No more helo hoist

[scoolbubba]

I didn't do the helo hoist or redneck parasailing, and I'm 100% confident that I can handle bailing and an extended at sea survival and rescue situation.

BTW...total bummer that there's no raft available in the T34C. Even a shark taco would be more comfy than nothing.

Dude, I don't want to burst your bubble...and I was of a similar mindset prior to SERE, but "I'll be fine...I'm tough and I can figure it out" is not the mentality to have. The time to figure out your survival gear is not when you need it, but well prior to the worst day of your life.

I really don't think there's anything to prepare you for the stress, even in a non-hostile situation, other than going through the motions and building the muscle memory to react without thinking. The pool was good training, but it didn't approximate the same experience as the actual hoist, and that was in about as controlled a situation as the API bay ops instructors could make it. Now think about it in heavy seas while possibly hurt after ejecting/ditching. Is that really the time to figure out how to hook your D-ring up, clear the cable, and give the proper signal? I think not.

 

[HighDimension]

Dude, I don't want to burst your bubble...and I was of a similar mindset prior to SERE, but "I'll be fine...I'm tough and I can figure it out" is not the mentality to have. The time to figure out your survival gear is not when you need it, but well prior to the worst day of your life.

I really don't think there's anything to prepare you for the stress, even in a non-hostile situation, other than going through the motions and building the muscle memory to react without thinking. The pool was good training, but it didn't approximate the same experience as the actual hoist, and that was in about as controlled a situation as the API bay ops instructors could make it. Now think about it in heavy seas while possibly hurt after ejecting/ditching. Is that really the time to figure out how to hook your D-ring up, clear the cable, and give the proper signal? I think not.

Because the seas were that heavy in the bay... I'm not buying it.

 

[scoolbubba]

Because the seas were that heavy in the bay... I'm not buying it.

Anyone else completely miss the point of my post, or was it only you?

 

[HeloBubba]

What those of you who think you can do it for "real" without a practice run, will be surprised by the noise of your rescuing helo. You will also be surprised at how much rotor wash induced salt water spray hurts your eyes and face. It is very hard to even open your eyes to see the horse collar being lowered. Unless, of course, you happened to have a dive mask in your survival gear.

 

[C420sailor]

Yeah I couldn't see dick during the real thing out in the bay.

 

[PropAddict]

You will also be surprised at how much rotor wash induced salt water spray hurts your eyes and face.

That is my most vivid memory of the helo hoist: "Hey cool, there's the helo! It's my turn! Holy $#17 my face! My eyes! Gahhh!!"

 

[A4sForever]

3 HELO hoists ... none 'for really real', as I didn't crash in the H2O nor get shot down ...

One @ P-COLA as a STUD ...

One @ DWEST in SanDog as a NUGGET ... after floating around in my raft for 2-3 hours ...

One @ JEST in the P.I. as a STUDLY NAVAL AVIATOR ...

They were all the same ... lot's of 'stingy, salty, splashy' in the face ... horse-collar under the pits ... thumbs up & up we go ... pulled over the side of an S-3 ... bruised ... thanks a lot, guys ...

The basics (below) -- 'cept pretend you're in really, really deep water:

 

[A4sForever]

P.S. ... a 'real HELO hoist' ... two drivers (crew) from VF-213 in the drink .. the ship's S-3 HELO-'ron was right there when needed, as always ... it's tough to tell from this pix, but the two F-4 guys are in the water right below the HELO ... horse-collar & swimmer to follow.

All around: a good day ... minus one very smoky aircraft.

image by A4sForever

 

[CommodoreMid]

The spray didn't bother me that much, but the huge difference that I saw with the actual helo compared to the hoist in the pool was learning to clear the cable. In the pool, they only lowered the hook just enough so you could attach it to the vest. When I did it in the bay, I had to clear for real since the cable got wrapped around my foot somehow.

 

[Gatordev]

BTW...total bummer that there's no raft available in the T34C. Even a shark taco would be more comfy than nothing.

You've never flown in a T-34 w/ a raft, then. It's even more uncomfortable to sit on than the regular seat cushion. For the incredibly small chance you're going to need a raft (versus just your LPU), it's not worth the hassle of living with the thing in the plane, IMO.

 

[PropAddict]

You've never flown in a T-34 w/ a raft, then. It's even more uncomfortable to sit on than the regular seat cushion. For the incredibly small chance you're going to need a raft (versus just your LPU), it's not worth the hassle of living with the thing in the plane, IMO.

I don't think my vest at Whiting even had an LPU on it. . .

 

[Pags]

I don't think my vest at Whiting even had an LPU on it. . .

You could check ones out with LPUs on them if you were going somewhere you might need them (Overwater SAR flight at HTs for example).

 

[Gatordev]

I don't think my vest at Whiting even had an LPU on it. . .

Yeah, they were over there, but not "required" unless you were going "...beyond glide distance from land." The Corpus guys fly w/ them all the time. My theory (as a Whiting guy) was that when I went to Key West, I was flying high enough to glide to land. Others may have disagreed w/ my theory.

The absolute worst situation, IMO, is to have to wear a CMU w/ a LPU while sitting on a life raft. Everything about that sucks, including control movement. I'll just sit on my helmet while I wait for the SAR, thank you.

 

[Uncle Fester]

3710 says you're supposed to have an LPU if you're flying overwater, or w/in 1000 ft of the shoreline. TW-6 and TW-4 course rules, OLFs and the patterns for NASP and NASCC are over water or very close; TW-5 don't commonly go over water, so why bother w/ the fuss and maint of LPUs?

Although, T-39 and T-1 studs/crew don't even wear vests, let alone LPUs, yet they have life rafts. Dig that.

 

[MIDNJAC]

Pretty sure the T-44 and TC-12 guys didn't wear vests either, though I could be mistaken. I remember seeing the Whiting guys while I was on T-34 ccx to Tallahassee, and marveling at how nice it must have been to not wear all of our Corpus issued stuff. Not that it matters now...

Somehow I still think a summer flying in Corpus was still far hotter than flying this last summer in Meridian with twice as much gear (and a similar quality air con system while on deck/ground idle).