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Basil

Basil

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If you don't think our military pilots earn their pay .. you need to take a look at this picture ... and then look again and realize what you're seeing .

This photo was taken by a soldier in Afghanistan of a helo rescue mission. The pilot is a PA National Guard guy who flies EMS choppers in civilian life. Now how many people on the planet you reckon could set the tail end of a chopper down on the roof top of a shack on a steep mountain cliff and hold it there while soldiers load wounded men in the rear. If this does not impress you .. nothing ever will. Gives me the chills and a serious case of the vertigo ... I can't even imagine havin the nerve ... much less the talent and ability ...

God Bless our military.
 

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Wow!

Considering he can't really be sure how strong that roof is, he's got to be *really* careful.
(Wild Guess: No Building Inspector or Building Codes in that neighbourhood).

Anyway, impressive!

I have a pal who can put his ~Huskey~ down almost anywhere...
but I think he'd need 4 or 5 of those roofs for a safe rollout. /bcforum/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/jester.gif
 
aeronca65t said:
Wow!

Considering he can't really be sure how strong that roof is, he's got to be *really* careful.
(Wild Guess: No Building Inspector or Building Codes in that neighbourhood).

Anyway, impressive!

I have a pal who can put his ~Huskey~ down almost anywhere...
but I think he'd need 4 or 5 of those roofs for a safe rollout. /bcforum/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/jester.gif
Click to expand...

If you've ever heard of the North Warning system (series of joint US-Canadian radars along the norther tier), I did the site surveys to determine the best locations to place those sites. We spent several months on Baffin Island and north Labrador flying from mountain top to mountain top in a Bell Jet Helo. Some of the landing sites on those mountains were "interesting." One in particular was too steep to set down on, so the pilot (great Nephew of the Hindenberg Pilot) got us as close as he could and we literally hung off the runners and dropped 5 or 6 ft to the ground. Then he set it down in a vally below and we had to hike 2 miles down the mouontain after we finished our survey. Those were to good old days!

Basil
 
Even more impressive - it appears that the Chinook's rear wheel is buried about halfway into the roof!
 
I always verify these sort of things on snopes to check for photoshops or other shenanigans. This picture is for real.

https://www.snopes.com/photos/military/rooftop.asp

The story might not be 100% accurate (they were not on a rescue mission), but that's completely irrelevant. Amazing flying there.
 
Basil said:
If you've ever heard of the North Warning system (series of joint US-Canadian radars along the norther tier)
Basil
Click to expand...

Ah, to be at Saglek in the winter time!! /bcforum/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/grin.gif
Jeff
 
Basil said:
If you've ever heard of the North Warning system....
Click to expand...

One of my ~Younger Brothers~ is a Fellow at Sikorsky....I think he's done some work with that
(he did his PhD thesis on helicopter radar antennas)



Many of you may have heard of the infamous (and successful) mountaintop landing to rescue Benito Mussolini, by his old buddy, Adolph.
Hitler sent one of his top pilots in a Fiesler Storch. The rollout on the rockey mountaintop, around boulders, was less than 100 feet. Mussolini and another stooge were rescued just in the nick of time (though he got his comeupance later)
Many of us who are tailwheel pilots see the WW II Storch as the ulimate low-and-slow airplane.....*almost* as good as a chopper.

You can read a bit of it here:

https://bomberrides.org/ma_fi-156storch_hist.htm
 
And Hopedale and Cartwright....1932 Comm Sq.
 
My "professional guesstimate" for that shack roof
is maybe a 20 pounds per SF live load capability.

I'm also guessing the rear wheel is acting more as
an anchor than a structural support.

d
 
Bugeye58 said:
Basil said:
If you've ever heard of the North Warning system (series of joint US-Canadian radars along the norther tier)
Basil
Click to expand...

Ah, to be at Saglek in the winter time!! /bcforum/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/grin.gif
Jeff
Click to expand...

Been there done that got the T-Shirt. When were you there? Do you remember the B-25 that had crashed in WWII?

Basil
 
drooartz said:
I always verify these sort of things on snopes to check for photoshops or other shenanigans. This picture is for real.

https://www.snopes.com/photos/military/rooftop.asp

The story might not be 100% accurate (they were not on a rescue mission), but that's completely irrelevant. Amazing flying there.
Click to expand...

Good point - often times these "amazing" stories don't pan out...what did we ever do before Snopes!
 
Basil, I was TDY to Goose Bay Feb~May of '69, and made a couple of side trips to the Sag, as I had a friend up there.
Not only the B-25, but the D-9 Cat that had been stuck forever!
I didn't want the T shirt, I demanded the parka. /bcforum/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/grin.gif
Jeff
 
Bugeye58 said:
Basil, I was TDY to Goose Bay Feb~May of '69, and made a couple of side trips to the Sag, as I had a friend up there.
Not only the B-25, but the D-9 Cat that had been stuck forever!
I didn't want the T shirt, I demanded the parka. /bcforum/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/grin.gif
Jeff
Click to expand...

Do you know the story about that B25? I always thought it would make a great premise for a based-on-a-true-story movie.
 
No, I never did hear the truth about the 25.
During the same TDY, I also went to Thule, just to say I'd been there. Talk about <span style='font-size: 14pt'><span style="color: #FF0000">dumb</span></span>!
Flew up there on a KC-135 out of Dyess AFB, Tx.
Jeff
 
Bugeye58 said:
No, I never did hear the truth about the 25.
During the same TDY, I also went to Thule, just to say I'd been there. Talk about <span style='font-size: 14pt'><span style="color: #FF0000">dumb</span></span>!
Flew up there on a KC-135 out of Dyess AFB, Tx.
Jeff
Click to expand...

Correction, it was a B-26. Here is the whole story, including the Pilot's Diary. The Village of Hebron was very close to them, but they never set off in the right direction. HAd they known about Hebron being just a few miles away they almost certainly would have survived.

https://www.lswilson.ca/page8.htm
 
Bugeye58 said:
What a lousy way to die.
Thanks for the information, Basil. I couldn't remember if it was a 25 or a 26.
Jeff
Click to expand...

I've always thought that story would make a great (if not sad) movie.
 
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