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H-53 Reference photos for 2020!!


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Mike,

As Dutch said the CH-53D's assigned to HMX-1 were not designated "VH's".  The only time that designation was used was the color art literature that Sikorsky put out to possibly win a contract for a "VH-53D" set of aircraft.  Concept art, and that's all the farther it went.  You are correct NAVAIRSYSCOM let a contract for more VH-3D aircraft with the white side presidential required interior installed in them.  I think some of us call the White Top 53D's VH's as they are easily identifiable by their color scheme, and they did do some early testing on the lawn, but as we all know that did not go well.  53 rotorwash is a B**ch on the roses LOL.

 

All of the CH-53D'd and later the CH-53E's were assigned to greenside and carried the overall glossy marine corps green, with full color flags on the engine cowlings and minimal stenciling beyond that of the "UNITED STATES MARINE CORPS" down the fuselage, as well as the gold/white striping.

 

But since this is a reference page, the VH-53D was never delivered nor put on contract to be delivered to HMX-1.

 

Major Merriman and I know each other well!

 

HMX-1 had VIP Kits made for the 53's, not only greenside 53's, but also VIP kits were made for fleet support aircraft when called for.  How do I know?  I installed two of them in our brand new block upgrade CH-53E's for a HMX-1 fleet support when then President Bush visited Los Angeles in 1991.  We hauled the extra press in our HMT-302 CH-53E's as they (HMX) were short CH-53D's for that particular trip.  Basically a carpet kit for the cargo floor, welcome aboard carpet as pictured above, and for our older bench seats padded covers.  My particular Marine Air Group (MAG-16) also had an I-Level flight equipment shop make MAG-16 VIP kits for both CH-53's and CH-46's.

 

The pics you have above are a very nice VIP interior for the 53E's.  But that kit would come out in a hurry when they would do OCS?TBS or other support missions for Quantico.

 

Good stuff Mike, Andy and Dutch, thank you for giving the ol 53 some love!!

 

r/Gunz

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Gunny, here is the Sikorsky photo I alluded to in my earlier post.  Couldn't find it then, but here it is. As you noted, Sikorsky labeled it as VH-53D 157390, 9 March 1972, which I believe was the delivery date, having been "accepted" the day before at Stratford, CT.  I can't tell if this is Stratford or Quantico.

1013057331_o_VH-53D_157390_09Mar72.thumb.jpg.5fae78793386a56c1e61e5f2bef67ee9.jpg

Edited by Dutch
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Dutch,

 

I have that photo, but with no explanation.  Interesting that SAC put on the picture "VH-53D".  From the tree line, I am "guessing" this is MCAF Quantico.  I have a couple of pics of MX-23, and I believe the designation on the fuselage is:

"CH-53D"

"157390"

 

I will dig in the archive and make double sure.  I am sure SAC painted the aircraft, into HMX-1 "Whiteside" livery, and they may have done some other mods USMC/USN Airframe Changes etc as this airframe started life as a HH-53 with mother Air Force.....but I know they never installed a presidential lift interior in it.

 

Some pictures to add to the files.  First two are I believe the same airframe, obviously the one over the Capitol is a nice SAC publicity shot.  The MH-53E artist shot has always intrigued me.  The next one MX-25, shows a transition CH-53D, it has the longer aux tanks, prior to the fitment of the 650 gal aux tanks.  The last pic is the one I referred to above, this is the SAC VH-53D "concept" art as I understand it from the SAC archivist.

 

65628_611849698826857_719923375_n.jpg

1525118_10202928762960539_1130581560_n.jpg

14364841_2125872794303817_8404342993230924035_n.jpg

18623604_10154407780106951_9006774324367270014_o.jpg

s-65-14.jpg

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Hello Gunny,

I am aware HMX-1 did not fly a VH-53, however stuff such as what Dutch posted keeps popping up. With that said, I have that same white top CH-53D image you and Dutch shared, and the SAC documentation explaining the paint job. 

SAC was using that helicopter to demo their roll-on/roll-off executing pallet and flew the helicopter area the DC region for that demo; the Pentagon, Quantico, etc...

I'm trying to locate my MAG-24 cruise book in which there's a photo of an HMH-463 CH-53 and an HMM-262 CH-46 with a white top for President Nixon's visit to the islands. I plan to scan the page and post it when I finally find it; it's supposed to be with my other cruise books, but....

 

Mike Wilson

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Here are images of two of the three CH-53A flown by VC-1 out of Barbers Point in my collection.

 

VC-1 operated three CH-53As from January 1987 to December 1991. The helicopters were acquired by the squadron to provide logistic support to Kahoolawe Island and for units within the Hawaiian Operating Area.

The other Sea Stallion was 151690.

 

Mike Wilson

CH-53A 153707 VC-1 MAnserlmo 29 August 1991 [MWilson Col] reduced.jpg

CH-53A 153712  VC-1 MAnserlmo 29 August 1991 [MWilson Col] reduced.jpg

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On 8/8/2022 at 10:31 PM, Dutch said:

Gunny, here is the Sikorsky photo I alluded to in my earlier post.  Couldn't find it then, but here it is. As you noted, Sikorsky labeled it as VH-53D 157390, 9 March 1972, which I believe was the delivery date, having been "accepted" the day before at Stratford, CT.  I can't tell if this is Stratford or Quantico.

 

20 hours ago, YF65_CH53E said:

Dutch,

 

I have that photo, but with no explanation.  Interesting that SAC put on the picture "VH-53D".  From the tree line, I am "guessing" this is MCAF Quantico.  I have a couple of pics of MX-23, and I believe the designation on the fuselage is:

"CH-53D"

"157390"

 

I will dig in the archive and make double sure.  I am sure SAC painted the aircraft, into HMX-1 "Whiteside" livery, and they may have done some other mods USMC/USN Airframe Changes etc as this airframe started life as a HH-53 with mother Air Force.....but I know they never installed a presidential lift interior in it.

 

Back on page one I posted the link to an earlier thread of mine regarding that Sikorsky photo and the details that they supplied about it, which is where you guys would have subsequently downloaded it from (I added their copyright info when converting from the original pdf version). 'Repeat' link here:

I believe the photo was taken at their Stratford plant...

 

Also, @Dutch additional to the helis.com info you posted previously, I have this photo of 157754 dated 15 Sept 1995:

157754ch53dhmx1sep1595s.thumb.jpg.6f3a92960b3e7e6f35c1d02c64619d37.jpg

There doesn't appear to be an entry at all for that BuNo or its presumed C/N 65-330...

....further to the above, ABPic have a photo of it at AMARC, and do list its C/N as 65-330: https://abpic.co.uk/pictures/view/1215533

Edited by andyf117
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As far as markings go, the only difference between the white-top HMX-1 -53Ds and the "standard" ones is the white paint on the doghouse and tail rotor shaft cover?  The rest of the markings are what is seen on the overall green ones, or am I missing some details?

 

 

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1 hour ago, 757flyer said:

As far as markings go, the only difference between the white-top HMX-1 -53Ds and the "standard" ones is the white paint on the doghouse and tail rotor shaft cover?  The rest of the markings are what is seen on the overall green ones, or am I missing some details?

The only 'detail difference' is that 157930 originally had its BuNo applied in standard characters - later 'stylised' in similar fashion to the rest of the HMX-1 presidential fleet...

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On 8/11/2022 at 10:40 AM, andyf117 said:

 

 

Back on page one I posted the link to an earlier thread of mine regarding that Sikorsky photo and the details that they supplied about it, which is where you guys would have subsequently downloaded it from (I added their copyright info when converting from the original pdf version). 'Repeat' link here:

I believe the photo was taken at their Stratford plant...

 

Also, @Dutch additional to the helis.com info you posted previously, I have this photo of 157754 dated 15 Sept 1995:

157754ch53dhmx1sep1595s.thumb.jpg.6f3a92960b3e7e6f35c1d02c64619d37.jpg

There doesn't appear to be an entry at all for that BuNo or its presumed C/N 65-330...

....further to the above, ABPic have a photo of it at AMARC, and do list its C/N as 65-330: https://abpic.co.uk/pictures/view/1215533

Andy, My fat fingers. I entered the BuNo as 17754, an obvious typo, so the database sent it to the front of the line. I will fix the Helis.com database entry. 🤪, K/r, Dutch

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7 hours ago, Dutch said:

Andy, My fat fingers. I entered the BuNo as 17754, an obvious typo, so the database sent it to the front of the line. I will fix the Helis.com database entry. 🤪, K/r, Dutch

Yep, I see it now - actually as the last entry, rather than first - curiously, the C/N is present and correct, and although all the rest are numerically listed by theirs in the left-hand column, this one's the exception!

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  • 2 weeks later...
49 minutes ago, JakubJakepilot said:

No idea if it was posted here before, but today I found this picture labeled:

CH-53A Sea Stallion 151690 US 1973

Nice to see the camera ball there 🙂

Gunny Dan posted a view of the other side - also with a camera mounted - at the top of page 3...

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That early FLIR project was a joint Army Experimental Vehicle Avionics Research (EVAR) program that moved from Pax River to Warminster when the original H-53 crashed in the Chesapeake Bay following a PMCF after the acceptance inspection. 

Here is another interesting program started by Sikorsky. IHAS was an early attempt at terrain avoidance. 

The first image is the helicopter with the IHAS gear, while the second and third are the cockpit consoles for that gear.

 

Gunny, I thought my haze grey and underway days were done! It appears I will be on a Navy ship for most of next week!

 

Mike 

IHAS-1_CH-53A_151693(02)_email.jpg

IHAS-1_CH-53A_151693(Console_1) copy.jpg

IHAS-1_CH-53A_151693(LeftSeat)_email.jpg

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On 8/27/2022 at 12:25 AM, YF65_CH53E said:

HOLY MOLY...................love it, if you ever replicate it in resin...and in 1/48th.....I'm in for the non-reoccuring engineering costs!!!

Picking up from where we left off over in the Caracal thread - this main roof panel, minus a few detail items, is the result of a couple of afternoon's work:

DSCN6668.thumb.JPG.cc026b53408b8a57281c2f57cc9f368c.JPG

In order to duplicate it in resin, I'll probably have to remove the rear section at the forward edge of the angled 'step', and cast the two parts separately - otherwise the front section would be too thick on the 'top'. Protruding details items such as lights and a 'shroud' over one front section of the trunking to be added later.

 

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Mike,

 

Great photos of that IHAS project, I had seen the external pics, but NEVER saw the cockpit layout, lots of things in there that are NOT conventional, very cool.  Great references for sure!!!

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Andy,

Your MH and HH builds are fantastic and to think they are in 1/72 scale just blows my mind.  I know my friend Mason Doupnik is doing a MH-53J right now in 1/48th, and he has put a ton of time in on the interior of the old Revell/1:48 scale kit.  He is adding ResKit details, as well as a ton of scratch built PAVELOW interior items.  The 1:48 scale kit just screams to have scratch built interior items added to it.

 

I am sure if you did Resin casts of your MH in 1/72 scale or god please in 1/48th they would be a hit!!

 

r/Dan

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  • 1 month later...

Here is a photo of 14433, the airframe used as the Pave Low prototype. Not sure if this is pre-Pave Low testing as it is lacking the nose modifications of the standard Pave Low but the black paint scheme suggests it destined for Pave Low testing. Hill AFB, 1973 - Copyright: Eric Bannwarth. 

 

If anyone has any further photos of 14433 in black, I'd appreciate a look.

 

USAF - HH-53B - 66-14433 [Hill 12.73]

 

 

LD.

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  • 3 weeks later...
On 8/31/2022 at 9:22 AM, mikeavphoto said:

That early FLIR project was a joint Army Experimental Vehicle Avionics Research (EVAR) program that moved from Pax River to Warminster when the original H-53 crashed in the Chesapeake Bay following a PMCF after the acceptance inspection. 

Here is another interesting program started by Sikorsky. IHAS was an early attempt at terrain avoidance. 

The first image is the helicopter with the IHAS gear, while the second and third are the cockpit consoles for that gear.

 

Gunny, I thought my haze grey and underway days were done! It appears I will be on a Navy ship for most of next week!

 

Mike

Just found this footage - I'm guessing you've seen it already, Mike, Gunny Dan, but for those who haven't:

 

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Andy,

 

This is just fantastic footage.  I had never seen it before.  The early shots of the CH-53A are shot in at the time (LTA) Santa Ana Marine Corps Air Facility.  LTA - Lighter Than Air, and you can see hangar no. 1 in the background of the aircraft being towed.  To include the Helium storage tank!!  And then on cue, a CH-34 comes roaring in...so cool to see my old base way back when!!  Beautiful glossy green and high viz markings as well.

 

Then you see the transition to Warminster as the crew are getting ready to turn up and begin flight tests.  then we transition back to Southern California, and we see the aircraft has the IHAS-1 painted on the side.  I recognize the Santa Ana mountains and confined area landing sites (CALS) behind El Toro MCAS.  Then we see desert terrain, at first I thought it was 29 Palms, but then recognized terrain flight routes (TERF) that we still use today to in the Yuma, Salton Sea area.  so assumingly they did the initial tests at Warminster and then brought the airplane out west for the terrain testing.  Absolutely stunning footage.  Thank you so much for sharing.

 

r/Gunny Dan

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  • 1 month later...

Academy have recently released the old Fujimi H-53 kit as a CH-53D from Op Frequent Wind. You get more than just an early CH-53D kit in the box, though! The versions that can be built from the Academy boxing that I received are the following (decals for most of these versions will have to be sourced elsewhere);

 

  • CH-53A. The kit has the early engine intake arrangement without the EAPS air filters. The CH-53A can be built from the box with the earlier engine arrangement as can the German CH-53G.
  • CH-53D. The USMC version can also be built from the box as you get the clear nose without the mid-air refuelling probe, the EAPS filters and the large external fuel tanks.
  • RH-53D. The kit comes with the air refuelling probe and in particular the rear-view mirrors unique to the RH-53D. The kit doesn't have any of the internal counter mines equipment that fills the rear cabin normally. It also doesn't have any of the framework that is situated outside the rear door. That will have to be scratch-built or taken from the Italeri MH-53E Sea Dragon (if that particular frame is the same as that fitted to the RH-53D).
  • HH-53C. The kit has the EAPS, winch, correct early-style fuel tanks and under-fuselage lights cluster for the HH-53C as well as the IFR probe. It also has the domed fairing that is commonly seen on the HH-53C belly. A USAF 6594th HH-53C with the bigger tanks can also be built using this kit.
  • MH-53J Pave Low. The kit includes the large radar and FLIR fairing that sits under the lower nose. The kit doesn't include any of the associated additional antennae or the disco lights fitted above the fuel tank mounts on either side. Looking at the original box art for the Fujimi Pave Low, it doesn't look like these extra items were ever included in the kit. The Italeri Pave Low kit has better details in this regard. 

 

Overall, it is a really nice looking kit with plenty of options. I am not sure where the Fujimi/Academy kit stands with regard to absolute accuracy but the various options available in a single boxing should appeal to the H-53 modeller. I have seen it mentioned that the rotorhead is the folding version that is correct for the Navy and USMC versions but not for the USAF versions. Does anyone know if that is correct?

 

LD.  

Edited by Loach Driver
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2 hours ago, Loach Driver said:

Academy have recently released the old Fujimi H-53 kit as a CH-53D from Op Frequent Wind. You get more than just an early CH-53D kit in the box, though! The versions that can be built from the Academy boxing that I received are the following (decals for most of these versions will have to be sourced elsewhere);

 

  • CH-53A. The kit has the early engine intake arrangement without the EAPS air filters. The CH-53A can be built from the box with the earlier engine arrangement as can the German CH-53G.
  • CH-53D. The USMC version can also be built from the box as you get the clear nose without the mid-air refuelling probe, the EAPS filters and the large external fuel tanks.
  • RH-53D. The kit comes with the air refuelling probe and in particular the rear-view mirrors unique to the RH-53D. The kit doesn't have any of the internal counter mines equipment that fills the rear cabin normally. It also doesn't have any of the framework that is situated outside the rear door. That will have to be scratch-built or taken from the Italeri MH-53E Sea Dragon (if that particular frame is the same as that fitted to the RH-53D).
  • HH-53C. The kit has the EAPS, winch, correct early-style fuel tanks and under-fuselage lights cluster for the HH-53C as well as the IFR probe. It also has the domed fairing that is commonly seen on the HH-53C belly. A USAF 6594th HH-53C with the bigger tanks can also be built using this kit.
  • MH-53J Pave Low. The kit includes the large radar and FLIR fairing that sits under the lower nose. The kit doesn't include any of the associated additional antennae or the disco lights fitted above the fuel tank mounts on either side. Looking at the original box art for the Fujimi Pave Low, it doesn't look like these extra items were ever included in the kit. The Italeri Pave Low kit has better details in this regard. 

 

Overall, it is a really nice looking kit with plenty of options. I am not sure where the Fujimi/Academy kit stands with regard to absolute accuracy but the various options available in a single boxing should appeal to the H-53 modeller. I have seen it mentioned that the rotorhead is the folding version that is correct for the Navy and USMC versions but not for the USAF versions. Does anyone know if that is correct?

 

LD.  

Thanks for the run-down.  I saw the kit and was wondering what was in the box.  I may have to spring for one.

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