Brass B@lls

[Gunny_Frost]

A buddy of mine emailed this photo, and I had to post it. Picture was taken in Afghanastan and the pilot is reported as a National Guard serviceman who flies an EMS bird while back in the world.

[rep30cal]

WOW, that is a good photo. I've seen Med-Flight pilots put choppers where I
wouldn't want to park a fire truck.

[Gunny_Frost]

What's even more amazing is that when I was on active duty (1981-2001) our birds were 20+ years old. Wonder just how old and how much duct tape and jb weld is being used to hold that guy's helo together.

[Optimus Prime]

Gotta love the Chinook...
"Hey sarge, should that be leaking?"
"Yeah, let me know if it stops, then start worrying."

[okie shooter]

Not a expert, but I think thats easier than everyone thinks, as look at how a pilot can keep a chopper in hover to pick up folks with a hoist over a target. Having a point to set down two wheels actually might help out. IMHO

That photo has been around though, and for the age of the equipment, Boeing is still making new machines today, thus hopefully the fleet is being replaced with newer variants. That said, its amazeing how old some of the equipment being flown by our forces out there.

[tanstaafl4y]

CH-47...The only aircraft in that can crash into itself.

/I don't know if that is true or not. IIRC, the transmission is synched and the height of the blades is diffrent to prevent a single aircraft midair collision.

[Optimus Prime]

The key is that the blades counter-rotate (that's why it doesn't need a tail rotor) and they're synched so that the blades pass between eachother. If you see one powering up or down and the blades are moving slowly you can really tell.
Now if the rotors come out of synch....

[pgp888se]

cool pic!!

reminds me of seeing the things on the seals and how they have some pilots that train to flood the rear of the helo to allow the seals aboard with the boat and then lift off after they are safely in.i am sure if you look hard enough there is a video online somewhere about it.

[robocop10mm]

I did some work several years ago on the Clint Eastwood/Kevin Costner movie "A Perfect World". The helo pilot they brought in to do some aerial shots was amazing. He had done all the flying on the "Blue Thunder" movie.

Watched him make several passes at about 12 feet, 80+ mph, sideways. HOLY CRAP was that heart stopping.

[okie shooter]

The key is that the blades counter-rotate (that's why it doesn't need a tail rotor) and they're synched so that the blades pass between eachother. If you see one powering up or down and the blades are moving slowly you can really tell.
Now if the rotors come out of synch....
Ya but the rotors are tied together, thats why it also can fly on only one engine, both turboshafts turn one transmission, which turns both rotors. If you want to see a interesting way to have two blades which negates the need for tail rotors too, look at Kaman's, the two blades are on two shafts at slight angles to each other, so the blades intermesh like a hand mixer does.
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/e/e6/N267KA.JPG/800px-N267KA.JPG (http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/e/e6/N267KA.JPG)

[rifleman]

ok the thing about choppers ( and i have minimal flying time) is yes holding still even with something underneath is easy. because it dosent move it around on an x or z axis. mostly a y with pull from ground forces. however with the back load it is inparative to have control so as not to lean in any direction because with the amount of force from the wings aka blades will cause the crart to "fly" in that direction. thus why choppers lean forward to go forward and vise versa. thats why when multiple people repelling from a chopper mist move at same speed to insure the chopper stays stablized and not lean from one side or the other.