Sit your ass down.

[ozofprev]

Man, these guys are good!

Image Insert:

62.14 KB

[hausdok]

You ain't kidding!

Those guys are truly unsung heroes. Remember 2-3 years ago when that pilot landed that old C47 Gooneybird on a residential steet in Florida and by doing so prevented a real catastrophe? That was my cousin, Charlie Riggs; an ex Vietman shithook (Chinook) pilot. He got shot down in 'Nam taking off from a hot LZ when they took a round at that rear rotor hub and it separated and cut the machine in half. Charlie spent a long time in the hospital and ended up with a hell of a gimp, a steel brace, and a plastic heel. After he was discharged he flew all sorts of stuff in and out of some really crazy places. If I'd been shot out of the sky, I dunno if I'd ever want to fly again. The guy has stones the size of a Hummer (how do you like that for a pun?).

ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!!

Mike

[Les]

That is amazing. If you understand helicopters, it is more amazing. Oh ya, those guys are nuts!!

[ozofprev]

Mike, cousin Charlie is one cool dude! And Les is right - those who really know about choppers will get goosebumps looking at that pic.

[Jim Katen]

I keep staring at that picture and wondering:

Where is that? Afghanistan?

How do you control the yaw on that thing?

Why are those guys hunched down? The blades must be 14 feet above their heads.

What do they call it a Chinook when it doesn't look anything like a fish?

- Jim Katen, Oregon

[hausdok]

Hi Jim,

Those blades rotate in opposite directions to counteract the tendency that choppers have to yaw. They're either loading or unloading something heavy. I've got a video around here of the place where my nephew is in Afghanistan, I'd say that's where it is. It sure as hell ain't Iraq - unless it's in the far north near the Turkish border. That's probably an outpost in the mountains along the Pakistani border.

Almost all American army helicopters are traditionally and officially named after native American tribes. The Chinook are a tribe. So are the Kiowa, Cheyenne, Sioux, Black Hawk, Choctow, Comanche, Mohawk, Iroquois, Cayuse, Apache, Mojave, Osage, Tarhe, Chickasaw, Shawnee - all U.S. Army helicopter models since the first one, the Raven, in 1947.

ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!!

Mike

[Richard Moore]

Looks like Tennessee.

Download Attachment: rooftop.jpg

88.71 KB

Seriously though...I have nothing but admiration for everyone who serves, or has ever served, in our armed forces.

[hausdok]

I don't want to go too far afield.

I know that some folks consider showing anything related to what our military is doing overseas as being a political statement; and I've prohibited political or religious discussion here, so, if learning more about what our boys and girls in the military offends anyone's sensibilities, please leave this thread now and do not click on the links below.

For those who proceed, and those who might respond to the thread, please, no political commentary about the mission, whether you feel it's right or wrong, or anything like that. This is just to show you a little bit of what life is like for soldiers during wartime. You'll see that there's nothing glamorous about it, that it's hard, dirty, thankless work, and that their biggest enemy is boredom.

I don't want to repeat myself, but I must; please, everyone reading this, if you can't view this thread and respect the individual choice that every one of these troops made to serve, regardless of his/her own opinion about rightness or wrongness of the mission, without attacking them and going off on a liberal rant against the current administration, or without launching into a conservative chest-pounding session and all of that other political jabberwocky, please do not respond.

This is a slide show from a reporter that's embedded with my nephew Josh's National Guard unit. He's the skinny buck sergeant standing next to the reporter in the slide immediately following the title slide FOBS. Turn up your volume, the guy speaks kind of softly.

http://www.thestate.com/sc-at-war/story ... 2-t19.html

For more articles and videos from this reporter, go here:

http://www.thestate.com/sc-at-war/

My little brother, Hugh, is proud as hell of his son, as am I. Hugh is a DOD civilian employee and former Vietnam vet - he was a crew chief on AH-1G Cobras and Sioux (Huey's) and did a little door gunner time in the 'Nam. He's scheduled to go over in a few months.

This is a July article that talks about Josh's unit's mission over there. Josh is quoted accurately but they got his name wrong and called him John O'Handley.

--------------------------

From The State, July 1, 2007

Small base camp in quiet zone

S.C. soldiers live modest life at lookout station in Afghanistan

In-Depth Coverage

By Chuck Crumbo

KANDAHAR AIR FIELD, Afghanistan — Outside the walls of Forward Operating Base Lindsey lies some of the most peaceful real estate in this part of Afghanistan.

Merchants peddle vegetables, fruits and soda pop from a group of shacks that U.S. troops call “Wal-Mart.â€

[JEuriech]

In my younger days, I flew helicopters (Hueys) in Vietnam. One of the most difficult time periods to go through are the holidays. Thanksgiving and Christmas are extremely difficult for anyone overseas. Overall morale drops considerably as the troops think of their loved ones back home.

If you know of anyone currently overseas, I encourage you to send them a card or small package over the holidays. While this may not seem like much to you, it means a lot to the person receiving it. Take a moment to help brighten someone else's day.

Jeff Euriech

Peoria Arizona

[Jim Katen]

Originally posted by Richard Moore

Looks like Tennessee.

Richard, you are a very funny man. I'd love to meet you someday.

- Jim Katen, Oregon

[Richard Moore]

Originally posted by Jim Katen

Richard, you are a very funny man. I'd love to meet you someday.

- Jim Katen, Oregon

Ummm Jim...

I'm flattered but I should point out that I'm happily married. Probably best to keep this on a professional basis. [:-eyebrow

BTW, the wife originally "trapped" me with the classic old pick-up line..."Is that an 85mm, F1.8, Super-Multi-Coated Takumar lens in your pocket, or are you just happy to see me?"

So that wouldn't work either! []

[ozofprev]

Yes Jim, it was taken by a soldier in Afghanistan. They are rescuing some injured soldiers.

All of my flying has been fixed-wing, and I think you ask an excellent question wrt the yaw. Mike must be right with the counter rotation - still it seems that there would need to be something else to fine-tune the yaw.

So far as being hunched down, if I was used to people shooting at me, I can't imagine any other position.

Thanks Mike - I didn't know where the names came from either.

[Jim Katen]

Originally posted by ozofprev

Yes Jim, it was taken by a soldier in Afghanistan. They are rescuing some injured soldiers.

All of my flying has been fixed-wing, and I think you ask an excellent question wrt the yaw. Mike must be right with the counter rotation - still it seems that there would need to be something else to fine-tune the yaw. . .

The full answer is quite complex. I had no idea that you could alter the pitch of the rotors in a cyclical manner. I found the answer here:

http://www.aerospaceweb.org/question/he ... 0017.shtml

Amazing machines.

- Jim Katen, Oregon

[hausdok]

Originally posted by ozofprev

I think you ask an excellent question wrt the yaw. Mike must be right with the counter rotation - still it seems that there would need to be something else to fine-tune the yaw.

Hi guys,

Well yeah, there is a little more to it than that. Basic yaw is controlled when one rotor that's exactly the same size as the other rotates in the opposite direction. This cancels out the tendency of the machine to spin. The pilot can also tweak throttle and blade pitch slightly, to decrease angle of attack and lessen vibration, but tandem rotor helicopers have a cyclic differential to turn them and stabilize them at hover and at low speets. The differential automatically tilts the rotors in opposite directions when cyclic is applied by the pilot.

When the pilot wants to pivot the craft to the right (right cyclic) he applies right cyclic and the front rotor will angle right along with the stick while the differential applies left cyclic to the rear rotor. Increase cyclic more and she turns faster, reduce it and she slows. All of it's done by while keeping the top of that stick moving with an imaginary circle that's less than the diameter of a nickel.

ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!!

Mike

[hausdok]

Oops! Jim posted his while I was composing mine! I'll have to check that out and see how accurate my explanation is.

OT - OF!!!

M.

[charlieb]

Originally posted by hausdok

Originally posted by ozofprev

I think you ask an excellent question wrt the yaw. Mike must be right with the counter rotation - still it seems that there would need to be something else to fine-tune the yaw.

Hi guys,

Well yeah, there is a little more to it than that. Basic yaw is controlled when one rotor that's exactly the same size as the other rotates in the opposite direction. This cancels out the tendency of the machine to spin. The pilot can also tweak throttle and blade pitch slightly, to decrease angle of attack and lessen vibration, but tandem rotor helicopers have a cyclic differential to turn them and stabilize them at hover and at low speets. The differential automatically tilts the rotors in opposite directions when cyclic is applied by the pilot.

When the pilot wants to pivot the craft to the right (right cyclic) he applies right cyclic and the front rotor will angle right along with the stick while the differential applies left cyclic to the rear rotor. Increase cyclic more and she turns faster, reduce it and she slows. All of it's done by while keeping the top of that stick moving with an imaginary circle that's less than the diameter of a nickel.

ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!!

Mike

You may note the RC ad on the bottom of that page. Even the mid line RC copters work like the real thing. Many RC shops have a software demo to simulate coper flight. It's even harder than one would thing to fly the things.

Mike,

My boy reports 1//9/08 to Fort Knox. Low wheel mechanic. No bullet stoppin!

Image Insert:

45.1 KB

Image Insert:

45.52 KB

Image Insert:

38.53 KB

[ozofprev]

Thanks Jim. Yes Mike, your answer was accurate. I knew that counter rotation would account for torque, but that's not yaw. The link Jim provided clears it all up.

It' really amazing stuff. I have several hundred hours piloting variable-pitch aircraft (conventional and turbine), but varying the pitch by a certain amount for half a rotation, followed by a different amount for the other half is just a bit scary to me. Obviously the RPM is decreased, but still.

[hausdok]

Hey Charlie!

Those are some good looking kids! Hey! Don't ever call an Army mechanic lowly. Talk about having everyone by the you-know-what, those guys know it too! That kind looks like he's been pumping some iron!

Besides, if he gets deployed, a motor pool is kind of a nice place to be - lots of big steel and iron objects around to take shelter under and shield you from debris when little bits of red hot fragmented metal start flying around. My brother and his roommate slept in the hanger in 'Nam because they liked having solider walls around them than what the hooches offered.

OT - OF!!!

M.

[sepefrio]

There is absolutely no need to duck under a spinning Helo blade with todays high tech head protection devices....

http://www.safetycenter.navy.mil/photo/ ... oto268.jpg

[hausdok]

Oh Man!

He's funny too! We've got us a two fer!

OT - OF!!!

M.