Topic: This Chopper Flys

[hopterfixer]

oooh-rah hopterfixer.that damn v-22 is a pos and i wouldnt be caught dead in a helicopter.

If you believe everything the media tells you, then it is a POS.  I have 50 hours flight time in it, and I worked on it for nearly five years.  I think I can say it is an amazing machine that will do great things.  Unfortunately it took some lives to figure some things out, and I was pretty close to being one of them.  There are several squadrons flying the hell out of these things right now and you don't hear much about it. 

[Rushoid]

I've heard at least 2 theories that say helos don't fly. One says that they just vibrate so badly that the earth rejects them, the other says that they just beat the air into submission. 

[hopterfixer]

Now that is what you call a Big Assed Mo' Fo'

Although, not to it's face obviously

A lot of CH-53E crews wore a shoulder patch that said "Piss Me Off And I'll Lift Your House" with a picture of a shi++er lifting a house.  Oh, everyone calls them shi++ers because of the black exhaust trail that it leaves in its wake.

[Badger 5]

If you think seeing the haul stuff is cool, you should see when the crew chief has to cut a load.  That's when the fun starts.  They don't care what's under them as long as they save the bird.  LOVE IT.

[putnaja1]

OK, so here's a question for those of you that are helicopter savvy..

I have an idea that I am thinking would help keep pilots and aircrews safe during missions over hostile areas..  I don't want to elaborate on it too much in a public forum, but I am hoping my idea will in fact be helpful- a safety device for the helicopter.  Who would I need to talk to to see if what I have in mind is possible and viable?

[hopterfixer]

If you think seeing the haul stuff is cool, you should see when the crew chief has to cut a load.  That's when the fun starts.  They don't care what's under them as long as they save the bird.  LOVE IT.

I knew a guy who "pickeld" (cut loose) an A-4 from a CH-53D.  He said it was pretty cool looking through the hell hole seeing the A-4 get smaller as his aircraft was clawing for altitude. 

[CrisPDuk]

Now that is what you call a Big Assed Mo' Fo'

Although, not to it's face obviously

A lot of CH-53E crews wore a shoulder patch that said "Piss Me Off And I'll Lift Your House" with a picture of a shi++er lifting a house.  Oh, everyone calls them shi++ers because of the black exhaust trail that it leaves in its wake.

 

I bet Air force pilots were as nice as pie to those aircrews most of the time anyway   Given that it was usually a -53 that pulled the SAR mission if one their fancy jets suffered a SAM induced engine failure

[upperlake04]

BobbyR - whats the story behind this picture?

[BobbyR]

The location is an NVA base about 50km from a town called Duc Duc. The war was going badly in 1971. The NVA leveled Duc Duc for being friendly to Americans and they basically massacred the population. The concept of fast attack teams was coming into vogue. Choppers had been mostly used to ferry troops and material in and out areas. Gunships had been mostly used to support ground troops and fly cover. The attack teams would not carry troops, they would be used as a means to disrupt the enemy. Do not mistake the elegant Apache gunships of today with a UH class ship with miniguns and rocket launchers hung off the sides. The there was no targeting system, you just put whatever you wanted to hit in the crosshairs and let loose. The pods cut your speed down and if the port and starboard rockets failed to fire together, it would turn you sideways. The new ships are elegant and the drivers are better trained, and even today in Iraq, the bad guys scatter when they hear the rotors. If you are low enough, they don't hear you till its too late.

[upperlake04]

  Most guys seem to have a fascination with war, I guess it is because it is a natural age-old human endeavor. I never tire of listening to or reading about it. For some of us who were not born in a time or place where going to war was a given, there is a feeling of 'missing' something that men do. The veterans I've known spoke of the best and the worst times of their lives and today watching a WW1 survivor of Vimy Ridge speaking on TV, I could hear in his voice and and see in his face the powerfull memories even still. I have admiration and even envy for those who have been there.

[BobbyR]

  Most guys seem to have a fascination with war, I guess it is because it is a natural age-old human endeavor. I never tire of listening to or reading about it. For some of us who were not born in a time or place where going to war was a given, there is a feeling of 'missing' something that men do. The veterans I've known spoke of the best and the worst times of their lives and today watching a WW1 survivor of Vimy Ridge speaking on TV, I could hear in his voice and and see in his face the powerfull memories even still. I have admiration and even envy for those who have been there.

My Father in Law passed away last April 1 at the age of 91. He was in the 2nd wave at Normandy. He saw things that no one should see. It haunted him all of his life. He prayed nightly for the souls of the men he killed and for forgiveness.

My Dad built the detonators for the Hiroshima and Nagasaki bombs. He never discusses it. 

I may have a harder heart. I am under no illusion that every rocket missed and the miniguns never found their mark. My door gunner happened to grow up in the next town over from me, we became and and we stayed friends. Two marriages, dozens of rehabs later, he died drunk at the age of 38. I meet these guys all the time.

Don't envy the Men who went to war, and pray for those poor boys over in Afghanistan and Iraq. If you want to read a good book on Vietnam, get a copy of ChickenHawk by Robert Mason. He tells it like it was.

 

[hopterfixer]

A good book about a Marine helicopter squadron in Vietnam is Bonnie Sue, by Marion F. Sturkey.  I had the opportunity to meet him in Okinawa, he is an interesting man.  I think I may need to read the book again, it has been a while. 
http://www.usmcpress.com/bonniesue.htm