Erickson Air-Crane Incorporated is an aircraft

Aircraft

An aircraft is a vehicle that is able to fly by gaining support from the air, or, in general, the atmosphere of a planet. An aircraft counters the force of gravity by using either static lift or by using the dynamic lift of an airfoil, or in a few cases the downward thrust from jet engines.Although...

 manufacturing and operating company based in Central Point, Oregon

Central Point, Oregon

Central Point is a city in Jackson County, Oregon, United States. The population was 17,165 as of July 1, 2009 The city shares its southern border with Medford and is a part of the Medford metropolitan area...

, United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

. They are known for producing the S-64 Aircrane helicopter

Helicopter

A helicopter is a type of rotorcraft in which lift and thrust are supplied by one or more engine-driven rotors. This allows the helicopter to take off and land vertically, to hover, and to fly forwards, backwards, and laterally...

, which is used in wildland fire suppression

Wildland fire suppression

Wildfire suppression refers to the firefighting tactics used to suppress wildfires. Firefighting efforts in wildland areas requires different techniques, equipment, and training from the more familiar structure fire fighting found in populated areas...

 and other heavy-lift operations.
Originally the Sikorsky S-64 Skycrane, the type certification and manufacturing rights for the S-64 were purchased from Sikorsky Aircraft

Sikorsky Aircraft

The Sikorsky Aircraft Corporation is an American aircraft manufacturer based in Stratford, Connecticut. Its parent company is United Technologies Corporation.-History:...

 by Erickson Air-Crane in 1992.

Since that time, Erickson Air-Crane has become the manufacturer and world's largest operator of S-64 Aircranes and has made over 1,350 changes to the airframe, instrumentation, and payload capabilities of the helicopter. The Aircrane can be fitted with a 2,650-gallon (~10,000 liter) fixed retardant

Fire retardant

A fire retardant is a substance other than water that reduces flammability of fuels or delays their combustion. This typically refers to chemical retardants but may also include substances that work by physical action, such as cooling the fuels; examples of these include fire-fighting foams and...

 tank to assist in the control of bushfires.

So far, S-64 Aircranes have been sold to the Italian

Italy

Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...

, and Korea

Korea

Korea ) is an East Asian geographic region that is currently divided into two separate sovereign states — North Korea and South Korea. Located on the Korean Peninsula, Korea is bordered by the People's Republic of China to the northwest, Russia to the northeast, and is separated from Japan to the...

n Forest Service

Forest Service

Forest Service may refer to:* Canadian Forest Service* Indian Forest Service* New Zealand Forest Service* United States Forest Service* Forestry Commission in the United Kingdom...

s for fire suppression and emergency response duties.
Those in the Erickson Air-Crane fleet are leased worldwide to organizations, companies, municipalities and Federal Agencies for either short-term or longer term use in fire suppression, civil protection, heavy lift construction, and timber harvesting

Logging

Logging is the cutting, skidding, on-site processing, and loading of trees or logs onto trucks.In forestry, the term logging is sometimes used in a narrow sense concerning the logistics of moving wood from the stump to somewhere outside the forest, usually a sawmill or a lumber yard...

.

Heli-logging

Wes Lematta of Columbia Helicopters

Columbia Helicopters

Columbia Helicopters, Incorporated, or CHI, is an aircraft manufacturing and operator company based in Aurora, Oregon, United States. They are known for operating tandem rotor helicopters; in present times, exclusively the Boeing Vertol 107 and Boeing 234. These helicopters are used in...

 and Jack Erickson were able to demonstrate the first financially successful run of helicopter logging in 1971. This was done with Lematta's recently acquired Boeing Vertol 107

CH-46 Sea Knight

The Boeing Vertol CH-46 Sea Knight is a medium-lift tandem rotor transport helicopter, used by the United States Marine Corps to provide all-weather, day-or-night assault transport of combat troops, supplies and equipment. Assault Support is its primary function, and the movement of supplies and...

 and timber provided by the Erickson Lumber Company.

Heliport

The company owns Erickson Air-Crane Admin Offices Heliport , a private, 130 x 130 ft. (40 x 40 m) heliport

Heliport

A heliport is a small airport suitable only for use by helicopters. Heliports typically contain one or more helipads and may have limited facilities such as fuel, lighting, a windsock, or even hangars...

.

External links

• Erickson Air-Crane website