Vintage Helicopters at Intrepid Move...

[Tom_Turner]

Hi All -

When the Intrepid was towed back to Manhattan recently, I ventured over to Battery Park & Battery Park City to get a few shots, but what I did not expect was the treat of three vintage helicopters...

While not terribly rare across the country, Schweizer 269s & Hughes 369s are hardly common amongst the many corporate, govt agency and tourist choppers we get in our area.... but what was a truly shocking sight was a Sikorsky S-55 in the air over the harbor. To see this over NYC in 2008 even trumps the wonderful work our favorite Long Island Warbird Museum's has done in preserving an airworthy S-58 (kudos for them for that btw..)

Sadly, your mediocre photographer here failed to adjust from shooting maritime subjects to a more appropriate shutter speed for choppers, so be warned....

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3137/2992937598_3de3bf577d_o.jpg

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3050/2976810411_2bb0e2fb70_o.jpg

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3017/2992933674_5e78c6f4d1_o.jpg

Tom

[njgtr82]

Wow great stuff Tom, was this today?

Bill

[Tom_Turner]

Thanks Bill - I believe that was about Oct 1st or 2nd... Moose got some really nice shots of that event over in New Jersey here...

intrepid-returns-to-pier-86-october-2-lotta-pix-added-t13621s75.html (http://nycaviation.com/forum/intrepid-returns-to-pier-86-october-2-lotta-pix-added-t13621s75.html)

I am just running such a back log of shots - I still haven't processed the Floyd Bennett Fly-In from last year yet... :shock: There's just too much to shoot still.. can't ever catch up. I would've gone to JFK for the Qatar 777 & NW 757 w/winglets and then over to FRG for the DC-9-3, but the marathon has the Verrazano Bridge closed until 3pm for the marathon today so its just an editing day for me now...

Tom

[cancidas]

tom, that sikorsky is beautiful! nice work as usual.

[PhilDernerJr]

Love the Magnum PI chopper! :)

[flyboy 28]

You know, I could have sworn that was a Chickasaw I saw [bad choice of words] over in Weehawken during the move, but I thought my eyes were deceiving me. Glad you caught her up close!

[Gerard]

Great shots. Love that S-55. Interesting that it is registered to a Sparta Rotors in Newton, NJ but you go to their
website which really is just a cover page they have a Manhattan address and telephone #.

[Tom_Turner]

Apparently theres only 17 S-55s still listed as airworthy, (which probably means alot less than that). One was supposed to re-enact the 1st New York Airways flight last year, but I don't know if that ever happened or not. Didn't read about it. I guess the most notable one we've seen around the net is the one that had been doing the Grand Canyon tours a few years back.

Since this one is active locally (up to a point I guess..I certainly never saw it before, and I've been watching the skies over NYC for many years now) and we have the S-58 in Long Island, it would be nice to get them together at some point. Rotorfest should really see about recruiting them for their show next year.

On a related note, apparently only one S-62 is still active (up in Alaska perhaps?) although the Mid Atlantic Air Museum might keep theirs airworthy as well, I don't know. But, they're both in Coast Guard livery, including even the civil one in Alaska. Its a shame one of the Islanders Helicopters examples wasn't preserved as they were a fixture for a few years over New York and into Garden City Long Island. And, sadly, no images of it on either A.net or JP last I checked.

Tom

[Tom_Turner]

By the way, that Red, White & Blue Schweizer 269 not only flew *under* the Verrazano Bridge preceding Fleetweek a couple of years back (the only other time I've ever seen it) but it actually flew *between* the base of the Bridge and landside (on the Brooklyn side) *while* under the bridge. Not necessarily an unsafe thing to do really, but certainly not standard procedure... :)

Tom

[Tom_Turner]

Here's another view of the S-55.... a real eggbeater

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3065/2992932868_1370cecf01.jpg?v=0

[727C47]

now all we need is a BV107 in New York Airways colors !

[Gerard]

[quote="Tom_Turner"]By the way, that Red, White & Blue Schweizer 269 not only flew *under* the Verrazano Bridge preceding Fleetweek a couple of years back (the only other time I've ever seen it) but it actually flew *between* the base of the Bridge and landside (on the Brooklyn side) *while* under the bridge. Not necessarily an unsafe thing to do really, but certainly not standard procedure... :)

Back when East 60 Street was in operation I used to see copters depart the heliport and make a quick right turn and zip under the
Queensboro Bridge heading southbound. I forget where I read/heard but they were discouraged from doing that eventually. Having
cables and such hanging from construction on the bridge probably was a good reason for that. :lol:

[threeholerglory]

I'm pretty sure that first red white and blue chopper is based at my airport (CDW)

[Gerard]

I'm pretty sure that first red white and blue chopper is based at my airport (CDW)

N9623F has been around for awhile and its owned by a guy from Morris County.

[AndrewM]

Apparently theres only 17 S-55s still listed as airworthy, (which probably means alot less than that). One was supposed to re-enact the 1st New York Airways flight last year, but I don't know if that ever happened or not. Didn't read about it.

The original S-55 that flew for New York Airways is now N111VA and currently sits 100 feet outside my office here at Compton/Woodley Airport. (I am actually looking at it as I type this). It was scheduled to fly back east last spring but shortly after takeoff from the airport lost power and made an emergency landing in a school parking lot. It was brought back to the airport where it now sits with the rotor blades removed

There is a web site dedicated to N111VA, http://www.s-55.net, although it hasn't been updated in a long time.

-Andrew

[Praz]

I remember S-55 Sikorsky helicopters being used for transportation over NYC during the 50's and 60's. Used to go to Manhattan pier with my Uncle, who was a pilot, and my Dad to watch them take off and land. I fell in love with copters then. Was so happy to discover that Kermit Weeks, owner of Fantasy of Flight just bought the S-55 that made the first passenger / mail delivery in New York in July 1953. I watched the video of it arriving at his facility. It had been rotting in a aircraft museum's parking lot in Compton, California for years. Glad to see Mr. Weeks is going to restore, and hopefully get it flying again.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EdG5bPwcHw0

[PhilDernerJr]

Welcome to the site! That is quite a necro-posting from a 4-year-old thread but I liked the vid.