Remember all those hours practicing a Tactical Figure Eight Instrument Approach.....that no one ever...ever dared try as it was absolutely certain you would get Vertigo or get lost in space in some dark, foggy, nasty place?
Re the photo of the Chinook landing on the roof top.....it actually is much easier than it appears.
You position the aircraft over the landing spot so the rear wheels hit the right spot.....lower the Thrust Lever....Collective to the Not Knowing....until the gear touch....bring the cyclic back to the "Two Inch Mark" on the Cyclic Stick Position Indicator (actually about two inches aft cyclic or so....) then simply maintain pitch attitude with the Thrust Lever and yaw control using pedals.....a piece of cake as it replicates the takeoff from the ground maneuver where you do exactly the same thing in reverse.
We used to ground taxi using that method to include backing up....kinda like making Jumbo dance at the Circus....it happens slowly and with some good delay between inputs and outcomes.
The only trick to the landing is if you are sitting out over the wide, wide World on a mountain top or atop a cliff....and then as you cannot see behind you to know where you are relative to the ground....it can get a bit interesting....but that is why you have to trust and rely upon the Crew in the back to help you out by talking you down.
Last edited by SASless; 30th Aug 2012 at 18:53.