Sikorsky HH-3F Pelican

Amphibious Medium-Lift Search and Rescue (SAR) Helicopter [ 1965 ]

The Sikorsky HH-3F Pelican is the USCG version of the USAF CH-3 Sea King and remains in service today.

Authored By: Staff Writer | Last Edited: 08/07/2019 | Content ©www.MilitaryFactory.com | The following text is exclusive to this site.

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The Sikorsky S-61R twin-engine platform, evolved from the SH-3 "Sea King" line, was a limited market success for the company. In military service it became the CH-3 "Sea King" and the HH-3 Jolly Green Giant for the United States Air Force (USAF). For the United States Coast Guard, it was represented as the HH-3 "Pelican". The S-61R first-flew in 1959 and was produced from then until the 1970s with service introduction formally beginning in 1961. It remains in very-limited-service with some global operators today (2018).

In USCG service, the HH-3F Pelican was based in the Search and Rescue (SAR) minded HH-3E model and procured in a 1965 initiative. The type would be used in the same all-weather, long-range rescue role and sport a radar fit and a water-landing capability. The Pelican made a career spanning from the late 1960s until the late 1990s, giving decades of faithful service until succeeded by the Sikorsky HH-60J "Jayhawk" line (now MH-60T Jayhawk) modeled from the UH-60 "Black Hawk" family.

In its Coast Guard guise, the HH-3F retained much of the form and function of the earlier aircraft in the series. The piloting crew sat at the nose in a side-by-side arrangement. A radome protruded from the nose section. The cabin was slab-sided and dotted with rectangular windows while sliding doors allowed for entry-exit. At the rear of the fuselage, under the tail stem, was a power-operated loading ramp. Sponsons located to either side of the fuselage not only housed the main landing gear legs but also added a buoyant capability for on-water landings (used in conjunction with the helicopter's boat-like, watertight hull). The entire tricycle arrangement was retractable into the design. The tail unit held the vertical tail fin, horizontal plane and the tail rotor unit (facing portside). Over the top of the fuselage was installed the engine pairing.

United States military services not longer operate the S-61R family of helicopters.©MilitaryFactory.com

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Specifications

Service Year

1965

Origin

United States

Status

RETIRED
Not in Service.

Crew

3

Production

58
UNITS

Sikorsky - USA

(View other Aviaton-Related Manufacturers)

United States

(OPERATORS list includes past, present, and future operators when applicable)

✓ Special-Mission: MEDical EVACuation (MEDEVAC)
Extraction of wounded combat or civilian elements by way of specialized onboard equipment and available internal volume or external carrying capability.

✓ Special-Mission: Search & Rescue (SAR)
Ability to locate and extract personnel from areas of potential harm or peril (i.e. downed airmen in the sea).

✓ Transport
General transport functionality to move supplies/cargo or personnel (including wounded and VIP) over range.

Length

73.2 ft
(22.30 m)

Width/Span

62.0 ft
(18.90 m)

Height

18.1 ft
(5.51 m)

Empty Wgt

13,338 lb
(6,050 kg)

MTOW

22,046 lb
(10,000 kg)

Wgt Diff

+8,708 lb
(+3,950 kg)

(Showcased structural values pertain to the base Sikorsky HH-3F Pelican production variant)

Installed: 2 x General Electric T58-10 turboshaft engines developing 1,500 horsepower each while driving a five-blade main rotor and five-blade tail rotor.

Max Speed

165 mph
(265 kph | 143 kts)

Ceiling

17,503 ft
(5,335 m | 3 mi)

Range

780 mi
(1,255 km | 2,324 nm)

Rate-of-Climb

1,750 ft/min
(533 m/min)

♦ MACH Regime (Sonic)

Sub

Trans

Super

Hyper

HiHyper

ReEntry

♦

(Showcased performance specifications pertain to the base Sikorsky HH-3F Pelican production variant. Performance specifications showcased above are subject to environmental factors as well as aircraft configuration. Estimates are made when Real Data not available. Compare this aircraft entry against any other in our database or View aircraft by powerplant type)

None. Mission equipment carried though door guns can be installed.

Supported Types

(Not all ordnance types may be represented in the showcase above)

HH-3 - Base Series Designation

HH-3E

HH-3F "Sea King"

AS-61R (HH-3F)

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