Pretty bad ass

Oh crap...ok I got it i got it...oh crap oh crap...power power power....ok i got it.....iiiiii got ittttt.....oh crap oh cra...no we are good, just...oh crap oh crap...

Well, that was enough to give me the shakes.

/Former Landing Signalman Enlisted
//Yellow-Shirt on a flight deck.

How does it fly when the rotors are going so slow?

pdee: How does it fly when the rotors are going so slow?

They're at sea level (obviously), so the air is denser. Thus, the rotors don't need to go as fast as they would at altitude or someplace like Denver.

pdee: How does it fly when the rotors are going so slow?

headwind duh

Pilot basically just used enormous amounts of patience* to wait for the one second the damn deck stopped pitching all to hell, then dropped it.

/*skill

How do they take off with balls that big?

They slow the rotors down to avoid blade flap so the tips won't hit the sides of the ship during the big rolls. They use specialized rotors that are filled with helium to reduce the weight but increase the angular momentum. The helicopter carries just enough helium to pressurize the rotors but no more. If they run out of helium, they have to return to land or ditch in the ocean.

It's all explained here.

chopit: Pilot basically just used enormous amounts of patience* to wait for the one second the damn deck stopped pitching all to hell, then dropped it.

/*skill

just as I patiently waited for someone to post this so I could post /this.

You maintain a hover and wait for a null period in the wave action to occur then set it down. Certainly the most exciting part of the flight.

/been there
//done that

zinethar: Well, that was enough to give me the shakes.

/Former Landing Signalman Enlisted
//Yellow-Shirt on a flight deck.

No snark here, what was the Signalman signaling? Got it...don't got it...got it...don't got it?

Textbook example of a Reduced Rotor Landing (RRL).

Military pilots will often use this technique when landing on rolling decks, as the downforce from the rotor wash against the deck actually helps keep the helicopter in the air.

costermonger:

[images.icanhascheezburger.com image 445x474]

My cousin was just telling me how stressful it is just to WATCH this type of thing on ship, much less actively participate in it. We joked that this is why adult diapers were invented.

My dad was a Naval Pilot who did two tours on the Wasp. He said the most dangerous part of his job was landing when he runway was doing this. I never quite understood the peril until I saw videos like these.

This pilot deserves the three B's: Beer, Backrub, and BJ (proviso they are male other arrangements should be made for females).

KiplingKat872: This pilot deserves the three B's: Beer, Backrub, and BJ (proviso they are male other arrangements should be made for females).

Bukake?

chopit: Pilot basically just used enormous amounts of patience* to wait for the one second the damn deck stopped pitching all to hell, then dropped it.

/*skill

/*also: big, brass balls...

Props to the pilot, but the signal guy was right on the money when he finally waved him in.

BubbaWilkins: Reduced rotor speed?
Helium in the blades?

It couldn't possibly have anything to do with the framerate of the camera or the playback video. Nope, no correlation to the observed rotational speed there.

....
(Facepalm.jpg)

Clearly, the proper procedure would have been to bring the deck TO the copter. The captain should have raised the ship up using his propellers (they rotate at a slightly higher rate than the copter's blades because of all the dolphins).

Also, Benjamin Frankly could have just poured some oil out from his famous hollow cane, and it would have been much smoother. We ignore the low-tech solution so often these days.

Reminds me of This(^)

tillerman35: Clearly, the proper procedure would have been to bring the deck TO the copter. The captain should have raised the ship up using his propellers (they rotate at a slightly higher rate than the copter's blades because of all the dolphins).

Also, Benjamin Frankly could have just poured some oil out from his famous hollow cane, and it would have been much smoother. We ignore the low-tech solution so often these days.

They had to stop that procedure recently because of all the gay boats. Pitching the stern upward was being misinterpreted as 'presenting the poopdeck'. The best case scenario meant a lot of seamen swabbing, the worst case - rammed from behind at full speed.

pdee: How does it fly when the rotors are going so slow?

It could be camera trickery, I've seen quite a few videos where the main rotors appear to rotate slow when they are in fact going full speed.

BubbaWilkins: Reduced rotor speed?
Helium in the blades?

It couldn't possibly have anything to do with the framerate of the camera or the playback video. Nope, no correlation to the observed rotational speed there.

Bwahm-bwahm!

pdee: How does it fly when the rotors are going so slow?

Sigh.



/Seriously, I can't believe that worked

Bruce the Deuce: You maintain a hover and wait for a null period in the wave action to occur then set it down. Certainly the most exciting part of the flight.

/been there
//done that

Been there, ended up aborting and making it to a less mobile deck, on the nearby island.

(would have gone for it, but just that morning we had digested the video of a failed deck landing that ended in a ditch at sea.)

Walking away is always better than swimming away, for your life.

stonelotus: chopit: Pilot basically just used enormous amounts of patience* to wait for the one second the damn deck stopped pitching all to hell, then dropped it.

/*skill

just as I patiently waited for someone to post this so I could post /this.

and I could post this:

The boat captain landed that chopper.

clear_prop: Happy Hours: Why don't they just use a self-stabilizing helipad? Either that or have all the sailors run and grab their pillows and put them in a big pile and just let the helicopter fall on it?

Having a platform big enough to land a helicopter that needs to move 50+ feet in all three dimensions at the same time would take quite a bit of engineering.

What they sometimes do is lower a cable from the helicopter, and and then slowly winch it down to the deck while the helicopter keeps tension on the cable. Ship going up or down is no longer a problem, so all the helicopter has to worry about is the ship rolling too much.

RAST


And it is as much fun as it looks. More so during night landings.

Smallberries: Been there, ended up aborting and making it to a less mobile deck, on the nearby island.

(would have gone for it, but just that morning we had digested the video of a failed deck landing that ended in a ditch at sea.)

Walking away is always better than swimming away, for your life.

Yeah, walking away over to the bar. Anything is better than being on the boat. (Wish I had done that...)

Smallberries: Bruce the Deuce: You maintain a hover and wait for a null period in the wave action to occur then set it down. Certainly the most exciting part of the flight.

/been there
//done that

Been there, ended up aborting and making it to a less mobile deck, on the nearby island.

(would have gone for it, but just that morning we had digested the video of a failed deck landing that ended in a ditch at sea.)

Walking away is always better than swimming away, for your life.

If you can get out in time (remembering Sea King disaster).

/hopes you are not on a boat when I said that.

kobrakai: No snark here, what was the Signalman signaling? Got it...don't got it...got it...don't got it?

Actually, I can only guess. That's not American. We don't use flags normally. Our only props are the flashlight wands at night. Beyond that, I *can* guess that they're gonna be pretty much the same and that arms outstretched to the sides and dropping down is simply "Lower". I would say that at this point in this situation, the LSE has very little to do with it. The pilot knows he's cleared to land and other than warning the pilot of something on the deck or in the area that the pilot can't see, this is very likely a "Do the best you can at YOUR leisure, mate, And good god-damn luck with it!"

Pilots know how to land, and in the normal course of events, pilots usually ignore anything but danger signals from the LSE. I'm not deluded enough to believe I was telling that pilot what to do, even on a pitching deck.



Little old me (in Yellow, obviously)

Fear_and_Loathing: Give the flight crew a shot and a beer.

That WAS the beer run.

Guess Peter MacKay needed another ride to work.

zinethar: kobrakai: No snark here, what was the Signalman signaling? Got it...don't got it...got it...don't got it?

Actually, I can only guess. That's not American. We don't use flags normally. Our only props are the flashlight wands at night. Beyond that, I *can* guess that they're gonna be pretty much the same and that arms outstretched to the sides and dropping down is simply "Lower". I would say that at this point in this situation, the LSE has very little to do with it. The pilot knows he's cleared to land and other than warning the pilot of something on the deck or in the area that the pilot can't see, this is very likely a "Do the best you can at YOUR leisure, mate, And good god-damn luck with it!"

Pilots know how to land, and in the normal course of events, pilots usually ignore anything but danger signals from the LSE. I'm not deluded enough to believe I was telling that pilot what to do, even on a pitching deck.


[img33.imageshack.us image 640x459]
Little old me (in Yellow, obviously)

I can say we don't ignore you, at least I don't. More than once I've avoided a problem when one of you went all saucer eyed on me. :)

Times like that you can pick up the seat with your puckered asshole.

Villemus Fortis: clear_prop: Happy Hours: Why don't they just use a self-stabilizing helipad? Either that or have all the sailors run and grab their pillows and put them in a big pile and just let the helicopter fall on it?

Having a platform big enough to land a helicopter that needs to move 50+ feet in all three dimensions at the same time would take quite a bit of engineering.

What they sometimes do is lower a cable from the helicopter, and and then slowly winch it down to the deck while the helicopter keeps tension on the cable. Ship going up or down is no longer a problem, so all the helicopter has to worry about is the ship rolling too much.

RAST
[www.swarthmore.edu image 496x649]

And it is as much fun as it looks. More so during night landings.

There was a pilot on my old ship that broke three cables. CO made him walk around with the last broken cable tied to his belt (with 10 feet dragging behind him) for 3 days.