Morzine chopper skills

[shunt]

http://youtu.be/WVwkiQwI2Yc

This looks both impressive flying and seriously dangerous in equal measures! A pal of mine filmed this last week:

[TheEnd]

Looks like he's having a bit too much fun.

[fatboy69]

From 1:53 is a bit scary with that bucket flying around!!!!

[Grant76]

Great flying, don't know if I'd want to be a pax though!

eta - really don't fancy catching the basket!

Edited by Grant76 on Monday 5th August 20:18

[Geneve]

It's all fairly routine in the Alps.

The Alouette Lama was for long the working helicopter of choice in the mountains, and still a thing of great beauty:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R-TDPWd8dOU

Wonderful versatility and piloting skills demonstrated from about 2.35 >

Edited by Geneve on Tuesday 6th August 09:14

[GSP]

Seems the pilot has got bored, some might consider it pretty wreckless to be quite so vigorous given the people on ground and public proximity. If something is going to go wrong, it's more likely to go wrong when straining heli components.

The French alpine chopper pilots have some serious skill and observational abilities.

I took this from 3/4 the way up a 2400m mountain that people had under estimated. This crew were up about 4 times throughout the day picking people off.

[anonymous-user]

GSP said:

Seems the pilot has got bored, some might consider it pretty wreckless to be quite so vigorous given the people on ground and public proximity.

There are old pilots and bold pilots......but not both.
The trail angle on the empty bucket for the second trip looks positively dangerous.
C'est la vie.

[CelicaGT]

I'm no helicopter pilot but that does seem awfully risky. I'm sure there's a fair amount of pressure to keep up the tempo of the operation, but that seems excessive. It does look pretty cool and fun though...

[TheEnd]

Well, the pitch on the first run reminded me of my first time jumping in a helicopter in Battlefield 3.

[0000]

It does look pretty well executed each time and I should imagine crashing a heli on the side of a mountain isn't likely to end well anyway. But yeah, I would be keeping a bit of distance!

[fatboy69]

Geneve said:

It's all fairly routine in the Alps.

The Alouette Lama was for long the working helicopter of choice in the mountains, and still a thing of great beauty:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R-TDPWd8dOU

Wonderful versatility and piloting skills demonstrated from about 2.35 >

Edited by Geneve on Tuesday 6th August 09:14

That poor cow at 3.00!!!!!

[shunt]

Another excuse to post this from a heliboarding trip a few years ago, I've got the camera on my head. Top skills, but scared us to death for a moment. The pilot was well into his 60's!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FwlL89JqpV8

[GSP]

shunt said:

Another excuse to post this from a heliboarding trip a few years ago, I've got the camera on my head. Top skills, but scared us to death for a moment. The pilot was well into his 60's!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FwlL89JqpV8

Holy st... I bet the pilot even closed his eyes at 1:30!!!

[anonymous-user]

CelicaGT said:

a fair amount of pressure to keep up the tempo of the operation..

Ah, the opening stance of many a crash report.

[anonymous-user]

GSP said:

Seems the pilot has got bored, some might consider it pretty wreckless to be quite so vigorous given the people on ground and public proximity. If something is going to go wrong, it's more likely to go wrong when straining heli components.

The French alpine chopper pilots have some serious skill and observational abilities.

I took this from 3/4 the way up a 2400m mountain that people had under estimated. This crew were up about 4 times throughout the day picking people off.

That, gentlemen, is fk-all.

http://youtu.be/7po3JlgWhvQ

[Eric Mc]

Crossflow Kid said:

GSP said:

Seems the pilot has got bored, some might consider it pretty wreckless to be quite so vigorous given the people on ground and public proximity.

There are old pilots and bold pilots......but not both.
The trail angle on the empty bucket for the second trip looks positively dangerous.
C'est la vie.

I can see a "bucket/tail boom" or "bucket/tail rotor" interface moment happening some day.

I wonder did he attend the Colin McRea Helicopter Skills Course?

[Geneve]

Eric Mc said:

I can see a "bucket/tail boom" or "bucket/tail rotor" interface moment happening some day.

I wonder did he attend the Colin McRea Helicopter Skills Course?

There is always a risk that, if the bucket snags and flies up the line can hit the tail rotor (no fenestron).

In the Colin McRea crash there was some speculation that the manoeuvres he was conducting (low level fast turns) could cause a condition called 'jack stall' or hydraulic lock up - pertinent to the AS350. I don't think this a/c is generating enough g for that.

[CelicaGT]

Crossflow Kid said:

Ah, the opening stance of many a crash report.

Too true...