Hot new helicopter/rotorcraft news

[Lawman]

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Anyone buy a helicopter recently? I didn’t realize how easy they are to transport. Spotted on I-5 South in Northern California.

Most of them weight 2-5k tops in that size category so easily transportable with a good goose neck and a heavy duty truck.

Bigger medium category fleet aircraft (64/60/H1s/etc) are still ground transportable but you’ll need a HET type trailer to road haul them mostly due to weight distribution vs road wear category so it’s basically just your average wide load truck.

Bigger than that it’s probably cheaper and easier to just fix them and fly them. Ain’t nothing easily road transporting a 53 or 47 without pissing off a lot of people in the process.

 

[Gatordev]

At least a decade ago I was driving down some highway (I-10 maybe?) and saw a SA-330 on a trailer. Except it was "highly modified." I'm assuming it was this girl (or another one made for the same reasons).

I actually couldn't tell if it was airworthy or just a prop, but kind of cool to see.

 

[Griz882]

At least a decade ago I was driving down some highway (I-10 maybe?) and saw a SA-330 on a trailer. Except it was "highly modified." I'm assuming it was this girl (or another one made for the same reasons).

I actually couldn't tell if it was airworthy or just a prop, but kind of cool to see.

For a brief time the army used highly modified/decorated S-55 (H-19) helicopters at NTC to replicate Soviet Hind helicopters. They were replaced by UH-1’s and I think, in turn, the UH-1’s have been replaced by Lakota’s.

 

[ChuckMK23]

I remember seeing Mi-24 and Mi-8 at Crestview/Bob Sikes in 1994-5 ish ..

 

[PhrogPhlyer]

seeing Mi-24 and Mi-8 at Crestview/Bob Sikes in 1994-5 ish ..

Prior to that any interaction with actual soviet aircraft (FW & RW) was classified with a detailed mission brief to reinforce that fact.
CA and NV high desert "may" have had a few flitting about.

 

[PhrogPhlyer]

The Hind has a very unique sound as it approaches and flies past.
One day in '98 while on the flight line in Tuzla BH, we heard that sound as it popped up over a small ridge into what looked like an attack position. We immediately dove into a ravine next to the ramp, looked up and saw...

... followed by laughter from a German aircrew. Not a good day for the home team.