CH-53A Aerobatics
Helofan, you wrote:
"The interesting part is it was for studies of rotor system dynamics & maneuverability characteristics for safety, survivability & for getting in & out of confined areas!!"
That was, err..... well at least one way to put it. The USMC pilot in the photos was a Major Robert Guay, and he was the NAVAIR class desk officer for the 53A program. Bob was absolutely convinced that the USMC should employ the 53A in the combat assault role, which at the time had transitioned from the UH-34D to the CH-46. Bob had run up against seniors within the USMC who opined that the CH-46 was much more manueverable, and thus safer and more effective, as the combat assault vehicle. Bob's answer was to showcase the superior manueverability of the 53A, so that, having put aside that objection, the tactical advantage of the 53A in getting a lot more troops quickly into the LZ would win the argument. But it didn't happen, for a number of other reasons.
Byron Graham, the Sikorsky pilot( our Chief Experimental Pilot at the time ) told me that they had flown a number of other manuevers, for example cuban eights, but they had trouble making them look standardized, so they were not filmed.
Thanks,
John Dixson