If you’ve never had the opportunity to see a CH-53 of any kind (or it’s Sikorsky S-61 predecessor) in flight, you should. It’s amazing to see what a helicopter that big is capable of doing. It’s even more impressive when you are only feet away and you watch as tons of metal gracefully take to the skies while creating enough rotor wash to send a man rolling along the ground a ways. They are monsters, and unless you are called “Sir” or “Ma’am” for a living and wear the uniform every day, you aren’t too likely to ever get behind the controls, let alone near one. But there is the scale model community, and if you know where to look, and if you have the skill (and cash) to put one together, you can fly your own. This particular beast of a remote-controlled Sikorsky weighs in at 47 pounds and uses propane to fire off and kerosene to run the Jakadofski turbine. Spinning at 93,000 RPM, that turbine provides enough grunt to spin the six-bladed main and four-bladed anti-torque rotors. And just like the real deal, for it’s size, it’s remarkably graceful.
Wow, nice model!
Great first flight!!