A repost from Spectators Balcony in January, 2018:
SKYCRANE and the STATUE of FREEDOM
In May of 1993 my then-wife, three-year-old daughter, and myself attended this event in person. A crowd of ~ 3,000 watched from the periphery of the Capitol's parking lot as Sikorsky's largest "frantic palm tree" removed the Statue of Armed Freedom from her perch atop the dome and placed her on a relatively small steel pilaster in the center of the parking area. The chopper's downwash was rather strong; I muttered a prayer that the "Jesus nut" would hold during the proceedings. We returned in October of that year to see the process play out in reverse as a restored Freedom, all 19' 6" and 15,000 pounds of her, was returned to her lofty perch. She faces due East to observe every sunrise, the goings-on at the Supreme Court, and to wink at the Mother Country 'cross the pond...
- Ed
p.s. MODS - Sorry for the large picture size; I attempted to downsize each, but to no avail...
