Impressive Rescue by National Guard

[Ian_J]

Oh for craps sake! I have never seen anything like that before. He is just perched on his ass and unloading troops. Can you or Mike explain how this is accomplished? How do you train for this kind of maneuver? How common of a procedure is this? Looks so steady too. Wow. I imagine (I know nothing) that a huge concern is the back slope/up slope of the terrain behind you and the rear rotor?

Mike has never flown one of those.

 

[A Life Aloft]

While I can't argue blackhawk pilots are steely eyed killers with nerves of steel, the helicopter has a lot of computerized stability systems that really help out the pilots if they let the system do its job.

See, I just know nothing about the flying and the controls of all things rotors. I see all kinds of them flying around here all the time, have seen many up close on the ground at airshows or at various airports or on a few military bases here, peered in the cockpits but have no idea wth I am looking at and that type of piloting just seems so completely foreign to me, as opposed to anything fixed wing. I just have no grasp of what it is like to fly one and the controls. Hell, I've never even ridden in one. But, I find them very interesting and it just seems very challenging and a very different type of skill set/mindset. It seems like it's rather challenging also to become proficient in them (the larger types especially) in regards to certain kinds of operations, military/search and rescue for instance. Just the physics of choppers is something different than what I know/understand. And when something goes south, recovery seems damn near impossible.

 

[Ian_J]

Oh for craps sake! I have never seen anything like that before. He is just perched on his ass and unloading troops. Can you or Mike explain how this is accomplished? How do you train for this kind of maneuver? How common of a procedure is this? Looks so steady too. Wow. I imagine (I know nothing) that a huge concern is the back slope/up slope of the terrain behind you and the rear rotor? That just impresses the pants off me.

This is a very common maneuver and is trained for like any other, really. There's a crew chief or flight engineer in the back guiding you in and watching for rotor blade clearance. The Chinook has an even better stability system than the blackhawk, so steady is pretty easy.

Funny, that terrain in the vid looks just like where I made landings exactly like that before. I guess not much changes over there!

 

[Ian_J]

See, I just know nothing about the flying and the controls of all things rotors. I see all kinds of them flying around here all the time, have seen many up close on the ground at airshows or at various airports or on a few military bases here, peered in the cockpits but have no idea wth I am looking at and that type of piloting just seems so completely foreign to me, as opposed to anything fixed wing. I just have no grasp of what it is like to fly one and the controls. Hell, I've never even ridden in one. But, I find them very interesting and it just seems very challenging and a very different type of skill set/mindset. It seems like it's rather challenging also to become proficient in them (the larger types especially) and for certain kinds of operations, military/search and rescue for instance. Just the physics of choppers is something different than what I know.

Oh, they're a blast to fly! Pinnacle and ridge line ops are a challenge, no doubt, despite the stability systems and such, but they really are a lot of fun. When I flew the Chinook we used to load up 55 dudes in the back, all sitting on the floor, 5 wide and 11 deep. We would joke we HAD to two wheel land them so gravity could help them all tumble out.

 

[H46Bubba]

Yes. Similar doings by CH-47s and CH-46s are what I've seen in that regard, with the mainmounts and ramp on a hilltop PZ, and the rest of the helo hanging out in space.

Those were always full of fun and lots of ass puckering!

 

[A Life Aloft]

Hell, we were looking at one of the new Super Pumas that the L.A, County Sheriffs got recently and one of the pilots was trying to show us all the whiz bank stuff in it and I was just like what???......hmmmm....okay.......this does what???... .trying to ask some questions where I only sounded like half an idiot and much it went over my head.

55 in a Chinook. I didn't know they could carry THAT many personnel, frankly. They are wonderful to see in flight and always enjoy watching them around here. Roll their asses out the back. Good grief. lol I guess my fave has always been the Apache, just because of the variety and serious business of all the damn armaments that they can carry. Plus they just look so menacing. And you have to love something that carries a "Hellfire" missile. Love that name.

 

[A Life Aloft]

Mike has never flown one of those.

Yeah but he knows everything. lol

 

[Ian_J]

Yeah but he knows everything. lol

I taught Mike everything he knows about longitudinal cyclic trim. You should ask him about it.

 

[A Life Aloft]

Let the Chopper Wars begin!!! @MikeD

 

[USMCmech]

Can you or Mike explain how this is accomplished? How do you train for this kind of maneuver?

Go lie down in the back of a pickup truck and talk to the driver over a radio while he backs up to hitch up a trailer, it's really not that much different.

"Back 20 down 10

right and down 5

back 5 easy down

3 feet

2 feet

3 feet

1 foot

inches

contact"

The pilot just follows the crew chief's instructions, it takes some skill and a LOT of teamwork, but it's not rocket science either.

The aft rotor in the larger military helicopters is pretty high above the ground, so rotor clearance isn't as much of an issue.

 

[Firebird2XC]

Let the Chopper Wars begin!!! @MikeD

The A model Apache took forever to spool up. The D model was overloaded with mission equipment.


Blackhawks all the way, any day.

 

[Flymh47]

55 in a Chinook. I didn't know they could carry THAT many personnel, frankly.

Our motto was: there's always room for one more...

No one gets left behind.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk - now Free

 

[H46Bubba]

Go lie down in the back of a pickup truck and talk to the driver over a radio while he backs up to hitch up a trailer, it's really not that much different.

"Back 20 down 10

right and down 5

back 5 easy down

3 feet

2 feet

3 feet

1 foot

inches

contact"

The pilot just follows the crew chief's instructions, it takes some skill and a LOT of teamwork, but it's not rocket science either.

The aft rotor in the larger military helicopters is pretty high above the ground, so rotor clearance isn't as much of an issue.

Pretty spot on! My best landing assist feats was getting our pilots to land in an alleyway while performing rescue operations due to the flooding of the Tar River in N.C. after Hurricane Floyd. It was tight and we barely had height clearance!