PS ... didn't use a calculator although there's a perfectly good one in Windows and on the phone. I should have twigged the answer was wrong straight off but I was tired and shagged out after a long squawk. :sweat:

There's probably some noise from the Sun that interferes with transmissions that skirt past it.

re: Never flown in a helicopter, never will. They're unnatural, unaerodynamic, unmechanical creations.

I flew on one helicopter a Pan Am from the roof of the Manhattan Pan Am building to La Guardia Airport February 1968. I had a window seat and was looking at the roof of the building when the helo just kind of slid sideways and suddenly I could see WAY down.

1971 1 A/E on Seatrain Maine we had a flock of various sizes of US Army helicopters in the holds. They came equipped with a five man US Army enlisted mechanics contingent commanded by a Sergeant. They were constantly monitoring the health of their charges.

Discharging in 'Nam @ Newport as each helo was lifted from the hold to the pier alongside the mechanics fitted the propellers and the helo's were flown off the dock.

When they were all done and the mechanics contingent was ready to leave I was surprised to see that they left via truck. I asked the Sergeant and he said that he fixes helo's but NEVER flew them - too many moving parts ready to fail at a moments notice

I was advised that if one travels as a passenger in a military helicopter and the odd screw, nut, clip, falls from the airframe then it is considered 'bad form' to hand said parts to the crew on disembarking with words like 'I think this is yours'.
They don't appreciate it apparently.

Greg, those propellers are called Rotor Blades:pint:

No worries. I sort of overstepped myself correcting you. However, accuracy is accuracy.
Would you believe I still have & use slide rules?


~E

Except they're not. Rotating wings. A device of satan.

No.
They`re just a cooling fan.
You watch the pilot start sweating if the fan stops. :curtain_call:

My first introduction to helicopters was straight from school in 1963 when I joined the Met Office and reported for work at the helicopter training station at Tern Hill. I was only there two weeks before I was moved to Bracknell which was to prove the end of my Civil Service career... (for about 25ish years.)

I learned two things about helicopters. When they're close by a building, everything rattles from the noise ... and I mean EVERYTHING !!! Sometimes their landings are impressive, at other times they land like Zebedee on steroids.

And no, I've never flown on one. I have a lot of faith in gravity. (Many people think saying 'gravity is only a theory' makes themselves look clever. I've yet to meet one who would accept my request to step off a high cliff to challenge the 'theory.') :wink:

Does that mean that I need a parachute to play football?:sweat:

Looking at the football prima donnas who get paid hundreds of thousands of pounds a week and apparently receive severe injuries when a butterfly lands on them, a parachute might not be a bad idea.

:big_tongue:

Helicopters!

I had to make an inspection at Petacalco Power Station. It was the period of the "annual" strike by neighbours for their (contamination) compensation - Poppycock! CFE pays for every mango and banana tree a "sum", so people have myriad of such on their porches, spare space, as well as the active plantations. But I digress.......

Access was only by Helicopter - There were two. The "Big" eurocopter and the "Little" Bell. I opted for the "Big" whirly bird, although I was a little concerned that the safety belts were all twisted and inoperative, Anyway, I "sort of" strapped myself in. Flights were ok. I was non-plussed but excited at the same time.

Then, on the last day, senior management invited me to fly in the "Little" bird. During the flight, the 'copter suddenly lurched down, losing altitude. I very nearly lost my breakfast! I vowed never to fly in one again.

Fast forward, 2016, Guatemala. Senior Italian management present for a physical inspection of a hydro power plant, following a huricane. It was decided to fly-in, not nine hours in a 4x4 for bosses. I was very apprehensive. There were two, rather good looking helicopters and I was in the back of the first off. Good flight. The Italian boss had insisted that he fly up front as co-pilot.

Two days later, when it was time to go back, we were awaiting the birds on the edge of a football field. Only one, because some personnel were staying on.

The Italian boss man vehemently declined to fly as "co-pilot", telling me that he had almost stained his underwear on the way in. In order to quell my fear, I voluneered to go up front and it was breathtaking!

One minute, you would be flying over a mountain range at, what seemed, very low altitude. Then, once you were clear of the peak, suddenly you seemed to be thousands of metres up! It was actually enjoyable.

However, I DO NOT want to have to do it again!

Rgds.
Dave

I don't like flying at all these days. When you get to the airport and see TERMINAL!!

JJ.

If I were to ask where you think this picture was taken, you'd probably think that's a bit hard.
Could be anywhere in the world !!
It isn't.
Taken on Mars by NASA's Curiosity rover. :shock:

On our way out to a rig in the North Sea, my colleague and I were unhappy to be 'bumped' off the first helicopter out of Aberdeen airport, having got up and left the hotel at 4.30 am to catch it. Some 'drilling' guys had taken priority, so we MIMCo technicians had to wait for the next flight. It was a sunny summer's morning so we made ourselves comfortable on a bench next to the check-in hut by the flight sheds and settled down to watch 'our' flight take off without us - the next flight one was not until about 5 hours later. The lucky ones passed us as they trooped across the grass to get on board and Richard and I had to endure quite a bit of banter about our bad luck in missing our flight.

The normal procedure was for the helicopter to lift off from the grass in front of the flight sheds to a height of 2 or 3 metres and then travel across the airfield at that height until it was over the main runway used by fixed-wing aircraft, where it hovered to await ATC clearance to depart for the rig. On this occasion the helicopter rose from the grass in front of us but instead of transferring from the hover to horizontal flight it fell back onto its wheels on the grass. The undercarriage splayed out and with the rotor still turning, the doors flew open and twenty or so guys shot out and scattered in all directions running as if from the hounds of hell. As they got clear, it was hilarious to watch them slow down and start to walk in a forced, casual way as if they hadn't been at all scared.

Nobody had been injured and they were all invited to collect their baggage from the stranded beast and assemble back at the check-in. After a while another helicopter was towed out of the flight sheds and run up. The 'lucky' people that had made the first flight were then told to board the replacement aircraft. There were some very pale faces among those walking out across the grass for the second time that morning.

I was noting some of the comments in the gallery about the BBC drama series 'Vigil' and thought not to answer, as I'm quite enjoying it.

Yes, I know, utterly far fetched. The thought of dropping a police detective onto a strategic nuclear submarine on active patrol is pretty ludicrous to start with, but come on guys, it's a yarn, a story, a bit of drama. You're not supposed to question the background of it, just enjoy the concept. (I don't know of any seafarer I've ever met who would tell a story of their time at sea that didn't have a bit of dramatical licence built into it.)

I remember when Tony Scott directed 'The Crimson Time,' the US navy offered absolutely no support to the film, (which they often did for films like 'Run Silent Run Deep' and so on) but it was a story, fantasy if you like, but there's not that much wrong with a bit of fantasy now and again. (Hence, Lord of the Rings, A Song of Ice and Fire, so long as it's done well.)

A lot of people like watching dramas like 'Inspector Morse' and 'Endeavour.' Hard to believe you might think that Oxford is one of the murder capitals of the world.

I've just finished binge watching 'The North Water' on the BEEB. Production wise you simply can't knock it. The cast is brilliant (personally if I was joining that ship and saw Stephen Graham was the Old Man, I'd be back down the gang plank sharpish. And he was one of the 'good guys.' (ish)

I've crossed a trip on a 19th century whaling ship off my bucket list. And I have to tip my hat to Colin Farrell who apparently ate like a horse for months in order to stout out for playing one of the most horrible bastards at sea you can imagine. (And yes, I've met a few.)
:big_tongue:

Flew in choppers all over the World, 1984 to 2015, going to rigs at least once every two or four weeks never had a problem or saw a problem with a chopper I was flying in. I was very keen to see them arrive on the rig to take me home but not so keen to see the one on the beach taking me to the rig.

Waiting for 'Vigil' to finish then I will binge watch it.

You only need know one fact about helicopters, they're terribly flimsy.

I have had the displeasure of two trips. One in a thing that had a passenegr cabin all same proper aircraft and another best described as a fan cooled plastic goldfishbowl.

Flimsy does, at least, imply that one is referring to a single, intact article of modest scantlings. It is when the article proves that hypothesis by losing an element or two of its former intactitude that one should worry more.

Sailed in RFA Fort Austin in the late 80s. She often had a flight onboard, generally Sea kings. I did their communication plans from time to time and was frequently offered to go up in them. The naval flight engineer who looked after these helos said he preferred to keep his feet on the deck. He reckoned that was much safer than travelling in a craft where the tail section could be folded away from the main hull.

I thought it was normal for the engineer and technicians to go up for a test flight after maintenance. It concentrates the mind.

This particular guy did but he was not a keen flier! I wonder why he went into that job.

Martian Minion: "Oh Master, those Earthlings have been at it again. This time they crossed into the rock garden and started drilling more holes. There's dust and tracks all over the place, and the red cabbage crop has been squashed."

Martian High Master: "Right, that's it, I'm p1ssed off now. No more Mr Nice Green Blob Thing. Break out the Tripod Machines !! Time for a diet of Earther Casserole."

Just a quick squirt of greedkiller should solve the problem, Consol 4

On the subject of moving rocks I wonder how our Antipodean representative is faring with today’s movements near Mansfield, Vic.
All well Geoff?