Fatal Traps for Helicopter Pilots
Fatal Traps for Helicopter Pilots

Author: Greg Whyte

Publisher: McGraw Hill Professional

Published: 2006-12-20

Total Pages: 396

ISBN-13: 0071776680

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Acquire the Life-Saving Skills Needed to Eliminate or Reduce Most Helicopter Accidents A vital resource for pilots, helicopter enthusiasts, and aircraft maintenance technicians, Fatal Traps for Helicopter Pilots analyzes all aspects of helicopter accidents, including flight basics, engineering, meteorology, flight training, and human factors. This life-saving guide shows how proper preparation can help prevent accidents by addressing causes such as aerodynamic problems, mechanical failures, poor loading, mid-air collisions, and more. Filled with case studies and first-hand accounts of accidents, the book organizes accident types by primary causes, presenting proven methods for eliminating or reducing the possibility of each type. Greg Whyte, an ex commercial helicopter pilot and professional aviation writer, draws on his own flying experiences and those of other flight veterans to provide a wealth of practical information and safety tips that are essential for everyone who flies, maintains or crews in helicopters. Filled with over 100 helpful illustrations, Fatal Traps for Helicopter Pilots enables readers to: Identify and address the common causes of helicopter accidents Explore in-depth examples of accident scenarios Examine the technical details of accident causes Review case studies and first-hand accounts of accidents Learn from the plain-English notes on avoidance and recovery Inside This Aviation Accident-Prevention Guide • Basic Flight Principles • Vortex Ring State • Recirculation • Ground Resonance • Retreating Blade Stall • Dynamic Rollover • Overpitching • Main Rotor Strikes • Mid-Air Collisions • Mast Bumping • Engine Failures • Tail Rotor Failures • Mechanical Failures • Fuel • Fire • Ditching • Loading Issues • Winching • Weather • Crew and Pre-flight Hazards • Human Factors • Training Mishaps

Rattler One-Seven
Rattler One-Seven

Author: Chuck Gross

Publisher: University of North Texas Press

Published: 2006-06-13

Total Pages: 244

ISBN-13: 1574412213

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Rattler One-Seven puts you in the helicopter seat, to see the war in Vietnam through the eyes of an inexperienced pilot as he transforms himself into a seasoned combat veteran. At the age of twenty, Chuck Gross spent his 1970-71 tour with the 71st Assault Helicopter Company flying UH-1 Huey helicopters. He inserted special operations teams into Laos and participated in Lam Son 719, a misbegotten attempt to assault and cut the Ho Chi Minh Trail, during which his helicopter was shot down and he was stranded in the field.

Heart of the Storm
Heart of the Storm

Author: Colonel Edward L. Fleming

Publisher: Wiley

Published: 2004-04-23

Total Pages: 272

ISBN-13: 9780471264361

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Advance praise for Heart of the Storm "Col. Ed Fleming tells a story of true heroism about the constant dangers faced by the pilots and crews who fly the most versatile-and vulnerable-aircraft in the skies today." -John Glenn, former U.S. senator, astronaut, and bestselling author of John Glenn: A Memoir "To risk your life to save a stranger is the highest mark of a human being. Ed Fleming is such a man, and this book is a great read." -Dr. Jerri Nielsen, author of the #1 New York Times bestselling Ice Bound "Filled with suspense and emotion, Heart of the Storm reads like a thriller-but it's all true. Ed Fleming has led a dramatic and interesting life, and this book portrays it in living color." -Robert K. Tanenbaum, New York Times bestselling author of Resolved and Absolute Rage

The Helicopter Pilot's Handbook
The Helicopter Pilot's Handbook

Author: Phil Croucher

Publisher: Createspace Independent Publishing Platform

Published: 2016-07-02

Total Pages: 196

ISBN-13: 9781534923546

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One problem with helicoptering is that there are virtually no flying clubs, at least of the sort that exist for fixed wing, so pilots get very little chance to swap stories, unless they meet in a muddy field somewhere, waiting for their passengers. As a result, the same mistakes are being made and the same lessons learnt separately instead of being shared - it's comforting sometimes to know that you're not the only one to inflate the floats by accident! Even when you do get into a school, there are still a couple of things they don't teach you, namely that aviation runs on paperwork, and how to get a job, including interview techniques, etc - flying the aircraft is actually less than a third of the job. Another is that nobody really tells you anything, either about the job you have to do (from the customer) or how to do it (the company) - you will always be up against the other guy who managed to do it last week! Sure, there will be training, but, even in the best companies, this will be relatively minimal. This book is an attempt to correct the above situations by gathering together as much information as possible for helicopter pilots, old and new, professional and otherwise, in an attempt to explain the why, so the how will become easier (you will be so much more useful if you know what the customer is trying to achieve). In short, this is all the stuff nobody taught me - every tip and trick I have learnt has been included.

Huey
Huey

Author: Jay Groen

Publisher: Artha Publishing

Published: 2014-03-14

Total Pages: 274

ISBN-13: 9780991355204

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John Vanvorden--the Flying Dutchman--is a Vietnam pilot and one of the rugged few who know the danger and thrill of combat while piloting the U.S. Army's UH-1H "Huey" Iroquois helicopter. He experiences screaming descents into hot landing zones to place military assault troops and rescue wounded soldiers. He has the clarity of mind to survive seven days of horror in a Vietnamese jungle swamp while the psychology of a fellow soldier is severely tested. He's got the guts to buck military orders and battle his own brass to pursue an investigation when a botched operation spells disaster for the men under him. Based on the authors' personal experiences in the Vietnam War, Huey is an authentic, action-filled book of historical fiction. Originally published 30 years ago, this moving novel became a New York Times bestseller within days of publishing. Editorial Reviews "Those who have read the classic book of helicopter combat in Vietnam, "Chickenhawk" by Robert Mason, but who still have an appetite for more books of that sort can do no better than to read this novel." - "The VVA Veteran," Books in Review II Book Excerpt: From eight thousand feet, the Flying Dutchman flew his chopper into a nose-high attitude and peeled off into a single-ship approach. His passengers were looking straight down at the ground from the open doorway. Before anyone could blink, they were diving toward the ground at four thousand feet a minute, about as fast as a helicopter can come out of the sky with its main rotor still attached. The 12.7's opened up. Tracer rounds looked like basketballs zooming by. The supersonic bullets popped as they passed, breaking the sound barrier. When a bullet found its mark, it smacked the ship like a baseball bat. As soon as the troops on the ground had hefted the two critical cases into each side, John blasted out low level, taking fire from the ground. He knew the Huey didn't have long before it became battered magnesium. . . .

US Helicopter Pilot in Vietnam
US Helicopter Pilot in Vietnam

Author: Gordon L. Rottman

Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing

Published: 2011-09-20

Total Pages: 136

ISBN-13: 1780960840

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The helicopter changed war forever. This book examines the range of duties helicopter pilots carried out in Vietnam, from air-lift, med-evac and fire-support to landing in high volume crossfires in 'Hot LZs'. Protected by little more than an armoured seat, operating in terrible conditions and flying long hours these brave men led hard, dangerous lives, and casualties were high. Following these pilots from initial deployment through to the deadly thrill of combat in a war zone, Vietnam veteran Gordon L Rottman's book is a crucial examination of the pilots who fought so valiantly for their country. Often unmoved by the politics of the war, conflicts at home and other social issues, the Vietnam helicopter pilots just wanted to fly. As the saying went 'who needs drugs, I'm already high'.

Price of Exit
Price of Exit

Author: Tom Marshall

Publisher: Ballantine Books

Published: 2011-08-10

Total Pages: 393

ISBN-13: 0307758125

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"The risk of a fatal catastrophe was constant. The NVA was the enemy, but the ultimate opponent was, quite simply, death. . . ." For assault helicopter crews flying in and around the NVA-infested DMZ, the U.S. pullout from Vietnam in 1970-71 was a desperate time of selfless courage. Now former army warrant officer Tom Marshall of the Phoenix, C Company, 158th Aviation Battalion, 101st Airborne, captures the deadly mountain terrain, the long hours flown under enormous stress, the grim determination of hardened pilots combat-assaulting through walls of antiaircraft fire, the pickups amid exploding mortar shells and hails of AK fire, the nerve-racking string extractions of SOG teams from North Vietnam. . . . And, through it all, the rising tension as helicopter pilots and crews are lost at an accelerating pace. It is no coincidence that the Phoenix was one of the most highly decorated assault helicopter units in I Corps. For as the American departure accelerated and the enemy added new, more powerful antiaircraft weapons, the helicopter pilots, crew chiefs, and gunners paid the heavy price of withdrawal in blood. For more than 30 Percent of Tom Marshall's 130 helicopter-school classmates, the price of exit was their lives. . . .

Borneo Boys: RAF Helicopter Pilots in Action
Borneo Boys: RAF Helicopter Pilots in Action

Author: Roger Annett

Publisher: Casemate Publishers

Published: 2013-02-19

Total Pages: 514

ISBN-13: 1783469161

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The author, Roger Annett, experienced first-hand the events detailed here. Flying with 215 Squadron, and co-piloting Argosy transport aircraft deep over Malayan jungle terrain from 1963 to 65, he is well placed to provide a colorful account of this dramatic period. Following a reunion of RAF Whirlwind veterans of Borneo, Annett began work on this record of their collective experience, attempting to stir the memories of both war veterans and civilians alike, riveted by the drama as it played out by opposing forces attempting to control the island of Borneo.The book describes the oppositions, antagonisms, victories, and defeats experienced on the island. Borneo itself, with its difficult terrain, jungles, and lack of adequate road networks, proved to be one of the biggest challenges from a military perspective, and it is brought to life here. The story of the 'Borneo Boys' of the title traces a journey from new recruits at boot camp to flying training, and on to Borneo itself. It was here where a fraternal bond was to be forged to last a lifetime and provide an impetus for this book. The process of Theatre familiarization jungle training, nursing Whirlwind 10s over and around the mountainous Malayan jungle is recorded here with first-hand authenticity.Setting this journey in context, Annett fills out the history of the wider conflict in which the boys were embroiled. The Far East colonial tensions, which bred antagonism and ultimately led to the conflict, are detailed, as are the cross-border raids and riots, which bred a fever of revolt.Much is written already on the Borneo conflict, a lot of it dealing with the politics of the situation. This book swoops its focus on the young men who were called upon to fly over such confusion, far away from home. It is their daily adventures, camaraderie, and learning trajectory, which we are faced with. All the excitement of the Aviator's adrenalin ride is translated into eloquent prose, strengthened by the kind of confident delivery that only a man involved in such proceedings could achieve.

Apache Helicopter Pilots
Apache Helicopter Pilots

Author: Antony Loveless

Publisher: Crabtree Publishing Company

Published: 2009-08

Total Pages: 36

ISBN-13: 9780778750987

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These army pilots fly the most demanding helicopter in existence. Only 3% of existing army helicopter pilots qualify to fly it. Trainees have to learn to train their eyes to work independently of each other - while the right eye sees flight and weapons information in the helmet's monocle, the left eye is free to look outside the aircraft and scan for threats and other obstacles. This book lifts the lid on what life is like for these men and women; their training; the aircraft; the missions, and what it's actually like to be under fire while trying to protect soldiers on the ground.