Sikorsky S-60 Flying Crane Research Prototype
The Sikorsky S-60 Flying Crane was a company-funded 1950s heavy-lift helicopter research vehicle that moved the external-load concept beyond conventional fuselage carriage. Its twin-engine crane arrangement, derived S-56 systems, and March 1959 flight-test program directly informed the later S-64 Skycrane lineage, while the prototype remained an experimental vehicle rather than a production aircraft.
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Identity
- Aliases
- S-60Flying CraneSikorsky S-60S-60 research vehicle
- Family Name
- Sikorsky S-60 Flying Crane
- Full Name
- Sikorsky S-60 Flying Crane Research Prototype
- Roles
- researchexperimentalcargotechnology_demonstrator
- Status
- retired
- Type
- aircraft
Details
- Aircraft Specs
- Configuration
- rotorcraft
- Operating Modes
- land
- Takeoff Landing Capabilities
- vtol
- Description
- The Sikorsky S-60 Flying Crane was a company-funded 1950s heavy-lift helicopter research vehicle that moved the external-load concept beyond conventional fuselage carriage. Its twin-engine crane arrangement, derived S-56 systems, and March 1959 flight-test program directly informed the later S-64 Skycrane lineage, while the prototype remained an experimental vehicle rather than a production aircraft.
- First Flight Year
- 1,959
- Manufacturer
- Propulsion Configurations
- Entries
- Count
- 2
- Propulsion System
- Role
- main
- Variant Notes
- Pratt & Whitney R-2800-50; canonical propulsion node is the R-2800 family.
- Name
- S-60 R-2800 family installation
- Notes
- Sikorsky Archives identifies twin Pratt & Whitney R-2800-50 radial engines on the S-60 Flying Crane; the canonical node is family-level, so exact dash-variant precision remains explicit in variantNotes.
Links
Assets & Meta
- Creation Time
- August 8, 2026 at 01:16:44 UTC
- Updated Time
- August 14, 2026 at 16:17:44 UTC