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Sikorksy S-65/CH-53/HH-53 Ski Equipped?


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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. 

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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...

 

 

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  • 2 years later...

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 by Dutch
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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 by Dutch
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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 by ElectroSoldier
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  • 11 months later...

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 by YF65_CH53E
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