Sikorsky S-64 Skycrane rotor and gearbox - photo

**Altair** · Aug 23, 2020, 07:13 PM

Closeup of the rotor and gearbox of a Sikorsky S-64 Skycrane heavy-lift helicopter.

Previously:

Helicopter rotor balancing tool - photo
UH-60 Black Hawk helicopter rotor up close - photos
Helicopter dolly - GIF
Helicopter ballistic parachute - GIF
Sea stallion rotor cuts its own refueling probe - video
Helicopter rotors collide - GIF

**IntheGroove** · Aug 24, 2020, 06:52 PM

Someone stayed up really late one night designing that mess...

**Duke_of_URL** · Aug 24, 2020, 07:01 PM

I used to see these parked on the airfield at Fort Benning after they were brought back from Vietnam. They are heavy-lifting beasts. Today all we have for heavy-lift is the CH-47 Chinooks however, the Army is looking at updating the Skycrane.

**IntheGroove** · Aug 24, 2020, 07:17 PM

The Skycrane is still used around here to install ski lift towers...

**baja** · Aug 25, 2020, 05:55 AM

Skycranes were used to fight the recent Bighorn Fire that burned nearly 120,000 acres near Tucson.

**Scrounga** · Sep 12, 2020, 06:40 PM

I live in Canberra, Australia and while you blokes are in winter we contract a couple of sky canes to help combat our summer bush fires.

**gatz** · Jul 10, 2023, 05:32 PM

More parts than a Chinook, that’s for sure, even tho' the fwd and rear rotor systems on a Chinook were almost the same; just rotated opposite
Saw a Skycrane at Can Tho in ‘69. Impressive machine. Could carry “pods”; for instance used for coms, medical units, cargo of all types.
On lifting a load the pilot turned control over to the 3rd crew- member (typically an E6) that sat facing the rear in the back of the pod.
He operated the flight controls to hover over and pick up the load.