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Sikorsky CH-54 Tarhe

first flew 1962· heavy-lift cargo helicopter

🚁 helicopter 2× turboshaft retired
7 photos from Wikimedia Commons · credits & licences
  1. 1. Sikorsky CH-54A Tarhe (S-64A), USA - Army AN1532342: Mike Freer - Touchdown-aviation· GFDL 1.2
  2. 2. Sikorsky CH-54A Tarhe (Skycrane) (40434472933): Mike LaChance from Crowley, Tx, USA· CC BY 2.0
  3. 3. 295th Aviation Company CH-54 lifts a T-33: SSG Moore· Public domain
  4. 4. CH-54 container carrier concept: Kcida10 ( talk ) ( Uploads ).· CC0
  5. 5. CH-54 Tarhe 1960: U.S. Army, Vietnam Photo Service· Public domain
  6. 6. Sikorsky CH-54A 67-184114 Andrews AFB MD1: Acroterion· CC BY-SA 4.0
  7. 7. Sikorsky CH-54A Tarhe (S-64A), USA - Army AN0803366: Mike Freer - Touchdown-aviation· GFDL 1.2
Read about it on Wikipedia ↗
Sikorsky CH-54 Tarhe, photo 1 of 7
1/7 Mike Freer - Touchdown-aviation· GFDL 1.2

what is it?

The Sikorsky CH-54 Tarhe is an American twin-engine heavy-lift helicopter designed by Sikorsky Aircraft for the United States Army. It is named after Tarhe, an 18th-century chief of the Wyandot Indian tribe whose nickname was "The Crane". The civilian version is the Sikorsky S-64 Skycrane.

How to recognise it: 2 turboshaft engines · 22 m main rotor

base stats

  • speed 241 km/htop speed
  • range 370 kmwithout refuelling
  • size 21.3 tmax take-off weight
  • built 105made in total

Bars compare against all aircraft: 3,500 km/h, 20,000 km, 850 seats; size and number built on a log scale up to 640 t (An-225) and 45,000 built (Cessna 172).

fun facts

  • First flew 64 years ago, in 1962.
  • Top speed is 1.9× a car on the Dutch motorway (130 km/h).
  • Rotor of 22 m: about 5 cars parked nose to tail.
  • Fully loaded it can weigh as much as 4 African elephants (~6 t each).

turboshaft: A turbine that turns a shaft, usually a helicopter rotor.

spec sheet

first flight
1962
retired
1990
status
retired
number built
105
role
heavy-lift cargo helicopter
makers
Sikorsky Aircraft Corporation
engines
2× Pratt & Whitney T73-P-700
crew
3
length
27 m
rotor diameter
22 m
height
7.8 m
max take-off weight
21.3 t
top speed
241 km/h
cruise speed
185 km/h
range
370 km

Specs are for the version in the Wikipedia article's specification section. Blank means the sources don't say.

family

↑ Sikorsky S-64 Skycraneparent

Sources: Wikidata Q2336788, Wikipedia: Sikorsky CH-54 Tarhe (CC BY-SA 4.0).Updated 2026-10-24.

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