Navy bids farewell to Sea King helicopter

[SparrowHawk62]

Helicopter Sea Combat Squadron 2 does a final flyby and landing of its two remaining H-3 Sea King helicopters at a retiring ceremony Friday at Norfolk Naval Station. JOHN H. SHEALLY II/THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT

By JACK DORSEY, The Virginian-Pilot
? January 28, 2006 | Last updated 11:32 PM Jan. 27


NORFOLK ?? A workhorse for four decades, the Navy?s last two operational H-3 Sea King helicopters rumbled off toward the ?bone yard? Friday in a retirement ceremony made up mostly of sailors half their age.

The polished green fuselages, one 42 years old, the other 41, will be preserved in the rust-free air of Arizona, where the military parks hundreds of aircraft relics in case they are needed again some day.

The Sea King has been seen in every role the Navy has had, from Vietnam to last year?s Hurricane Katrina relief.

It was used for anti-submarine warfare until the early 1990s, provided range safety during gunnery practice at sea, was used as a fire fighting helicopter, recovered drones, conducted search and rescue and was a passenger transport and mail carrier.

It pulled John Glenn from his bobbing space capsule in 1962 and ?Goose,? the ?Top Gun? character, from his crashed airplane in the 1986 movie , said Cmdr. Kris Croeber, commanding officer of Helicopter Sea Combat Squadron 2.

?It?s been the mainstay of the fleet. It?s a ? 57 Chevy,? Croeber quipped as he said good bye to an aircraft he has flown since the late 1980s.

?At the time I started flying them, they were twice as old as I was,? Croeber said. ?When I came back here as executive officer and commanding officer, I was just a year or so older than the aircraft we had.?

Retired Rear Adm. Andy Granuzzo, who flew them between 1963 and 1980, returned to Norfolk Naval Station for one last photo next to what he called one of the safest and most reliable aircraft ever built.

Why was it so safe?

?Well, when Sikorsky builds a machine, it?s like the proverbial brick outhouse,? Granuzzo said.

?It is a tough, heavy metal machine, and it talks to you when it is broke,? he said. ?So when it tells you it is broke, you?ve just got to be smart enough to set it down and get some help.?

And it was always fun to fly ?low and slow,? albeit providing some significant challenges at night in the anti-submarine warfare role.

?We all hate to see it go,? Granuzzo said. ?It carried presidents around. It?s a big box, and you can put a lot of stuff in it.?

The H-3 is similar to President Bush?s Marine One helicopter used to transport him from the lawn at the White House to nearby airports or other locations. It, too, is to be replaced with a newer aircraft.

The last two Sea Kings, both with more than 15,000 flight hours, also have been used to transport flag officers and other VIP s on daily flights to the Pentagon.

The Navy began replacing them aboard aircraft carriers in the mid-1990s. The Navy flew at least 145 over the years, but an exact number could not be determined. About 600 were built and used by 23 countries, according to Sikorsky.

As much as the squadron admired the old aircraft, most agreed it was time to let them go.

?They can be testy at times,? said Petty Officer 2nd Class Adam Stewart, who along with Petty Officer 1st Class Jerry Shue has worked over the past half-dozen years keeping them in the air.

?They are a very old aircraft now, but they are very smooth for a helicopter,? Stewart said.

With the retirement of the H-3, the ?Fleet Angels? of HSC-2 will become the East Coast Fleet Replacement Squadron for the MH-60S Knighthawk helicopter.

The Knighthawk is among the newest helicopters in the Navy?s inventory, featuring a state-of-the-art ?glass cockpit,? which uses liquid crystal display screens instead of the older analog flight gauges.

It carries a crew of three or four and will be used for vertical replenishment , combat search and rescue, special warfare support and airborne mine countermeasures.

The squadron, with about 450 people and eventually 18 aircraft assigned, will train new pilots, air crews and maintenance workers, Croeber said.

?The H-60 is the future of helicopter aviation,? he said.

?But there is only one King.?


Reach Jack Dorsey at (757) 446-2284 or jack.dorsey@pilotonline.com.

[82Rigger]

Contractor: Sikorsky Aircraft Division of United Technologie, Stratford, Conn.

Power plant: Two General Electric T58-GE-10 turboshaft engines

Length: 73 ft

Fuselage length: 54 ft 9 in

Height: 17 ft

Weight empty: 11,865 lb

max. takeoff: 21,000 lb

Range: 624 miles

Celing: 14,700 ft

Cruising speed: 138 mph

Crew: Four

Date deployed: First flight March 1959

Operational: June 1961

Unit cost: $6.4 million

[Boats]

They got their monies worth from that aircraft. See what you can do with good maintenance.

[sn-e3]

I wonder how long before they show up on E-bay and how much they would go for.

[SEATJERKER]

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..."PSYCOCOPTER" for the mountain,...

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Yup I was with HS-8 at NAS North Island, the Sea Kings were used. I don't know when they went to Blackhawks, but I was with HS-8 from Apr 1978 through Aug 1981.