60 Series helos and landing on ships in tight confines

[SH-60OB]

I'm an outsider. Would some kind of RAST prevented this? Infamous video to follow....

Actually this Mishap was brought to you by the improper application of straightening procedures using the RAST system in question. Which I think that was your point.

 

[Gatordev]

While we are on the subject of "true confessions" ... it would be nice to have something that safely holds the helo to the deck that can be operated by the aircrew vice waiting on chock and chainers to come out and tie you down. We had more than a few flights on Freedom when we saw air peek under the main mounts after landing in rough seas. ** PUCKER ** I believe this capability is something the Coasties have. Is this the same thing others were referring to as "coming to a Sierra near you via the cargo hook"? I vaguely remember allusions to said device during a recent CO brief regarding community steerage, but I was still drying my eyes from the OAMCM portion of the brief and missed the details ...

I'm not too smart on the CG's system, maybe someone like Sardaddy can chime in, but on the Navy system, the securing system is more of a temporary system. IF the beams in the trap are fully functional, they'll hold the helo up to a point, but it's not something that should be counted on. Many of the RSDs nowadays are in pretty shitty condition, at least on the FFGs, so the beams are a crapshoot at best.

I get the emergency launch of a stuffed bird scenario, but if the seas are too rough to move it, aren't they going to be too rough to takeoff?

Eh, maybe. There's a part of NATOPS that talks about "acquiescence." What is "too rough" one moment might be "okay" another moment. But you have a point. There's also "too rough" in that it meets the CAUTION for moving the bird out of the hangar, but it also lets you do it if you time it right (fast/slow/fast/slow while moving the trap). So it might be "too rough" to move it 100% of the time, but still in limits to launch. But that's certainly the point in time where the OIC starts talking w/ the CO to see what the true need for tasking is.

I'm an outsider. Would some kind of RAST prevented this? Infamous video to follow....

That's actually the RAST system in action during a straightening maneuver. I don't know all the specifics of the mishap, but just watching it (for the umpteenth time now), if I was the LSO, I wouldn't have let it go that far. What you're seeing is the RAST probe (on the helo) pop out of the RSD. It happens, usually not with the above results.

 

[SH-60OB]

While we are on the subject of "true confessions" ... it would be nice to have something that safely holds the helo to the deck that can be operated by the aircrew vice waiting on chock and chainers to come out and tie you down. We had more than a few flights on Freedom when we saw air peek under the main mounts after landing in rough seas. ** PUCKER ** I believe this capability is something the Coasties have.

Brits Lynx have a harpoon and grate system that helps them stay stuck to the deck that has been pretty effective don't know if they are looking at something like that for S but would highly doubt it

I certainly get the point about autonomous transit being nice to have.

Nice to have.... I'd like to see you straighten and push 22000 lbs into the hangar of an FFG where you have about 8 inches of clearance between the tail paddles and the hangar door frame. Having had to use a Tilly bar with fore and aft only on the RAST, I'll tell you it's a bear.

And on that note, I'll revise my previous statement: Real pilots don't need RAST to LAND. Once the aircraft is on deck at flat pitch, SWOs and seas have more control over aircraft movement than the pilots do.

I've got a couple of small deck landings under my belt. Had to use the wire twice because we were out of wind/pitch and roll limits for the free deck. By your standard I should probably just hang my head in shame. Both times were hairy for everyone including the deck crew and we were happy to get aboard. In the real world you don't always get to pick the weather/seas when you have to fly.