Sky Hook

[Se�n Fitzpatrick]

Unless you are looking for a specific reference to Alcindor:

I encountered "sky hook" in the Army in the late '60s, as a facetious explanation of how something could be lifted or moved easily by means of a hook lowered from the (clear blue) sky.  Somehow we were never allocated a sky hook and ended up using muscle power.  I was never sent to the supply sergeant to get a sky hook, but it is in the same category as the gunner's daughter and checkerboard paint, not to mention left-handed smoke shifters and monkey wrenches.

Certain models of the CH-54 heavy lift helicopter are called Sky Crane, and lift hooks on some helicopters, including the familiar CH-47 Chinook and the CH-53 are called sky hooks.
http://www.fiddlersgreen.net/aircraft/jets/sky-crane/info/info.htm

AHD has "Skyhook:  A helicopter whose fuselage is configured so as to be mounted with a steel line and hook used to lift and transport heavy objects." 
Seán Fitzpatrick
2+2=5, for extremely large values of 2.