Scudrunners

I still remember decades ago. Pre Radar monitoring of the practice area, when someone lying about their position called in just before I keyed the mic and claimed to be where I was. That certainly got my full attention.

I never saw a trace of them, even though I was definitely looking outside.

I was going to create a new topic but maybe I'll just leave this here.

https://www.cbsnews.com/amp/news/army-g ... licopters/

TwinOtterFan wrote: Sat Apr 29, 2023 1:51 pm I was going to create a new topic but maybe I'll just leave this here.

https://www.cbsnews.com/amp/news/army-g ... licopters/

They are intentionally leaving out details in that news release.

I’m not going to let you in on the family jewels, but the “training” required isn’t as broad as you think and scope is very limited.
The “required training” is very easily accomplished, which should have been already accomplished to this point.


As the world of warfare evolves, so too does our training regime. Flying a combat helicopter is dangerous on a good day, let alone in a combat theater when the enemy is dictating your moves.
Deaths in training are inevitable, however we need to dissect and postmortem the event to see what we can do to improve moving forward.

Forgive me forum for I have sinned, two days ago I conflicted without advising. In my defence I didn’t expect circuit traffic to be on a three mile final. Also I was NORDO like a jerk.

The good news is the Champ is back in annual and flies pretty nice. The engine is fantastic save for the oil pump being a little too sloppy.

Not disagreeing with anything your saying Nark, I've been on enough tac hel flights to know what you mean, even had a couple rides in your fancy Blackhawk, And was slung under it once. Loved that bird, what a beast!

Anywho, just thought it was interesting.

I only ever did form in training. I imagine doing it operationally must be a whole other level.

The few times I thought I was going to die in a chopper was during formation flying, under goggles. Weird how that works…

Also, under goggles in a very sandy environment. We call them “DVE: Diminished visual environment.” (That’s how a colonel gets a star, come up with some new term for something that doesn’t need a new term.)
That time too… I was sure I was going to die.

I digress…

My favorite time in the chopper, getting back on topic… was one our less experienced pilots giving a sweet position report on tower frequency at DuPage, IL. For those unaccustomed to the area, it’s in the suburbs of Chicago, with a very busy class D airspace structure.
And yes, there was a “conflicting traffic please advise “ thrown on to the end.

Flying formation with a helicopter is especially spicy because you cannot see his rotor blades.

Flying out of visual formation is suicide. History has taught us that. Some people choose to learn from history. Others do not.

I have been asked to fly formation with a helicopter and politely declined.

Pro tip: if you must, fly line astern. At least you can see his tail. You will die if you fly echelon or line abreast.