"Do you want to move a sea king?' was the question asked to me from the other end of the phone.  I didn't know what a sea king was at that time but replied "Yes, please send me some information on it along with its dimensions".  "No" was the reply, "you fax me the dimensions of your trailer, and I'll tell you if it fits".  Twenty minutes later he called back to say that it would fit and could I come down to Prospect, Oregon, U.S.A.   He also mentioned that it was being repossessed; someone hadn't paid the lease for a while.  A deal was made and off I went to Prospect.

        Upon my arrival I noticed a large helicopter the size of a city bus!  It was 72 feet 10 inches long, 12 feet 3 inches wide, 14 feet 9 inches high and weighed 5975 lbs.  This helicopter was nicknamed "Sugar" and would seat up to 32 people inside.

    It took a full day to tear it down to legal dimensions for ease of road transportation.  I got a good night's sleep that night and departed early the next morning heading for Albuquerque, New Mexico, U.S.A.

      I traveled through California, Nevada, Arizona, then into New Mexico.  Along the way people didn't know what I was hauling, only when I stopped for a meal would they be able to ask me and find out all about it.  Traveling along the road people were awestruck with the sheer size of it, to the point that one young lady, not watching where she was driving, literally drove off the road into the ditch.

    After it was delivered, I went to my long time customer for payment.  In those times contracts were sealed by a handshake or on a gentleman's agreement.  He said that he would not pay the agreed amount of $5,000 dollars U.S.  I thought, okay, pay me what you want but I will never work for you again.  He handed me cash and said this is what I will pay you.  As I counted the money, it turned out to be $5,500 dollars U.S., he'd given me a $500 dollar bonus for a job well done!

Note #2:    After moving  "SUGAR" I got a reputation for relocating sea king helicopters and eventually moved fifty-eight sea kings for different customers throughout North America.
 

Calgary to Prospect is 1448 miles (2330 km)
Prospect to Albuquerque is 1352 miles (2175 km)

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Created 21 February 2002		Last Updated 4 September 2006 19:20