I'm Not A Helo Guy, But I Think This Is Straight Badass

[PropAddict]

Found this posted on another site, where it was claimed by the poster to be a USMC Phrog and a RHIB full of SEALS.

Might be legit?

http://i.imgur.com/m7DYm.gif

 

[Brett327]

Don't show that the the folks in 12C.

 

[Stearmann4]

An F470 Zodiac is almost 6" wide which would choke a 46'. That's a now obsolete MH- 47D, the concept is affectionately called the "Delta Queen". It works great for recruiting commercials, and in the calmest of fresh water lakes, but usless in practical application. I guess unless we have to exfil a team from an area with lots of secluded, semi-permissive lakes?

MR-

 

[HueyCobra8151]

That's pretty amazing...there is actually soundproofing material hung up on the interior!!

 

[Uncle Fester]

Guess this is the Army equivalent of landing a Herk on a carrier. Did it to show we could do it.

An F470 Zodiac is almost 6" wide...quote]

Wow...almost as big as Stonehenge!

 

[PhrogLoop]

I'll never forget Water 1/2 in the H-46 FRS. We shared Otay Lake with the US National Crew Team for about 90 minutes. More fun than you should be allowed to have at work!

 

[hscs]

I'll never forget Water 1/2 in the H-46 FRS. We shared Otay Lake with the US National Crew Team for about 90 minutes. More fun than you should be allowed to have at work!

Heard a story about one of those flights where an engine quit while they were in the water @ Otay. The crew was able to water taxi to a boat ramp and shut down in the boat ramp parking lot. According to legend, a former phrog AW turned policeman left a parking ticket on the windshield of the aircraft.

 

[bert]

Heard a story about one of those flights where an engine quit while they were in the water @ Otay. The crew was able to water taxi to a boat ramp and shut down in the boat ramp parking lot. According to legend, a former phrog AW turned policeman left a parking ticket on the windshield of the aircraft.

I was an instructor at 3 when it happened (and was out at Brown with a student so I went over to have a look/laugh at him on button 0). They landed fairly fast (which causes water to rush up the tunnel) and then the student planted the nose which caused the ECL quadrant to get soaked. Good times.

 

[Autorotate]

Phrogs float. True story.

 

[BusyBee604]

Phrogs float. True story.

SeaKings float also. This one "Fetch 53" (The same bird that rescued BzB years prior to this incident), went into the water w/ engine failure near the carrier. It was craned back aboard, later repaired and returned to service.

BzB

 

[PropAddict]

So, was the helo dunker a lot more benign back in those days?

"When all vertical motion stops, open the door and hop out into the liferaft. No rush, take your time. Room for everyone."

 

[helolumpy]

So, was the helo dunker a lot more benign back in those days?

"When all vertical motion stops, open the door and hop out into the liferaft. No rush, take your time. Room for everyone."

Except for that one time an H-3 had a water landing on the AUTEC range down in the Bahamas. The range boat crew decided they would 'tow' the H-3 back to the beach.

Well, the story ends with the H-3 filling with water and sinking so rapidly that the range boat got dragged down with it...
Somewhere on the bottom of the Atlantic Undersea Test and Evaluation Center range is an H-3 still tied up to a range boat.
(Or so the story goes....)

 

[Uncle Fester]

Someone told me that the -60Bs were originally equipped with those orange emergency floaties (can see them deployed on 53 in the top pic) as well, but were deleted. Anyone know how come?

 

[Gatordev]

Someone told me that the -60Bs were originally equipped with those orange emergency floaties (can see them deployed on 53 in the top pic) as well, but were deleted. Anyone know how come?

I'm not really sure why they got removed, but they did have them. The switch is is still on the panel. Someone told me "why" at some point, but it was a long time ago and can't vouch for the accuracy. I think it boiled down to they just didn't work "right." Not sure if that means they worked when you didn't want them to or they didn't work well enough to hold the bird up. Maybe a combination.

RobL or bert may have some insight <insert comment about age here>.

 

[helolumpy]

I'm not really sure why they got removed, but they did have them. The switch is is still on the panel. Someone told me "why" at some point, but it was a long time ago and can't vouch for the accuracy. I think it boiled down to they just didn't work "right." Not sure if that means they worked when you didn't want them to or they didn't work well enough to hold the bird up. Maybe a combination.

The 60B, F & H were all build with floatation bags located at the top of the forward strut for the main landing gear. It was orginally designed to use helium which would increase the bouyancy but when the Navy got a hold of it, they used nitrogen.
The bags when inflated covered the bottom 1/3 of both pilots windows (primary egress point) if the aircraft was floating upright.
If the aircraft is inverted in the water (as the naturally do, since helos are top heavy) then it wasn't as big of a concern.
The standard ditch brief was to jettison the door windows in the flare (or just prior to impact) BEFORE blowing the bags.

There was lots of maintenance required on the system and most pilots stated they would never blow the bags since the H-60 (assuming fuselage is still in one piece, which is the historical norm) will float near the surface due to air in the fuel tanks.
So, since the pilots were reluctant to use the system, there was a financial cost to keeping the system operational combined with the fact that it really wasn't needed, NAVAIR pulled the system out.

The airframe was tested in the water with the float bags and that airframe is still visable on a stick at the enterance of Naval Station Mayport.

(All this was told to me by the test pilot who did the float system test back in the early 80's)