From the Autostrada to Florence the other day we spotted an amazing orange helicopter at the little airport at Capannori near Lucca.
We know someone who knows someone and a few days later we were allowed to get up close and personal…meet Camille.
She is an Erickson Aircrane visiting Italy to help out with some heavy lifting. The helicopter is used to lift huge pylons into place in difficult to reach places…among other things.
It really does look like a dragonfly.
It is amazing to see these things in action. It was a different orange helicopter I saw at Vergemoli last week carrying long poles through the valley below, but I can imagine what Camille can do.
Mechanics were working hard to get her ready for her next job, probably in China.
There is an Erickson helicopter nicknamed Elvis that goes to Australia to help with bushfires. It can carry up to 9,500 litres of water, making it very useful for firefighting.
In case you are interested the Italian word for helicopter is elicottero.