Credo
"Sign on, young man, and sail with me. The stature of our homeland is no more than the measure of ourselves. Our job is to keep her free. Our will is to keep the torch of freedom burning for all. To this solemn purpose we call on the young, the brave, the strong, and the free. Heed my call, Come to the sea. Come Sail with me." -- John Paul Jones
"Pardon him, Theodotus; he is a barbarian, and thinks that the customs of his tribe and island are the laws of nature" --George Bernard Shaw, "Caesar and Cleopatra"
"And those who were seen dancing were thought to be insane by those who could not hear the music."--Friedrich Nietzsche
"A kind Providence has placed in our breasts a hatred of the unjust and cruel, in order that we may preserve ourselves from cruelty and injustice. They who bear cruelty, are accomplices in it. The pretended gentleness which excludes that charitable rancour, produces an indifference which is half an approbation. They never will love where they ought to love, who do not hate where they ought to hate."--Edmund Burke
“You say that it is your custom to burn widows. Very well. We also have a custom: when men burn a woman alive, we tie a rope around their necks and we hang them. Build your funeral pyre; beside it, my carpenters will build a gallows. You may follow your custom. And then we will follow ours.”--General Sir Charles Napier
"Μολὼν λαβέ" -- Leonidas
"Blogito Ergo Sum" -- Neptunus Lex
You *do* know what that helicopter was saying as they pushed it into the hanger, right?
It’s only a flesh wound!
Come back and fight like a MAN, you NINNY!
Repeat of history.
I didn’t know a single pilot in the SOAR who wasn’t a multiple recipient of the Purple Heart. Small wonder. Their Kiowa can be built right in the hangar, every part of the airframe and control systems, just because of days like this Kiowa had.
Tough to work harder in flight school when all the Army flies is helos. Oops, I meant choppers. I mean….Nevermind.
Definitely an HPF flight. I was a little surpised to see in the cockpit photos that the seat cushions hadn’t been sucked up.
Chris, I believe you meant to say “10,000 rivets surrounding an oil leak waiting for metal fatigue to set in.” No, really! Happy to be of help!
– Max
Those that worked harder in Army flight school fly Chinooks and stay far enough away from those wonderful “small arms” thankyouverymuch.
I’ve always wondered what that “hey, they’re shooting at me!” moment would feel like.
A graphic depiction of the of why the quite unsexy, little known, and oft diregarded, design discipline known as Vulnerability Reduction is so important.
More here:
http://www.bahdayton.com/SURVIAC/asnews/JTCGAS_spr02.pdf
And its not just for helos either. The heavy losses of Pointy Nosed People and their planes in Vietnam drove the lesson home hard. The F-18 was the first naval aircraft design to benefit from Vulnerability Reduction.
Vulnerability Reduction Deserves Some Respect
RADM Robert H. Gormley USN, (Ret)
The JTCG/AS has chosen wisely to devote this issue of Aircraft Survivability to vulnerability reduction technology. The Combat Survivability Division of the National Defense Industrial Association (NDIA) certainly endorses the theme of this edition of the newsletter since we believe aircraft vulnerability reduction has not received sufficient attention in recent years. For this reason, the program for our October 1997 symposium was structured to shed light in this darkening vulnerability “corner”- to see how technological advancements might contribute to enhancing the survivability of both military and civil aircraft.
In the survivability field, fiscal constraints can lead to a hyperfocus on susceptibility reduction since hit avoidance is without question the first thing one should do to enhance combat survivability. So, the logic might then go, let’s not attempt to improve damage resistance and damage tolerance of new air platforms. Or alternatively, why not relax vulnerability requirements in order to save on development and procurement costs?
(can anyone say ACS, LCS. KCX?…)
I urge caution here, particularly in the case of manned aircraft. It seems to me that those who determine aircraft requirements and characteristics would do well to avoid being too quickly dismissive of vulnerability considerations.
They need to look carefully at the full range of possible tactical employment scenarios for proposed new aircraft, giving weight to the historical combat usage record of earlier planes. And before making a final decision on aircraft characteristics, into which the affordability factor must clearly weigh, requirements and acquisition officials should ask themselves two key questions relating to survivability:
“If hit, do we really want this new bird to be more likely to be lost than the plane it is to replace?” And, “Is there a need for it to be less vulnerable than the predecessor system?”
(newsletter from 1998. not currently online)
re- “Should have worked harder in flight school.”
I’m not an Army expert but a decade ago only the top of the class Army aviators get to fly the the Kiowa Warrior. Because they lead everything else in Army aviation. Strike, interdiction, etc.
Sort of like getting F-14 outta jet pipeline in the 70′s. I would say F/A-18, but you know, but if you get jets in Naval Aviation today, you get Hornets…
b2
You are of course aware that twisting the blade – even on the thinnest of contexts – is a deeply ingrained element of the light attack culture, nu?
Don’t mean nuthin’ by it – just stayin’ in practice.
Also, adding to Sid’s comment and from an old post about Vietnam era aviation:
Lex, heard the same engineer story years ago on Frick and Frack, the Tappit brothers, only in a Battle of Britain context.
Zane, In re your comment # 13 above … a gentle correction…Its ” Click and Clack, the Tappit Brothers” not, I repeat not ” Frick and Frack, the Tappit Brothers”… you Gomer . Best
While flying as cargo in an Oh-58 it lost power for some inexplicable reason and the pilot had to auto-rotate the thing down onto a ski slope barely wide enough for the rotor disc. I was too ignorant to be scared. Sometimes there’s a lot to be said for being ignorant.
“Light attack” thin knife? You mean Fighter dontcha? Idathunk…
I was jus trying to “make up” to your Army readers for my “flying artillery piece” fox paws a bit back (that’s Frenchie y’know…)
b2
b2
Snake Eater, I am offended! Allah is offended! You have offended the Prophet (salla-allahu-laihi-wassalam)! Where is the nearest human rights commission, I must file a complaint immediately! You have desecrated the Holy Koran! You have defiled the Religion of Peace (insert trademark thingy here)! You inbred offspring of swine and hound, you ignorant cracker chattel, there is no forgetting the horrible indecent act you have waged upon all of the faithful! Apologize, foul beast, apologize at once, or face the wrath of the just, the pious, the peaceful and tolerant, the slow to speak, the slow to wrath (craps, wrong holy book)! Grovel, now, I demand it!
Okay, I’ve been pulling out nose hairs to stay awake for the last half-hour, time to get out and go driving in Naples. Just needed to get the testosterone up first, nuthin’ personal. Luv you too, Snakey.
time to get out and go driving in Naples
Wow, what way to finish up your day!!!!
Bet its real fun these days with all the garbage heaps to dodge. Guess you can’t use the “sidewalks as extra lanes” trick so much….
Zane, Its a Pedantic Pecker-Wood thing…you wouldn’t understand… Best
I thought it was Pedantic Pecker Head.
Sid, t’s a better way to start the day, really gets the energy going! But yeah, some of the heaps are starting to spill into the street. On Saturday night, drove the family smack into a garbage strike. Luckily, was able to reverse course after only a few minutes, but it wasn’t pretty.
SE, no blood, no foul, but say salla-allahu-laihi-wassalam three times fast, and all is forgiven.
HF6, Write this down and save it for future reference;
1.Pedantic Pecker-Wood= a good thing to be,
2. Pecker-Head…Pedantic or otherwise = Not a good thing to be…Best
One thought…. it brought it’s crew home, didn’t it?
’nuff said.
B2, yeah, but “light attack” rhymes with “no slack”.
Plus, I was abused by A-7 jox as a child.
But you probably deserved the abuse, Lex.
I second GEO6′s sentiments…
Snake – thanks for the clarification
HF6, As you can see I’m an incorrigable, pain in the a**, clarifier… now …did you write it down as requested ? Best
I’m an incorrigable, pain in the a**
The first step is acknowlegement of the truth…
Wait, was that “pusillanimous pipsqueak,” or “pecksniff,” or “pissant,” or… Oh, Hell, notice how the Lexettes aren’t even touching this thread? You worked your magic again, Snakey.
Suggest you follow your own advice…Re your Dr. Phil, bubble gum wrapper, phychoanalysis … Fuzzy” Freeking” Bear Lioness… Best
“Freeking.”
*hehehehehahahahaha*
I’d forgotten about that. Made me laugh all over again. Thanks!
Zane, Strongly suggest you reduce your intake of Grappa with meals… absolutly guaranteed to ameliorate your current discombobulated state. Best
Snake-
Grapa only got one “P” init. At least whut I drunk over thar.
You meant grampa, Grampa! nyuk
b2 / AKA= P.P.W.
Snake ~ Oh, I wrote it down all right. You’re using awfully big words today, aren’t you?
When I was a young IS2 serving aboard the now retired CV-67, I heard the following from one of our airwing officers teasing a MAR-DET 2nd fresh aboard.
“What does the Navy call a helicopter?”
“A helo.”
“Very good. Now the Army?”
“A chopper.”
“Again, good. The Air Farce?”
“A rotary winged aircraft.”
“You Gyrene types?”
“C’mon, New Guy. What does the Corps call a helicopter?”
“I don’t know, sir.”
“Unnh, unnnh, home, unnnh!”
Thank you, LTJG Upham.
How did the crew survive? I see holes in the center console of the cockpit.