Chinook HC2: tactical landing... (7)
Approaching the insertion point for the troops on board, to achieve surprise and minimise exposure to SAFIRE, the pilot flies his 'cab' in fast and low, throwing a series of fast S-turns to dump off speed before raising the nose to use the rotors and the great flat underside as airbrakes, and finally dropping to a fast landing.
In Afghanistan much of the surface of the ground is covered in talcum-fine dust, which helicopter downwash causes to billow up , engulfing the aircraft in dense clouds before it can touch down: the fearsome 'brown-out' which risks disorientating the pilots and causing a fatal crash. The crewmen in the back have a vital role in talking the Chinook pilot down the last few feet, to two wheels on the ground, then six wheels... They have an equally vital role in calling 'clear above and behind' before the pilot can safely lift again.
An experimental Photoshop composition, again of the model standing on glass, shot at an angle from below to make it look sharply nose-up, here combined with an image of a real Afghan downwash-generated dust cloud. I think it works pretty well...
Chinook HC2: tactical landing... (7)
Approaching the insertion point for the troops on board, to achieve surprise and minimise exposure to SAFIRE, the pilot flies his 'cab' in fast and low, throwing a series of fast S-turns to dump off speed before raising the nose to use the rotors and the great flat underside as airbrakes, and finally dropping to a fast landing.
In Afghanistan much of the surface of the ground is covered in talcum-fine dust, which helicopter downwash causes to billow up , engulfing the aircraft in dense clouds before it can touch down: the fearsome 'brown-out' which risks disorientating the pilots and causing a fatal crash. The crewmen in the back have a vital role in talking the Chinook pilot down the last few feet, to two wheels on the ground, then six wheels... They have an equally vital role in calling 'clear above and behind' before the pilot can safely lift again.
An experimental Photoshop composition, again of the model standing on glass, shot at an angle from below to make it look sharply nose-up, here combined with an image of a real Afghan downwash-generated dust cloud. I think it works pretty well...