ArmyAg2002 said:
Apache does require a crew of 2. With the -58 gone all Army aircraft now require 2 pilots, except maybe the lokota.
I know in a -60 you need to pilots to perform one specific emergency procedure that you could get into. I also know no one who has ever actually run into the procedure.
Yeah, I knew a few basic EPs. I could land in good weather conditions and stuff. But if anything serious happened, the plan was always for the pilot to take control and I'd pull out the checklist to help with any EPs.
Maybe I'll see if I can con myself into an Apache flight one day just to see how it compares to the Huey. Looks more roomy inside, that's for sure. I hear the 60 is easier to fly than the Huey also - better stabilization or something.
Do you know if the Apache's controls are direct or fly by wire? And are the controls additive if fly by wire?
OldArmyCT said:
Orientation flights are one thing, letting non-pilots fly is another. Especially is a tandem seater where you can't really see what's going on. I don't think the Blue Angels let their "guests" fly. When I was in it was prohibited, you could get permission to sit them in the seat but not to fly. An IP only logs IP time when he is on an authorized training flight. Ground guys, especially field grade officers, like to bully their way into stick time, it serves no purpose at all to do so. FWIW I had about 1200 or so IP hours in 3 different helicopters in the Army.
Yeah, I don't think any of the Blue Angel Aircraft have controls in the back seat. Do you think a pilot with training as an IP would have maybe been able to better anticipate the mistakes this colonel made? Or perhaps been quicker to correct?
Come to think of it, my pilots used to come grab me anytime they had to take a bird up for testing. Probably not the safest thing to have a non-qualified pilot (or even a non-pilot) in an aircraft that just came back from whatever maintenance was done.
My old XO was a WTI instructor. Once he was teaching me how to take the Huey in various "box" patters while hovering. Like all while facing one direction (left, backward, right forward), and doing the same but turning as you do it so you're always facing outboard, and other such things. Once I got into some oscillations and was starting to feel a little uncomfortable. Tried giving him back the controls, and he was like "nah, you got it." And I was able to fix myself. But in retrospect, I don't know if he should've done that.
But I did have fun with those guys. I learned how to do diving attacks in the Cobra, firefighting in the Huey, shoot out of the back of the Huey, and got to fly around all over Southern California and Japan. Good time.
