# What helicopter is this? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [December 5, 2014, 12:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-helicopter-is-this/706363 "2014-12-05T00:11:13Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Leo\_Bloom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leo_bloom/32/10377_2.png) [@Leo\_Bloom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leo_Bloom)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2014, 12:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-helicopter-is-this/706363/1 "2014-12-05T00:11:13Z")
see subject. What’s the weight load max on that panel, I wonder. ---
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2014, 12:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-helicopter-is-this/706363/2 "2014-12-05T00:13:39Z")
> [@Leo\_Bloom](#): > > see subject. > > What’s the weight load max on that panel, I wonder. Considering people probably sit on it to work on the equipment it houses (and not just kneel on the ground and lean over it), I’m sure it’s more than Kim K weighs. ---
**Author:** ![Ravenman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ravenman/32/2929_2.png) [@Ravenman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ravenman)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2014, 12:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-helicopter-is-this/706363/3 "2014-12-05T00:27:05Z")
It is an AH-1Z Super Cobra. Looks like it is on an amphibious ship, too. No idea what the parameters of the panel are. ---
**Author:** ![Leo\_Bloom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leo_bloom/32/10377_2.png) [@Leo\_Bloom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leo_Bloom)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2014, 12:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-helicopter-is-this/706363/4 "2014-12-05T00:44:01Z")
Thanks. Good general write up here on program and variants; not Wiki. ---
**Author:** ![Declan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ecae2f/32.png) [@Declan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Declan)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2014, 3:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-helicopter-is-this/706363/5 "2014-12-05T03:01:52Z")
> [@Leo\_Bloom](#): > > see subject. > > What’s the weight load max on that panel, I wonder. Its actually rated, I believe that special forces requested something like that, during the vietnam war. Declan ---
**Author:** ![Lucas\_Jackson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lucas_jackson/32/303_2.png) [@Lucas\_Jackson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lucas_Jackson)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2014, 3:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-helicopter-is-this/706363/6 "2014-12-05T03:25:48Z")
There’s a helicopter in that picture!? ---
**Author:** ![Fubaya](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/c2a13f/32.png) [@Fubaya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fubaya)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2014, 5:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-helicopter-is-this/706363/7 "2014-12-05T05:15:03Z")
There were a few emergency extractions in Vietnam where a person sat on that panel and/or the other side. I even saw a photo of it once. Those were earlier versions of the Cobra, of course, and the panel could have changed. I’ve also heard that special forces were interested in using it for that but the examples I’ve read of were regular grunts. ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2014, 7:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-helicopter-is-this/706363/8 "2014-12-05T07:31:01Z")
> [@Ravenman](#): > > It is an AH-1Z Super Cobra. I hope they’re done making new versions. ---
**Author:** ![48Willys](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/4/db5fbb/32.png) [@48Willys](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/48Willys)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2014, 8:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-helicopter-is-this/706363/9 "2014-12-05T08:29:41Z")
> [@Robot\_Arm](#): > > I hope they’re done making new versions. Naw, no worries! The new one would be an AH-1AA Super Cobra. ---
**Author:** ![Leo\_Bloom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leo_bloom/32/10377_2.png) [@Leo\_Bloom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leo_Bloom)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2014, 5:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-helicopter-is-this/706363/10 "2014-12-05T17:46:33Z")
> [@Leo\_Bloom](#): > > see subject. > > What’s the weight load max on that panel, I wonder. > [@Joey\_P](#): > > Considering people probably sit on it to work on the equipment it houses (and not just kneel on the ground and lean over it), I’m sure it’s more than Kim K weighs. > [@Ravenman](#): > > It is an AH-1Z Super Cobra. Looks like it is on an amphibious ship, too. > > No idea what the parameters of the panel are. > [@Declan](#): > > Its actually rated, I believe that special forces requested something like that, during the vietnam war. > > Declan > [@Fubaya](#): > > There were a few emergency extractions in Vietnam where a person sat on that panel and/or the other side. I even saw a photo of it once. Those were earlier versions of the Cobra, of course, and the panel could have changed. I’ve also heard that special forces were interested in using it for that but the examples I’ve read of were regular grunts. 🙂 My friends, I give you: GQ on SD at its finest. ---
**Author:** ![Leo\_Bloom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leo_bloom/32/10377_2.png) [@Leo\_Bloom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leo_Bloom)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2014, 5:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-helicopter-is-this/706363/11 "2014-12-05T17:58:07Z")
Dig it: 74-page pocket guide, with loads o’ specs, pitchers, and CAD sectioning, from Bell. ---
**Author:** ![Velocity](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/velocity/32/18006_2.png) [@Velocity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Velocity)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2014, 6:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-helicopter-is-this/706363/12 "2014-12-05T18:01:51Z")
AH-1Z, I think it’s the USMC version (whitish paint). ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2014, 7:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-helicopter-is-this/706363/13 "2014-12-05T19:07:38Z")
> [@Robot\_Arm](#): > > I hope they’re done making new versions. > [@48Willys](#): > > Naw, no worries! The new one would be an AH-1AA Super Cobra. Do you think we could get them to call it the AH-1[ ? It would be so much easier to sort in ASCII. ---
**Author:** ![Fubaya](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/c2a13f/32.png) [@Fubaya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fubaya)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2014, 2:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-helicopter-is-this/706363/14 "2014-12-06T02:13:15Z")
[Here](http://kitup.military.com/2011/08/my-other-ride-is-a-ah-1-cobra-aka-attack-helicopter-piggyback.html) are pics of two SF troops riding the same hatch on a Cobra in Afghanistan. They’re probably pushing 300 pounds on that hatch at least. [Here](http://kitup.military.com/2011/08/my-other-ride-is-a-ah-1-cobra-aka-attack-helicopter-piggyback.html) are the same pics, worse quality, but in the comments some old Vietnam pilots talk about having done it. Not that it matters, it just bugs me that I think I have seen photos of it being done years ago in Vietnam. I know I’ve read about it a couple times at least.