Helicopter - Heavylifter heading for Pax River - Rotor&Wing video

CH-53K Makes Its Way from Florida to Pax River

By S.L. Fuller | July 5, 2017

CH-53K, King Stallion, Sikorsky, Heavylift

The Sikorsky CH-53 King Stallion lifts a 27,000-pound external load. Photo courtesy of Lockheed Martin

In its first extended flight, Sikorsky’s CH-53K King Stallion successfully flew from the manufacturer’s West Palm Beach, Florida, facility to Naval Air Station Patuxent River, Maryland, Lockheed Martin said. This is the first of several flights the CH-53K is scheduled to take as part of its flight test program.
The flight took the helicopter 810 miles in six hours. Two fuel stops were taken: one at Naval Air Station Mayport, Florida, and the other at Marine Corps Air Station New River, North Carolina.

"This first movement of CH-53K flight testing to our customer's facility denotes that the aircraft have achieved sufficient maturity to begin transitioning the focus of the test program from envelope expansion to system qualification testing," said Dr. Michael Torok, Sikorsky’s VP of CH-53K programs. "This has been the plan from the beginning and is another important step toward getting these fantastic aircraft into the hands of the U.S. Marine Corps."
Testing is to continue in both West Palm Beach and Patuxent River. The flight test program operates under an integrated test team comprised of Sikorsky, U.S. Naval Air Systems Command (Navair) and U.S. Marine Corps personnel. Altogether, the four CH-53K engineering development model aircraft have completed more than 450 hours of flight testing in West Palm Beach, Lockheed Martin said.
In April, Torok said that the CH-53K ground test vehicle was nearing certain death. After accumulating more than 500 hours of run time, it will serve as the King Stallion program’s live-fire test asset.

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