Iranian President dies in helicopter crash.

[MikeD]

Bell 214ST looked like a cool chopper, wondered why the US never operated them.

US military didn’t. But civilian versions operate in the Gulf of Mexico, and I saw them even a number of years back in Afghanistan, contractor flown.

 

[Maximilian_Jenius]

Bell 214ST looked like a cool chopper, wondered why the US never operated them.

It's the Bell 525 Relentless for me, and I'm not even a helicopter fan. But it just sexy!

 

[///AMG]

US military didn’t. But civilian versions operate in the Gulf of Mexico, and I saw them even a number of years back in Afghanistan, contractor flown.

When I worked at the FBO at KCVO in college, we had this heavy lift rotary wing operator next door, and partially sharing our hangar, called HTSI. The majority of their fleet were Skycranes, but they had a couple others.....I think I recall a CH-53D, and then also a 214ST. The 214 was super loud and always cool to watch fly around. Don't think I ever saw the -53 leave the hangar. I'm not sure if they are still around though.

 

[Pilot Fighter]

They probably got a lot of parts for same from the Iran deal, lots of bench stock. Plus, the engine parts can easily be sourced for the Lycomings from any of the tons of countries around the world who fly the Bell products.
Not sure if they are producing anything new. But moreso using the production and tooling facilities for depot rebuilds and heavy Mx and checks.

Wonder where all those old timed-out CJ610 aircraft went? A fair number were/are used by the Iranians to get fresh J85 parts via GE CJ610 overhauls .

 

[knot4u]

It's the Bell 525 Relentless for me, and I'm not even a helicopter fan. But it just sexy!

I recall late one night on the ramp at KVNY and being told to go out and marshal a helicopter into transient parking. Okay, no problem, I said to myself as I grabbed a couple of wands and headed off to an out of the way portion of the ramp (helicopters with skids are not exactly tow friendly so they'd get parked where they didn't interfere with other operations). I saw some lights in the distance and heard some noise approaching so I stood up with one wand pointed straight up and another pointed at where I wanted this helicopter to land. It was almost the end of my shift and I wanted to leave, I was also probably expecting a Hughes 500 or a Bell 206, it seemed as if I was standing there forever. But the lights kept getting brighter and the noise kept getting louder so I stayed in position and just waited. Eventually an enormous flying contraption was hovering above and in front of me and they turned off their landing lights as they approached the hover so they didn't blind me. I looked up and saw lightning forming an almost perfect circle off of the tips of the main rotor blades (this happens in certain atmospheric conditions) and realized this was not a JetRanger. I guided them down and waited for them to shut down. It was the biggest Huey I've ever seen, maybe it was a 412? They were a search and rescue crew on their way from somewhere to somewhere and just needed some fuel. My job was done for the night and the graveyard shift took over when I left. I've experienced a lot of impressive things in aviation but the memory of standing out on the ramp with that monster providing a light show 20' away still stands out.

 

[bimmerphile]

I recall late one night on the ramp at KVNY and being told to go out and marshal a helicopter into transient parking. Okay, no problem, I said to myself as I grabbed a couple of wands and headed off to an out of the way portion of the ramp (helicopters with skids are not exactly tow friendly so they'd get parked where they didn't interfere with other operations). I saw some lights in the distance and heard some noise approaching so I stood up with one wand pointed straight up and another pointed at where I wanted this helicopter to land. It was almost the end of my shift and I wanted to leave, I was also probably expecting a Hughes 500 or a Bell 206, it seemed as if I was standing there forever. But the lights kept getting brighter and the noise kept getting louder so I stayed in position and just waited. Eventually an enormous flying contraption was hovering above and in front of me and they turned off their landing lights as they approached the hover so they didn't blind me. I looked up and saw lightning forming an almost perfect circle off of the tips of the main rotor blades (this happens in certain atmospheric conditions) and realized this was not a JetRanger. I guided them down and waited for them to shut down. It was the biggest Huey I've ever seen, maybe it was a 412? They were a search and rescue crew on their way from somewhere to somewhere and just needed some fuel. My job was done for the night and the graveyard shift took over when I left. I've experienced a lot of impressive things in aviation but the memory of standing out on the ramp with that monster providing a light show 20' away still stands out.

Kopp–Etchells effect - Wikipedia

en.m.wikipedia.org

 

[knot4u]

Kopp–Etchells effect - Wikipedia

en.m.wikipedia.org

That's what it looked like, but it was on a large concrete ramp in Van Nuys (when Petersen Aviation was still brand new) and it was prior to the source in that wiki article, it was probably '94?. Sometimes the atmosphere is just so full of energy it's looking for a place to display it, other times it's not and nothing extraordinary happens.

 

[///AMG]

I mean I think the phenomenon existed before it was named, eh?

 

[knot4u]

I mean I think the phenomenon existed before it was named, eh?

Of course, but the article he provided had a lot to do with the sand acting on the rotors like we'd see when using an abrasive wheel. In my circumstance it was just the perfect atmospheric conditions for the STATIC ELECTRICITY to give me a wonderful memory.