We're the Military and Airpower Guys of Jonah Goldberg of National Review Online + a stray we found wandering around looking lost. All original material JHD, BHD, JR, WT, and KA 2003-2010 http://www.thedonovan.com/archives/2008/05/unca_bill_repor.html Sat, 24 Mar 2012 15:30:27 Z Movable Type 4.12 en Copyright 2012 http://www.rssboard.org/rss-specification Of course, the video doesn't show him - but he is the voice of sweetness, light, and all-round fuzzy goodness in the background. Couple of vids from Ye Olde Simulator for your edification. Work safe, even the comments in Arabic. Video 1 First one shows two IqAF RW pilots flying instruments above a solid overcast – first time they've ever flown without visual ground references and after a quick half-hour class on instrument scanning. Bear in mind I didn't magic them up there with the computer -- they had to climb 1,500 feet through the clouds to get there without... http://www.thedonovan.com/archives/2008/05/unca_bill_repor.html http://www.thedonovan.com/archives/2008/05/unca_bill_repor.html Thu, 08 May 2008 08:52:09 -0600 Interesting, and not as fast (in terms of sink rate) as I'd thought they would be. Depends on the helicopter and the type of auto. A straight-in will generally give you a 2,000fpm rate of descent, while an auto-with-turn can drop you from 1,500 feet in less than 20 seconds. If you decel too abruptly in a high-speed (100 knots), low-altitude (50-feet) auto, you'll actually *gain* altitude -- which can prevent you from hitting that tree directly in front of you, but will probably break your back during the hard landing on the other side. Assuming, of course, that there isn't *another* tree immediately behind the first one...]]> http://www.thedonovan.com/archives/2008/05/unca_bill_repor.html#comment-72824 http://www.thedonovan.com/archives/2008/05/unca_bill_repor.html#comment-72824 Thu, 08 May 2008 10:53:26 -0600