Your favourite moment in a Helicopter!
Join Date: Apr 2006
Location: UK
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Why should I lighten up? We've just had a long and heated debate about individuals performing questionable manouevres; here we have a public service aircraft being handled in a way and over an area that many would consider questionable. If a traffic patrol turned up at the same housing estate and started performing donuts would you have the same response?
Lighten up? Nah....just shut up!
.
Fr Kelly: Helicopter crews are a fraternity who look out for each other. They are also permitted certain expressions of freedom - seen as a necessary part of maintaining balance in what, at times, can be a most stressful occupation
or were you never taught these things!
I imagine the residents would find it highly amusing - it could even endear the police to some who might otherwise have viewed them as unapproachable!
Sav
Fr Kelly: Helicopter crews are a fraternity who look out for each other. They are also permitted certain expressions of freedom - seen as a necessary part of maintaining balance in what, at times, can be a most stressful occupation
or were you never taught these things!
If a traffic patrol turned up at the same housing estate and started performing donuts would you have the same response?
Sav
Join Date: Feb 2005
Location: Australia
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Torque turn, yeah SOP for getting going back where you've just come from, real quick like.
Back on thread, a couple of standouts.
Coming to a stop with a couple of feet of skids sticking over the edge of a ten foot drop with father in law on board on a 3B1 after a freewheel slip at fifty feet just starting to approach translation downwind. Tried twice to re-engage the blessed thing on the way down and what happens on the ground, you guessed it, re-engaged like nothing was wrong.
Coming to a stop in amongst a big heap of large rocks without a scratch after the damper clamps on a G5 completey and suddenly departed company with the mast. Talk about twitchy, I could only just steer it straight and held the breath for quite some time after coming to a sliding stop, sitting at 3200 locked on the controls and repeating to myself, good boy ----, good boy ----. Almost went upside down 2 or 3 times.
Getting my old man to take off and hover a G5, after an hour and his abscense from a flying machine of any sort for 30 years, the last of which had been P51's in Japan. Following on the family theme signing out my son on mustering and then doing double musters with him. Not too many have done that.
Back on thread, a couple of standouts.
Coming to a stop with a couple of feet of skids sticking over the edge of a ten foot drop with father in law on board on a 3B1 after a freewheel slip at fifty feet just starting to approach translation downwind. Tried twice to re-engage the blessed thing on the way down and what happens on the ground, you guessed it, re-engaged like nothing was wrong.
Coming to a stop in amongst a big heap of large rocks without a scratch after the damper clamps on a G5 completey and suddenly departed company with the mast. Talk about twitchy, I could only just steer it straight and held the breath for quite some time after coming to a sliding stop, sitting at 3200 locked on the controls and repeating to myself, good boy ----, good boy ----. Almost went upside down 2 or 3 times.
Getting my old man to take off and hover a G5, after an hour and his abscense from a flying machine of any sort for 30 years, the last of which had been P51's in Japan. Following on the family theme signing out my son on mustering and then doing double musters with him. Not too many have done that.
Join Date: Jul 2002
Location: Ireland
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At dusk, in a 105, watching the moon's reflection follow me from stretch to stretch of water over the bogs south of Clifden (west of Ireland). The moon appeared to dive underground and resurface and remained in my memory well after all the beautiful sunrises Her Majesty invited me to witness in various parts of the world had faded.
Skill-wise the one perfect landing in 30,000 plus I do remember - I think!
Skill-wise the one perfect landing in 30,000 plus I do remember - I think!
whoateallthepies,
What torque turn? You have been playing with "Photoshop" and "Google Earth" again haven't you. C'mon fess up.
What torque turn? You have been playing with "Photoshop" and "Google Earth" again haven't you. C'mon fess up.
Join Date: Mar 2009
Location: Beside the seaside
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fkelly - it depends on whether it was over his girlfriends house or not. If it was then perfectly acceptable.
AAC display team, Earls Court 1982 in the back of the static display Scout with a non-too-bright Essex girl when the crowds had left. I promised her that she was now a member of the mile-high club.
AAC display team, Earls Court 1982 in the back of the static display Scout with a non-too-bright Essex girl when the crowds had left. I promised her that she was now a member of the mile-high club.
Join Date: Jun 2002
Location: Florida/Sandbox/UK
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On my own, out over the Irish Sea at 2am, low level, on goggles, gin clear night, watching the Northern Lights perform, heading home to Scotland for sex (yeah ok, the last bit was ambitious but the rest was fantastic). Thank you to Her Majesty for moments like that.
Tam
Tam
Join Date: Jun 2002
Location: home and abroad
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The take off run with an empty offshore helicopter from our home base, commanded by a real gentleman with a twisted sense of humour and me in the copilot seat, and us both independent of each other starting to hum "ride of the valkyries" the moment we hit Vtoss.
Join Date: Aug 2001
Location: Oman
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fkelly - Who says it was flown under a PAOC? And you are right - my handling is always questionable. I usually manage to regain control before we hit anything. It's spelled "manouevres", by the way.
Savoia - You are a Gentleman of the first order.
Topend - Damn right! The quickest way to 180!
RVDT - Damn! I've been sussed! The hardest bit was changing the angle on the AHI. You can get the same picture on Google Earth. - Just add cockpit!
Savoia - You are a Gentleman of the first order.
Topend - Damn right! The quickest way to 180!
RVDT - Damn! I've been sussed! The hardest bit was changing the angle on the AHI. You can get the same picture on Google Earth. - Just add cockpit!
favorite times in a helicopter
Join Date: Aug 2000
Location: Liverpool based Geordie, so calm down, calm down kidda!!
Age: 60
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Favourite: First time I was cleared to fly a 50' Low Level Navex with just a crewman to keep me in line. Got out drenched in sweat and had to get someone to kick me between the legs to get rid of the smile.......
Biggest relief: Breaking cloud on absolute minimums with very little fuel and no diversions available. 10 SAS monsters in the back had just survived a firefight and I nearly killed them
Scariest: Looking at a CWP full of red lights through the smoke in the cockpit as we hit the ground (or landed as we like to call it) in a jungle clearing in Belize.
But most of all...... Going to work every day knowing I am being paid for this
Biggest relief: Breaking cloud on absolute minimums with very little fuel and no diversions available. 10 SAS monsters in the back had just survived a firefight and I nearly killed them
Scariest: Looking at a CWP full of red lights through the smoke in the cockpit as we hit the ground (or landed as we like to call it) in a jungle clearing in Belize.
But most of all...... Going to work every day knowing I am being paid for this
Landing - upright, with my socks up and my watch still going.
--------
Flying down 'Baywatch Beach' in a Jetranger under LAX approach at 100ft waving to the girlys sunbathing - I was only young
Join Date: Sep 2001
Location: NORTH EAST
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Flying along the space shuttle landing runway at Canaveral in Florida at 500 feet - pre September 11th 2001. Blew my mind as a low hours trainee.
I think the closest you can fly to Canaveral now is Texas.
I think the closest you can fly to Canaveral now is Texas.
Since the Shuttle program was retired last year you only have to ask Orlando Approach for permission to fly to the shuttle strip and they usually clear you for a low approach or even GPS approaches and give you vectors. For other "space activity" and launches there's always a TFR in effect. Lot's of people from my flight school have done approaches into KTTS. Quite boring aparently in a S300 or R22 
cause it takes forever to fly the runway.
cause it takes forever to fly the runway.
Join Date: May 2008
Location: usa
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My most fun in a helicopters, is a tie. First one of my favorites is a night cross country in a R22, on a full moon night between Oahu, Lani, and Molokai islands in Hawaii. Truly an amazing experience. Other had to be at 10k + over the coastal mountain range just NW of Skagway AK. In my experiences it was the most beautiful view on earth. Hundreds of miles of spectacular mountains and glaciers. Google maps/earth it. Really cool. Only other pictures I have seen that compare are of the Himalayas in Nepal, which are too tall to have a birds eye view of in a heli. I have been very lucky to have been able to see such things!