Comments for Attack of the copter-beanie frogs...

Attack of the copter-beanie frogs...

2009-03-28T12:10:02Z

...hey, I can't be the only guy who had a sense of these birds looking like you were being attacked by a swarm of copter-beanie-wearing frogs from a bad 80's video game? Don't look at them as flying away - think of them as flying towards you...

CH-47 Chinook helicopters depart from Fort Hood, Texas, make their final flight to the Port of Beaumont before being deployed to Iraq, March 17, 2009. The crews and helicopters are assigned to the1st Cavalry Division's Company B., 2nd General Support Aviation, 227th Aviation Regiment, 1st Air Cavalry Division. U.S. Army photo by Sgt. Travis Zielinski

I mostly posted this because Homefront Six and MacGyver probably know most of the guys and gals flying these birds off to the wars.

That and I have to get my butt outta here for a daylong scholarship selection committee meeting where we solons of my Rotary District will interview the applicants and pick the recipient of a Rotary Ambassadorial Scholarship. If you've got a promising kid in school who'd like a funded year of study abroad while pursuing a college degree (to include post-grad work) - contact your local Rotary Club.

Comment from BillT on 2009-03-30

2009-03-30T20:06:27Z

Cobras gots mirrors.

Okay, *a* mirror -- the gunner uses it to see if the pilot's still alive after the gun-run.

That line always got a wan grin out of all the guys in the back I told it to. Of course, I used a *different* line when *I* was in the rear seat...

Comment from Josh on 2009-03-30

2009-03-30T18:53:51Z

[BillT]Or swap the advancing portion of the fuselage for the trailing one.

Pilots *hate* flying backwards at 140 knots and no rear-view mirrors...

Sounds like a Porsche 930, except for the lack of mirrors.

Comment from Slinky on 2009-03-30

2009-03-30T18:40:56Z

While we may be more limited in our attitudes of approach it is a small price to pay for the many *small comforts provided by our late uncle Igor (Sikorsky).

*Mirriors, and not flying something known as "The Whistling S**t-Can Of Death tm"

Though I will admit to certain amount of "Ramp Envy"

Comment from BillT on 2009-03-30

2009-03-30T17:32:12Z

And the riders of said steeds have sometimes gone for interesting rides when their steeds decided to phly sideways.

Or swap the advancing portion of the fuselage for the trailing one.

Pilots *hate* flying backwards at 140 knots and no rear-view mirrors...

Comment from Slinky on 2009-03-30

2009-03-30T15:45:35Z

The disciples of Saint Frank (Piasecki) have long known of, and embraced, their steed's odd appearance.

http://pics.livejournal.com/sandwichwarrior/pic/000y8t4y.jpg>

Comment from Grumpy on 2009-03-28

2009-03-28T20:51:01Z

@BillT and @11B40, this place really brings out the dementia in all of us. The late 60's was an interesting time, to say the least. The Chinooks were called many things, except "Chinooks". What did we call them? It wasn't "Phlying Phrog", for a time, we called them, "Phlying Ph...(REDACTED, DUE TO RULEZ VIOLATION!)

@11B40, "And that one-exit-only business, not for me." Are you saying, they were pulling pebbles out of there for the next week? We had a guy in our unit, who couldn't or wouldn't get his act together. Well, one night, somebody suggested that he might find a pair of mating porcupines placed well into the same region, head first, if he didn't get his act together. He asked, "How do we get them out? We all looked at each other, smiled and in perfect unison said, "VERY CAREFULLY!" Nothing through this whole process was said in anger or frustration. Because of this, he would get his act together and spend another 30 years in the US Military.

Comment from Josh on 2009-03-28

2009-03-28T18:38:50Z

Just have a couple Austin-Healey Sprites driving underneath them and it'll be an invasion force!

Comment from 11B40 on 2009-03-28

2009-03-28T17:26:14Z

Greetings:

I spent some time with the 1st Cav in the late '60s and we didn't call those birds Chinooks. Everytime we had to use them (or be used by them?) you'd be picking pebbles out of your flesh for the next week. And that one-exit-only business, not for me.

They were much more fun to watch flying around low and fast, from about a click away. Especially if the crew chiefs had them well stocked with thundersticks.

Comment from BillT on 2009-03-28

2009-03-28T13:24:54Z

Well, the VC called Huberts "Frogs" and the CH-46 is known as the "Phlying Phrog" -- and I've seen folks turn a distinct shade of green after a particularly interesting flight...