October 22, 2019 Laird Stateside

The Liberty Gazette

October 22, 2019

Ely Air Lines
By Mike Ely and Linda Street-Ely

Mike: We’re back with more from Curtis Laird, this time, flying here in his own country.

Curtis: While stationed at Fort Benning, Georgia as operations officer of the 478th Heavy Helicopter Company, we received a mission to fly a CH-54 “Skycrane” to pick up a cargo pod at Fort Sill, Oklahoma. This helicopter weighs about 20,000 pounds when it’s empty. It can carry so much load and still fly weighing as much as 42,000 pounds. The fuel stops on the return trip were the places that gave me more stories to tell.

Nearing our first stop, Barksdale Air Force Base in Louisiana, we advised the tower controller we’d be refueling. To our surprise, they advised of “a situation in progress,” and they’d direct us where to park. Unfortunately, they were leading us to a light load parking area. To top it off, the area had just been paved with asphalt. Fresh asphalt in Louisiana in July could be a problem for such heavy aircraft. We’d be taking on several thousands of pounds of fuel and if we parked there, we’d sink for sure. Somehow, this information fell on deaf ears. They told us to stay put and a refueler would be with us shortly. When we were ready to depart, we were told again to wait. All this time, our helicopter’s weight (now heavier with full fuel) couldn’t have been good news for that new paving job.

My solution to this problem was to request a vertical take-off to 5,000 feet. Then, whatever “situation” they had in progress wouldn’t be affected by us taxiing or otherwise being in the way. By this time, we had sunk eight inches into the asphalt, so I advised the tower controller we’d be upward bound as soon as we got unstuck. To accomplish this, we rocked the bird to loosen it from the sticky stuff. The “collective” is what you pull to make the helicopter go up. I pulled it up to my armpit, and in about a minute we were straight up, 5,000 feet.

Since they’d been so difficult to work with just getting fuel, I had one last “dig” for them before we were out of their airspace. “You’ll need to get someone out to that parking apron,” I said, “and fill those holes before someone taxis into one.” The silence was golden.

The controller evidently wasn’t familiar with the capabilities of our ship. The Skycrane set several records back in 1968: A vertical climb to 9,800’ in one minute, 38 seconds; a vertical climb to 29,000’ in seven minutes, 54 seconds; and a max ceiling (the highest it could go) of 31,400’.

The next flight offered a bit of a surprise.

Linda: You’ll have to wait until next week for that one. But it’s worth it. Here’s a hint: that CH-54 is so unique looking, it draws a lot of attention. Sometimes, you might not want as much as you get.

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