Thought You Saw a Giant Drone Over Owensboro? Here’s What It Was

If you looked up in the sky recently and you thought you saw what looked like a giant drone, then I agree with you. I think it looks like a giant drone, too. But the Sikorsky S-64 Skycrane is much more than a drone. Very, very much more.

Sikorsky S-64 Skycrane

The Owensboro-Daviess County Regional Airport has posted images of this unique, heavy-lift helicopter, which arrived Sunday evening. I've seen a Sikorsky, but I've never seen one that looks like this.

The Sikorsky's stay in Owensboro will be a "restful" one, but maybe you have seen them in action and didn't realize that's what they were. Same here. I can't remember what type of helicopter was used to replace the damaged part of our radio tower here at the station 25 years ago, but I don't think it was a Sikorsky. (The damage came as a result of the January 3rd, 2000 tornado.)

Uses for the Sikorsky Skyplane

But maybe that tower segment wasn't heavy enough to need one. This type of Sikorsky helicopter is a heavy lifter, routinely used for large-scale cargo transport like this.

Aerial construction, logging, and firefighting are other arenas in which the Sikorsky S-64 is put to use.

A division of Lockheed Martin, the Sikorsky Aircraft Company was established in 1923 and is credited with being one of the first companies to manufacture helicopters for military and civilian use.

In the comment section of that Facebook post, Patrick McBrian filled in some gaps about the Sikorsky...

These things only fly about 200 miles in a hop. If they are mobilizing to a job 800 miles away that's 4 stops. They have a ground caravan that follows them with mechanics, spare parts, tools and fuel. One job I used Erickson Air Crane for the work with mobilization was well over $100k.

The Sikorsky's entourage, if you will.

The Skycrane will be parked at Owensboro-Daviess County Regional Airport for about two weeks.