Apaches emergency-landed in my county!

[SMOKEWAGON66]

Thats so cool lol ...I woulda asked to sit in one...I tried like heck when I was in Iraq in '04 just to sit in one but none of the pilots ever let me...most i got was unit patches from the pilots flight suits. I was a water boy delivering 5K gallons at a time with a smifty bag on an M872, and they would always ask me for extra water..which i obliged.

...Also Id point out that these do not look like "Long Bows" they look more like just regular Apache's...as the Long Bow's have a big bubble "eye" that sits atop the rotor. At least thats what I was told.

 

[NEIOWA]

They couldn't make it through a snow squal? Maybe they should talk to those alaska bush pilots....they fly single screw tin cans through worse and "make it" Just seems odd.....

$14 vs $14,000,000 bird?

 

[operator1]

$14 vs $14,000,000 bird?

maybe....or could be...guts vs fear of national news story

 

[Flyingvan911]

I bet they were worried about icing on the rotors. I don't know much about helos but I bet the rotors are sensative to ice.

 

[simp5782]

I think that would be a heck of a speed enforcement aircraft. Guy doing 90 and an Apache cruises up next to him and looks at him with the sight system and the chain gun turns his way. I bet he will be doing 30 the rest of his life! Screw spike strips!

 

[diverman555]

icing on aircraft is a lot worse than on helo's. getting ice build up on a aircraft wing does not allow the air to flow over the wing smooth it kind of bounces on and off it, so the lift that is created is really reduced, not allowing the plane to keep flying. rotorcraft are diff in the fact that it's harder for the ice to stay on because the rotors are spinning so fast. but icing still affects them.

 

[joediveguy]

Cool. I bet your kid loved it!

 

[USAFSS-ColdWarrior]

icing on aircraft is a lot worse than on helo's. getting ice build up on a aircraft wing does not allow the air to flow over the wing smooth it kind of bounces on and off it, so the lift that is created is really reduced, not allowing the plane to keep flying. rotorcraft are diff in the fact that it's harder for the ice to stay on because the rotors are spinning so fast. but icing still affects them.

Icing wouldn't be a problem if Gravity didn't SUCK so much.

...Think about that for a moment... You'll get it.

 

[joediveguy]

Gravity.

it's not just a good idea, it's the LAW!

 

[Tahoe]

They look like they'd be a nice addition to your county SWAT Team.

Tahoe

 

[Yohan]

One of the pilots confirmed to me that they were Long Bows, but that the radar over the rotors had been taken off while in the states. Thankfully, they had no plans of engaging us kindly folks on the ground here in New York!

They also said that there was some ice forming on the wing-pod thingys.

And our poor swat guys are lucky they can walk and chew gum at the same time (hee-hee) say nothing about jumpin in one of these babies!

...Also Id point out that these do not look like "Long Bows" they look more like just regular Apache's...as the Long Bow's have a big bubble "eye" that sits atop the rotor. At least thats what I was told.

 

[waayfast]

My son Derek worked for Columbia Helicopters (chaser/hooker) for a few years and learned a lot from the pilots about the operation of the Boeing Vertols they log with.

He told me that there is a certain temperature spread where they won't fly during a snow storm (a few degrees + or -) of freezing.
Warmer and it's too warm to freeze---no problem. Colder and it will be cold/dry and not freeze-- no problem.
Hit the Sweet spot and the intakes will start getting clogged up with ingested wet snow which freezes over.Then things get quiet--followed by a moment of LOTS of noise --then quiet-----------!

They lost a ship this way so company policy was changed----

I threw in the "famous" Hover Barge photo from when Columbia was experimenting with using a Vertol to pull a freight barge set up to hover like a hover craft. And------nope! they were not/did not crash.

 

[ProviderDriver]

icing on aircraft is a lot worse than on helo's. getting ice build up on a aircraft wing does not allow the air to flow over the wing smooth it kind of bounces on and off it, so the lift that is created is really reduced, not allowing the plane to keep flying. rotorcraft are diff in the fact that it's harder for the ice to stay on because the rotors are spinning so fast. but icing still affects them.

I would have to disagree to an extent. While it generally takes a higher icing rate to load up a choppers main rotor blades, it is MUCH more of a serious condition if they do. An out of balance situation of as little as a few ounces can cause the entire rotor system to shake itself to pieces. I have flown with INCHES of ice on the wings of my airplanes over the years, was a minor inconvenience most of the time. Blow the de-ice boots, ice no problem, or if you have no boots, turn around and exit the icing conditions in very short order. Choppers have NO de-ice system, and don't fly fast enough to exit the icing conditions before they are in a serious emergency situation. Most choppers main rotor blades only turn a few hundred RPM's...