ONETINSOLDIER 2 Posted May 20, 2008 It was just anther average Sunday afternoon as I was out back working on my zen garden, happily watering my new bentgrass lawn (the stuff used for putting greens). Before I heard it, I felt it, and my eyes were quickly scanning the canopy of trees for movement, the distintive sound of two turbine engines turning a four-bladed prop. Instinct took over and I dove for the mass of kudzu vine that were devouring the oak trees that line the property line. <_< >_> AH HA! There it is! I thought as I caught a glimpse of the tail end of an airforce grey Pavehawk. Feeling a little foolish concerning my present location, I proceeded to extract myself from the bushes as the chopper circled once and dropped in for a landing less than a half mile away. I grabbed my camera and hopped in the car to go investigate, and down at the park , heres what I found,,,, Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
firehawkordy 34 Posted May 20, 2008 Cool, something like that happened to me a few years back. Got called into work on New Years Eve and while going to the back dock of the hospital I heard a helo land out in our east parking lot. After I took care of our OR supplies I went to investigate and found an LACFD H-60, our roof top flight deck can't handle anything that big. Turned out that the crew chief and I had some mutual friends in the helo community so I got a close up look. This was an evac flight, guess your visitor was there for a happy time. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
ONETINSOLDIER 2 Posted May 20, 2008 yeah, there was a catfish derby, food drive ,konocti kids day, big multi volunteer group thing goin on. The chopper and crew was there overnight and doin the grip and grin the next day. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
serverandenforcer 33 Posted May 20, 2008 Ah yeah, one time when i was at work at property that our company used to have an account with during the graveyard shift (that mids in the civilian world), I stepped out of our office to go on patrol when I heard the very familiar sound of a Blackhawk flying around... close. The sound then turned into that of a super weed wacker on the other end of the property. I told my dispatcher to pull up the cameras over there to confirm if there was some sort of a "landing". She confirmed it, so I rushed over to check it out. Apparently, it was an LAFD medivac that had tried to make an attempt to land at a nearby hospital, but the helipad there was under constuction. So they thought it would be a good idea to land at my property's parking lot. I guess they didn't take into accound of the trees that were randomly planted throughtout the lot and it clipped one of them when just about to set down. It remained deadlined for about half of the day until they got spare parts to replace the rotors. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
WarlordATF 1 Posted May 20, 2008 Very cool! Right after Hurricane Charlie hit us, (it actually hit about 25 miles north of us, but we lost power for a week and had a tree knocked down), I got to see Marine 1 and a pair of Cobras surveying the damage. I didnt realize thats who it was until later that night it was mentioned on the radio. but it was cool and your right, you do feel it first! THUMP THUMP THUMP!!! Another time i saw the Thunderbirds leaving after the SW Florida Airshow, its great to live in the takeoff path of SW Florida International Airport! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
GASCAN39 7 Posted May 20, 2008 November of 05 I was at Mosul, Iraq working at the fire dept. The Alaska ARNG had three UH-60s there to support the commander of MNF-N. Occasionally, he would fly over to Speicher, where there happened to be a Pizza Hut. We gathered up money and gave it to one of the crew chiefs. They finally made it over there and had time to send someone over to pick up our much anticipated pizza. We had actually given up, then one day, the control tower called our dispatcher to say that there were to UH-60s inbound that requested assistance. Being fire guys, we assumed the worst. Bells were ringing, guys running to trucks, etc. I walked outside to see the two birds approaching the field at a pretty good pace. They flared, and landed on the taxiway next to us. The crew chief of the lead bird jumped out with a big stack of pizzas for us. Ahhhh, tax dollars at work....... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
+Jug 99 Posted May 20, 2008 November of 05 I was at Mosul, Iraq working at the fire dept. The Alaska ARNG had three UH-60s there to support the commander of MNF-N. Occasionally, he would fly over to Speicher, where there happened to be a Pizza Hut. We gathered up money and gave it to one of the crew chiefs. They finally made it over there and had time to send someone over to pick up our much anticipated pizza. We had actually given up, then one day, the control tower called our dispatcher to say that there were to UH-60s inbound that requested assistance. Being fire guys, we assumed the worst. Bells were ringing, guys running to trucks, etc. I walked outside to see the two birds approaching the field at a pretty good pace. They flared, and landed on the taxiway next to us. The crew chief of the lead bird jumped out with a big stack of pizzas for us. Ahhhh, tax dollars at work....... During Desert Storm, local schools started a letter writing campaign for those who did not get much from home. Following the conclusion of Storm, one of the neatest visits I saw was a big UH-60 that flew from a unit in Clarksville, TN, (Fort Campbell) to visit an elementary school in Springfield, TN. All of the soldiers on the helicopter had been the recipients of the letters from the kids at that school and wanted to pay a courtesy visit back. The kids in the elementary school went nuts, and ruined the school day, as far as I am concerned, it was some damn good expenditure of US Tax $$. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
GASCAN39 7 Posted May 20, 2008 I agree Jug! There was an E-6 with the last unit at Camp Falcon that got her old elementrary school at home to send packages to soldiers that normally did not get anything. She had complete lists compiled of soldiers that were going through a hard time, their favorite snacks and sports teams, etc. The packages poured into that base during the last year, and many a soldier got a bright day! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
JediMaster 451 Posted May 20, 2008 I see them every day here, with the 920th Rescue Wing, and they're always flying over my house too. In fact, several of them had those water buckets slung under to help fight those fires here last week. As for Marine One, that flew OVER my house (wow what a racket those 53s make) after W showed up for a rally with his brother Jeb at the local stadium (local = 4 miles away) on its way back here where AF1 was parked. The best part was during the rally some old clueless guy flying VFR flew RIGHT past the stadium and got an F-16 buzzing him for his trouble! Forced to land at Merritt Island Airport and got questioned by the FBI and company for several hours! D'OH!!! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
firehawkordy 34 Posted May 20, 2008 Ah yeah, one time when i was at work at property that our company used to have an account with during the graveyard shift (that mids in the civilian world), I stepped out of our office to go on patrol when I heard the very familiar sound of a Blackhawk flying around... close. The sound then turned into that of a super weed wacker on the other end of the property. I told my dispatcher to pull up the cameras over there to confirm if there was some sort of a "landing". She confirmed it, so I rushed over to check it out. Apparently, it was an LAFD medivac that had tried to make an attempt to land at a nearby hospital, but the helipad there was under constuction. So they thought it would be a good idea to land at my property's parking lot. I guess they didn't take into accound of the trees that were randomly planted throughtout the lot and it clipped one of them when just about to set down. It remained deadlined for about half of the day until they got spare parts to replace the rotors. The H-60 that landed at work asked our security staff to give signals but they declined stating they had no training. The crew chief asked if I still knew how to launch a helo, well I found out how much you remember and how much fun I used to have. And it was a great ending to the year. As for the letters and gifts to the troops, our lead painter's daughter is a Blackhawk pilot and the engineering department sort of adopted her unit. On top of that, both my sons and my shipmates in HCS-5 said that things like gifts and letters really made life a little easier. I guess being "adopted" by a school or group has a bigger impact than one would think. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
