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Newspaper Archive of
Shelton Mason County Journal
Shelton, Washington
September 7, 1978     Shelton Mason County Journal
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September 7, 1978
 
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iHelicopter logging: I THE SKYHOOK, otherwise known as a Sikorski S-64, brings logs in to a landing high above the upper Wynooche reservoir from a hillside inaccessible by truck or cat. KEEPING AN EYE on things are (left to right) Charlie Spurgeon, woods superintendent for Erickson Air-Crane; Len Hunter, U.S. Forest Service forest technician; and Ramey Stevens, Simpson Timber Company project supervisor. Page ]0 - Shelton-Mason County Journal - Thursday, September 7, ]978 the skyhook becomes a reality By CAROLYN MADDUX Ever since loggers have been setting chokers, a man with a log in a sticky situation has wished for a "skyhook." The skyhook has been referred to in the breaking in of every green recruit to the woods for years. When the dust and debris of a loading landing is suddenly swept up in the whirlwind of rotor blades and 20,000 pounds of logs come dangling in with a giant Sikorski S-64 at the other end of the steel cable, the skyhook can no longer be the colossal joke of the woods. Camp Grisdale, in the Olympic foothills, lies within view of some of the last accessible old growth timber in the Olympic National Forest Sustained Yield Unit which the Simpson Timber Company harvests under the direction of the U.S. Forest Service. There remains enough old growth for perhaps ten more years of harvesting, theorizes Len Hunter, forestry technician for the Shelton Ranger District. Some of that timber is inaccessible by truck and eat, which have penetrated all but the most impassible of hillsides. In the old days the loggers would simply shake their heads and leave such timber. Today, helicopter logging is part of the timber scene. In the case of some five units in the Camp Grisdale area, comprising some 16 million board feet of timber designated for helicopter harvest by the forest service and sold to Simpson last year, the "skyhook" is a pair of helicopters operated by Erickson Air-Crane. The Oregon helicopter logging finn, one of three in the country, operates as a subcontractor for Simpson for the logging of these units. Erickson's crew do the falling and bucking as well as removing the timber from the woods. It's a tricky business. Ordinarily trees are fallen across a hillside for easier pickup; old growth fir, however, splinters with that treatment and must be quartered down the hillside. It tends to slide down into gullies and pile up, creating more problems for the buckers and choker.setters. In addition to the timing and endurance necessary for all woods operations, the ability to accurately estimate loads is essential. If a load of logs weighs more than the 20,000-pound lift capacity of the ship, it is "aborted" - dropped - and the cost of each turnaround is such that the crews try hard to avoid such errors. A second, small helicopter is used for transporting chokers and even crew members and for generally tending the work. The Hughes 500 is called the workhorse of the operation. It costs in the neighborhood of $250 an hour to operate it; the Sikorsky, on the other hand, which laps up 8.7 gallons of gasoline a minute, costs $3,750 an hour to run. After each 40-minute cycle in the air, during which the ship may bring in up to 20 loads depending upon distance from the landing, the Sikorsky is given a thorough safety check. It's a long way from the shouts of the grease-monkey and invective of the bullwhacker or the mournful hoot of the steam donkey to the clatter of rotor blades and the rush of wind as the helicopter yards logs out to the loading landing. But it's one more way to bring out the timber. DOWN THEY COME. Graduate forester Christine resource clerk Jan Zaniewski of the Forest Service watch a: by copter as others are being loaded on the truck for the woods. FLAWLESS TIMING on the part of the loader driver keep the move between every helicopter load. A FUELING STOP for the Sikorsky S-64 comes after work cycle and includes a complete systems check for safety. The gas tank at right, airlifted in, holds 10,000