CH-54 as an Air Sea Rescue Helicopter

[Cobra]

Hey Guys, i was looking @ my LHS today and a Thought Struck Me:What If the  CH-54 were used by the USCG & Others for Air Sea Rescue?  think the Skycrane  would work for ASR duty or for Evacuating Victims from a Cruise Ship in Distress?  What Say You? The Reason i ask is I'm Considering Purchasing a CH-54 Model and Turning it into an ASR Helo. Thanks for looking.Dan

[Hobbes]

Might be a good idea, actually. You can winch down a large container, have everyone board quickly and winch it up again, instead of having to put people in a harness and winch them up one at a time.

[sandiego89]

It would be OK, very neat though.  I have thought of many uses for the skycrane, including SAR, but still have it unbuilt in my stash. 

I only give it an OK for a few reasons:
Slow, not the best for SAR.
Huge, not able to operate on coast guard cutters- would have to be shore based.
Expensive operational costs.
Crew cooordination.  I assume you would have the troop pod mounted underneath for the rescue crew, winch operator and survivors.  Not sure if there was direct access between the troop pod and the cockpit.

On the plus side, with the pod- plenty of room for survivors.

I believe rotor downwash would be acceptable. 

Major drawback would be the expense of having this huge bird on standby for a case that rarely happens.  Most SAR cases do not involve large numbers of survivors.  Yes a few cruise ships have required it, but it is rare.  I think a better platfrom for large SAR would be CH-53 or CH-47. But since this is What-if- go for it - I love the Skycrane!     

[RotorheadTX]

Don't think of it as a rescue craft, think of it as an emergency response vehicle; a multi-mission platform with interchangeable pods for command posts, field hospitals, decon chambers (human and bird/animal), fire-fighting, spill-containment, etc.

[tinlail]

paint it green, with a big number "2" on the nose.

[Geoff]

There is a big orange one that operates as a fire tanker in Greece. So it can be that, or a mobile emergeny hospital - IIRC there used to be an airlifted operating theatre in Germany in the '80s. Or heavy lift for disaster relief??

[Army of One]

paint it green, with a big number "2" on the nose.