Museum display rises to new heights with help of 78th ABW Published Sept. 3, 2009 By Wayne Crenshaw 78 ABW/PA ROBINS AIR FORCE BASE, Ga. -- A retired MH-53M Pave Low IV helicopter made a final liftoff Tuesday with considerable help from the 78th Logistics Readiness Squadron. The special operations chopper has called the Museum of Aviation's Century of Flight Hangar home for two years, but the whirlybird's nest was made on the floor. To give visitors a better sense of the aircraft in flight, and to create more floor space, the aircraft was raised and put on stilts. A team from the 78th LRS, using a 60K loader, slowly lifted the chopper after a full morning of preparation and making sure it was correctly positioned on the loader. The loader is designed to lift 60,000 pounds and is used to load aircraft. The helicopter weighed about half that. On Monday evening, 78th LRS members drove the loader slowly down Robins Parkway to the museum under 78th Security Forces Squadron escort. Dennis Oliver, the museum's chief restoration supervisor, said the 78th LRS team was essential to getting the feat accomplished. They previously helped do the same thing for a C-47 in the new World War II hangar. "We couldn't do it without their help," Mr. Oliver said. The project took a considerable amount of preparation, he said, with engineers studying the aircraft to determine the best way to lift and mount it. Mr. Oliver said the aircraft has a long history that stretches from the Vietnam War to Operation Desert Storm.