All this force and momentum talk reminded me of something from the past. We were told that when you catch the Gazelle by her tail, she cannot take off. First we thought that it cannot be truth, but then started to think, well, there is a lot of distance from head to tail, and a guy with 80+kg on the end… and there we were, colleague of mine hoverin’ at 3-4 feet, and me sneaking from behind, with headset on and cord in my suit so not to be tangled in fenestrone. I grabbed her on the tail, there is a handle in the back (instant thought: what a @#$% am I doing here!!!) and pulled her up and down to signal him. He started to push cyclic, and I felt tail is going up and slowly stretching me. Then, a thought crossed my mind: if he pulls me more, I’ll have to let her go, an who knows if he could compensate from sudden nose down surge while hovering so low. Luckyly, he thought the same, leveled her out and landed.
Young and stupid.., but if nothing, it was worth a laugh every time we remembered it.