Sikorsky HH-52A Sea Guard

Well, if it came from North Bend it wouldn't look pretty.
When they came up to Port Angeles a few. . .okay, a long time ago, they asked what we used to keep our helicopters so clean.
Our Leading Chief said "elbow grease".
As I recall, the emergency egress window was held in with duct tape, looks as if that finally quit working.

Don

Here's another one.. it has some other numbers on it. Maybe they can educate us more. I have a picture of the inside.. but... its not pretty.

Her number appears to be 1447 And the code number on the bottom matches the one Lundh's book.
Wonder what she has been doing all these years other than being neclected.
And Dan, if the airframe goes back to Connecticutt showroom she will be an S-62 and not an HH52A, and that would be sad too.
The one in Pensacola Florida was refreshed by lots of us at ATC Mobile. We worked for quite awhile to get it right, and we put or made new stuff on her so she looked good. And we made sure she was painted white like all good helo's should be.

Don

dkmacin wrote:

Hi Sal and Dan. Yes we could and did fly single pilot alot. It was cool because most of the pilots would have the Flight Mech come up front and let you have some stick time. (By the time Rescue Swimmers came up at all airstations, we were well into the 65 program.) Most pilots were of the mind you had better be able to at least land it in some safe fashion if they couldn't. It's too bad no one wants the airframe in the picture. . .she deserves better than that. Don

A little background on that picture. She just "arrived" one morning at that location. No warning.. no call.. just dumped it off and they left. Since then they found out where it came from. They just dont know what to do with her. Keep her.. scap her.

Hi, Don. They have an airframe like this at the Yanks Air Museum in Chino, Ca. BuNo 1365. Their goal is to restore this machine to Bridgeport, CT. showroom floor condition. I just hope I'm still alive when they do.                Daniel

Hi Sal and Dan.
Yes we could and did fly single pilot alot. It was cool because most of the pilots would have the Flight Mech come up front and let you have some stick time. (By the time Rescue Swimmers came up at all airstations, we were well into the 65 program.)
Most pilots were of the mind you had better be able to at least land it in some safe fashion if they couldn't.
It's too bad no one wants the airframe in the picture. . .she deserves better than that.

Don

        Hi, Don. This machine was no harder to handle than a Bell Iroquois, from what I understand. I can't explain the low-rotor rpm though. No chop-chop sound either. More like a loud jet engine on reverse thrust. The last one I saw flying, was back in August 1986, and it was flying southbound along the coast line off Seal Beach Pier, here in Ca. As it got about 2 miles further south, it turned 90 degrees and headed north on short final approach to Los Alamitos (KSLI) Joint Training Base. The low-rotor rpm and engine sound was quite memorable. The first one I can remember, was flying north along the coast off Redondo Beach Pier, Ca. in 1976, probably returning to KLAX. I was about 3-years-old. I know they used to have a few based at C.G.A.S.-LAX for years. Now, they have Eurocopter HH-65B Dolphins and Augusta MH-68 Makos (A-109).  Ever since 911, these (MH-68's) patrol the L.A. Harbor Area, constantly. They're AWESOME to watch hover around. You can only imagine my favorite episode of  "Magnum, P.I." w/ Tom Selleck; "Thicker Than Blood"('81). Arguably, the most BEAUTIFUL helicopter action captured on film.

I remember back in the mid-late 80's when I was working for Hawaii Pacific Helicopters out of Oahu.  Me and a pilot were flying a Jet Danger assisting in the search for a missing Kenai Helicopters H-500D last seen fighting fire on the big island.

Anyway, we stopped in at Maui for fuel and a butt break, and parked on the ramp was a beautiful little HH-52.  When she departed I remember thinking how slow the rotor RPM looked.  The thing is that I could swear that there was only one crewdog on her. 

Don,

Was it normal to fly single pilot?  I swear there was only one pilot and I never did see a swimmer.

She's a beauty!

Yeah it is a cool book.
Most of the thanks to in the front reads like who's who for me as I know 99% of those guys, and gals.
Flew with most of them, as well as alot of the airframes in it.
I hated to see her go, but the old pick up had to be replaced by the sports car. . .which I grew to at least have a respect for. I mean everyone wants to have at least driven a Porsche in their life right?

Don

Thanks, Don. It would be cool if Tamiya would kit this as a J.D.F. S-62J, with optional U.S.C.G. markings. I LOVE the Schiffer Book ('03) on this thing.

The last flight of the HH52A was a twofer, sort of. . .
The 1383 and 1463 were not only the last in the inventory they were the last HH52's to be on an arctic deployment.
The Dolphin didn't actually fully replace the HH52 until 1989. From 84-89 there were lots and lots of bugs to work out of the Dolphin. ( Which had her first Arctic deployment in 1988, AWS88 6519-6560).
The Seaguard was slower and perhaps not as pretty as the Dolphin, but you could stand up in the cabin and move around.
The only model I know of is a 1/48 scale S-62 kit from  ITC Model Craft, (Ideal Toys Hollis NY).
There is no copyright on the instructions, the box or the model itself. The model has heavy rivet detail and raised "S-62" on both sides of the transmission cowling  and the words "SIKORSKY" from the tranistion section towards the tail,  much like the old Aurora kits. The "N" number in the decal sheet is N880 which was the number assigned the prototype.
This is the only kit I know of, but you would think, hope, that Tamiya would have done one, as the JDF used the S-62J built by Mitsubishi under license.

Don

I don't remember ever seeing a kit of it in any scale