Just an Earth-Bound Misfit: The Rantings of an Aging, Armed, Pinko Chick

Words of Advice:

"If Something Seems To Be Too Good To Be True, It's Best To Shoot It, Just In Case." -- Fiona Glenanne

“The Mob takes the Fifth. If you’re innocent, why are you taking the Fifth Amendment?” -- The TOFF *

"Foreign Relations Boil Down to Two Things: Talking With People or Killing Them." -- Unknown

“Speed is a poor substitute for accuracy.” -- Real, no-shit, fortune from a fortune cookie

"Thou Shalt Get Sidetracked by Bullshit, Every Goddamned Time." -- The Ghoul

"If you believe that you are talking to G-d, you can justify anything.” — my Dad

"Colt .45s; putting bad guys in the ground since 1873." -- Unknown

"Stay Strapped or Get Clapped." -- probably not Mr. Rogers

"The Dildo of Karma rarely comes lubed." -- Unknown

"Eck!" -- George the Cat

* "TOFF" = Treasonous Orange Fat Fuck,
"FOFF" = Felonious Old Fat Fuck,
"COFF" = Convicted Old Felonious Fool,
A/K/A Commandante (or Cadet) Bone Spurs,
A/K/A El Caudillo de Mar-a-Lago, A/K/A the Asset,
A/K/A P01135809, A/K/A Dementia Donnie, A/K/A Felon^34,
A/K/A Dolt-45, A/K/A Don Snoreleone

Sunday, December 27, 2020

Your Sunday Morning Rotor Noise

Sikorsky S-64 doing a hoisting job in Chicago, three years ago.

8 comments:

Ten Bears said...: I've hooked logs to that boat. Power poles, ski towers, one air conditioner on a jobsite not unlike this one. Got a picture of it pullin' a turn hanging in the water closet.

Pictures don't do it justice, that boat is a hundred and eight feet long, sixty at the wheels; you can drive a full-sized truck under it. Legally lift twenty thousand pounds (I've given her more, but we're not supposed to talk about that). Picture this: you've just hiked out to the volcano in light barely enough to see your boots with this morning's mushrooms just pushing over last night's cocaine and rock 'n rye and that thing pops up out of nowhere all preying mantis looking "OK boys and girls let's have some fun!"

God I miss that shit.; 12/27/2020 6:01 AM
Deadstick said...: Impressive machine indeed, 10B. I understand it has a secondary pilot position back-to-back with the command pilot so the copilot can maneuver it with the load in front of him.; 12/27/2020 8:09 AM
B said...: Having watched several jobs like that, I have come to believe the pilots can see the wind...

The precision with which they place their cargo is incredible.; 12/27/2020 9:00 AM
Ten Bears said...: Look what I found ... !

I've ridden that backseat, though only as a passenger. It's wild and crazy, man, the bubble, the glass goes under your feet, so you're literally flying backwards with visually nothing but the airframe and the harness between you and out there. I suppose it's like skydiving but I've only made one jump and they had to push me. Mostly that gets used when there's a winch operation, that is in fact by Army design: a winch operator. I never worked with one, every pilot I ever worked with put that hook right in my hand.

Except for that lightning storm with Siller Brothers, but that's different.; 12/27/2020 10:13 AM
Anonymous said...: Thanks for the video Comrade. One of those flew over town last spring empty, following US RT.44 heading east towards RI.; 12/27/2020 10:14 AM
seafury said...: I've seen Erickson's helos around the Midwest. I believe they're out of Washington state. That must have been an interesting job TB; 12/27/2020 10:58 AM
Old NFO said...: Interesting birds. Knew one of the pilots years ago when Evergreen still had them. He'd flown all over the US with one. Said 'backing in' was NOT his favorite maneuver, especially with a heavy load. Said they were modular, and field replacement of major parts could be accomplished!; 12/27/2020 3:14 PM
J4rh34d said...: Erickson is based in PDX and has the type cert and manufacturing rights for the S-64.

Columbia Helicopter, just down the road in Aurora, operates Boeing Vertol 107 and 234 dual rotor types (and they own THOSE type certs), so this little corner of the Upper Left Coast owns vertical lift.; 12/27/2020 3:54 PM