<p>Designed as the civilian S-64 Skycrane, the type first flew in 1962 and 105 were built.
The military versions designated CH-54 were named 'Tarhe' after the 18th Century chief of the Wyandot Indian tribe, whose nickname was 'The Crane'.
It proved very successful due to the flexibility of using different 'pods' for the underslung loads. They were also used for downed aircraft retrieval in Vietnam.
The type was finally retired in 1991, after replacement by the CH-47 Chinook.
Full serial 68-18438.
c/n 64.040.
US Army Aviation Museum.
Fort Rucker.
Alabama, USA.
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17-4-2013
<bdi><a href="https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q33132025" class="extiw" title="d:Q33132025"><span title="photographer from the UK">Alan Wilson</span></a>
</bdi>
CC BY-SA 2.0
<p><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/ajw1970/10557746194/">Sikorsky CH-54A Tarhe '18438'</a>
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<ul><li>Uploaded by <a href="//commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/User:AVIA_BavARia" title="User:AVIA BavARia">AVIA BavARia</a></li></ul>