Has there ever been a helicopter v helicopter dogfight?

[Dissonance]

@Oakminster

That may be the only air-to-air kill ever recorded by an F-15E. That’s a two-seat, ground attack variant semi-affectionately called the “Mud Hen”. I filmed a lot of test missions chasing that aircraft years ago.

That’s nothing. An unarmed EF-111 made a kill against an Iraqi Mirage F1 by managing to maneuver it into the ground. It’s been ages since I’ve read it, but in Fighter Combat: Tactics and Maneuvering Robert Shaw made a very convincing argument that if the helicopter is in skilled hands and isn’t taken by surprise an aircraft could have a hell of a time trying to shoot it down. The book was written in 1985, and one of his recommendations for use against low flying helicopters was to drop retarded bombs at it. Most of the book is unavailable online, but pages 193-194 can be found on google books where much of the difficulties are described.

[Cugel]

Next question: has there been a dog v dog helicopterfight?

[Orionizer]

@zoid

LOL - I can’t belive I found another LHX player!

One more here! Waited and WAITED for Babbage’s to lower the price and finally gave up. Gave $50 for it and next time I went, it was around $35. Typical for me, but was worth it and fun as hell!

[Werekoala]

@Fubaya

An F-15 took out an Iraqi helicopter in flight with a bomb during the Gulf War too. Both are hard kills but helicopters are fairly easy game for jets. Now if a helicopter took out an F15 or A-10, that would be pretty amazing.

Hmm… would an F-15 (or comparable aircraft) on full afterburners buzzing a helicopter possibly cause the 'copter to lose control and crash?

[Gray_Ghost]

@Werekoala

Hmm… would an F-15 (or comparable aircraft) on full afterburners buzzing a helicopter possibly cause the 'copter to lose control and crash?

The second link that Dissonance posted suggests that’s a possibility. Mainly from robbing the rotors of lift. Close to the ground, the helo could run out of room before being able to recover. No idea if it’s actually happened though.

When I first read the post on the Mirage kill, I thought the EF-111 burnt out the Mirage’s electronics with some directed jamming. I’m surprised that it (from all of the sources I briefly surveyed) though actually looks like a maneuvering kill instead of a EMP kill. Depending on the source you read, the EF-111 scooted over a ridge that the Mirage didn’t see in the dark, or the EF-111 made a max performance pull out of a steep dive, aided by the Terrain Following Radar, that the Mirage couldn’t duplicate.

The biplane fight is crazy. Both that the Huey was able to get that close to the planes, and that the shooter was able to down them with an AK, and not, say, the door gunner’s M-60. Fantastic shooting.

[Enola_Straight]

If any two choppers would dogfight, its these two:

Airwolf vs Blue Thunder CBS - YouTube
Airwolf Vs Blue Thunder 2005 - YouTube

[Ranchoth]

As movies go, Capricorn One had a pretty unique helicopter fight. (Warning: spoilers)

[Alessan]

@Gray_Ghost

When I first read the post on the Mirage kill, I thought the EF-111 burnt out the Mirage’s electronics with some directed jamming. I’m surprised that it (from all of the sources I briefly surveyed) though actually looks like a maneuvering kill instead of a EMP kill. Depending on the source you read, the EF-111 scooted over a ridge that the Mirage didn’t see in the dark, or the EF-111 made a max performance pull out of a steep dive, aided by the Terrain Following Radar, that the Mirage couldn’t duplicate.

Back in the early 1980’s, an Israeli UAV managed to bring down a Syrian MiG with some nimble maneuvering. The controllers got a registered kill and everything, even drawing a silhouette on the side of the UAV.

[the_diego]

the American pilot constantly pulling up sharply to force his faster opponent to overshoot. Apparently trying to duplicate this manoeuvre, the Russian pilot eventually pulled up too hard and stalled his aircraft. When attempting to pull out of the dive that followed, the main rotor blades of the Hind hit its tail boom and the helicopter crashed, killing everyone aboard.

Holy Cow, that was a kill! A Soviet plane downed by an American. Or did they deem it to be accidental pilot error?

[Gray_Ghost]

@Alessan

Back in the early 1980’s, an Israeli UAV managed to bring down a Syrian MiG with some nimble maneuvering. The controllers got a registered kill and everything, even drawing a silhouette on the side of the UAV.

For those who haven’t heard of the story until now (like me), here’s a link to a cite for your post. That story is hilarious. Glad they got recognition for their feat. It’s also telling as to how unhappy in the stall—and let’s not even talk about a spin—a lot of military jets from the 50s through the early 70s were.

[Kobal2]

@Alessan

Back in the early 1980’s, an Israeli UAV managed to bring down a Syrian MiG with some nimble maneuvering. The controllers got a registered kill and everything, even drawing a silhouette on the side of the UAV.

Well, if we want to go that way, the very first devices which could be called “surface to air missiles” were, in fact, rudimentary radio-controlled jet-powered UAVs. It’s a big plot point in one of the Buck Danny comics set in the Korean war.

[QUOTE=Ranchoth]
As movies go, Capricorn One had a pretty unique helicopter fight. (Warning: spoilers)
[/QUOTE]

Blue Thunder too. They did loops and everything.

[si_blakely]

@Kobal2

Blue Thunder too. They did loops and everything.

I thought that was impossible

[Tapioca_Dextrin]

@Cugel

Next question: has there been a dog v dog helicopterfight?

But of course

[coremelt]

@si_blakely

I thought that was impossible

Nope. Red Bull acrobatic specially modified BO-105 doing loops and rolls.

Red Bull Air Force - Aerobatic Helicopter- Chuck Aaron 2011

[si_blakely]

@coremelt

Nope. Red Bull acrobatic specially modified BO-105 doing loops and rolls.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m3Dz_XBrER8

what is the sound of a looping helicopter?

whoosh

Plot spoilers for Blue Thunder ahead:

The washed-out police helicopter pilot is claimed to have looped a copter in Nam. The ace military pilot (and bad guy) claims it is impossible, and discovers to his cost in the final dogfight that it isn’t.
Of course, looping a helicopter has been possible since the 60s, when it was first achieved. But the risks of acrobatics are high, as shown up thread with the MIL-24 that crashed after hitting its own tail with the rotor during an extreme stall recovery.

[DeptfordX]

To be fair, that doesn’t really look like a classic loop. More like, the chopper goes up until it goes inverted then starts falling out of the sky until the pilot manages to get the nose up again.