check out his channel: Earl Watters - YouTube
That bus is far too clean? Is it fresh out of the paint shop?
That. Was. Amazing. My tail would of been flung off into the stratosphere long before the end of that video
Am I the only one who was waiting for something to snap off? Usually the end result of these vids.
Yeah…definitely the second day on the job for both the helicopter pilot and the rally driver…
I wish his videos were longer, what a job that guy has!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jWz2lZIlX9w
Heli jobs - adventure a usually lot of fun
I love helicopters…but they terrify me. I’m really, really glad I don’t fly one. From engineers to dispatchers to pilots to ground personnel to mechanics…the entire chain of people that participate in helicopter ops have to always be on their “A” game. Helicopters are just so unforgiving of mistakes or deficiencies, and the penalties are so much more stark.
Mad respect for those that do helicopter things in real life. It is no joke.
Airplanes have beautiful shapes that seduce the air to carry them. Helicopters beat the unwilling air into submission.
I also quite like the definition of “a helicopter is a million parts rotating rapidly around an oil leak, waiting for metal fatigue to set in”.
True story: My self and a few other folks were catching a ride from CV-59 on an SH-3. There was a Marine in the group. As we were sitting in the helo troop seats, with the engines running, waiting to take off, a hydraulic line sprung a leak and shot a stream of hydraulic fluid on to the Marine’s lap. Shocked by this development he grabbed the crew chief that was walking by and pointed out the problem, shouting to be heard above the engine noise.
I shall never forget the crew chief’s words as he shouted back, “Don’t worry! It comes out in the wash!”
For helos in fact it is more like magic and little bit of anti-gravitation
You dont know what you are missing
Yes, they can be dangerous as many of the heli jobs are happening low over the terrain and there is little room to act in time and safely.
Sure the rotating wing ( and anti-torque rotor ) is more fragile than in fixed-wings.
But still the rotating wing acts like a wing and helos can fly no-prob without the engine. And to their credit they can land on a dime so you dont need to look for big straight area for emergency landing.
I don’t know if I would have used the caveat “no prob”, however, I assume you are referring to autorotation…which is true enough a form of flying so technically correct.
Yes…I’ve watched many, many helicopters practicing auto-rotations across the many airfields I’ve visited (military and civilian) and it is impossible to look away as they plunge from the sky only to start that transition to the flare at the last second. It is terrifying to watch, and I have no idea how the instructor pilots manage to not barf every morning before climbing into their aircraft. That takes a special kind of fortitude to be a helicopter CFI…
almost like an X-15 landing
Now this is terrifying… sort of
I went to work [flying offshore] for RLC, known back then as Rotorcraft Leasing, flying a Bell 206 B3 out of their base in Galliano, Louisiana.
…
The training at RLC was outstanding. It was the first exposure to turbine aircraft for a lot of new guys, so it incorporated the part 135 training and turbine training, and prepared you to go offshore. The training lasted about two weeks, with about 20 hours of flying. This included autorotations to the water in a 206 with fixed floats.