- Member since
July 2003
- From: Cincinnati, Ohio
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Posted by ridleusmc
on Friday, October 6, 2006 2:28 PM
These 2 pics were taken by a friend of mine during operations in Afgahnistan in either 2001 or 2002. It's a CH-53E inside the Cargo hold of a C-17. The rotor blades are removed and stuffed in the cabin. The main gear box with main rotor head attached is loaded onto a pallet. The tail gear box and rotor head is on a seperate pallet. These parts are removed to allow enough clearance between the top of the helicopter and the ceiling of the transport. C-5's have a slightly lower cieling, so smaller landing gear wheels actually need to be fitted. C-17 loading doesn't require the use of smaller landing gear wheels. The auxiliary fuel tanks are removed and placed on top of the sponsons. The helicopter is held in place by jacks and chains. C-17's can carry 1 CH-53E at a time, but C-5's can carry two.
Semper Fi,
Chris
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