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I first saw the Sea King as a kid watching the Apollo recoveries on TV. I've loved the look of it ever since. Then I was around them for a few years and got to take a few photos here and there. These are some of my favorites from my collection.

Eddie

We were pulling into Pearl on our way home from Desert Storm when I got this one.

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Yes, there are three H-3s in this photo. ;) Me and my friend Matt on one of our beer days

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I liked this photo because of all the tails folded facing one direction. The sky is black due to the burning oil wells in Kuwait

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Helo swap

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Flying the colors for some VIPs

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Edited by Eddie M.
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  • 4 weeks later...

Wow......great pics, Eddie ! Love the sunset shot. And the formation shot. The one sonar dipping...the folded tails, the.....well, all of 'em !

Man, I love Sea Kings !

I'll scan some of my collection ( one of these days ) and post 'em as well.

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Here are some USAF H-3s (all DoD Photos)

71st ARRS HH-3 (Arctic Colors of FS16473 gray and FS12197 Orange)

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ARRS CH-3

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20th SOS CH-3 (Leopard Scheme) IIRC, this shot was taken in the early 1980s

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HH-3 in the SEA Scheme (1970s)

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CH-3 in the European One Scheme, demonstrating the H-3s ability to float

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HH-3 in two-tone desert scheme for operations during Desert Storm.

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And that's a chopper by which company and a rival of which other (presumably winning) type?

It's a Sikorsky design, the S-67. (Jon's gonna kick my *** if I get this wrong, but here goes) Similar in the same way the Bell AH-1 was based off of the UH-1 (engines, rotor, transmission), Sikorsky applied elements of the S-61 design (DoD designation H-3) into an attack helicopter that could also transport troops (8? Jon, is that right) into combat.

From Wikipedia:

The main rotor was taken from the Sikorsky S-61, but was modified to have a hub fairing, swept main rotor blade tips and a special "alpha-1" linkage which was added to the main rotor controls to increase collective pitch sensitivity and so extend the collective pitch range. These allowed the S-67 to achieve and maintain very high cruise speeds. To reduce drag at high speed, the main wheels were made fully retractable. It had speed brakes on the wing trailing edges that deployed as commanded by the pilot, or automatically at a set airspeed to improve dive speed control and reduce pilot targeting workload during firing runs.

It was a self-venture on Sikorsky's part (privately funded) and not part of an official program. After the AH-56 was canceled, Sikorsky took a design proposal they had submitted in competition with the Cheyenne, simplified it and that's what you see above.

It first flew in 1970 and a year later the US Army joined the evaluation program but deemed it unsatisfactory in 1972 (The Army instigated a follow-on program, the requirements of which resulted in the AH-64). Had it entered service, the S-67 would have been the AH-3 Blackhawk. The lone S-67 was destroyed in a crash during the 1974 Farnborough air show, killing the crew.

It was a big helicopter; nearly 65 feet long, a 62 foot rotor diameter and 15 feet tall. The S-67 was fitted with a moving map display, a hands-on-collective radio tune control, night vision systems, a Tactical Armament Turret (TAT-140) with a 20 mm cannon, 16 130 mm TOWs, and 2.75 inch rockets or Sidewinder air-to-air missiles. The Blackhawk was powered by two General Electric T58-GE-5 1500 shp engines.

Piloted by Sikorsky Test Pilots Kurt Cannon and Byron Graham, the S-67 established two E-1 class world speed records on December 14, 1970 by flying at 216.84 mph (188.4 knots) over a 1.86 mile (3 km) course, and 220.85 mph (191.9 knots) on a 15/25 kilometer course on 19 December 1970. These records stood for 8 years. As part of internal Sikorsky R&D efforts, in 1974 the S-67 Blackhawk had a 3.5 foot diameter fan-in-fin fitted instead of its original conventional tail rotor. In this configuration it reached a speed of 230 mph (199.9 knots) in a test dive. The original tail rotor and vertical tail fin were re-installed in August of 1974.

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Edited by Trigger
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As Grant said, it was company funded. Unfortunately, it didn't get into the AAH competition for several reasons and the AH-64 was eventually chosen for that program. It really came around at a bad time for attack helicopters. Things were advancing at a very rapid pace, the Cheyenne was just about dead and the requirements and mindset for Attack Aviation were shifting focus from ground support to Anti-Armor.

Too bad, since it was one hell of a helicopter!

Jon

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Hi,

Bang upto date and more or less exactly 24 hours ago. Caught 'Sierra 125' on the bank (at the third attempt) at Wattisham while doing some circuit bashing in low sun.

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Couple more from other times.

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All 'B' Flt, 22 Sqn RAF - SAR flight dedicated to the SE corner of the UK.

Gary

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  • 2 months later...

Time to get this back to the first page!

Both pics taken at the Royal Netherlands Airforce Open Days at Gilze Rijen, The Netherlands. A very warm (30c) and sunny day.

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  • 4 weeks later...
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hope its ok if I add some civilan S-61Ns into the mix. these are owned and flown by AAR Airlift, formerly Presidential Air, formerly a division of Blackwater back in the day. Most of the birds themselves are former Carson Helicopters birds. They have the carbon fiber blade upgrades that allow for appx. 30% increased lift. ive enjoyed watching them the last year. hope you all enjoy the pics!

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