Pinnacle Landing

[tomahawk6]

Chinook makes an awesome pinnacle landing to pick up what looks like SF who have a prisoner or two.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SWb40UEXGMU&feature

 

[jollyjacktar]

Good flying, thanks for the post.

 

[HavokFour]

Wow, great flying right there. Looked like he nearly gave that hill a haircut!

 

[PuckChaser]

Some pretty nifty flying there. If you want more Chinook porn, the related links in Youtube for that video are a treasure chest, including: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ACA8wJ6dRWM&feature=related which shows the process of a British medevac bird taking off. I think I made out about 5 words during the pilot's preflight checklist.

 

[57Chevy]

The pilot handles that just like it were a boat.
I think he's ready for space docking.

 

[daftandbarmy]

And of course there will be a Navy flyer who will yawn and say something like "You mean it wasn't oh-dark hundred in a 50 knot wind?'

 

[PuckChaser]

I posted that one about 5 replies up, 

 

[tomahawk6]

Yes you and I even made a comment. Old age is cruel. Maybe I can delete my own post. >

 

[gun runner]

That pilot has got huge brass bells,great flying!Ubique

 

[Good2Golf]

The challenging part is that the aft wheels are about 40 feet behind the cockpit, the back of the fuselage another 10 feet behind that and the aft rotor yet another 15 feet beyond that.  You end up swinging up to 50,000 lbs of bouncing, vibrating metal around while it sticks out further behind you than the length of an 18-wheeler.  The flight engineer out by the ramp is critical in helping the front office keep things lined up nicely!  Crew co-operation is critical.  The effort the RAF Chinook crew put into trying to save Private Gray in Helmand province in 2007 is a model for crew co-operation in demanding conditions.  Although one of the largest helicopters on the battlefield the Chinook is no slouch and, as was the case with the RAF crew in 2007, the 'Hook can outspeed its armed escorts with ease if the situation warrants it.

Cheers
G2G

 

[jollyjacktar]

I was not aware prior to going over the first time at the speed they can do if they want to.  I was always and still am in awe of seeing the big birds speeding along with a sling load of some sort underneath.  Also impressive as was my only ride in one, back to KAF inside one at a very low altitude. 

 

[57Chevy]

G2G,
        Your discription is awesome
       

 

[PuckChaser]

The challenging part is that the aft wheels are about 40 feet behind the cockpit, the back of the fuselage another 10 feet behind that and the aft rotor yet another 15 feet beyond that.  You end up swinging up to 50,000 lbs of bouncing, vibrating metal around while it sticks out further behind you than the length of an 18-wheeler.  The flight engineer out by the ramp is critical in helping the front office keep things lined up nicely!  Crew co-operation is critical.  The effort the RAF Chinook crew put into trying to save Private Gray in Helmand province in 2007 is a model for crew co-operation in demanding conditions.  Although one of the largest helicopters on the battlefield the Chinook is no slouch and, as was the case with the RAF crew in 2007, the 'Hook can outspeed its armed escorts with ease if the situation warrants it.

I always found it funny that the Chinook out-flies its escorts. Its an amazing aircraft, the feeling you get when it banks hard into a turn at speed... you feel like you're sliding towards the ground. Unreal. Much smoother than the Blackhawk as well.

 

[aesop081]

I always found it funny that the Chinook out-flies its escorts.

What do you mean by "escorts" ?

Looking at the numbers for the 47 and the 64 and i dont come to that conclusion.

 

[Occam]

What do you mean by "escorts" ?

Looking at the numbers for the 47 and the 64 and i dont come to that conclusion.

G2G was the first to reference "escorts", and I presume with his background he used the term correctly.

Most sources give the Chinook a 15 knot edge in maximum speed, although the Apache has a faster cruise speed. 

As an aside - to clear something up in my head:  Is cruise speed the optimum speed for fuel efficiency, or a combination of factors?  I always wondered about that.

 

[OldSolduer]

WOW!! THAT WAS ONE COOL VIDEO!!

Excuse me for being rather excited. I love it when big machines can be handled like sports cars. Awesome!!

 

[aesop081]

Most sources give the Chinook a 15 knot edge in maximum speed, although the Apache has a faster cruise speed. 

Sure. Where i looked had the 47 at 143 kts cruise and the 64 at 149kts cruise but , from source to source tends to vary.

And i'm not questioning G2G's use of "escort".......

 

[PuckChaser]

What do you mean by "escorts" ?

Looking at the numbers for the 47 and the 64 and i dont come to that conclusion.

After listening to them on the radio nets overseas, the 47 had to slow down to let the 64s catch up and be on station first to clear the LZ.

 

[daftandbarmy]

After listening to them on the radio nets overseas, the 47 had to slow down to let the 64s catch up and be on station first to clear the LZ.

I suppose this is the configuration they came up with as a result of the AAR:

 

[Good2Golf]

Most aircraft speeds are given in a "clean" configuration, so when you add things on, you add form drag and the top speed drops.  Not giving specific speeds out for security reasons, but an Apache is notably slower when it's loaded up with Hellfires and rockets.  Unless it's slinging something (speed is then limited by the configuration of the slung load), a Chinook has almost 10,000 hp to pretty much outrun any other chopper operating on the battlefield.  It's actually pretty aerodynamic for it's size -- think an Ohio Class SSBN cruising along at speed...big, but fast.  Until folks have felt themselves pressed into their seat under 2G's of force in a sharp turn, they think of the Chinook as a bit of a lumbering beast.  Far from the truth.  The only control axis that's a bit slower than the others is pitch (nose up/down) as that's adjusted by changing the collective pitch between the forward and aft rotors.  Roll response (side to side) is very fast, and response to 'thrust' input (called 'collective' on other choppers) is very fast (again, close to 10,000 hp to play with). 

Daft, good pic, and I'd be a bit more smug, but then someone would pull out the pic of a Mil-26 Halo slinging a Chinook... 

Cheers
G2G