The guy who opens this up is absolutely right. We're much too risk-averse any more.
Amazing Helicopter Flying, Australia
Amazing Helicopter Flying, Australia
Rotary-wing aviation show and thoughts on changes in society
- Thread starter Veer_G
- Start date
Pilot has great big balls of brass, and the guy on the ground ain't too far behind. However, they only would have to fuck up once....say the pilot putting the main rotor into the dirt, smacking the tail rotor into ANYTHING (I notice there was no "stinger" on the vertical fin, which keeps the fin from hitting the ground), or the ground guy getting too close and having his head batted into the audience.
I have 3000 hours of rotary wing time in UH-1's AH-1's, and OH-58D(I) and D(R) helicopters. I've done my share of stupid shit, but nothing that compares to that particular rodeo.
I have 3000 hours of rotary wing time in UH-1's AH-1's, and OH-58D(I) and D(R) helicopters. I've done my share of stupid shit, but nothing that compares to that particular rodeo.
I've turned down some free airshows because they have gotten too boring.
You're right about this one. Night and rotor blades within 2-3' of the ground is very dangerous for everyone.Would never happen today unless the flight crew wants a ground based civilian job.
Best airshow I've personally ever seen was a Nat.Guard F-15 at about 80' in full burner pulling 4-5G right over my head. Hair on my back was still standing a week later!
It's part of the pussification of the West. Along with pushing soccer on our kids, instead of football or baseball, stigmatizing all the "manly arts," such as hunting and fishing, and seconding the importance of self-reliance to dependance on community.
Can you imagine the linguini-spined crew we've got running this country right now taking the decision to invade the European mainland, fully expecting that that action would produce casualties on the scale of the tens of thousands? Because that's just what FDR did (bless his socialist little heart).
In flight training, Chuck Yeager and his peeps would go out in their prop job trainers and fly low-level down desert roads, in a contest to see who could leave the longest string of unbroken propeller marks in the sand. Which I'm sure made their crew chiefs pleased as punch.
The most difficult adversity to survive is success. Because when times get too easy, once we've reached Maslow's self-actualization level, we start dreaming up stupid shit to do, to make ourselves feel "relevant." My theory is that we're only so successful as a species because we're so accomplished at coping with stressful situations. Which has made us stress addicts. So when life doesn't give us our stress fix, we feel compelled to do stupid shit to fuck up our idyllic existence, so's we'll get our dose.
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Lessee: 1-2 Attack in Korea (Twice), 4/3 ACR (Twice), 4/2 ACR, 1-1 Cav (Desert Storm), 1-7 Cav, and 1-4 Cav (OIF 2).
Ft. Living Room in 2005.
