When I was in the military, this was the CH-54 Tarhe, manufactured by Sikorsky Aircraft. Was able to get a breif hop in one with a South Dakota Army Guard unit. I got to sit in the rear-facing compartment, and of course, since I was there, there was no load being hauled. Years after the Army retired the Tarhe, Erickson purchased the type certificate and manufacturing rights from Sikorsky Aircraft. The rest is history.

I don’t know how this popped up on my screen with KZfaq but I worked with these guys when we built the Toyota plant in Georgetown… I think they’re reading my mind at this point!

My Uncle had a logging company years ago (1960'6-1970's) and they used Skycranes for a time to recover trees on mountain-sides: the trees weren't felled, but rather carried aloft and set down gently. Un-stressed old-growth lumber commanded a huge premium; buyers would show up with ultrasound gear to verify the condition of the logs. $20k or more for a pristine log the right size, and that was in 1970's money!

Love it, retired commercial/industrial HVAC installer here , Sacramento to San Francisco was my stomping grounds

This type is simply amazing. Just 70 years ago, the designers had a heck of time just getting a simple Heli to fly reliably. Great vlog, thanks for sharing.

This is one of the coolest helicopters ever. The skill it takes to use something like this... I can't imagine.

I got to see one of these in person and was amazed how huge they are in real life. It looks like a giant exotic insect.

A thing of beauty is a joy to behold!

I remember seeing these "mosquitoes" at Fort Sill as we passed by when I was young. Around 1970 ish it was so cool

If this is Elvis, we borrowed him in Australia to fight fires for a couple of seasons in 2009 - 2010 . He was a great help. We should have a whole fleet of them.

Very high quality footage! Thanks for posing!

I watched them put up power line transmission towers in a very steep canyon years ago. The round trip from attaching towers to cables, delivery and assembly, then return was about 5 minutes Absolutely phenominal. So smooth !!

my work is right next to their one of the facilitys in Oregon usually every morning I hear thay turbine as they take off its amazing

I saw one haul sections of antenna on the John Hancock Tower in Chicago. The pilots had to lower the Sky Crane down in between buildings from the top of the tower to the ground several times and then straight up to the top of the tower again. There was not a lot of clearance between the rotor and the buildings on either side. What a magnificent sight! Will never forget it!

I stood under one of these in an aviation museum in Wisconsin. It's mind blowing to stand under it. It gives you a very different perspective. You could fit a semi truck under one of these. I recommend going to see one in person if you ever get the chance.

I cannot get over the sound these things make☺

Definitely some precision work. My great uncle loved these. I have pics of his service records on Huey's and had he not been disabled he was wanting to get more involved with these and lifeflight. He loved his air time. RIP Uncle Pete Nissen.

Mr Sikorski you done real good in the design dept.

I got to see one of these in action, in Atlanta, back around 2016. The heli itself is an incredible piece of engineering. But, the skill of the pilots is a story unto itself. I watched these guys hover a heli near a building, while crews bolted the lattice work up. One wrong move could kill someone and these guys pulled the maneuver off FLAWLESSLY.

I was on a storage tank top when they set the rooftop air handlers at Sythe Energy, Oswego, NY. Impressive can't even begin to describe that event. Great job ! ! !

I was Involved in a Pic years ago. Its Incredible to See in Person. You can Feel the Power un your Heart.

Visualize the absolute power of one of these beasts. How much HP the engine makes. How huge the rotor blades must be to provide all of that thrust and not snap. The absolute skill and deftness of the pilot as to not cause the load to sway and over rotate the chopper. Incredible.

I saw one of these at an airshow about 30 years ago. It sat on the field and the rotors went faster and faster, more engine noise and it sounded like it would fly apart. Then the think took off vertically like a rocket straight up. Most amazing climb I ever saw. The same Skycrane dropped a car from about 1000 feet up into a dirt patch between runways. We saw the car later, crushed like a bug. It was a bad day for Toyota that day.

Salute to all who helped make this thing and also to the ones operating this giant, 👌👍👏

I've always thought these were such unique helicopters! So cool! Every time I see a crane fly I think of these. Everytime I see these, I think of crane flies.....

Back in about 1979 I went with my dad to a job installation his company did. Virtually this exact same lifting job done in this video. Then it was paint drying "heater houses" to supply his 300 foot long oven which this equipment looks very much like, lifting onto the roof of the General Motors assembly plant in Fremont, Ca. (Tesla's factory today). The power was unreal. I remember it felt like it could blow us over. He told me to step back, but I recall looking it up and this aircraft had 9,000 horsepower if I remember correctly.

One of my favorites. Last one I saw was heading to a fire in Idaho. They always remind me of a big noise'y Dragonfly.

A couple interesting facts about these Sikorsky Sky Cranes I learned at the Army's transportation center in Ft. Eustis, Va.; At that time in the early 1970's these helio's had 2 10,000 shaft horsepower turbine engines and required 300 hours of maintenance for every hour of flight time. The pilot facing the crane winch has flight controls that are 1/10 as sensitive as the main pilot controls, so he can fine tune the lifting process. Igor Sikorsky was a Ukrainian/Russian genius that immigrated to the United States and was responsible for designing the first practical helicopter as well as the 'flying boat'.

Crazy.... Crazy.... But this is wonderful to see!

I had one of these fly over my house last week, pretty impressive. Makes the Army Huey I went up in a couple of times seem tiny!

I've see these fighting fires here in Australia. Incredible machines.

Thank you for a clean audio. It’s like being there.

Very Cool, good camera work, I think this would be the most awesome ship to fly.

I can't believe my eyes. Wonderful

One passed here on it's way to Sweden - quite impressive, and made one hell of a racket.

I had my fingers crossed the whole time, because I couldn't believe such a heavy machine would lift off

What a wonderful and amazing machine!!!

That is one impressive machine ! And the pilot .

This is just completely satisfying to watch. Great work

My absolute favorite rotary wing aircraft. Beautiful. I believe it still holds a "Rate of Climb" record for helicopters.

I worked with them! They installed boxcar sized HVAC units on the roof of a building just North of O'hare airport. Des Plaines Illinois, 1991

Elvis is a much loved firefighting hero down here in Sydney. The skycranes and their crews do a great job every year during Australia's bushfire season

I saw one of these flying around L.A. dropping water on some brush fire's. That thing's huge.

Science contribution Salute for good works ⚘🙏

Awesome process.

I just love the engineering process of making the helicopter, “what can we get rid of that could improve weight, excluding the crew compartment?” Some engineer: “everything covering the engine compartment.”

When they joke about you being skinny and tiny but then you lift something heavier than what they capable of.

We used these Men on the Super Stacks at Pontiac East for G.K. Very professional and steady. My only complaint they didn't bring any T-shirts, ha ha ha. But thanks for the Sticker's. GOD BLESS Local 292 Sheet Metal Workers and G.K. And especially Uncle Bill!!!

It has a huge pull up ability its amazing

Is That Machine Capable of Lifting A Loaded Shipping Container?? If So, There is work For Them in the Suez Canal today!!

The largest praying Mantis I’ve seen.

To give you a sense of scale this thing is the size of a semi truck and can lift 20,000 pounds. Incredible.

It's hard to comprehend just how big these aircraft are. A friend of mine parked his EC135 beside a Skycrane that was fighting bushfires here in Australia and took a photo for comparison - the tail rotor of the sky crane was fully half the diameter of the EC135's main rotor.

Loggin Mt St Helen's under one is the most beautiful joyous activities life ever offered

Espetáculo de aeronave! Pericicia do piloto então...👏👏👏

Amazing engineering

Incredible!

For some reason these birds as well as the Vietnam era Hueys always reminded me of Dragonflies.....and those giant B52 bombers remind me of our American Bald Eagles....

I was a CH54 Skycrane flight engineer in Vietnam, picking up many combat support payloads in 1968, a superior heavy lift helicopter, many thanks Sikorsky for designing such a vital and great aviation asset for the Military

I got a tour of the facility in Central Point with my son in 2007. It was phenomenal!

that is a beautiful piece of machinery

It reminds of a mechanical dragonfly

I used to work at a 5 story building with an HVAC unit about that size, on top of building. I always did wonder how they got it up there. Now I know, LOL.

Elvis was the S-64 we used for the Sydney Olympic statue removals from Centrepoint tower on St. Patricks day, what an honour it was to do the job

I'm not sure if they have an 'hourly' rate,,,,,I believe it depends on many variables encountered in each project. I'm sure the AES project managers would be happy to speak with and provide answers as to cost per project. Their contact information is in this video. Thanks for your time in watching, and good luck with your project !

We should appreciate the engineer's designer , assembly line engineers and the scientists who discovered this new machine. Instead of criticism , we should give some good idea to improve this . Congrats to all the TEAM....

Beautiful piece of equipment

Firts time i saw this helicopter when my company hired thier service for transport all of our equipment to another place here in philippines its amazing to see the helicopter transporting the 40 footer ban loaded with generators

Awesome footage of one of my favorite helis:) Thanks!

Unbelievable , I'm speechless

Looks like flying around is what it does the best

Elvis has left the building.

It’s strikingly beautiful.

Excellent shots and a great edit.

I actually once sat in the pilot's seat of an old decommissioned Sky Crane!

Excellent Technology!!!

Wonders shall never end

Excelente maquina de trabajo genial genial saludos de México

this is what it will take to make those giant cloud-peaking skyscrapers you see in futuristic movies ha

Some friends and I were kayaking on a river and one of these was flying full stems of trees across the small canyon to a landing. Amazing to see the huge logs swinging right there above us and the water being churned from the rotor wash. Incredible power. Not to mention pilot skill.

Frigging incredible machine!!!!

I worked on these aircraft for 10 years there is CH 54 Skycrane They were the best aircraft I ever could work on them Kansas army national guard I will never forget when we had to give him up

This helo is Huge I got to See one in action at Chrysler in fenton Mo. about 10 years ago . It was an awesome sight

Just amazing!

Buenisimo!!!! Maquina y piloto !!!

Awesome video! Helicopter lifts are the only way to go when sitting new a/c’s. My company uses 5 state here in Texas and we started at 8am, set 68 rooftops, refueled once and finished around 11:45 just before lunch.

I know that I've seen perhaps this very same Skycrane flying around S. Dallas, because about 15 years ago, while out taking pics of bluebonnets, we saw a bright-orange Skycrane at work...what an amazing piece of equipment

Helicrane is the result of creative idea.

Canada needs these

And a great water dropper!

Dobre to. Czego to człowiek nie wymyśli? Skuteczne pomocne i praktyczne. U nas w polsce to chyba takich nie ma.

I was at US ARMY Fort Indiantown Gap back in 1996 There were ELEVEN of these BEASTS sitting on the Ramp . What an Amazing sight ..... So Impressive a Machine

Good piece of tech

To fly is heavenly, to hover divine. Rotary wing aviation there is simply no substitute. FLY NAVY!!!

Magnificent engineering 👌

Excelente!!!

I recall many years ago watching this "beast" put the top on Toronto's CN Tower.

Who else thought those engine intakes were "Loud speakers".. I was something else as a kid. Seriously though, like it or hate it, ugly or not, the Erickson Skycrane is one of those airframes that will always come to mind as one of the most iconic and unforgettable

fantastic job

Good job 👍