Ooooooo I saw that video! The poor guy walks right by the jet’s intake at the precise moment the pilot fires up the engines. In an instant he gets sucked in as if he were made out of tissue paper! I think he got lucky that his jacket got ripped off and shredded by the turbine, signaling to the pilot that something was wrong. IIRC, he wasn’t significantly injured, but I sure bet he had to go change his underwear!!!
Highjacking this thread briefly for the sake of a lawyer joke ai just heard:
what’s the difference between a lawyer and a snake?
You can’t get rabies from a snake,
Larry
I fly on those machines once a month and use both russian and American helecopters. There is no danger from the rotors of the larger machines but always is a danger from the tail rotor. Everyone lowers their head to prevent debris from hitting us in the face. While bledes spinning we have at least a meter of clearance between a 6 foot man and the blades
I worked an Air Force flightline for many years; I have a great deal of respect for engine intakes! If a person gets sucked in, and the engine is at idle, he stands a fair chance of survival. How? His body will block the intake enough to cause a compressor stall, and the engine will ‘spit’ him back out. Note, however, that this will still ruin your day!
Another danger, with F4 Phantoms, was the starter ‘shelling out’, sending fragments of impeller blades through the skin of the aircraft and ricochetting off the ramp; guaranteed to get your attention!
VB
Remember, you can tune a piano, but you can’t tuna fish!
Cartoonverse,
Sorry for the mixup on my part as well. I got a little jazzed about possibly running into an old colleague on this board.
Believe me though, doorgunners were, for the most part, pretty anti-war as well.
Hanging out the side of that OH58 (military for jet ranger) with your camera, I’m sure you can appreciate how they came to be that way.
I can indeed,…the mind reels.
Cartooniverse
If you want to kiss the sky, you’d better learn how to kneel.
Years ago, a teenager was playing frisbee at a local lake. The frisbee caught some bad air and broke a window in a nearby cabin. The cabin owner had an altercation with the teen, and when the boy’s father intervened, the cabin owner stabbed and killed the father.
During the investigation, around 3 am, the local sherrif forgot to duck under the copter blades, and the top of his head was messily removed.
The murderer was eventually caught, and he was charged with the death of the sherrif, as well.
So yes, depending on your height and on the model of the aircraft, helicopter blades can kill you if you forget to duck. Also, I cannot find out if the murder charge (for the sherrif’s death) stuck, so does anyone know if Texas law permits such a thing?
-David
If the helicopter is on a slope, the rotor blades will be closer than normal to the ground on the uphill side (hint: exit downslope). Especially when the rotor system is spinning down, a gust of wind can displace them, causing them to come nearer to the ground.
NEVER approach a helicopter from the rear. You may destroy a very expensive set of tail rotors when you walk into them! If the pilot can’t see you, he may decide to lift off and the tail may swing in your direction.
“I must leave this planet, if only for an hour.” – Antoine de St. Exupéry
Are you a turtle?