Helicopter 66
Helicopter 66 was a Sikorsky Sea King SH-3D. It was the primary recovery vehicle for the Apollo 8, Apollo 10, and Apollo 11 missions. Among its pilots during this period was Donald S. Jones. The aircraft crashed in the Pacific Ocean in 1975 during a training exercise.
About Helicopter 66 in brief
Helicopter 66 was a Sikorsky Sea King SH-3D. It was the primary recovery vehicle for the Apollo 8, Apollo 10, and Apollo 11 missions. Among its pilots during this period was Donald S. Jones, who would go on to command the United States Third Fleet. The aircraft crashed in the Pacific Ocean in 1975 during a training exercise. It has been called “one of the most famous, or at least most iconic, helicopters in history”, was the subject of a 1969 song by Manuela, and was made into a die-cast model by Dinky Toys. In addition to its work in support of NASA, Helicopter 66 also transported the Shah of Iran during his 1973 visit to the aircraft carrier USS Kitty Hawk.
It formed part of the inventory of U.S. Navy Helicopter Anti-Submarine Squadron Four for the duration of its active life. At the time of its crash, it had logged more than 3,200 hours of service. During ASW missions, the Sea King was typically armed with MK-4644 torpedoes. For the recovery of the Apollo 11 astronauts, the underside of the fuselage was emazoned with the words: “HELICopter 66, Columbia”. From 1970 to 1973 Helicopter Squadron Four and Helicopter. 66 were embarked aboard USS Ticonderoga, CVS-14, and USS Heliport.
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This page is based on the article Helicopter 66 published in Wikipedia (as of Oct. 31, 2020) and was automatically summarized using artificial intelligence.
