spotting the deck...big time

[flaps]

http://www.prismdefence.com.au/index.htm

 

[BusyBee604]

I'm no Helo driver, but looks to me like he did a fine job landing under difficult conditions??:star2_125
BzB

 

[phrogpilot73]

I don't see any deck spotting. If you watch, he's maintaining his aircraft generally level with the horizon. When a helo spots the deck, he uses the deck of the ship as his horizon - and "chases" the spot. AKA the dance of death...

 

[jt71582]

Great job, that was awesome.

 

[Fog]

Absolutely awesome. Putting helos on small boys in all-WX conditions is probably the most under-appreciated, under-reported & most deserving of respect of any part of naval aviation. In this particular video though, we could see the coast in the background. Why didn't he just fly to the beach & land at the nearest airfield or parking lot, even?

 

[Jim123]

In this particular video though, we could see the coast in the background. Why didn't he just fly to the beach & land at the nearest airfield or parking lot, even?

I think they were testing the limits (winds and/or deck pitch and roll). That's gotta be "fun"- drive the ship back and forth across the ocean in different directions and speeds in crappy weather while the helo takes off and lands.

 

[SH-60OB]

It is a portion of dynamic interface testing where test pilots evaluate all parts of the proposed wind/sea state envelope, giving each segment a grade as defined below

1. Reasonable pilot compensation required. Tracking and positioning accuracy is consistently maintained throughout the operation. Fleet pilots will have enough spare capacity to conduct ancillary tasks (eg. radio, Tq gauge, checks).
2. Significant pilot compensation required. Tracking and positioning accuracy are occasionally exceeded during peaks in ship motion, sea spray or turbulence. Fleet Pilots will have difficulty conducting ancillary tasks (eg. Radio, Tq gauge,checks).
3. Highest tolerable pilot compensation required. Repeated safe shipboardlaunch/recovery operations are achievable. Fleet pilots will be able to keep up with task requirements but no more. Degraded operations (ship or aircraft) arelikely to cause fleet pilot effort to become unacceptable. These points define the release limits recommended by (DERA).
4. Excessive pilot compensation required. Fleet Pilots will be purely reacting to external influences rather than anticipating them. Accuracy is poor in one or more axis. Fleet pilots under operational conditions could not consistently repeat these evolutions safely.
5. Extreme pilot compensation required. Repeated safe evolutions are not possible even under controlled test conditions with fully proficient crews.

 

[KBayDog]

I dug the neon yellow spots and lineup line - significantly easier to see than our white lines (or, by about a month into the deployment, our "Non-Skid Camo Lines"), and something I suspect greatly enhance landing safety. Not sure of the NVD effects, but it seem like it would be a moot point with NVD-compatible lighted decks anyway.

Does anybody know if that's something our Navy has looked into, or is that just a Danish thing?

 

[BACONATOR]

That looked like the opposite of fun.

 

[zpatman]

I hope someone bought him a beer for that...or at least gave him a change of shorts

 

[phrogpilot73]

I hope someone bought him a beer for that...or at least gave him a change of shorts

Based on the fact that it's clearly either a developmental or operational test, he probably didn't need a change of shorts, and probably bought his own beer. All in a day's work...

 

[KBayDog]

That looked like the opposite of fun.

How does that compare to 12 hours of VERTREP?

 

[H60Gunner]

Great video. I think I watched the "apparent" rotor rpm decay like that a few times in Fallon!

 

[RotorHead04]

Anyone with LCS in their future has that to look forward to ... we went through a lot of tail wheel lock pins!

 

[statesman]

Based on the fact that it's clearly either a developmental or operational test, he probably didn't need a change of shorts, and probably bought his own beer. All in a day's work...

Test pilot or no, new shorts or old... he probably bought his own beer and didn't BREW his own beer... Which still makes him less cool than our little Stinky.

Unless he did brew his own beer in which case we're trading you in for the newer model.