Permanently arming 60's?

[NOSWO]

IFR? I'm a helo pilot...I don't need no steenking IFR! You can always go under the clouds until they touch the ground, at which point it's an obscuration, and I'll just slow down to allow for see-and-avoid!

Lol you sound like the 46 drivers we have left in our squadron...they hate flying instruments in the Phrog...in the Sierra its still not "fun" but since the thing has that glass cockpit thingy and basically flys itself, its tolerable......but you are right, why go through the clouds when you can go under them

As far as flying on goggles, sometimes it seems like its hard to get your hour of unaided when flying with the gator (or so I hear )........so yeah goggles are a way of life for helobubbas in the Navy/Marine Corps

 

[El Cid]

Pre-aviation guy here... "flying on goggles"...?

 

[flashypants]

Pre-aviation guy here... "flying on goggles"...?

NVG's...Night Vision Goggles.

 

[mdubs]

Hey NOSWO how is life in the HC community? Are you guys always on UNREP ships or do you go out on smallboys? How about deployments, as a squadron or a det? I am curious about your community because a HSL buddy of mine said that you guys live the life plus you have the new Sierra models. I'm just trying to get an idea of which community would be the best for me, Thanks.

 

[El Cid]

NVG's...Night Vision Goggles.

Now I just feel like a Jacka$$. I thought goggles was slang for something more sinister. Now if I could only figure out 2 + 2?!? ... Here's my sign! :dunce_125

 

[ChuckMK23]

OK so let me get this straight...are the HC guys flying on NVGs? Night vertrep on NVG? I hope so (about time)

 

[phrogdriver]

We would usually get our unaided hours on the gator by having the ship delay going to NVG lighting past civil twilight. We'd rack up some unaided bounces, then all goggle up and continue. It will be nice to see the 60s on the LHD--the Navy 46s took upwards of 15 mins to switch to NVGs, due to their antiquated cockpits. If the SAR matrix required them, we had to wait for them to configure their bird.

 

[NOSWO]

Yeah the Sierra is much faster at goggling than trying to tape up all the light showing through in the Phrog....

And I have not heard of anyone doing NVG VERTREP.....swinging bombs in the pitch black of night is not what I would call fun...especially when you think about how much depth perception you lose by goggling up.....Ill ask about it though...................

 

[ChuckMK23]

I always thought that the new generation of NVG's would be a great way to get around the visible horizon rule of night VERTREP.

Being a veteran VERTREP pilot myself - I can tell you that you don't have a whole lot of depth perception from a '46 with no deck flood lights on the back of an AE at 0200 in the middle of the North Atlantic. I would think that NVG's would dramatically improve the situation - but this is just a guess. Us older Phrog pilots never had the opportunity to fly on goggles.

It just seems that between the Army and Air Force helo guys - the overwhelming opinion is that any night helicopter operation is improved and safer on goggles than without.