March 9, 2008 Amazing Chopper Pilot
 

http://i54.photobucket.com/albums/g1...1/ATT00001.jpg

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 c ivilian life. Now how many people on the planet you reckon could set the ass 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 having the nerve . much less the talent and ability ... God Bless our military!!!!!

You should see some of the videos of pilots flooding the back of the chopper so a seal team can drive their boat right up into it.. nuts but extremely awesome.

That is amazing. God bless these talented folks who take risks like this every day to protect us.

True, except they weren't evacuating wounded troops... they're loading captured Taliban that were holed up in that house.

I think the helicopter deserves some credit as well...

That reminds me, I have to build 90 of those particle screen separators for the front of the engines. I hate that job, itchy fiberglass dust.

When I was in the Navy we had an operation called a HIfer (I think, damn it's been 25 years now) While the ship was steaming at around 20 knots a helicopter would hover alongside and refuel. It was very odd to be moving along and look to see a choper motionless 40 feet away. This is a cool shot though...

@ Bullitt, this one?

Todays post from a different angle.

http://www.crypticcomet.com/blog/wp-...ooflanding.jpg

I thought that this maneuver was pretty audacious too.

http://www.crypticcomet.com/blog/wp-...ainresolve.jpg

also that video was extreme.

I think that's the average day for an helicopter pilot in Afghanistan. It's not like they have heliports there :)
Or roads by the way =)

Pro-war or against, anybody must admit those photos are awesome!

High-res source pleaaaase? This would make a great wallpaper....
Thank you.

Been there, done it. I flew the middle seat, a small seat right behind the 2 pilot seats in the Chinook, while we did a tandem NVG refuel from a in flight tanker and circled. Rotars seemed like they were 10 feet from the back of the tail of the AC fueler. A bit un-nerving. Those guys are very good. Did a few tail gate jumps from them as well.

Yess nice find bruce.

Not to get overly political or preachy here... but - they're not really protecting America at this point. More along the lines of protecting America's political and economic interests in the region.

And don't get me started on the 'God bless' angle. Wait, too late. Religion is one of the most frequent reasons human beings wage war on each other. Nice architecture tho. :)

.... but you did.

This is Afghanistan, right? Taliban were active participants re: 9/11 re: letting Osama have safe haven. Taliban are a bit of a resurgence lately in some part of Afghanistan. We're actively targetting the Taliban. His original comment re: protecting America holds just fine.

http://www.gearsandwidgets.com/exter...hreadgoing.jpg

Can we keep the pointless political shit-slinging to a minimum amigos.. kthnx

Sorry I don't have the source, I stole them off a game developers blog, which I saw before this post, which was why I found the IOTD post strangely familiar...

Yeah, that particular picture is familiar. I'm pretty sure it's been posted or linked to here on the Cellar in the past year or two.

Boy, you never know which image will stay a while either here or on the web.
Taken by a Public Affairs type on another chopper.
Snopes has this one from 12/03 and loading not wounded but APUC, an acronym for Afghan Person Under Control.
Another way of saying kidnapped sucker on the way to Gitmo.

Actually, another way of saying "Another Piece of Ugly Crap" who won't be murdering anyone for a while.

Give it a break dude, those guys are 10th Mtn. Div. soldiers doing their job. They were not "kidnapped", they were captured.

http://www.defendamerica.mil/article.../a111703e.html

http://www.defendamerica.mil/article.../a111703f.html

Finally! Finally there's a place on the web where people can argue about war, religion, and politics.

My vote is that we all back off and enjoy the pics. Of course it's a free country. My sincere thanks to all the veterans who made it that way, and all the volunteers in the armed services who keep it so.

Best,
Tick

Wow am I tempted to jump in to the frey.

Must....not....begin...to....express..my....opinion......


whew

great pic! I think the pilots got the easy part. What about the poor dudes on the roof hoping the wind doesn't gust? That's a sucky spot to be.

Like ole General Patton used to say...at least they ain't shovlin shit in Louisiana!

It would take a big wind gust, which admittedly can happen at any time in those mountains, to push that Chinook around.
I watch them hovering over the flight pad, right next to the Delaware River, where the wind is often strong and capricious. They are rock steady in most of it. Of course kudos to the Boeing test pilots, too.


Oh, and Kiowa pilots are pretty good, too.

Whether we're right or wrong to be over there, there's no question that those fuckers have balls the size of blimps, and they're doing the job they signed on to do. And doing a bitchin' fine job of it for the most part.

I've ceased to be a fan of the War, but I'll never stop admiring the people who are sent there to fight it.

true warriors are rare. I know I'm not one. They accomplish amazing things at times, and guide the fates of millions with their actions. One man can alter the outcome of a battle. that battle can alter the outcome of a war. that war can alter the outcome of a civilization. ETC...... it's the real fucking world, in any case.

Go, goodguys!

I second that! - well put Jim

Damm LJ that was almost poetic.

I'm sorry, what are they protecting us from? Pretty sure there's no Taliban 'round here...

And you would be the first in line to whine when we had no one.

No one what? No one to protect me from the Boogie Man?

Don't get me wrong - I'm glad we have the armed forces - it gives us a place to send the psychopathic killers that are smart enough or white enough to stay out of prison. Just don't try to justify their existence by claiming that we're being "protected" from something. It's been a really long time since any foreign forces set foot in the US, and I, personally, am armed enough and man enough to defend myself.

OK, so you have enough firepower to kill any foreign soldiers who set foot on your property. That's great. How's that going to help you when they shut off the power, or stop the food deliveries?

Wow, you guys have some really active imaginations. But let's say, for the sake of argument, that something like that happens. There's no one in the US to help, anyway. Both the regular military *and* the national guard are overseas, killing millions of furriners/spreading democracy. California can't even cope with wildfires, because there are so few NG in the US. So, you tell me: if the fit hits the shan over here, who's gonna be here to take care of things?

Perhaps I misunderstood your post. I thought you were saying that we don't need a military because you are well armed.

I was pointing out that just because you may have enough firepower to control you immediate vicinity does not mean you have enough to protect your way of life.

You don't live anywhere near Manhattan, do ya, mbrutsch

it's ok you can tell us

Interesting choice of words. As far as the military is concerned, protecting US soil should be their *only* purpose. Whenever someone points out how we go around the world to other countries and kill their citizens so we can take their resources, the pat response is "we need the military to protect Amurrca!" Can you, without looking it up, name the last time that the US military was used to repel foreign invaders on US soil? Anything beyond our borders is hegemony, pure and simple. I think my "way of life" is much more threatened by fundamentalist Xtians, billionaire CEOs and corrupt elected officials than any of the regions we've invaded overseas.

No, "Occupied Northern Mexico" refers to Texas. I'm not from here, however, and the locals are actually a pretty scary bunch. I don't think anyone's lining up to protect me from *them*, however.

That's easy. WWII. Japan invaded Alaska and attacked Hawaii.

I was speaking of the actual United States, not the various floating specks of land around the world that we've claimed are ours, usually at the expense of the people who live(d) there.

Hawaii didn't become a state until 1959 (not that that keeps us from claiming it). But I'll give you Alaska. I'm sure the huge civilian populations of the Aleutian Islands were grateful for the assistance of the military in repelling the invaders of their homelands. Oh, wait. WE were the invaders of their homelands. Never mind.

I think you're stretching to make a point, but technically, you're correct. So it's been 60 years since the last invasion. Tell me again why we need the world's largest and most expensive military force?

:cool:

Nice try, but you didn't answer my question. Do you perhaps work for a huge, multinational defense contractor? Or own a bunch of their stock? Or are you just fond of seeing dim-witted American kids come home in boxes?

Because it's kept us from being invaded... for 60 years so far, which, lo and behold, is the last time we didn't have the world's largest and most expensive military force.

Of course, that's one of the oldest jokes ever written.

Girl: Why do you keep clicking your fingers when we walk around?
Guy: It keeps the tigers away.
Girl: There aren't any tigers around here.
Guy: It's working!

Wow. I bet you believe that, too. :headshake

Are you always a fucking idiot or do you just play one on here?

Are we really going to resort to name-calling? I suppose that a mercenary who can't shoot his guns at something must resort to shooting off his mouth. Why don't you go salute something, or invade something, or whatever it is paid killers do when they're bored?

How about you shut the fuck up and sit down because you don't know shit about any of that, how does that sound pal?
The reason wildfires have been getting bad in recent history is because of two things: overall dryer weather, and an incorrect method of overzealous wildland firefighting used in the past which allowed a huge amount of unburnt fuel to accumulate. Wildfires are natural and good for the forest ya dim-wit. The national guard doesn't even do a majority of the wildfire fighting, ever heard of the Forest Service and it's related agencies?

You are the one shooting off your mouth. Sorry, retired now, I let the others carry on the good work.
;)

Didn't you know that was the primary job of the National Guard? Putting out wildfires? Of course it's not.

To hunt and find people like you so you can rot in Gitmo along with your brothers. :lol2:

:rolleyes: Who woulda thunk it

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/articl...NGRIPPB2D1.DTL

Wow, you are really quite the wordsmith, aren't you? Now put down the Pabst, turn off Springer and maybe, just maybe read something besides the sales ads for Wal-Mart, you foul-mouthed, inbred, ignorant spreader-of-genital-pestilence. This really *is* The Cellar, innit?



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Yea, this idiot would have them cutting his grass if he had his way. I prefer they just continue to do what they do best, just like the original pics at the start of the thread. We use to work with Air Guard every time we flew, those guys and girls are top knotch. Damm good professionals worth every dime and they are paid pennies.

Like raping civilians, throwing puppies off cliffs, and killing over a million civilians? I'm sure all of them were terrrrists, so it's OK. Now you and Bullitt go rub each other down; you're both getting pretty lathered up here.

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YEA! SFGate what a fucking liberal used tampon that paper is... :lol2:

I don't condone the actions of few fucked up people, but hey they world is filled with them, I mean you are here and all so they must be everywhere.

Wow, a few people killed a million Iraqis. Pretty impressive. Like y'all's vocabulary.

What a tool. Have at it dick weed. Note use of ignore button.

[/quote]

Good grief save it buddy. I'm guessing you haven't even heard of the Incident Command System, or the National Wildfire Coordinating Group have you. I just finished my federal wildland firefighter training through the Department of Natural Resources, with additional local and national level ICS training through FEMA, so unlike you, I know what the hell I'm talking about.

Oh and I'm more of a Jack Daniels guy than Pabst ;), and I don't watch TV.

I certainly hope that everyone here isn't as ignorant and illiterate as you two. But I'm glad to see you can muster the intellectual wherewithal to push a button. Hey! Look! An Ay-rab! Git 'im!

Ooh, suuuure you did. And I'm the new adjutant for Stargate Command. I hope that FEMA training works out for you, seeing how flawlessly they usually handle natural disasters. Go get'em, tiger!