I Feel Better Now

You heard the man, don't buy that malarkey.  

It's all for the Children

Say what you like about Dianne Feinstein, she has been consistent over the years on one particular topic.  

The EC225 Problem - A Summary

Eurocopter, the EC225 Super Puma, and its operators and passengers have a problem in the North Sea.  

Though the Super Puma has served as a safe and reliable aircraft for decades, a change in manufacturing processes of the bevel gear vertical shaft in the main transmission has caused two notable failures this year alone, resulting in two controlled ditchings with no injuries, but two aircraft in the water nonetheless.  

The bevel gear vertical shaft is manufactured in two pieces which are welded together.  It is at this point that the gear fails, which causes both transmission oil pumps to go offline.  To further complicate the already critical situation of no oil pressure while inflight AND overwater, the emergency backup lubrication system displays false indications that the BACKUP system has failed.  The crews therefore have no prudent options other than landing on the water and letting the accident investigators sort out the details.  Happily in both instances the sea states and weather conditions were such that everyone was able to be recovered safely, which is the best case scenario in the often harsh conditions of the North Sea.  

After the first accident in May of 2012, Eurocopter initiated an investigation and believed that they had isolated and dealt with the failing component, and assured customers that the aircraft was safe to fly.  Then in October of 2012, only five months later, a nearly identical ditching occured.  Operators and regulators elected to ground all EC225s until more definite action can be taken to fix the gearbox issue, and Eurocopter had a credibility crisis on their hands.  

As of the time of this writing, several EC225s with older model vertical shafts have resumed operations in the North Sea, while all others remain grounded.  The best guess for when these aircraft will return to service is February 2013.  In the meantime, operators are doubling up on the flight time on their remaining aircraft, to include Sikorsky S92s (which carry a similar passenger load) and Agusta AW139s.  

An "Assault Weapons" Primer

Though the video is over twenty years old, the subject is eerily familiar. Decades later, many among us still think that the best way to prevent psychopaths from killing children is to treat all gun owners as potential psychopaths. Didn't work then, didn't work in CT, won't work anywhere else.  

In the wake of the Stockton Schoolyard Shooting of 1989, a police firearms instructor in CA explains the difficulties in defining "assault weapons" and demonstrates how a nondescript hunting rifle can become an "assault weapon" with the addition of a few cosmetic features... with no difference in lethality.  




For those who would disagree with the assertion that gun owners would be treated as potential psychopaths under proposed legislation, please see the below highlights of Senator Feinstein's new bill... straight off her website.  

Following is a summary of the 2013 legislation:

• Bans the sale, transfer, importation, or manufacturing of:
• 120 specifically-named firearms
• Certain other semiautomatic rifles, handguns, shotguns that can accept a detachable magazine and have one military characteristic
• Semiautomatic rifles and handguns with a fixed magazine that can accept more than 10 rounds
• Strengthens the 1994 Assault Weapons Ban and various state bans by:
• Moving from a 2-characteristic test to a 1-characteristic test
• Eliminating the easy-to-remove bayonet mounts and flash suppressors from the characteristics test
• Banning firearms with “thumbhole stocks” and “bullet buttons” to address attempts to “work around” prior bans
• Bans large-capacity ammunition feeding devices capable of accepting more than 10 rounds. 
• Protects legitimate hunters and the rights of existing gun owners by:
• Grandfathering weapons legally possessed on the date of enactment
• Exempting over 900 specifically-named weapons used for hunting or sporting purposes and
• Exempting antique, manually-operated, and permanently disabled weapons
• Requires that grandfathered weapons be registered under the National Firearms Act, to include:
• Background check of owner and any transferee;
• Type and serial number of the firearm;
• Positive identification, including photograph and fingerprint;
• Certification from local law enforcement of identity and that possession would not violate State or local law; and
• Dedicated funding for ATF to implement registration

Assault Weapons Bans are STUPID

Which of the following two rifles do you think would be banned by an ASSAULT WEAPONS BAN?  

Rifle #1

Rifle #2

If you guessed rifle #2, you have drunk the Kool Aid.  Trick question.  

Rifle #1 and #2 are both Ruger 10-22s, of which millions have been sold and thousands have learned to shoot with.  Rifle #2 has been modified with the ProMag Archangel Kit, a popular modification of the standard 10-22 rifle, which ships with an equally frightening plastic bayonet.  

Though it looks really scary to people who know nothing about guns, there is ZERO difference in the lethality of the weapon itself, it fires the exact same .22 caliber cartridge.  Though fuzzy squirrels nationwide might prefer the smaller ten round magazine of the unmodified 10-22.  

How about this one? 

Rifle #3

Not too intimidating you say?  This is a pair of M14s, which have been in military service since the 1960s and were used extensively in Iraq and Afghanistan as sniper rifles.  Some variants were fully automatic.  It is not a "military style" rifle, it IS a military rifle.  It fires the 7.62x51 cartridge, which is just a LITTLE bit bigger and more lethal than the .22 fired by the 10-22 series, see below...

I'd much rather be shot at with the .22 on the right than the 7.62x51, second from left.  Happily for us and the gun fearing populace, the same characteristics that make the M14 a highly effective sniper rifle also make it unwieldy, heavy, loud, expensive, rare, and therefore unlikely to be used in a crime. Much like millions of Ruger 10-22s, with or without modifications.   

The last "assault weapons ban" banned cosmetic features of weapons, deemed threatening by congress members who neither tolerate nor understand firearms.  Their aim is to ban any type of guns that they are able.  Do you think the president's task force will go after other causes of mass murder as hard as they will go after guns?  Wait and see.  

Telex Stratus Heli-XT ANR headset review

Update 05/2016: Please check out my most recent review for the Lightspeed Tango Wireless Headset helicopter version.  

Hard to find reviews on this item, so I am writing my own.  Skygeek's price is the best I have found on this item.  

For what its worth, I own two DC headsets, a converted H10-40 and a passive H10-56, and a Bose X.  I primarily fly S76s and 407s in the gulf.  

The Heli-XT is slightly bigger than most headsets.  Normally not a problem but when you turn your head you can bang it on head cushions, etc. at times.  Many headsets leave you with extra cord dangling around the cockpit but this coiled cord is just the right length with not a lot of slack.  The earcups are not left and right specific so you can just throw the mike boom over the top and hook in on whichever side is closest to the ICS plug.  

The AA batteries are consumed at a pretty fast rate.  Use rechargeables.  My headset came with two 2450 mAh AA rechargable batts AND a charger that hooks directly into the battery compartment, so unless you want a wall charger you will already be set up.  

Passive protection is excellent due to the big ear cushions.  The ANR is not as aggressive as some higher end sets but it does improve the audio quality.  If the batteries and ANR temporarily run out, its not a big deal because of the high degree of passive protection.  

Headband clamping force is pretty firm (and adjustable), but not uncomfortable.  I have a pretty big noggin and wearing it for six hours straight does not cause any problems.  

Volume level can be adjusted very high, which I love since I fly with earplugs also, and other headsets I have flown can be difficult to hear with earplugs in.  

Audio quality clear in and out.  We'll see how it holds up over the long term but so far I am very happy with this purchase.  

*** Update 4/2016

Over the past three plus years, the Heli-XT headset has held up quite well, flying 300-400 hours per year in commercial use.  It has never been in for repair but I replaced the ear cushions once when the foam finally wore through!  This is not a top-of-the-line headset but is a very capable and functional headset that should meet the needs of most pilots, and at a very good price.  

I have never used the charger that plugs directly into the headset to charge the batteries, it was easier for me to purchase an Energizer or Eveready wall charger (with included batteries) and keep one set of batteries in the headset and the other set as a backup.  You will not have a hard time figuring out when the headset batteries are low, if you miss the flashing red light, you will hear a lot of strange noises and then static in the headset as the batteries give up the last of their charge.  

Over the last few months, I have experienced some problems with the power button while turning the ANR on and off, and wear on the battery door which causes the battery door to fall off by itself sometimes, but the ANR still works well.  I emailed Telex customer service for instructions on returning the headset for a factory refurb but they never did email me back.  I plan on keeping this headset as a spare, and buying a Lightspeed Tango for my new primary headset, review to follow!  

Some Help for Brother Joe...

When you are serious about solving a problem, you give it to the man who can make it happen... Vice President Joe Biden.  

With that in mind, President Obama has volunteered VP Biden to head up a task force to ram through anti-gun legislation... I mean "provide immediate recommendations about how to reduce gun violence".  

Being that Vice President Biden is a busy and thoughtful guy, I would like to forward some recommendations as a place to start.  

1. Hope nobody remembers that "Fast and Furious" thing.  

2. Ensure that any proposed legislation fails to differentiate between legal gun owners and mass murders.  Demand further gun control while mentioning some blah blah about the complexity of the issue, mental health, etc.    

3. Do your best to ignore that the rumor of further gun restrictions has caused the biggest run on "assault weapons", high capacity magazines, and ammunition in recent memory.  

4. Develop a sub-task force to invent more scary terms like "high-powered assault weapon" and allow career anti-gunners in congress to define same.  

5. Seek to introduce "sensible legislation" that places limitations on any other constitutional amendments as may apply. Freedom of speech?  Unreasonable search and seizure?  Self incrimination?  Poll taxes?  Put them all on the table. It's for the children after all.  

6. Above all, pass some legislation to exploit the Sandy Hook mass murders while the polls favor what you have wanted to do all the time anyway.  

No Guns Here...

In the wake of the Sandy Hook mass murders, it is often difficult to separate truth from fiction between the warring factions.  Here to help you think is NY Senator Charles Schumer, who yesterday said, of NRA Executive VP Wayne LaPierre:

"LaPierre "blames everything but guns, movies, the media, President Obama, gun-free school zones, you name it, the video games, he blames them," Schumer said. "Now, trying to prevent shootings in schools without talking about guns is like trying to prevent lung cancer without talking about cigarettes."

With apologies to Candy Crowley, I'd like to correct the Senator on a couple of points.  LaPierre did indeed mention the president FOUR times in his official remarks.  Three of them were to point out that the president, as well as members of congress, are themselves protected by armed security, but that they think that denying the same protection to your children in schools makes them SAFER.  The fourth mention was this:

Ladies and gentlemen, there is no national, one-size-fits-all solution to protecting our children. But do know this President zeroed out school emergency planning grants in last year's budget, and scrapped "Secure Our Schools" policing grants in next year's budget.

At this point, at least half of you should probably stop reading, as hearing for the first time the actual message that LaPierre delivered may cause painful cognitive dissonance.  Return to your TV and what LaPierre REALLY MEANT to say will be repeated to you for the next few days, as part of the greater campaign against high capacity magazines, military style weapons, gun owners, and the second amendment.  

As to his point that LaPierre doesn't talk about guns, there are TWENTY mentions of guns in the official remarks.  Here are a few of them and I hope that you might agree with at least some of his points...

As brave, heroic and self-sacrificing as those teachers were in those classrooms, and as prompt, professional and well-trained as those police were when they responded, they were unable — through no fault of their own — to stop it.

As parents, we do everything we can to keep our children safe. It is now time for us to assume responsibility for their safety at school. The only way to stop a monster from killing our kids is to be personally involved and invested in a plan of absolute protection. The only thing that stops a bad guy with a gun is a good guy with a gun. Would you rather have your 911 call bring a good guy with a gun from a mile away ... or a minute away?

Now, I can imagine the shocking headlines you'll print tomorrow morning: "More guns," you'll claim, "are the NRA's answer to everything!" Your implication will be that guns are evil and have no place in society, much less in our schools. But since when did the word "gun" automatically become a bad word?

A gun in the hands of a Secret Service agent protecting the President isn't a bad word. A gun in the hands of a soldier protecting the United States isn't a bad word. And when you hear the glass breaking in your living room at 3 a.m. and call 911, you won't be able to pray hard enough for a gun in the hands of a good guy to get there fast enough to protect you.

So why is the idea of a gun good when it's used to protect our President or our country or our police, but bad when it's used to protect our children in their schools? They're our kids. They're our responsibility. And it's not just our duty to protect them — it's our right to protect them.

A brave new world for Army maintenance...

Hold the phones and stop the presses... the Army Research Laboratory has developed NEW aircraft maintenance technologies for the FAA.  

Before we send out the thank you notes, what exactly are these cutting edge and heavily researched technologies that our taxpayer-funded researchers hath wrought?  
The first one is the Health and Usage Monitoring System, or HUMS for short.  This quite valuable and capable system collects data from various sensors on helicopters which aims to predict impending failures of critical components.  It was developed by... wait for it... helicopter operators in the offshore oil industry.  And we have had it fielded in our civilian helicopter fleet for many years.

The second and even more technically advanced system that is sure to rock the civil rotorcraft industry is called "Condition Based Maintenance" or CBM.  For the less technically inclined, CBM means "replacing parts when they need to be replaced" which will eventually supercede the former Army system of "time-scheduled maintenance" or "replacing parts regardless of whether they need to be replaced".  

In practice, CBM states that you will regularly inspect certain components and replace them when necessary, while time scheduled maintenance means your maintainers spend countless man hours removing components at set times regardless of the condition.  Quite like changing your engine every 3,000 miles instead of changing the oil.  This is known in some quarters as "wasteful", "pointless" "stupid" and "a grievous waste of time and money".  

This is why civilian operators, with limited budgets and clients with limited patience, have been doing condition based maintenance for years, with strict governmental oversight.  

Some in the military will argue that time scheduled maintenance has historically been necessary because of the size of Army aircraft, the stress on components, the pace of operations, blah blah and so forth.  This argument works best on those who believe that the Army is the sole repository of aviation knowledge on the planet and think that an aircraft with 10,000 hours belongs on a pole in front of a museum.  

I would argue that the Army pays thousands of people millions of dollars to keep hundreds of aircraft broke most of the time, and that they are idiots with unlimited funding who think they know everything.  Regardless of how you might feel about this, I would bet you a paycheck that most civilian companies would be out of business by lunchtime if they managed maintenance like the Army.

I will further argue that the most outside-the-box thinkers in the Army probably brought these long standing civilian processes and systems under the Army umbrella, relabeled them with a cool sounding acronym, and then got themselves a nice OER bullet out of it.  

Glad to see the greatest minds in the Army are slowly catching up, and I can't wait to see what they come up with next.  

Keep the tail behind you

Today's video demonstrates why you should not slide laterally at a low hover.  

This accident occurred in Germany and a bystander was fatally injured by flying debris.  

Let me be clear...

Disarm the Afghans

There is a really easy way to cut down on the number of green on blue shootings in Afghanistan, Disarm the Afghans in any situation where they could be a threat to NATO troops.  

Far from being a ridiculous suggestion, this is a common practice for the US military, who disarms their own people in Afghanistan when the SECDEF visits, and who restricts firearms on stateside installations, leading to events like the murders of 13 troops on Fort Hood.  

The military has long since passed the point where political correctness is prized above force protection.  If we are not willing to take drastic measures to protect our own people from our alleged allies, its time for us to leave Afghanistan.  And its time.  

An unemployment numbers allegory...

Let's say when I'm 19, I say to my Dad: "If you pay my room and board and tuition for the next four years, I promise I'll never fail a class".  

Then I proceed to flunk every class for the next three and a half years.  All along the way I blame the school, my professors, society, my enemies, everything but my own performance.  

Finally, in the second semester of what is my fourth freshman year... I pull out a D minus in ONE class.  

So then I say to my Dad: "My grades are at a 44 month high!  See, I just needed a little time to see the results of my study habits.  How about paying my way for another four years?"

Would my Dad be a racist if he didn't believe me?  

Thought for the day...

Today's topic is SITUATIONAL AWARENESS!

If today you were preflighting your helicopter in the dark, and an orangutan was sitting silently on top of the mast...

HOW LONG WOULD IT BE BEFORE YOU NOTICED???

Don't forget to do a walk-around.  They don't cost much.  

Peace, Errwolf

Hurricane Isaac, he wrote...

Hurricane Isaac has come and gone, and Louisiana is more or less still here a week later.  

Isaac was a very slow moving storm, at times stationary and reversing course. Many of the destructive effects came from persistent winds that lasted for two or more days in areas on the east side of the storm.  In the flooded community of Braithwaite, the southerly winds from Isaac backed up the Mississippi river to such an extent that the levee was topped, flooding the community and forcing a number of rooftop rescues that brought to mind Hurricane Katrina.  This after the Mississippi was at a LOW level prior to the storm.  There were many power lines downed and the pace of restoring the power in the wake of Isaac may have caused the early retirement of the Entergy CEO after much criticism from frustrated residents of New Orleans.  

For our part, we evacuated our helicopter bases in far southern Louisiana and relocated ourselves and the aircraft to Lafayette, which experienced maybe 2" of rain and 30-40 knot winds during the peak of the storm on the west side.  We returned to most of our bases on Thursday, a day after the storm passed, but were on generator power for nearly a week, and very little aircraft activity is going on down the delta in places like Venice, which are still very much wind damaged and without power. 

Some very strange things happened due to the strength and the duration of the winds.  On the west side of the storm, persistent NORTH winds emptied out a canal in Delcambre and blew all the water out of Lake Peigneur.  It was somewhat surreal that as people were fleeing potential levee breaches on the east side, small children were driving their four-wheelers around on the bottom of a muddy lake bed on the west side.  

Much worse for Mississippi (and better for the marsh) was the killing of over 15,000 nutria rats that washed up on MS beaches and were being disposed of by contractors at the time of this writing.  

If you know anything about Louisiana and specifically New Orleans, you will not find it really surprising that residents are agitating for more taxpayer money for more levees to protect their below sea-level homesteads from a fourth or fifth hurricane induced destruction, and Louisiana Senator Mary Landrieu stated recently that they have a "right to live there".  

Me, I'd move... but what do I know?  

For more on why the marsh will never come back and the state of LA has doomed itself to save the port of New Orleans, see my previous post on this topic.  

Hang up and drive...

I am not a real big fan of government programs.  

However, the UK's "Think" campaign, which encourages driver safety... generally through graphic videos where lots of people die in dramatic fashion... is exceptionally effective at getting their message out in a memorable manner.  

Here in the US it is apparently too controversial to show dramatized versions of what happens every day on our highways, and kills over 40,000 people a year.  

On the lighter side, Think! has produced a driving safety challenge (link here) where you see how well you can divide your attention between pedestrians on the road and a cell phone conversation.  The pass rate is 19%.  I failed miserably.  Good luck.  

Russian subs in the gulf!

Nice to know we are not alone out here, as there are Russian subs operating in the Gulf of Mexico.  

The article states that "it is also not known why the submarine conducted the operation".  

Uhh... to clown the US Navy?  Just sayin'.  

No pilot? No big deal.

Most Marines would not want close air support from an unmanned attack helicopter, nor to be flown to a hospital in an unmanned medical evacuation helicopter.  

However, after nearly 500 sorties of night time vertical resupply missions to remote bases in Afghanistan, the "optionally piloted" KMAX has proven that an unmanned cargo hauler is a win-win.

In fact, the two evaluation aircraft in support of the Marines have been extended for six months, and may be extended another year.  

Ironically, the aircraft still requires a pilot to start it up and shut it down.  Flying sling loads cross country through the mountains at night?  No pilot.  Time to get fuel?  Go get a pilot to shut it down.  Talk about not logging any flight time...

See it in action in the Lockheed Martin video below.  

Bell 214ST testbed crashes, no injuries

During a test flight on 7 Aug 2012, a Bell 214 test aircraft reportedly lost tail rotor control... and possibly tail rotor components, landing in a field and rolling over after a wheel dug in to the soft ground.  The FAA preliminary accident report is here.

Of significance is that this aircraft was testing components (possibly the transmission) for the future Bell 525 relentless project.  It is more than likely that the suspected failure of the tail rotor components was unrelated to the incident, but it is impossible to know at this point.  The 525 is planned to have a five-bladed rotor design, and from the wreck pictures it appears that the 214, which normally flies with a two-bladed system, was equipped with a four-bladed system.  

Good job by the pilots in getting the aircraft down in one piece.  Since this was an instrumented test aircraft, I imagine the investigators and the engineers will have way more data than they will need to pinpoint the cause.  

Near miss or not?

Much news hysteria has come of the "near miss" between three US Airways planes in the vicinity of Reagan National Airport in DC last week.  But the truth is a lot more complicated than the hype.  


Without getting deeply into the FAA's Air Traffic Control policy,(and way beyond my pay grade) suffice it to say that the required Instrument Flight Rules separation of three miles laterally and 1000 feet horizontally IS NOT REQUIRED if either one of the aircraft has the other one in sight.  Once you understand that key point, there is no story here.  This is the biggest ATC non-story since an aircraft carrying Michelle Obama had to perform a go around last year.  


Did Air Traffic Control violate established procedures or fail to communicate when these aircraft came too close?  Maybe.  But notwithstanding all the gotcha stories about sleeping controllers, etc. it is extremely hard to find an unprofessional or clueless controller out there in the real world.  They are highly trained, highly professional, highly standardized, and very good at what they do.  


Aviation is dangerous, human error is always a threat, and it pays to keep your head on a swivel.  But not in this case.  More than likely the investigation will find as the Administrator has already stated... "they were not on a collision course".  

Take the 24 hour challenge...

Another fine five-minute video from our friends at Prager University. This challenge is much harder than it sounds! Just try and do it!

Thought for the day

You can train a monkey to fly an ILS, but you can't train a monkey to pull a phase.  

The Crank of the X3

Eurocopter's X3 Helicopter will no doubt be very sleek and fast, but I'd say it will be a little dangerous on the ground for those who are used to loading and unloading with the rotors turning!  

Don't Run from the Cops

From our friends at Blu Tube... the message here is pretty self explanatory.  

Why Helicopter Design is Difficult

This short video of visualized airflow around a CH-47 in flight demonstrates the challenges facing rotary wing design engineers. The speaker, Dick Spivey, is considered to be the father of the V-22 program.  (H/T Rotor and Wing editor Andrew Parker for this).

Stealth Helicopters Revisited

Chuck Pfarrer's excellent book Seal Target Geronimo has been available for some time now and is a great read.  The book covers a variety of topics from the background of terrorism in the Middle East to the inside details of Operation Neptune Spear, aka the Osama Bin Laden raid. 


Chuck Pfarrer is a former DEVGRU member and claims to have inside information on Neptune Spear based on his association with those involved in the mission.  There has been no small amount of controversy involving Mr. Pfarrer's version of the facts... the same which can be said of the "official" version of the raid provided by the Obama administration and various leakers throughout the government.  Since my previous post on Stealth Helicopters garnered so much interest, I thought I'd comment on some of the aviation related content in the book with my best educated guess on "what really happened".  


I would first like to state that I am not a Seal, nor a SOCOM guy of any stripe, just an old Army Aviator with some plain vanilla UH-60 time.  This is why I restrict my comments to the aviation related items.  Enough disclaimers, post continues...  


Claim: (page 15) In June 2006, a SEAL sniper team laser designates a building near the northwest corner of Baghdad where Abu Musab al-Zarqawi is hiding, guiding in a CIA controlled Predator Drone which fires a Hellfire missile, killing Zarqawi.  


All previous versions of this story have USAF F-16s dropping laser guided bombs on the house containing Zarqawi.  This does not mean that the SEALs were not there designating the target, the only thing is dispute is the weapon that was dropped.  Also, the location of Zarqawi's safe house was reported to be in Baqubah... a long way from the northwest corner of Baghdad.  


Whatever the truth is, few would disagree that the CIA controls Predators with Hellfire missiles, that the USAF drops laser guided bombs from F-16s, that SEAL sniper teams can certainly lay up in a hide site and designate targets, and that the death of Zarqawi saddens no one outside of his following in Iraq. 


Claim: (page 153) the helicopters used in the Bin Laden raid were "Stealth Hawks", one of a silent and stealthy generation of modified UH-60s.  


The tail section of the wrecked helicopter that was left at the objective appeared to be that of a modified UH-60.  Task Force 160, which flies quite a few SOCOM missions, possesses the most highly modified and expensive UH-60s out there, and it is not much of a stretch to imagine that the newest aircraft they have are equipped with cutting edge classified technology.  


Interestingly though, all sources seem to indicate that MH-47s were used to extract the task force.  Whether they were backup aircraft or part of the original plan is anybody's guess, but apparently it didn't take a quiet and stealthy helicopter to get in and out of the objective, at least once the element of surprise was achieved.  If the raid indeed lasted near 40 minutes, that would seem to indicate that extraction was delayed... I would hope that the raid was planned for a MUCH shorter time frame on the objective.  


Claim: (page 173) With ADM McRaven watching, a "supersonic" RQ-170 UAV makes an afterburning takeoff into a vertical climb at a base in Afghanistan. 


Real dramatic, but I'm thinking not.  The RQ-170 I'm thinking of is powered by a GE TF34 engine that produces less than 10,000 pounds of thrust, and which also powers the S-3 Viking and the A-10 Thunderbolt, as well as a stable of civilian regional jets.  All aircraft not known for their vertical climb capabilities, nor their afterburners, nor their supersonic performance.  Being that they now own one, I guess we could ask the Iranians if they have any further info they could share with us? 


Claim: (page 181) The assault plan called for the first helicopter, Razor 1, to drop assaulters on the roof of the main building.  


This is where Pfarrer's version of events make far more sense than the "official" version of the events, wherein the helicopters dropped everyone on the ground and the assault teams cleared the building from the ground up.  Assuming you can quickly drop or rope your people vertically onto the buildings, it would be a tactically bad idea to jump out of a helicopter and then fight your way from the bottom of the building up.  Why do things the hard way if you don't have to?  Why show up in a helicopter and then get out and run up the stairs?


Claim: (page 189) The tail rotors of the helicopters used in the raid are shrouded.  


Nope.  Not in the pictures of the wreckage.  


Claim: (page 199) Razor 1 landed on the roof of the building and remained there during the raid, rotors turning.  


Maybe... but as any infantryman will tell you, vehicles draw fire, and I'd rather be circling the target than presenting a great big stationary target smack on top of the objective.  Apart from the obvious risk of setting down a many-ton helicopter on the roof of a building built in Pakistan...    


Claim: (page 200) Razor 1 took off from the main building, rotating clockwise, and crashing into the compound due to the failure of a "green unit", a system that "controlled flight inputs and communications, and managed navigational problems".  


This has got to be my favorite...  


First off, there is no such component in the UH-60, at least in the basic version.  If there is, I hope it was under warranty.  It sounds like a real piece of junk.  Although the UH-60 has historically experienced failures of supposedly redundant components (dual-engine rollback) the chances of a simultaneous catastrophic failure of two systems is, as Pfarrer puts it, "a million to one shot".  The chances of there being a single pair of components on the aircraft that handle flight control, commo, and navigation is even less I would add.  


So what took down Razor 1?  If indeed the helicopter did spin clockwise and crash, that is indicative of either a loss of tail rotor effectiveness or a tail rotor malfunction of some kind.  I would guess that the cause was much simpler, Razor 1 hit a wall with the tailboom or tail rotor during the initial insertion.  


Much has been made of the reduced hover performance of the stealth modifications, "vortex ring state" and strange aerodynamic phenomenon known only to congressmen who describe air of different densities and temperatures being on two different sides of the compound walls which somehow steals lift from helicopters.  But there are many tried and true ways to crash a helicopter and we don't need to make up any new ones.  


Air assaults are hard.  An air assault of this magnitude on this target is much harder.  Many lives are on the line.  Seconds count.  Timing is vitally important.  The aircraft hit the landing zone quickly and simultaneously, and everyone typically browns out.  Bad things happen, no matter how many rehearsals take place.  To see what this looks like in real time, look at this video of another special forces raid in Iraq.  During a daylight operation, the third aircraft... smacks its tailboom into the wall.


But you know what?  The operators drive on and the mission is accomplished anyway.  Just like in Abbottabad.  


H/T to David Cenciotti at The Aviationist for the best Stealth Blackhawk info on the net!  


And a big salute to the men who pulled this off despite the odds.  

By the Numbers

From the May 2012 Rotor and Wing, h/t Andrew Drwiega...


Some numbers mentioned during Sen Jeff Sessions' speech before the Army Aviation Association of America.  


Over the last three years...


- Defense spending has increased 10%.
- Medicare spending has increased 37%.
- Department of Education spending has increased 70%.


Food stamp spending has increased 300% since 2001.  


The wars in Iraq and Afghanistan have cost $1.3 trillion over the last ten years.  


The US budget deficit for LAST year was $1.3 trillion.  


In 1962, defense was 48% of the budget, while entitlement spending was 26%.  In 2013, defense will be 19% of the budget and entitlement spending will be 60%.  


The Department of Defense (DoD) budget is $688.3 billion out of a total Defense budget of $903.3 billion ($130 billion for vets, $43.8 billion for foreign economic aid, and $12.5 billion for foreign military aid).  


With continuing budget deficits each year exceeding $1 trillion, completely eliminating the DoD outright would not balance the budget.  


Guns or butter, take your pick.  

Your Obamacare Minute, part 3

Will the "Affordable Care Act and Patient Protection Plan" AKA Obamacare, be found unconstitutional?  

It sure seems so to the press, who immediately began preemptive strikes against the Supreme Court, nearly as soon as oral arguments had ended.  

Common themes are that a defeat of Obamacare would cause great damage to the GOP...

How Obamacare being struck down would hurt REPUBLICANS

How the GOP doesn't have a plan

That the Supreme Court is, in fact, clueless...

"Misunderstanding" during oral arguments  

And, of course, the impending body count of victims if the law is not allowed to stand...

"Millions could be hurt"

You may have to investigate a little deeper to read about out how Obama's solicitor general, during oral arguments, pulled off what was described by Mother Jones to be...

one of the most spectacular flameouts in the history of the court. 

Or that, in fact, the GOP maybe does have a plan.  

Time to get out and vote.  

Not a model soldier

I am not a combat infantryman and as such cannot fully understand the pressures and the pain faced by the men on the line in Afghanistan, and earlier in Iraq.  


However, I would ask one question to those who would like to judge the Afghanistan effort and the quality of our troops based on this unspeakable atrocity.  


How many tens of thousands of combat arms soldiers have gone downrange and done their duty, under similar circumstances as SSG Robert Bales and yet have NOT slaughtered 17 civilians?  

One day on approach to Singapore

News item: Texting Pilot Forgets to Lower Gear

Note to haters and lawyers: this is a joke, not the actual transcript.  Thank you.  Joke continues.  

CVR transcript of Jetstar 320

PF = Pilot Flying, or in this case Pilot Forgetting

PM = Pilot Monitoring, or in this case Pilot: Moron

ATC = duh, ATC

ATC: Jetstar 320, cross MORON intersection at 2000 feet, contact tower MORON inbound.

PM: Mmmmmm.

PF: You need to push the PTT button.

PM: (click) Uhhhhhhh, roger, MORON inbound uhhhhhh (freq change)

PM: Signapore tower, Jetstar 320 MORON inbound for the visual RWY12R.

(stone cold silence)

PM: Ooops, tuned the NAV radio. No wonder I couldn’t get the whole freq in. Stand by.

(fiddle fiddle fiddle)

PM: Signapore tower, likeiwuzsayin, Jetstar 320 MORON inbound for the visual RWY12R.

ATC: Jetstar 320, runway 30L is in use.

PM: Yeah that’s what I meant. 30R.

ATC: 30L.

PM: Sure.

ATC: Jetstar 320, do you have the airport in sight?

PM: The Singapore Airport?

ATC: Yes.

PM: Why yes I do.

ATC: Good. Make straight in for RWY 30L, check wheels down, follow a Spruce Goose on a 2 mile final.

PM: Searching.

PF: Before landing check.

PM: Speaking of landing, what you want to eat here, they have that pizza place right by the gate.

PF: Should I get my own flaps or what?

PM: No, I was going to get the supreme, I hadn’t got the flaps before.

PF: BIRDS!

PM: Huh?

WHAPWHAPWHAPSCHMACKTHUMPTHUD (yaw) (compressor stall)

PF: We should write that up.

PM: Screw that, one more leg and I’m going home. Maintenance can figure it out.

ATC: Jetstar 320, previously issued traffic is clearing at taxiway C, cleared to land RWY 30L, where are you parking?

PM: We’ll be parking at the terminal.

ATC: ??????

BAM BAM BAM BAM

PM: Whose banging on the cockpit door now?

PF: Oh, we have a non-rev Jet Blue captain deadheading in first class.

(sounds of screams, religious ranting, flight attendants kung fu fighting)

PF: Did you ever get that before landing checklist?

PM: What? I got a text.

PF: Dang, we’re hot on this approach. Flaps 90.

PM: Maybe it’ll make up for that time we lost after we left the gear down on climb out for fifty miles.

PF: Yeah, we’ll never do that again.

(gear warning horn silenced by PM)

PF: Are we cleared to land?

PM: Lemme ask, I turned the volume down.

PF: You turned tower down? Arm speed brakes, we got a tailwind or something.

ATC: (slow fade up to normal volume) JETSTAR 320, do you require assistance?

PM (texting) We got it, we’re a little busy here.

ATC: Roger, rolling crash.

PM: 10-4.

PM: Oh. Hey, Singapore tower, did you text me a minute ago?

ATC: YES I SAID CHECK GEAR DOWN YOUR GEAR IS UP AGGGGGGH.

PM: Oh. Well I guess we’ll go around, as the article stated, at 720 feet we are too low to extend the landing gear. Got the high skid package on this one.

ATC: Jetstar 320 GO AROUND GO AROUND GO AROUND.

PF: Going around.

PM: Tower, do you know that it costs our airline $2000 every time we go around?

ATC: Roger, give me $5000 worth - direct MORON and hold.

For the record I would like to state that all these conversations are fictitious and I would never do anything like this.