TIL India had a tradition in the 1970s of making military helicopters look like animals
Here’s something we bet you didn’t think was possible – an elephant that could fly and dance in the sky. In the 1970s, the Indian Air Force discovered a creative way to showcase its Chetak helicopter. See for yourself.
Did they ever make a helicopter look like a squid?
The world would be much less funny place without Indians.
Youtube would also have far fewer technical tutorials.
feather or dot?
Is that dangerous? I was under the impression helicopters were designed with specific balance in mind
Only if you are pushing boundaries of the performance of the helicopter. Yes, they are designed with a specific balance in mind, but that balance is an envelope not a single number. They need to have capability to add people as well as have those people move around in flight. Some are designed to carry payloads/cargo, too, which can be variable in weight and shape. Have you ever seen a rescue helicopter flying with a gurney dangling by a line, swinging in the wind with a patient strapped to it? Same thing.
I used to fly on the company helicopter pretty regularly. It would go around to the different sites in the broader area, picking up and dropping off. One time, we stopped at a site and a very, very large man got in and sat in back on one side. He was about as heavy as you can imagine a person being and still walking around on his own power. The pilot went straight up from the pad a couple hundred feet, played with settings on the stick, dropped maybe twenty feet, played some more, up and down a couple more times, then flew away like normal. I'd never seen them do that before or after. I assume he must have been getting the settings right for the unusually unbalanced load.
I‘m not a pilot but i‘m assuming for slow manouvers this wouldn‘t be too much of a problem? I‘m thinking if you go over a certain speed there are also huge aerodynamic consequences.
Oh man. What if Hannibal crossed the Alps in these?
All countries should do this lol
Especially on their regular attack helicopters. It would make war slightly more fun!
This is your username's time to shine.
It would confuse the hell out of drug users.
"Did I just see an elephant fly by? Holy shit! Either Dumbo is based on a real story, or that acid I took 2 weeks ago is STILL working!"
Had
😢
The pilot:
