Aftermath of the CH-53 Emergency Landing by Dog Beach in Del Mar, California. The Helicopter took off from the beach and landed after a quick flight to the Del Mar Fairgrounds for further diagnosis and repair.
These things are absolutely solid I once flew from Bahrain straight across the arabian gulf in one these to get back to my unit. I've never felt safer or had such a comfortable ride. Im british and would like to say thank you America for allowing my country use of your awesome shit
That thing is massive. I remember preparing for the Haiti operation in 94. We were staging out of GITMO. Our medevac company was in support. Getting Blackhawks broke down for C-5 airlift is a pain. Doing it at night is almost possible. Multiple seal teams were going in first. They had 10 of these running up when Clinton finished brokering a deal. I had never seen so many pissed off Sailors/seals in my life. Most of them have aerial refueling like this one with the extended boom on the right side.
I worked with a fellow while an engineer at Boeing. He had been in the Navy and hated helicopters. He had some interesting stories: He was on a helicopter that landed on a beach. While taking off, he saw a plastic bag blowing around outside the helicopter. The first thing he thought was "Oh S**t." The bag immediately got suck into the engine intake. They lost power and fell about 10 feet back to earth. The helicopter he was on was coming in for a landing to an aircraft carrier in stormy weather. The chopper hit hard and while he was looking at the radar screen, it blew up sending glass shards into his face (this was in the day they used tube type CRT screens). While getting ready to evac him to shore for medical attention, he found out he was going to be loaded onto another helicopter. He got so riled up and combative, they had to sedate him. While cruising at altitude, one of the new crewmembers asked where do they go to the bathroom. They told the newbie to pee out the door. The resulting spray came back around and right into the pilots window. He had some choice words.
The helicopter couldn't take off for a long long time simply due to the huge gravitational pull of those dense balls that person had...if you look closely u can see light bending there
Used to work on and crew some on the CH-53 D' model " Sea Stallion " in the Corp back in the early 80's. The Echo models were in qualifying design test flights when I got out. This might be an F' model design or later? Sure brings back a few memories! We always said if it ain't leaking hydraulic fluid somewhere then don't fly in it. Lol. Good solid tough and durable Sikorsky aircraft in the right hands.....Semper Fi
@@502bbb I was hydraulics man also. In the mid and late 70's 6055 was my mos. Might have changed it some years later. Think they might have combined hyd and metal shops after I got out
Unfortunate that you missed the initial APP light off and engine start, but understandable, given that the standard procedure is to start all engines with the rotor head locked, then start the head spinning once all three main engines are up and making torque, thus there's little or no visual indication of when they're going to start cranking engines.
I VERY MUCH doubt that I'm mistaken, since I spent four years working on that very helicopter type as an Airframe Mechanic MOS 6153. A locked head start is the standard start up procedure per NATOPS, and in my four years at HMT/HMHT-302, I can't recall ever personally witnessing an unlocked start.
Rotor head locked? Locked with what, a gust lock?? Lock it where??? The TTO is the only reasonable place to "lock" it, and that is when it is shut down. Perhaps stopped with a rotor brake? Do you have any idea what kind of torque that gearbox is producing and what forces would be unleashed if you just "let it go" after putting power to the head???
When I was a kid in the 50's, I was in the hospital for an operation and afterwards read my comic books. One stands out. It started with a scene of a jet and a helicopter on the first page and I was thinking too bad for the guy who had to fly the helicopter, low and slow. Where's the fun in that? A few days later, against doctors and mothers orders, I slipped out of the house to play war games with my friends with our cap pistols. Many years later, I had the pleasure of playing in the SE Asian War Games and what did I fly? Helicopters. The flying part was a lot of fun. The shooting part not so much.
I know. The video guy, like me, must have been thinking "this thing is NEVER going to take off" and shut off the video. The suddenly BOOM!! it takes off.
In the late 60s aboard the USS Guam ( LPH-9) we had six of these, along with 16 CH-46s and o couple slicks from the Marine Air Wing- but these were the most fun to watch take off and land: especially from the flight deck.
I loved this aircraft until I messed with them for 4 years. I have mixed feelings about the 53 now but no aircraft is perfect so its a solid good helicopter to me. I can say this I think I prefer it over the Osprey.
Notice how 3 crew members got off? Pilot said "I don't know if this thing's making it back, and I ain't taking you down with me." I flew on them 20 years ago. Not the most reliable birds in the sky. Things haven't changed.
That was maintenance folks that were brought in to troubleshoot, or passengers. Probably as a precaution they had them drive or ride another bird back. I never had a flight where we set down in any place other than an LZ or helipad. I had two precautionary landings to check out a broken latch and metal chip warning light (indicating the possibility of metal chips or shavings in the gearbox), none were found....If you haven't seen the new K model, check it out...FSSF (Forever Shitters, Shitters Forever)!
They're not in flight suits so more than likely they're not air crew. Birds taking off usually require someone from each shop for troubleshooting. Avi, Air Frames, Ordnance, and Flightline, which is the crewchief and/or Aerial Observer (AO)
Years ago, during Bear Hunt 83, I copped a ride with HMM-165 I believe it was on a hop that picked up some engineers that were to be taken out somewhere to build something. Shortly after picking them up, the number 1 hydraulic boost line over the pilot burst dumping hot hydraulic fluid on him and the co-pilot. We set down in a ROK Army compound fairly hard and rolled to a stop short of the soccer goal and the power line behind it. Needless to say, the ROK soldiers came out with loaded rifles pointed at us as the engineers bailed out the ramp. I just sat there watching and laughing, they thought the bird was gonna burn. A short time later, the general over the whole exercise landed in his Skid asking if we needed anything. A replacement line was on the way already and we were waiting on it. The maintenance crew replaced it, the pilot signed off on it, still soaking wet with hydraulic fluid, we told the ROK soldiers goodbye and flew off to drop the engineers off and RTBed. Even after that, I still wanted to earn my wings which I did once I returned Stateside. Emergencies happen, you just hope that there is no water beneath you at the time. ;) Phrogs forever.
The 53 actually normally does a locked start, i.e. the rotor head is locked in a specific position by the rotor brake/rotor positioner while all the engines are started, and once all three are in the green, then and only then do they dump the brake and start spinning up the rotors. And there's actually four engines to start, the first actually being the Auxiliary Power Plant, which is necessary for starting the other three engines. It supplies the hydraulic power to start them, among other things.
This helicopter made an emergency landing due to an oil problem and they fixed it right there on the beach. I'm sure it was because they were making sure everything was OK before taking off.
O Dr Rafael , o senhor poderia explicar sem enrolar tanto , né. Fiquei sem paciência , bastava ele dizer qual é o método pra resolver o problema, simples demais , só que fica dando voltas e não explica..
Reminds me of playing Choplifter on the Sega Master System II all those decades ago when your annoying little evacuees wouldn't get in the damn chopper. Then you thought they were all in and you take off and there was one guy behind the chopper.
That was the EAPS (engine air particle separator) blower turning on. It's to help keep any sand or debris from getting sucked into the engine. If you listen closely you can hear three of them coming on.
Wonder if they got a chip light? These birds are amazing,. The downdraft from the mail rotor is 64mph, that's nearly hurricane strength. Watch what happens to the ocean when they ready to go,
For a while when I was in, we had the pins safety wired in place, and they just flew gear down the whole time, after a bird mysteriously sucked up its gear while it was still taxiing on the ground.
That was just the pilot being careful. Undoubtedly he or she was concerned about not kicking up any more sand than absolutely necessary. I was a mechanic on those birds and got to fly the simulator a few times, and I can tell you that that bird has A LOT of power, and it WILL get off the deck in a big damned hurry if you need it to.
Former 6153 here. For me it was the sound of the engine start motors, and that great big, smooth, bass drone that it made when they cranked up to flight RPM and added collective to let the droop stops disengage. But then when they'd lower the collective back down afterwards, the sound got more rough, choppy, and helicopter-sounding. If you have a good woofer, you can hear what I'm talking about from 1:00-1:30.