a topic revival. Especially this one. Your input is most appreciated! 🙂 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
midnightprowler Posted December 20, 2020 Share Posted December 20, 2020 Is there a good 1/72 or 1/48 kit of the A? Quote Link to post Share on other sites
YF65_CH53E Posted December 21, 2020 Share Posted December 21, 2020 Lee, the best 1/72 scale 53A is the Airfix kit. In 1/48th it’s the Revell kit. Those are the only true 53A’s I know of in or out of production. Dan Quote Link to post Share on other sites
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