Northwest Aerospace News August | September 2020 | Page 10

Hovering 2,000 feet over a wildfire
and illuminated by a bright orange sky,
the Erickson S-64 helicopter prepares
to dump a payload of 2,600 gallons
of water over a fire. The vision of the
helicopter in this extreme environment
is one example of the type of work
conducted by Erickson to preserve
land and the people and infrastructure
of a region.
It looks like high adventure to see the
other applications of Erickson aircraft
— a varied fleet of over 40 helicopters
and fixed wing aircraft, including
eighteen S-64 AIR CRANE® helicopters
— that are contracted to provide
services on at least six continents,
including North America, South America
(Peru and Chile), Europe (Greece
and Italy), Africa, Australia and Asia.
However, when dialing down into the
missions being performed, it is easier
to see that helicopters hanging over
naval ships in choppy seas or transporting
25,000 pounds of transmission
equipment over a wetland, is really all
about protection.
The company was started in 1971 by Jack Erikson, who saw a need for backcountry
logging using helicopters to come in over the top of a forest in areas inaccessible
to logging trucks, to transport lumber to a timber company at a lower
elevation. He found that the U.S. Army was selling off Sikorsky CH-54 Skycranes,
a twin-engine heavy-lift helicopter, so he started to acquire the aircraft for
use in logging, firefighting, and construction applications. Jack Erickson was a
pioneer in helicopter logging.
The company is now owned by a group of institutional investors; the employee
base of over 700, 20 percent being former military, has grown in capabilities over
its 49-year history. They are headquartered in Portland and have several locations
throughout Oregon.
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