Sikorsky S-64 Skycrane / Erickson S-64 Air-Crane

Updated: October 2026 – There are helicopters you have to work out, and then there is the S-64 Skycrane. Once you have seen it, you never forget it: a small cockpit pod at the front, a tail boom at the back – and in between practically nothing but a slim beam, with building parts, tree trunks or a giant water tank hanging beneath it. Sikorsky’s “flying crane” has been in service for over sixty years, first with the US Army, today as the Erickson Air-Crane mainly against wildfires. Here you learn how to recognize it, which versions exist and where your chances of a sighting are best.

What is the S-64 Skycrane?

The S-64 is a heavy-lift helicopter of crane design. Instead of an enclosed fuselage with a cargo hold, it has only a load-bearing longitudinal beam from which the cockpit, engines, rotor gearbox, landing gear and tail boom hang. The idea behind it: the load hangs directly beneath the rotor and thus close to the center of gravity, and it can be as big as it likes – it doesn’t have to fit inside anything.

Sikorsky had already tested the crane principle in the late 1950s with the S-60, which still had piston engines. For the S-64 the company turned to turbines. Since no suitable turboshaft existed at the time, a shaft-power version of the JT12 jet engine was developed together with Pratt & Whitney – the JFTD12, called the T73 in military service. On May 9, 1962, the first of three prototypes flew.

Besides the US Army, Germany also showed early interest in the type: the Bundeswehr tested two of the prototypes, and Weser-Flugzeugbau worked on a variant of its own. A Weser-Flugzeugbau Skycrane was even in service in 1964 for the Swiss Federal Railways. A procurement never came about, however – heavy transport in Germany was later taken over by the Sikorsky CH-53.

From CH-54 Tarhe to Air-Crane

Military: the CH-54 Tarhe

In June 1963 the US Army ordered the first six aircraft for testing and introduced the type as the CH-54 Tarhe. In the Vietnam War it became an indispensable load carrier: it flew howitzers and bulldozers into hard-to-reach terrain, lifted patrol boats and recovered more than 380 downed or emergency-landed aircraft. For troop and materiel transport there was a detachable container, the so-called “People Pod”, which could also serve as a field hospital or command post.

On April 20, 1965, a CH-54A even lifted 90 people – three crew members and 87 soldiers. In 1971 the type set an altitude record in level flight. The more powerful CH-54B with stronger turbines and dual wheels on the main gear followed as the second production version. The Army National Guard flew the last CH-54s until early 1993.

Civil: Sikorsky S-64 and Erickson

In parallel, Sikorsky offered the type commercially as the S-64. The most important customer became a company from Oregon: Jack Erickson bought three S-64s in December 1971 and founded the company Erickson Air-Crane in Central Point. At first it was mainly about harvesting timber by helicopter, and construction projects quickly followed – such as setting air conditioners on high-rise roofs or erecting power pylons. For this, Erickson developed a device in 1974 that prevents the load from spinning on the line.

The big step followed in 1992: Erickson bought the type certificate and manufacturing rights from Sikorsky and thus became a manufacturer itself. The Skycrane became the S-64 Air-Crane. In the same year Erickson built the first S-64 with a permanently installed firefighting tank – the start of its career as a helitanker. Since then the company has kept modernizing the type, including with modernized avionics and composite main rotor blades.

In April 2024, the US company Helicopter Express took over Erickson’s S-64 fleet and flight operations. Erickson itself remains the manufacturer and the maintenance and overhaul provider for the S-64. For spotters this means: on many well-known Air-Cranes the operator name and titles may change, while registrations and nicknames often stay.

Technology in brief

Two JFTD12A turboshafts sit on top of the fuselage beam next to the rotor mast. On the S-64E it is the -4A version, on the more powerful S-64F the -5A version. They drive a six-blade main rotor about 22 meters in diameter. Erickson gives the fuselage length as about 21.3 meters, and the maximum takeoff weight of the CH-54B is about 21.3 tonnes.

The cockpit is special: besides the two pilots who look forward, there is a rear-facing work station with a large window. From here a crew member can precisely control the aircraft when setting down the load while keeping the hook in view. According to Erickson, the S-64E carries up to about 9.1 tonnes of external load, the S-64F up to about 11.3 tonnes.

The firefighting version has a tank of about 10,000 liters permanently mounted beneath the beam. It is filled in a hover via a snorkel about 46 centimeters in diameter – according to common figures in about 45 seconds. Besides the snorkel for ponds and lakes, Erickson also offers a variant for seawater. Instead of water, the tank can also take on fire retardant with additives.

The features that are enough to identify it

There is hardly any risk of confusion with the S-64. With three looks you are certain.

To identify an individual aircraft, registration and nickname help. Many civilian S-64s are registered in the USA, and the Erickson fleet often carried registrations ending in “AC”, such as N173AC or N189AC. In addition, many aircraft have a name on the nose – in Australia, for example, an Air-Crane called “Elvis” has become famous, and in Canada “Olga” lifted the top of the CN Tower in Toronto into place in the 1970s. How to find individual aircraft by registration is explained in the guide Tracking a specific aircraft by registration.

Versions at a glance

Version	Origin	What sets it apart
S-60	late 1950s	Predecessor with piston engines, testing of the crane principle
S-64 / YCH-54A	from 1962	Prototypes and pre-production, testing also in Germany
CH-54A Tarhe	US Army, 1960s	first production version with T73-P-1 turbines
CH-54B Tarhe	US Army, from the late 1960s	more powerful T73-P-700, dual wheels on the main gear
S-64B	civil	Civil version based on the CH-54A, only a few built
S-64E	Erickson	modernized ex-CH-54A plus new build, about 9.1 t external load
S-64F	Erickson	modernized ex-CH-54B with JFTD12-5A, about 11.3 t external load

Since the takeover, Erickson has, by its own account, implemented several thousand changes to the airframe, instruments and payload systems. One milestone was the certification of composite main rotor blades, which improve performance especially in heat and at high altitude and reduce fuel consumption. Erickson has been producing composite blades since 2015. In addition, there were concepts for a further modernized S-64F+ with new engines and optional unmanned operation – it plays no role in spotters’ everyday life.

Operators worldwide

Depending on how you count, with all prototypes and military aircraft, about 100 were built. Many of them have long been retired or crashed, and the flying aircraft are spread among a few operators. The overview is a snapshot:

USA: After the 2024 takeover, the largest inventory is held by Helicopter Express, which according to reports reached about 19 aircraft with the Erickson fleet. Other S-64s fly with smaller specialist operators such as Siller Helicopters. On behalf of fire departments and agencies, the Air-Cranes operate mainly in California and the western USA. The wildfire season is peak time for the type – and unfortunately also a risky time, as several accidents over the years show.

South Korea: The Korea Forest Service is one of the few government operators that own S-64Es themselves.

Italy: Through the subsidiary European Air-Crane, S-64s fly on behalf of the Italian fire service, the Corpo Nazionale dei Vigili del Fuoco.

Greece: In the wildfire season, roughly May to October, Erickson provides Air-Cranes with crew and equipment together with a local partner – including a snorkel for seawater.

Australia: Air-Cranes are flown in seasonally for wildfire fighting; aircraft with names like “Elvis”, “The Incredible Hulk” and “Isabelle” are well known there.

Location	Chance of a hit	Why
Western USA in summer	high	Main season of wildfire fighting
Greece and Italy in summer	medium	seasonal firefighting contracts, but missions depend on the situation
Pima Air & Space Museum, Tucson	certain	Skycrane as an exhibit
Flugausstellung Hermeskeil	certain	Skycrane in the helicopter collection
Central Europe in everyday life	very low	no regular operator in German-speaking countries

Tracking and finding the Skycrane

There is no flight plan for firefighting helicopters. But many civilian S-64s transmit ADS-B data and show up with the type code S64 in tracking services – though not always without gaps, especially on missions. How to find rotary-wing aircraft on the radar is explained in the article Finding helicopters on the flight tracker. Former military aircraft and government flights are covered in the guide Tracking military aircraft online.

If you are planning a trip, look to the western USA in summer. What you need to keep in mind when spotting there is in Plane spotting in the USA: rules and in the Tips for a spotting trip to the USA. For southern Europe, the Plane spotting guide Greece is worthwhile – there the Air-Crane, Canadair CL-415 and other firefighting aircraft share the sky during the fire season.

You are guaranteed to meet the type in a museum. At the Pima Air & Space Museum in Tucson there is a Skycrane, and in Germany the Flugausstellung Hermeskeil has a Sikorsky Skycrane in its large helicopter collection. Check before your visit whether the exhibit is currently accessible.

Photo tips specifically for the Skycrane

The open design is a gift for photography: against the sky, the silhouette with the open space beneath the beam stands out unmistakably.

You can find the basics on shutter speeds for rotors in the guide Photographing propellers: the right shutter speed, and general tips in the article Helicopter spotting. How special a Skycrane sighting is in Europe, you can gauge with the article How rare is my sighting?.

Common mix-ups and how to rule them out

For an all-round look at rotary-wing aircraft, see the guide Identifying helicopter types. You can find more types from the Sikorsky stable at the UH-60 Black Hawk and the S-92; Sikorsky itself has belonged to Lockheed Martin since 2015.

Conclusion

The S-64 is perhaps the most idiosyncratic helicopter still in service today: a flying scaffold with a rotor, built for loads that fit in no cargo hold. From the CH-54 in Vietnam via construction sites in North America to wildfires in California, Greece and Australia, it has had an astonishing career. Identification is easy – the sighting all the harder, because it hardly flies in central Europe.