Viewfinder
U.S. Coast Guard HH-52
Rich Schultz ([email protected]) from Wellington, Florida, spent 32 years on active duty with the United States Coast Guard. He decided to build a model that represented his service and paid tribute to some of his fellow Coast Guard members. Rich wrote:
“This model was constructed in tribute to a crew that paid the ultimate price while I was stationed at Coast Guard Air Station, Barbers Point, Hawaii, 30 years ago.
“The helicopter is a Sikorsky model S-62/HH-52, or referred to as the ‘Guardian’ or ‘Seaguard.’ The first major challenge to this build was the fact that no company makes this helicopter as a kit in any form, so most of the build would have to be custom-made.
“The closest helicopter to the HH-52 is the Sikorsky Sea King or H-53. Although the Sea King is a substantially larger helicopter with two engines compared to the one-engine-powered HH-52, this would be my starting point.
“I have to say that cutting into the purchased fuselage for the first time was not an easy task, but once you start, there is no turning back. The upper fuselage, nose section, landing gear, sponsons, and engine cowling are all custom-made to replicate the original HH-52. Since this aircraft was retired in 1985, these modifications were completed by utilizing original photos and reference materials.
“The body is detailed with thousands of rivets each applied one at a time. All of the original lights are installed and operate from the transmitter. There is even an operational rescue hoist assembly, complete with a custom-made replica of the rescue basket used at that time. This too can be operated from the transmitter during flight. All markings and decals are custom-made as well and measured to exact scale.
“The model is powered by a Scorpion electric motor, 120-amp ESC, and a 12-cell LiPo battery system. The mechanics are modified from an Align T-Rex 600e kit.
“Having flown on this helicopter during my career with the Coast Guard, it is truly a pleasure to see the model in the air. Even more exciting is seeing the joy on the faces of my fellow shipmates when they see it in action. The model placed third in the 2010 and 2012 National Helicopter Competition (Nats) held in Muncie, Indiana.”
A Nikon D2X with a 210mm focal length was used to take this photo. It was shot in Shutter Priority with an ISO of 100 and f-stop of f/6.3 at 1/500 second.
Email your high-resolution “Viewfinder” photo and a short note telling the airplane or helicopter story to [email protected].
Transcribed from original scans by AI. Minor OCR errors may remain.
