You've got to see this....
 

Pretty damn good recruitment campaign.... and the flying for that matter. There was something similar to this posted on PPRUNE with a R44 at a rodeo...

Sydney Royal Easter Show 1990

I did! And I thought I could kind of fly a helicopter at the time having about 4000 hours in them. Pretty humbling.

I remember the tail rotor just touching the ground a couple of times and picking up dirt.

In about 1996 we used to drop skydivers in there from about 4K at night. One in an Elvis outfit, one guy with a dog and a large flag advertising dog food (PAL), and other outfits. Used to sit up at about 4K waiting for the off and as I was not privy to the radio comms for the timing which was critical you might be sitting there talking to the guys and then all of a sudden you were on your own! In those years there was a cable strung across the arena at about 100'. The guys under canopy would sometimes bug out if they couldn't get the right approach due to the wind and ended up in the car park or the suburbs rather than in the cable in front of a load of people. Large cojones or mad, it was difficult to tell. These guys also did a lot of illegal BASE jumping in the city but thats another story!

I remember. The difference is, this pilot was talented and the R44 jockey was not! :eek:

Snoopy - Flying inside a stadium
 

:eek:

1990 - back in the days where there were no display regulations in Australia I guess:)

Excellent Video, it must have been spectacular sitting in the audience. The chances of that happening now are pretty remote. Anything like that requires a risk assessment and method statement nowadays and I suspect it would not get past the first question. Could you imagine the Health and Safety Executive comments to the bit that says.......

Well we were proposing to put two large helicopters inside the arena at night hovering out of ground effect close to the audience then pulling into a vertical climb with some people dangling outside.....

Well.........probably not!

Wonderfull show ! the least we can say, is that the 206 pilot knows something about helicopter flying ! I cannot forbid myself to smile when I tdream about a similar display in our grim modern helicopter world.:rolleyes:

But of course the great German Hannah Reich did it a fair few years earlier than that at the Berlin Sports Stadium mid 1930s perhaps. Dennis K

Hanna Reitsch did it even indoors in February 1938


skadi

About time someone did a risk assessment on the fun police !!!

The Snoopy pilot was Ross Rundle (retired), he did hundreds of these displays. The 'handler' in this case was Steve Graham (HeliCorp?), but the act was often conducted by a female clerk from the SAA at Oakey - can't remember her name. The commentator was Paddy O'Brian (RIP), killed in an EMS accident at Rockhampton (mid 90's?).

The demo. was stunning to see live, and appreciated by all. The fixed wing guys also did a gobb-smacking demo in the Pilatus Porter, flying in/out of areas no bigger than the stadium.

Of course there was risk, but it seems in today's world that mediocrity and arse covering is the norm. I spent my first years in the those last days of the 'golden era' of aviation, and although we do lot of things better now, we have lost that passion and grit.

All very good, but the paint job is a bit of a giveaway of this being an RC Jetranger. However this was a very good example of the cameras ability of deception of depth perception.

The Sea Kings are also nice models, similar to the one used in the theatre play Miss Saigon.

Just about a month too late !
;)

Excellent, excellent stuff (Both the Aussies and Hannah!)

Any comments fkelly?
https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/_6...LMHHG8/pie.jpg

No, why do you ask?

The good old days are gone mate
 

Regulations and insurance companies have really put a damper on these types of aerial displays. Great show, would of loved to be there.

Always good to get a bite! ;)

I thought I could fly but that was a truly awesome display. To do all that at night was very impressive. It would be great to see displays like that today but crowd safety and SMS means it will never happen. Great to have the video here.

Imagine getting away with this today
 

I could see the Health & Safety brigade having kittens


Helicopter Flying Show | Big Geek Daddy

looks a bit like my first solo!

Sure you are not getting mixed up with this one?


YouTube - Broadcast Yourself.


:E

Very well done!

Some how I think the bureaucracy extant today would be a show stopper!:rolleyes:

The Kiowa belonged to 161 Recce Squadron.
From memory the pilot was the OC.

I am truly impressed, thanks for sharing this video!

Tom

Great flying. If anything went wrong it would have been spectacularly wrong.

Forgive my ignorance chaps and this from someone finally about to achieve a PPL(H), but having watched this actually how long would it take to achieve this level of control? Is this a standard which most commercial pilots with a few years behind them could master. Or is it another level as such?

You could offshore for 1000 and not come close, they you could go cattle chasing for a couple of months and be better . . . in the end it comes down to you, some people could fly their whole lives and never be there, others months.

The Army Air Corps did it with a Sioux in the Deutchlandhalle to commemorate the event, I remember reading in the flight scrap book that Hanna was invited but didn't attend as she would only attend if all her expenses were paid.

Thanks for the observation Blender but these days it is by chance that one is better.

Very very seldom do we see newbies being held in the curcuit and go no further until they will f'n well hold a hover, or hold one skid on a drum while the check pilot clambers out in a most ungainly manner, acts the clown and pretends to fall base over apex, tripping over the loose skid at the same time, or and then inadvertantly fall into the side of the machine, grab the skid and shake it vigourously, jump back into the seat with a thump, demand the pupe to hover with the HF aerial at a constant distance to a tree top as the machine is hovered laterally at a constant turn rate around it or the tail rotor same same, etc, etc, etc.

Some of the check pilots think they are training same as of the days of auld - THINK they are, but most go no further than the science of pretending to be the mentalist to teach the beating of a cows brain power, in itself a challenge for most. I.E. One does not have to think like a cow, but one has to think smarter than a cow.

Until we see more of that old style training then I'll go with the professionals of your ilk as the more precise operators.

One thing for sure some of the videos around of these same cowboy drivers adequately demonstrate to our acute embarrassment, that some of them cannot hold an attituide for any time at all. They'd never cut it as a gymnast, that's for sure.

The real answer for the question regarding snoopy, is yes it is very easy and only with a few hours of training. Planning is the key, In his case being aware of distances to the crowd barriers etc is demonstrated as being well attended to in his plan.

cheers tet

The extent of it nowadays (every year in a couple of the big Stadiums for Football / Rugby grand finals) seems to be flying a Blackhawk into the stadium, land or hover and then out again. Occasionally a roping demo but haven't seen much else.

Where can you find entertainment like this these days?
 

http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=923_1315519656

Snoopy
 

Brilliant piece of flying .... Made for great viewing... Stick & rudder stuff

Sea kings must have given the crowd a dusting :eek:

What could possibly go wrong - helicopter rodeo ;-)
 

A new to me vid of a chopper performing at a local rodeo. All looks safe to me, and I think it must be a trick of the camera - loads of room to play with ;-)

As always, as soon as someone says "it's an oldie", I'll delete:


http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=02b_1407207177

I still would not want to be the cameraman in the foreground with a tail rotor swinging by at about head height.

TB

Don't think that particular vid has been posted before, though it does have precedent:

An accident in the waiting..... (R44)

And of course Ross Rundle & Snoopy...

Snoopy - Flying inside a stadium (B206)

I/C

Hardly a sell out attendance....

Not sure how the bloke on the skid kept his footing!
Guess he has a lot of experience on bucking bulls.

Cameraman was in good position to "get the shot", but would be more protected below the level of the fence :)

An unmanned and well secured camera could have been left on the platform.


Mickjoebill

Must be the dream of every commercial pilot to get such a high profile job:E
I'd rather quit flying.

Definitely a candidate for the Darwin Awards - or rather several candidates. :hmm:

Absolutely outrageous - I don't think that aircraft is properly night equipped!

that's pretty good control on the spiral out!

won't comment on anything else....