Air-Crane – Wildfire Today

Photos of firefighting aircraft at Sierra Vista Airport in Arizona

While working on the Contreras Fire

Ten Erickson Air Cranes in one place, we’re told

The first time this has happened

Air-Crane Erickson Greece S-64

Behind the scenes with crew chief of an Air-Crane

12:14 p.m. EDT Oct. 9, 2021

Join Erickson Crew Chief, Bryan Dudas as he takes us behind the scenes of an aerial construction project in Pennsylvania with an Erickson S-64 Air-Crane, N159AC. The video was posted October 7, 2021.

Air-Crane S-64

Video of five Air-Cranes skimming water in Greece

Air-Crane skimming water in Loutropyrgos, August 19, 2021. Still image from video by GVLACOM.

The video below has footage of five different Erickson Air-Cranes flying low over a lake in Greece, skimming water to fill their 2,650-gallon tanks while on a firefighting mission in Loutropyrgos, a city in Attica. You’ll see 748, 747, 740, 734, and 737.

The still images are screen grabs from the video by GVLACOM.

Air-Crane Greece H-734 H-737 H-740 H-747 H-748

Erickson converting an Air-Crane to haul military cargo without a pilot in the cockpit

It may be capable of fighting fires at night or resupplying troops

Air-Crane K-Max S-64 S-64F+

Erickson announces FAA certification for composite main rotor blades

Erickson announces composite main rotor blades — Erickson announces FAA certification for composite main rotor blades. Erickson image.

Erickson Incorporated has announced final FAA certification for the composite main rotor blades on the S-64F and CH-54B helicopters. Earlier this year, the company received approval for the S-64E model. This recent announcement finalizes the certification of the S-64F and CH-54B, solidifying FAA certification for the entire fleet of S-64 Air Crane® E & F models, as well as the CH-54 Skycrane A & B models.

The advanced design of the blades provides a significant performance advantage, especially with hot and high conditions.

This Certification brings considerable advantages, such as:

Performance gains
Fuel savings
Reduced vibration, meaning reduced wear and fatigue on the entire aircraft
Blade interchangeability with the E/A models

“It was quite difficult, but extremely satisfying to see this
project through to completion. There are a lot of blood
sweat and tears in those blades.”
– Billy Johnson, Chief Engineer at Erickson Incorporated

Air-Crane Erickson

Helicopter lineup for Australia this fire season

The helicopters will be phased in over the next several weeks.

Air-Crane AN-124 Antonov Australia Bell 412 S-61 S-76

Air-Crane heading to Italy

Air-Crane N237AC at Medford, Oregon June 16,2020. Photo by Tim Crippin.

Tim Crippin sent us these photos:

I captured some pictures of N237AC at the Medford Airport on June 16th doing some ground tests. This S-64 is destined for the Italian Forest Service sometime this year. After doing their ground tests they returned to Erickson’s Willow Springs facility in Central Point, Oregon.