Chinooks into Popham !

[sunday driver]

Impressed to see TWO Chinooks in close formation into Popham's 26 threshold yesterday around 1530.

Hope all the residents were safely tied down.

SD

[ShyTorque]

Especially that bloke just off the A303 who complains about the noise.

[betterfromabove]

Yeah, saw a photo on Popham's website yesterday that had me thinking...

http://www.popham-airfield.co.uk/images/chinook.JPG

HOOOWWW close is that leading rotor to the ground?!??! :eek:

Are they using civvie strips regularly for navex's now (?!), because was at Compton a while back & tow of them came in for just that....then just sat abeam the far threshold for 10 mins swashing mega-vortex over the entire field!

Spectacular, but rather expensive if you're sat at the other end.:zzz:

They then departed ultra-low level right over the most noise-sensitive part of the circuit......:hmm: Very amusing.

[Knight Paladin]

It's almost as if they're training for a war zone..... How dare they fly low over Mrs Miggins' house, or keep you waiting at the hold? It's not like they're preserving your freedom to indulge in your hobby or Mrs Miggins' freedom to make noise complaints.

Frankly, I'm outraged.....

[betterfromabove]

OK, thought we might get a reply like that. Took the fun out of the post at least...

If it helps, they're in a league most of us can only dream about. Doesn't even need discussing.

But yes, there were some interesting words between the A/G & the captain on-board after the incident at Compton I was talking about.

We all make mistakes. The wise digest.

[ShyTorque]

HOOOWWW close is that leading rotor to the ground?!??!

About twenty times further away than the prop of an average taildragger on takeoff? :D

[Hyph]

HOOOWWW close is that leading rotor to the ground?!??!

I used to enjoy watching them come past my office window like that. Occasionally one would fly at the window and turn away just in time, usually with plenty of rotorwash slapping against the windows. Generally put a stop to any conversation going on at the time.

I think they took particular delight in setting off all the car alarms and generally driving the security guards mad. ;)

[LowNSlow]

Back in the dim mists of time when Solent Flight were based in Popham they had an instructor who was based in Odiham. He used to get a lift to work in the Mighty Wokka.

[Whirlygig]

Anyone on the route from Odiham to Benson has the pleasure of the Wokka coming over - I miss them now!:}

I used to live just East of Thatcham by the canal and could watch them training over the old waste land at Colthrop - "nice Rate 1 turn there sunshine!", "dodgy entry into autorotation there old bean!" etc ...

More often than not, if I waved, I got a flash of the landing light back! Fabulous aircraft, much faster than you think and much much more agile!

Cheers

Whirls

[Genghis the Engineer]

Popham does seem to act as a bit of a magnet for low-flying military aircraft on occasion - fortunately it's never caused an accident.

But, here's a thought. Let's say you are a Chinook pilot trying to insert a bunch of SAS 100 miles behind enemy lines. You'll have a chart covered in warnings about ground AAA installations, observation posts, etc that you want to stay well away from otherwise there's a good risk of some foreign chappie whose views about the desirable outcome of a particular war differ from your own, shooting you down.

Now take a civil chart of, say, the South of England - it's covered in warnings about unlicenced civil airfields, glider tow cables, hang-gliding sites, bird sanctuaries, etc. Surely avoiding all of those as far as possible is absolutely excellent practice for when people start shooting at you?

Something similar applies to lookout (although with the exception of AAC Apaches and Lynxes, I'd say that UK military pilots are generally much better at that than most civil pilots).

G

[airborne_artist]

But, here's a thought. Let's say you are a Chinook pilot trying to insert a bunch of SAS 100 miles behind enemy lines......unlicenced civil airfields, glider tow cables, hang-gliding sites,

Apart from the nature reserves, all of the above are inactive after dark. No self-respecting SF team will be inserted in anything but 8/8 darkness, so there's not much to be gained by playing in and out of the dusty bluebells with the chart, during daylight hours ;)

[Genghis the Engineer]

Fair point, well made AA.

G

[ShyTorque]

Also, perfect pilots aren't delivered in a cardboard box. New, inexperienced pilots have to train somewhere. They can't always get it exactly right first time or there would be no need to train anyone.

Those who have never tried to navigate at 50' agl and 150 kts ought to think about the difficulty of the task we require our military helicopter pilots to do.

:)

[betterfromabove]

This is actually what prompted my original question about whether those guys were using civvie strips...outside of their usual haunts there aren't many places where you can snook around with a Chinook at 50AGL without rattling some panes :}

I'm sure their "lookout" is pretty damn good at that height either way....outside of a CX, (aerial!) traffic is not necessarily your main concern!

What I saw at Compton that day did make me think again about the consequences of mixing heavy helis & light GA in a confined space tho'....a Chinook hovering at 50' at the 26 end while 08 in use will effectively shut the place down for as long as he's there....

PS. The A/G may have had his palm on his forehead that day as he discussed Compton's tight noise abatement procedures with a house-shaving wukka, but you don't hear the sneaky laughter either - I wonder!

[Whirlygig]

I think Wokkas laugh in the face of noise abatement procedures!!!! :} :ok: The residents of Hampstead Norreys, Comtpon and surrounding villages are more than used to them!

There was nothing like training near Coltishall to learn that there can be big things in Class G that can kill you!!!

Cheers

Whirls

[betterfromabove]

Ditto Aldershot, Alton and surrounds. Use to live round there & during midweek first Chinook up of the day over the Hog's back told you'd laid in too late! Better than any alarm clock.