About the Sikorsky® SH-3 Sea King™ - Apollo 11 Astronaut Recovery.
The Sikorsky® SH-3 Sea King™ was a twin-engine, all-weather, rotorcraft designed to launch off the flight decks of aircraft carriers. The helicopter’s role included search and rescue and anti-submarine warfare. Sea King helicopters utilized a crew of four to operate the craft, as well as advanced sensors to aid in search and rescue and submarine detection. In addition, it’s the Sea King that continues to provide executive transportation for the President of the United States as Marine One. Even in this most noble role, the Sea King is perhaps most recognizable as an Apollo recovery vehicle.
At approximately 5:50 AM on July 24th, 1969, the Columbia module of Apollo 11 made splashdown 920 miles southwest of Honolulu, Hawai’i. Launching from the Essex-class carrier USS Hornet, a Sea King known as Old 66 flew out to make history. Arriving as dawn was breaking, Old 66 circled the splash site where Columbia was bobbing upside down, afloat by its unmistakable orange flotation balloons. Another Sea King—delegated for photography—circled the area while Old 66 completed the mission. From this vantage point, the entire recovery operation was recorded. The intrepid members of Apollo, alongside the support of the American public and the Old 66 recovery team, did something unimaginable, and opened a new frontier of exploration.
Specifications:
Crew: 2 flight crew + 2 sonar operators
Length: 54 ft 9 in (16.69 m)
Width: 16 ft 4 in (4.98 m) (rotors folded)
Height: 16 ft 10 in (5.13 m)
Gross weight: 18,626 lb (8,449 kg)
Main rotor diameter: 62 ft 0 in (18.90 m)
Maximum speed: 144 kn (166 mph, 267 km/h)
Cruise speed: 118 kn (136 mph, 219 km/h)
Range: 542 nmi (625 mi, 1,005 km)
Service ceiling: 14,700 ft (4,480 m)
Additional information about this Brickmania® custom building kit:
Featuring a massive rotating main rotor and tail rotor, this kit has a shocking 60+ printed pieces, and comes with 6 custom minifigs. Play features include removable cargo door, opening cockpit door, brick-built tinted windscreen, and rescue hook. This historic helicopter build showcases a brick-built colorway unique to the Apollo astronaut recovery missions. It is sure to become the center of your Space Race collection.
Model Statistics:
Designed by George Hicks
1258 LEGO® & Brickmania® elements
6x custom minifigs
60+ additional custom printed elements
Full-color printed building instructions
1/35th scale to match other Brickmania kits
Advanced Skill Level (6-8 years building experience recommended)
All Brickmania® model kits are made of new-condition LEGO® bricks. This model comes disassembled and includes complete printed building instructions. This is a limited-edition kit and production may be discontinued at any time.
This is not a LEGO® Product. LEGO and the LEGO minifigure are trademarks of the LEGO Group, which does not sponsor, authorize or endorse this product. The LEGO Group is not liable for any loss, injury or damage arising from the use or misuse of this product.
