Skycrane "Mariah"
I looked in the sky and what did I see? I had no idea. I thought it was a helicopter and I knew it was big but I don’t see that well anymore so I just let it go. In another mile I rounded the bend and there it was again, low and slow. I knew it was a Skycrane then.
I wandered over to the local airport (6A2) and sure enough, there it was, refueling. Later — me being me — I went home to read up on the company that operates this one: Erickson. That’s when I learned a whole new story about these things since I last kept up.
(DOL_6761)
©Don Brown 2020
The thing weighs 20,000 lbs. and it can lift 20,000 lbs. It has around 8,000 horsepower -- 4,000+ from each engine. I couldn't find a reliable source as to the operating costs but it is definitely in the "if you have to ask you can't afford it" league.
The interesting part was that Erickson bought the whole shebang from Sikorsky. Not just a helicopter or a dozen helicopters -- but the design, the rights to redesign and build new ones. It's a fascinating story. I read about it on Wikipedia.
Oh, yes, they name each one of them. This one is, of course, "Mariah".
Enjoy the pics. I won't bother you with all the camera settings. It was around noon, the worst time of day for pictures. I used the same camera for all the pictures and had a polarizer on the whole time.
Nikon D7200 — Nikon 18-300mm F6.3 ED VR
300mm
F8@1/125th
Polarizer
(DOL_6826)
©Don Brown 2020
(DOL_6873)
©Don Brown 2020
(DOL_6857)
©Don Brown 2020
(DOL_6778)
©Don Brown 2020
Don Brown
May 17, 2020
I wandered over to the local airport (6A2) and sure enough, there it was, refueling. Later — me being me — I went home to read up on the company that operates this one: Erickson. That’s when I learned a whole new story about these things since I last kept up.
©Don Brown 2020
The thing weighs 20,000 lbs. and it can lift 20,000 lbs. It has around 8,000 horsepower -- 4,000+ from each engine. I couldn't find a reliable source as to the operating costs but it is definitely in the "if you have to ask you can't afford it" league.
The interesting part was that Erickson bought the whole shebang from Sikorsky. Not just a helicopter or a dozen helicopters -- but the design, the rights to redesign and build new ones. It's a fascinating story. I read about it on Wikipedia.
Oh, yes, they name each one of them. This one is, of course, "Mariah".
Enjoy the pics. I won't bother you with all the camera settings. It was around noon, the worst time of day for pictures. I used the same camera for all the pictures and had a polarizer on the whole time.
Nikon D7200 — Nikon 18-300mm F6.3 ED VR
300mm
F8@1/125th
Polarizer
©Don Brown 2020
©Don Brown 2020
©Don Brown 2020
©Don Brown 2020
Don Brown
May 17, 2020
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