Merc gunship in Sierra Leone...

[Die Hard]

Remember the Hind attack at the end of the Blood Diamond film? Here's the real mercenary who participated in that attack. Neall Ellis, probably the best known mercenary combat aviator alive:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1GNPdaKi3Hw


He and his crew are back (and have been for some time), flying and blowing toejam up in Sierra Leone.

Must be rewarding work.

[BaDkaRmA158Th]

I do not care where you are from, of who made the wings you fly under.

 


protecting and serving these people is right, and about 30+ years to #%$&'in late.
When people started showing up with cut off hands and such, what more does the world community need to assist them!?



They (the world community) do not give a damn, and that is why i salute these "merc's" for doing what they do, regardless of the russian wing's they fly under/with. truth be told i would rather fly into combat in a hind that can take .50 cal machine gun rounds vs. some modern day nato made paper drive P.O.S. that cant take watermelon for damage,and it is only good for killing good americans when it go's down.




Screw that, hind's didn't start falling till we started bringing stringer's into the battlefield, hinds are as close as you can come to a flying battle tank as it go's.


period.

[Larry]

Didn't/Don't Hinds have a reputation of cutting their own tails off when banking sharply? I don't know about you but I wouldn't want to go down because I turned to dodge a RPG.



On a side note IMO the only time the rest of the world cares want happens in a third world country is if that country is sitting on oil.

[Marauding Conan]

Didn't/Don't Hinds have a reputation of cutting their own tails off when banking sharply? I don't know about you but I wouldn't want to go down because I turned to dodge a RPG.



On a side note IMO the only time the rest of the world cares want happens in a third world country is if that country is sitting on oil.

In a nutshell, that is the jist of it.

[Die Hard]

Didn't/Don't Hinds have a reputation of cutting their own tails off when banking sharply? I don't know about you but I wouldn't want to go down because I turned to dodge a RPG.

All helicopters without rigid rotor designs can suffer a boom strike (rotor blade hits the tail boom) if maneuvered or landed too hard. Only a few combat helicopters have a rigid rotor system (Apache and Lynx comes to mind).

Usually a boom strike doesn't sheer off the entire boom (unless it's a really violent maneuver) however it can damage the power and control linkage to the tail rotor.

We don't actually get to see the boom strike in this clip, but I think that's what happened to this Puma. A hard landing combined with a sudden nose down movement bounces the rotor into the tail boom.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e-pZgI3FeJ0


Here you can see a boom strike in action... Luckilly it was the refueling boom, not the tail:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AozKKqzY6fA&feature=related


The Hind is a B-17 sized 26,000 lbs lumbering monster, but surprisingly maneuverable and the second fastest helicopter in the world:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OtdOi80IkPw


Here's the Hind that was used in the movie: A South-African upgraded version:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oSdAyj7n7LA


I have a healthy respect for that machine...

[Rino]

     The PAH-1 german anti-tank helo does, and  I'm pretty sure the
AH-6 or whatever they call the OH-6 these days has a rigid system
as well.  Haven't heard of tailstrike troubles with either of those.

[BaDkaRmA158Th]

Couldn't hinds survives 20mm cannon hits? or at least .50 cal fire.



Big fast and russian made, i respect the damn things, i do not like them tho, at all. Not at all.

[Die Hard]

Couldn't hinds survives 20mm cannon hits? or at least .50 cal fire.

The fuselage and rotor is armored to withstand .50 cal hits. The Cockpit armor stops 37mm rounds (canopy withstands .50 cal).

Big fast and Russian made, i respect the damn things, i do not like them tho, at all. Not at all.

I'm with you on that one, but perhaps I like this one Hind:

Part 1: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ehm0rm8TMFo
Part 2: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lje8Z4jaOtc
Part 3: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yr-SL-rTv7I
Part 4: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KxR95AqEvVg
Part 5: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wb2FAW9nho4

It's on our side.

[Motherland]

Why? What's wrong with the Hind? Probably the best looking helicopter I've seen.

[Die Hard]

Yeah, it looks very cool, but so does Darth Vader. I don't much like him either.

[Rino]

     Problem with both .50 cal and 20mm is that they rarely fly solo 

[BaDkaRmA158Th]

Nothing motherland,the movie red dawn just left a really really bad taste in my mouth, if the s.o.b. can take 20 and 37mm cannon rounds, what chance i have on foot?


Altho stingers were knocking these things dead in afghanistan in the 80's. And its not like its resistant to .50, the dang things bullet proof, even cannon proof.



Cool links diehard, thanks.

[Die Hard]

Yeah, no helicopter can possibly hope to survive a missile hit. The only realistic defence against SAM's are passive defences like IR jammers and expendable decoys (chaff and flares). Luckily the RUF animals don't have sophisticated weapons like that.

That's the good life right there. Wake up, have breakfast on the patio and read the newspaper. Then load up the rockets and blow toejam up all day, knowing you're shooting the kind of people who will slice open a slave's belly if they think he swallowed a diamond.

[BaDkaRmA158Th]

The only solution then is to make a aa-12 that fires mini guided missiles.


Okay, i feel better now.

[Serenity]

That's the good life right there. Wake up, have breakfast on the patio and read the newspaper. Then load up the rockets and blow noodles up all day, knowing you're shooting the kind of people who will slice open a slave's belly if they think he swallowed a diamond.

Ya know, I would have to agree.