AH-1 Cobra Pilot

Just doing the Math gives this engine a Specific Fuel Consumption of 0.345. That is pretty close to a big Cat diesel. If it sounds too good to be true...

This has lots of promise to make turbines cheaper:

In an effort not to repeat myself, look at my immediately previous comment. You will probably find the depictions counterintuitive.

Take a look at the link I included in a previous comment. It is surprising just how much of the airfoil surface has low pressure, even the underside, and just how little has high pressure.

Since I cannot post an image, you will have to follow the link to a bunch of plots that show something a little different. https://duckduckgo.com/?t=h_&q=plot+of+pressure+around+air+foil&iax=images&ia=images&iai=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.researchgate.net%2Fpublication%2F368462380%2Ffigure%2Ffig9%2FAS%3A11431281120112258%401676377863994%2FPressure-distribution-over-NACA0012-airfoil-for-varying-angles-of-attack-where-Reynolds.ppm

Not quite correct. 1. Think of a symmetrical airfoil at zero angle of attack. Both sides will have high pressures in equal amounts up to a portion of the chord, and you have no lift or moment, but you do have drag. 2. How would that explain a stall?

I will take it! I will PM you with my address.

That is a pet peeve of mine; not clearly announcing your intentions. Always say "Full Stop", "Low Pass", or "Touch and Go" when you make any/all of your pattern position calls.

I have not yet read that issue of AOPA Pilot, but the conversation above makes me think of three things: As nobody above has mentioned it, does the article talk about compressible vs. incompressible flow? Pressure is simply Newton's Third Law in gas. Most of these things are really obvious if you take some time to play with a wind tunnel that has smoke generators and a rotatable airfoil.

A guy told a funny story about that. In AH-64 training, he and the other students would always feel really sick after clearing the tail while still on the ground and under the hood. (Since your vision came through the optics mounted on the nose, turning you head from 180o to -180o was very disorienting.) The instructor had a display showing where the student's helmet was facing, so if you did not clear the tail, you would get cussed out, and you still had to do it. One day, his buddy came in saying he had figured it out. "You just close your eyes, move your head from all the way back-right to all the way back-left then forward, and then you can open your eyes!"

Gaw! I always cringe reading things written by people with no experience or knowledge about what they write about. "Radio altitude" , etc.

Ours was FACIT. F Around, Call It Training.

In 1984, I think, the Navy LDO program changed from LCDR to CDR as the top rank they could make. Most of the LDOs in my AOCS class were more than happy to end a 20-year career as a LCDR.

No. It is probably way worse than you think. Throughout my military career, I have flown with people who would fit the "DEI Hire" profile; most were fine pilots. It is always the exception that proves the rule. It was especially bad in the 1970s to early 1980s, (and probably really bad in the last few years). The incompetents were given every opportunity and advantage to overcome problems that would definitely have sunk any given white male and pushed ahead regardless of their abilities. There have been many documented incidents of these failures that you can look up. I always feel worst for the competent people who are proverbially tarred with the same brush. One day on cruise in the 80s, my friend and colleague Ray entered into a conversation several of us were having about airline jobs. He noted that it took 1500 hours of jet time to qualify. While the rest of us contemplated that, he hung his head in shame and added, "And for women and minorities, it is 350." I am waiting for the cockpit voice recorders data before I make my final judgment.

I did plenty of non-training flights: MEDEVAC, fire fighting, border patrol assistance,…

They were probably heading home to Fort Belvoir.

Much more likely the CWO2 was the PIC. On average, new Army pilots have around 200 hours. After you get your wings, figure you only get the controls half the time you log, so she was more equivalent to a 300 hour private pilot. (Extremely experienced, my eye!) Since a male voice on the helicopter responds to ATC, most likely the captain was flying, per the usual Army crew-coordination. Army commissioned officers range from those like me, (as a captain, I already had over 2000 hours, including 1000 in jets and several hundred in helicopters), to absolute knuckleheads who I got the impression really did not enjoy flying. As far as all the “high ranking social events” goes, which do you think?

Much more likely the CWO2 was the PIC. On average, new Army pilots have around 200 hours. After you get your wings, figure you only get the controls half the time you log, so she was more equivalent to a 300 hour private pilot. Army commissioned officers range from those like me, (as a captain, I already had over 2000 hours, including 1000 in jets and several hundred in helicopters), to absolute knuckleheads who I got the impression really did not enjoy flying.

NVGs attenuate lights in the same way a camera does. You still can see them, and you can differentiate brighter lights.

Imagine two toilet paper tubes suspended a few inches in front of your eyes. You can see below them pretty well, which is how most people view the instrument panel. Leaning your head back a little will let you see outside. Peripheral vision is not really affected.

Way too many factors here. Before you get into it, you have a few questions that should be answered. 1. What Mission was the helicopter performing? 2. What is their SOP for such flights? 3. Were any/all three crewmembers wearing NVGs? 4. What equipment did they have onboard? 5. What was their experience in the area? Then there are a few facts to make clear. 1. NVGs are easy to see under while flying, not like the old ones that closed off your vision to only the screens. 2. The airplane received a change to land on 33. 3. I used to fly from Fort Belvoir, but we were restricted to IFR only. I am not sure what the rules are these days. The bottom line is that one dumbshit said he had the aircraft in sight, and that he would pass behind it. Instead, he ran into it. You cannot simply pile on more rules that somehow fix 'pilot error'.

I do, but I have never made any of the 1/2-width variety. PM me if you are really, really wanting replacements.

Yes. I still do that.

I have always joked that one reason I will never get a divorce is that hitmen are cheaper than lawyers. At some point, someone may find that fitting here, too.

The power output is proportional to the gauge reading.