Fear of Flying …
or just good common sense?
Helicopters offer military commanders unprecedented capabilities. In the down
and dirty places where they operate, however, they can be fairly dangerous.
Every military aviator is the best military aviator since Wilbur and Orville first slipped Earth’s surly bonds back in 1903. We typically have very attractive, exceptionally long-suffering spouses. Personally, I wouldn’t trust a 22-year-old unsupervised with glue, much less a $26 million combat aircraft. Alas, Uncle Sam felt otherwise.
All man-children are bulletproof and immortal until about age 25. That’s why 19-year-olds make the best soldiers. We’re never going to die. This curious affliction untethers the human male to do some of the most remarkable stuff.
I was out turning and burning with a friend in the jump seat. My buddy was a veteran of numerous real-world special operations missions. He and I had worked together for nearly a year. On this particular day we were in the desert. I planted my sleek expensive machine after an hour or so of transforming jet fuel into chaos, and we all disembarked. My pal promptly threw up all over the place. I felt genuinely terrible.
As a pilot, making someone sick who is a jerk is darkly satisfying. By contrast, this was just the nicest guy in the world. If nothing else I didn’t want him embarrassed in front of his troops. I made my way to his side and quietly apologized. He smiled and explained no apologies were necessary. He simply had a fear of flying — once he swished a little water from his Camelbak around to clean out his piehole — he explained
All military aviators are confident — making complex machines do amazing things is just part of the job.
Almost Always Do As You’re Told
When my friend was an ROTC cadet, he attended Air Assault school. Air Assault is a miserable two-week course teaching one what is required to work in and around combat helicopters. The Air Assault graduate in my day developed proficiency rigging sling loads and rappelling out of helicopters. He also did a great deal of forced marching, running and pushups.
My buddy was about to board a UH-1H Huey for some rappelling training. The crew chief rendered the requisite safety briefing. My friend and his comrade were going to sit in the gunner’s well on the side of the aircraft. With the doors pinned back, this offered an unparalleled view. However, it was critically important they not unfasten their seatbelts until directed specifically to do so at the other end of the trip. Failure to do this could result in a long drop followed by a sudden stop. The two young soldiers strapped in while the crew spooled up the airplane.
With everything shipshape, the pilot lifted the 9,000-lb. aircraft to a tidy three-foot hover and executed a quick pedal turn in anticipation of takeoff. In so doing he inadvertently pushed the tail rotor into a tree. The tail rotor assembly exploded and separated from the aircraft along with its 90-degree gearbox.
With all those rotating parts, helicopters can be fairly unforgiving of inattention.
Fortunately, this horrific scene was just a training exercise.
Everything Is Physics
The sudden loss of tail rotor authority would itself have been a fairly big deal. However, the loss of the associated mass of these components turned out to be far worse. Now the center of gravity of the aircraft shifted catastrophically forward.
The pilot did what he was trained to do and initiated a hovering autorotation by dropping power precipitously. This caused the aircraft to settle hard as the center-of-gravity shift now also translated the aircraft forward in an uncommanded fashion. The helicopter settled heavily and rolled frontward on its skids from butt to nose. It hit with sufficient vigor to splay the skids out.
All this happened very quickly. My pal could tell something was amiss as the aircraft was now shaking badly. The violent loss of the tail rotor assembly had also been fairly loud. My buddy could feel the aircraft pitching forward. For one tiny pregnant moment the Huey was motionless on the ground.
My friend looked at his battle buddy sitting next to him, and the guy looked back. They spoke not a word, but both of them yanked open their seatbelts and just stepped out of the aircraft as though they were strolling through a park. The doomed Huey then rolled forward and bounced back into the air. The helicopter went butt over nose and came down inverted onto its own rotor system. The aircraft proceeded to eat itself, killing everybody else onboard.
Denouement
My pal had actually been in three helicopter crashes. You’ll likely hear about the other two eventually someday as well. His willful failure to follow instructions that fateful day at Air Assault school was the sole reason he still drew breath.
God’s will is crystal clear in the rearview mirror. It’s just frequently a bit fuzzier through the windshield. My friend was hardly a coward. Quite the contrary, he was one of the bravest men I ever knew. It was simple — he was justifiably afraid of flying.
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