Slopes etc
SAS, your last comment is absolutely correct, and it sounded like MJB was in that category.
Just a back of the envelope ( literally ) estimate of upslope rotor to ground clearance in the UH-60 with an uphill lateral slope is just about 5 ft with the rotor at zero coning ( i.e., as the pilot is reducing collective during the landing, and in the 3-4 ft range when you get the downhill wheel on the ground, and the collective/cyclic holding into the slope. Certainly no place for troops, or tall flora. Then of course one can center the cyclic and the clearance improves.
15 degrees is a steeper slope than most people realize. For those that have been there, the midpoint of the hill elevating to the Merritt Parkway Bridge in front of the Sikorsky Executive Offices in Stratford is 15 degrees, although I thought it was near 30 before we measured it.
Thanks,
John Dixson