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Heavy Metal (of the rotary kind)
- Thread starter HeyJoe
- Start date
GroundPounder
Well-Known Member
Cool shots. I got a chance to get into one that was supporting a presidential visit, and although I had seen one in flight I'd never got close to one on the ground. With the back ramp down, it looked big enough to have pulled my Crown Vic straight in. The thing that stuck me was that it was so clean inside and out that it was more like a mock up than a real helo. The crew said that the outside was always that clean, but the aircraft was either new or had just been overhauled ( can't remember which ) and that the inside wasn't always so spotless. It even smelled good back there, not like hot hydraulic fluid and wet dogs.
The smell is usually the first thing that anyone I take onto one of the planes notices. C-12s, P-3s, even the "older" T-6s all have that sweaty sock/swampass/jp-5 smell. My wife always bitches about how my flightsuits/I smell after a long flight, but I just tell her it's the smell of freedom and victory :icon_tong.
Try crawling and rolling around in that smell and filth for 10 to 12 hours a day. My wife says the same thing about me after work. She can tell when I've been playing hooky from work, so I pretty much have to tell her that I skipped out for a day.
I think the P3s that come right from the war are the worst smelling and hardest on our health. Most of the guys on the MOD crew end up getting sick within the first week, coincidence I think not.
The scent of per diem is a bit of an acquired taste.:icon_tong
Man do i miss it.
BTW, anyone here flying the MH-53 following I-37 from San Antonio to Corpus on the 3rd of September around 4 pm? Brought back old memories.
I miss the jetfuel/oil smell, now i'm used to the cigarrette and strong alcohol smell that is left behind in the back seat by my "customers." There are times that I cant even go to a bar, get a whiff of straight booze, and be reminded of the last drunk I had to transport.
BTW, anyone here flying the MH-53 following I-37 from San Antonio to Corpus on the 3rd of September around 4 pm? Brought back old memories.
I miss the jetfuel/oil smell, now i'm used to the cigarrette and strong alcohol smell that is left behind in the back seat by my "customers." There are times that I cant even go to a bar, get a whiff of straight booze, and be reminded of the last drunk I had to transport.
The smell of per diem is long gone by time it gets to me.
The lingering smell is of sweat and crew yak. 
[/thread jack]
MasterBates
Well-Known Member
HC-4 is gone.. HM-15 is moving to Norfolk soon.
pilot811
Fly High!
Thanks, I didn't know that. I bet its hard to get one of those slots since there is so few?
Kevin
When I went through flight school nobody got 53s unless they wanted and picked it or were just stuck there. It was my first choice and of course I got 53s there were some folks that didnt want them and got chosen for it. When I went through (no idea how it is now) 53s were not a popular choice..back then it was rumored that they were going to be phased out.
They might be gone now, but HM-16 provided the helos for the rescue attempt of American hostages in Iran on 24 April 1980. Picture from the USS Nimitz 1979-1980 cruisebook.
Attached is pic of an HM-15 bird @ the Dubai Air Show. Notice a lot of the pics of the MH on this thread are taken world wide...Peru, Australia, Japan, Korea, 5th Fleet. 53s are operating world-wide. We have a couple heading down to KNDZ for the NHA fleet fly in. Any of you flight students that want to take a look, we will be there. // end plug of selecting 53s //
Attachments
We had a -53 come out to the Lincoln when I was in the Gulf. The thing turned on the flight deck for what seemed like a couple of hours. That damn thing pretty much shook the whole damned ship. It was incredible how much power is coming off of those rotors.
One of the pilots was a brunette girl that was SMOKING hot. I'm not talking about "I've-been-on-this-boat-for-seven-months-and-the-last-two-ports-I've-been-to-were-both-Bahrain-and-that-was-three-months-ago" hot, but really hot. She was eating in the downstairs wardroom and I think the whole airwing was just sitting in the wardroom for no particular reason.
One of the pilots was a brunette girl that was SMOKING hot. I'm not talking about "I've-been-on-this-boat-for-seven-months-and-the-last-two-ports-I've-been-to-were-both-Bahrain-and-that-was-three-months-ago" hot, but really hot. She was eating in the downstairs wardroom and I think the whole airwing was just sitting in the wardroom for no particular reason.