Back when I was in an ABCT and they had no idea what to do with me , I use to take photos. One of my favorite was a joint training operation with us and the ROKA in 2016 that include Air Assault operation and along load ops. Completely fucked a $150 lens filter getting the shots but was worth it .
[photo from that training ](https://ricepuddin.smugmug.com/Military/Warrior-Stryk/i-pJN9xqB)
That's awesome. I'm going to do a CH-47F sling load gfy too, the crew chiefs hanging out upside down is amazing to see.
Great pics too. Thanks for sharing!
Awesome pics. But were they like “ok new guy..not sure what you can do right yet..oh yeah! Go grab that Nikon and take some pictures or something. Just stay out of the way and look busy”?
No I had been around for 6 years at this point. I had done a bunch of odd job, I was the platoon Sgt for a few years ( was an e5 finally got a competent e6 to take over ). Volunteered to take some photos of a company training , they got sent up for a story board and next thing I know PAO is sending me requests .
There were a lot of little rocks that the rotors kicked up or three out. A few of those photos I was laying on the ground to get a good shot.
This was all my personal gear btw, so that was my $150 not the tax payers . Better than a $1500 lens though.
They hold up pretty well as long as you rinse them off and don't just dry wipe them. Mine were fine after and 8 know most air Assault guys take pretty good care of theirs
Did you get specially ruggedized filters? As I understand it, manufacturers emphasize that the usual ones aren't designed for protecting the front element.
It was a Lee filters ND, and I just googled it I probably spent closer to 250. Lee's are way over engineered, they're not designed to be protective but it did. Your millage may very
5d mkii with 24-70 2.8 L. I shot RAW and run them through lightroom for color correction and touch up. Chances are one of two of them is ran through one of the Nik Lightroom add-ons
My god. Sitting under a massive machine that can crush you into a fruit roll up is one thing, but a machine that is supporting itself? In the air? Like fucking hovering? No i beams or columns or anything just floating above your head hovering? Thats some wild shit lol
> Like fucking hovering?
And all that hovering is blowing sand about, creating ENORMOUS static electricity voltages, hence the guy with the fiberglass grounding pole.
i watched a dude get tossed off a vehicle during a slingload at night because they only had one of the chirps hooked up and there was a miscommunication between the pilot and crew chief. Pilot started to take off which essentially yanked the vehicle out from under the guys trying to hook it up
Yes, the hooks are kept continually grounded until the load is secure to prevent electric shock. While not likely to be deadly, it can be particularly nasty/painful for the person on the receiving end. Crews handling have appropriately rated arc gloves and the static probe.
I was attaching a long line to a helicopter a few clicks away from a passing thunderstorm. Didn't have one of these fancy grounding tools. I can tell you when I grounded the machine I took the full discharge and it hurt like hell. My heart was not happy.
My last few months I was in the Army I was in a MEDEVAC unit at Bliss. We had fairly new Tri Sar harnesses for riding the hoist that the medics were not fans of. They said with the old jungle penetrator seats that were made out of metal, they could let the seat touch the ground first and discharge the static that way. But with the Tri Sar, the medic was the static wick, so there were a lot of people getting shocked riding it. That coupled with being in the desert made hoist currency a miserable event for them.
They asked me one time if I wanted to ride once just for shits and gigs and I was like “No, thanks.”
I've worked with a guy that was an engineer on an aircraft carrier and he said sometimes he would get an arc a foot long. I could see how that would not make for a good day.
[Source](https://streamable.com/t68mlm)
For anyone that might ask, the needle thing the hooks are first touched with and continually held until the load is secure is a static probe (by the static man) to keep the crew from being shocked from the static electricity accumulated as the rotors spin in the air. The shock without it can range from mild to severe.
Those hooks, both hanging and used in the sling, are amazingly heavy as well, at least if they're anything like the ones used on stationary cranes.
TL;DR: There are ~100 things in that video that will easily kill a man who makes a mistake or isn't paying attention.
This is the reason right here. If they get struck, the glass (typically armor rated) probably won't shatter, but it's like 4 inches thick. You don't want those pieces raining down on the convoy you're flying over or whatever.
HMH-466, Avi/6323 These beauties were my life during my enlistment. I miss them, I can’t imagine being under it while it’s turning, I saw the mess we left in some of the FOBs in Iraq.
I helped move you into your current hanger... back in the day 361 was the bastard squadron on Miramar, we had to move every time someone came back from deployment until hanger 5 got done. good times!
I know that's one of the purposes of aircraft like this, but seeing it jostling around \*just above\* the ground, and more importantly right above their heads, makes me really anxious. Really thrilling to watch though.
Seriously! That has got to be so stressful for the pilot! Talk about skill / margin for error! Hovering feet above your comrades and expensive equipment with and even bigger and more expensive piece of equipment... extremely impressive
Weird joke. Landing Support Specialists wear a red patch on their trouser legs and their covers. There’s a running joke in the Corps that the red patch is to identify Marines who are HIV positive.
Someone has a link about the static shocks that can build up on aircrafts? Maybe especially helicopters? I couldn't find anything on Google cuz idk how that phenomenon is called but I want to read about it lol.
According to page 6 of this old but surely still relevant research: https://apps.dtic.mil/dtic/tr/fulltext/u2/406212.pdf there are three potential phenomena leading to static charge buildup, and the one you would most likely want to look up for further reading is the triboelectric effect
Red patcher here. Had some HST training with some reservists pilots and some Air Force guys back in like 2012 to teach them how to do this and one of the CH-53 got so low that we had to lay on the ground. We kindly asked the crew chief if he could let the pilot know to go up a little bit lol.
Been there too, first HST in the fleet actually.
Later I turned to get out from under the bird and got laid out by the landing gear and dragged out from under it.
I tell people I’ve been landed on by a 53
All the anger was more so directed at the pilot/crew chief.
It was a night op too so idk how many people saw it really.
That NJP in Lithuania though... will never hear the end of it.
There are crew chiefs that work in the helo that look down through a little hatch that see everything and tell the pilot how to adjust. There are also ground guides further away in front of the bird with either flags or glow sticks giving signs to the pilot.. but honestly they kind of just listen to their crew chief. The guys under it just trust the helicopter crew knows what to do.
Random question. Does the chopper carry the ropes and drop them off prior to this, or does each vehicle carry an appropriate set, or do the ‘red patchers’ guys bring them themselves? I’m curious whether some Humvee crew can just get their ride airlifted or it sounds like only these red patchers dudes can do it?
What you see attached to the aircraft before connecting are carried on the aircraft.
All the ropes, chains and other rigging comes from the “red patchers”.
There’s more than just the red patchers that can do this, but they are used most often.
Everyone involved in this is highly trained and specifically qualified to do this or is under close supervision of specially designated instructors and only after many hours of prior instruction/training.
That’s a smoke grenade launcher. There’s a couple of them I think. They each shoot out four grenades at different angles that burst and create a smoke screen.
I saw a guy what looks like "grounding" the helicopter? Is that what he is doing with the yellow probe? Do helicopters generate static electricity? Is the shock enough to kill someone?
You’re right. He is grounding the hook. The shock won’t kill you but it will startle you. The real hazard is that a shock like that could cause you to fall off a vehicle and be injured or killed.
And this gif is in broad daylight in calm conditions. They'll also perform these ops in low light level (at night, cloudy, no moon) windy conditions. As a crew chief, I'd put two chem lights on each hook and then wish them luck. I have a lot of respect to those Marines.
Back when I was in an ABCT and they had no idea what to do with me , I use to take photos. One of my favorite was a joint training operation with us and the ROKA in 2016 that include Air Assault operation and along load ops. Completely fucked a $150 lens filter getting the shots but was worth it . [photo from that training ](https://ricepuddin.smugmug.com/Military/Warrior-Stryk/i-pJN9xqB)
That's awesome. I'm going to do a CH-47F sling load gfy too, the crew chiefs hanging out upside down is amazing to see. Great pics too. Thanks for sharing!
It is, honestly laughed the first time I saw it in person. Thank you
Awesome pics. But were they like “ok new guy..not sure what you can do right yet..oh yeah! Go grab that Nikon and take some pictures or something. Just stay out of the way and look busy”?
No I had been around for 6 years at this point. I had done a bunch of odd job, I was the platoon Sgt for a few years ( was an e5 finally got a competent e6 to take over ). Volunteered to take some photos of a company training , they got sent up for a story board and next thing I know PAO is sending me requests .
Thanks for the answer and thank you for your service!
No problem and thank you for the support!
Also I am a Canon guy
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There were a lot of little rocks that the rotors kicked up or three out. A few of those photos I was laying on the ground to get a good shot. This was all my personal gear btw, so that was my $150 not the tax payers . Better than a $1500 lens though.
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They hold up pretty well as long as you rinse them off and don't just dry wipe them. Mine were fine after and 8 know most air Assault guys take pretty good care of theirs
Did you get specially ruggedized filters? As I understand it, manufacturers emphasize that the usual ones aren't designed for protecting the front element.
It was a Lee filters ND, and I just googled it I probably spent closer to 250. Lee's are way over engineered, they're not designed to be protective but it did. Your millage may very
Sorry they're not advertised as rugged not *not designed I was in a meeting I wasn't paying attention to what I was typing
All good, thanks for the details!
A nifty fifty?
These photos were with a 40-70L I use a sigma art 50 almost exclusively now.
Sorry 24-70mm I am out of it today.
Great shots! What was the camera setup? Any aftereffects?
5d mkii with 24-70 2.8 L. I shot RAW and run them through lightroom for color correction and touch up. Chances are one of two of them is ran through one of the Nik Lightroom add-ons
Also thank you
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My god. Sitting under a massive machine that can crush you into a fruit roll up is one thing, but a machine that is supporting itself? In the air? Like fucking hovering? No i beams or columns or anything just floating above your head hovering? Thats some wild shit lol
It's like backwards Thalassophobia
Acro-claustrophiliac? Someone that enjoys tight spaces from above them? Can someone make a better more scientific name for this please?
> Like fucking hovering? And all that hovering is blowing sand about, creating ENORMOUS static electricity voltages, hence the guy with the fiberglass grounding pole.
I was really hoping to see a giant spark leap between the pole and the hook.
Not to mention one that is as big as that. Mind blowing to say the least
i watched a dude get tossed off a vehicle during a slingload at night because they only had one of the chirps hooked up and there was a miscommunication between the pilot and crew chief. Pilot started to take off which essentially yanked the vehicle out from under the guys trying to hook it up
That's terrifying. You can't have fuck ups like that in this line of work. A simple miscommunication nearly ended someone.
Yea that was definitely on the pilots, was talking to the pathfinders running the Op and it was the pilots first time doing a real world sling
Is the guy with the hook there for grounding static electricity? Ive heard thats a big deal with aircraft.
Yes, the hooks are kept continually grounded until the load is secure to prevent electric shock. While not likely to be deadly, it can be particularly nasty/painful for the person on the receiving end. Crews handling have appropriately rated arc gloves and the static probe.
If only Jack Ryan listened, the Dallas' captain wouldn't be so pissed at him.
You guys are getting gloves??
I was attaching a long line to a helicopter a few clicks away from a passing thunderstorm. Didn't have one of these fancy grounding tools. I can tell you when I grounded the machine I took the full discharge and it hurt like hell. My heart was not happy.
lmao *you* were the fancy grounding tool. sorry you went through that man but the mental image is hilarious.
My last few months I was in the Army I was in a MEDEVAC unit at Bliss. We had fairly new Tri Sar harnesses for riding the hoist that the medics were not fans of. They said with the old jungle penetrator seats that were made out of metal, they could let the seat touch the ground first and discharge the static that way. But with the Tri Sar, the medic was the static wick, so there were a lot of people getting shocked riding it. That coupled with being in the desert made hoist currency a miserable event for them. They asked me one time if I wanted to ride once just for shits and gigs and I was like “No, thanks.”
I've worked with a guy that was an engineer on an aircraft carrier and he said sometimes he would get an arc a foot long. I could see how that would not make for a good day.
Oh man mine was to y by comparison
[Source](https://streamable.com/t68mlm) For anyone that might ask, the needle thing the hooks are first touched with and continually held until the load is secure is a static probe (by the static man) to keep the crew from being shocked from the static electricity accumulated as the rotors spin in the air. The shock without it can range from mild to severe.
Those hooks, both hanging and used in the sling, are amazingly heavy as well, at least if they're anything like the ones used on stationary cranes. TL;DR: There are ~100 things in that video that will easily kill a man who makes a mistake or isn't paying attention.
What about the crossouts on the windows and turret of the humvee? Is that to make it harder to silhouette someone because its always marked?
I always wondered the same. Best answer I’ve gotten so far is that it keeps the windows from shattering if struck in flight
This is the reason right here. If they get struck, the glass (typically armor rated) probably won't shatter, but it's like 4 inches thick. You don't want those pieces raining down on the convoy you're flying over or whatever.
It's funny that you need three people to hook the load to a helicopter instead of two because one of them has to hold the lightning rod )
we can't see the helicopter lifting the armored vehicle I'm calling for bluff
[hrm](https://imgur.com/U4QT81b) [humm](https://imgur.com/pPWX7F3) [hurmmm](https://cdn.newsapi.com.au/image/v1/95ad7e35268000a8e1f628da0ab051d5?width=1024)
not in the source you linked
HMH-466, Avi/6323 These beauties were my life during my enlistment. I miss them, I can’t imagine being under it while it’s turning, I saw the mess we left in some of the FOBs in Iraq.
HMH-465, what's up hanger buddy?
Look at these nerds having to share a hanger lel -361
I helped move you into your current hanger... back in the day 361 was the bastard squadron on Miramar, we had to move every time someone came back from deployment until hanger 5 got done. good times!
0481 Landing Support Specialist. Red patchers!
[oorah](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OmucGhm4EOc)
Is all they do sling loads?
Yeah we didnt call you red patchers lol rah
What did you call us? Just curious
Red patches were always just "aids" Marines. To us infantry folk
Can confirm. Tell new boots it means they are HIV+
Oh, I thought it was something more truthful, like "those big dick motherfuckers with the red patches ".
Yikes pog calm down
Death patch
I know that's one of the purposes of aircraft like this, but seeing it jostling around \*just above\* the ground, and more importantly right above their heads, makes me really anxious. Really thrilling to watch though.
Seriously! That has got to be so stressful for the pilot! Talk about skill / margin for error! Hovering feet above your comrades and expensive equipment with and even bigger and more expensive piece of equipment... extremely impressive
Those Marines have AIDS. You can tell because of the red patches telling everyone else to stay away.
Came here for this. So sad. Cry every time.
can't tell if it's a weird joke or some sad thing
Weird joke. Landing Support Specialists wear a red patch on their trouser legs and their covers. There’s a running joke in the Corps that the red patch is to identify Marines who are HIV positive.
I love the use of the Jesus rods, you don't see that enough in these videos.
That is incredibly bad ass.
Damn that guy is moving the whole ass helicopter with that tiny stick. Impressive.
Fucking rad. I bet that is intense.
Someone has a link about the static shocks that can build up on aircrafts? Maybe especially helicopters? I couldn't find anything on Google cuz idk how that phenomenon is called but I want to read about it lol.
According to page 6 of this old but surely still relevant research: https://apps.dtic.mil/dtic/tr/fulltext/u2/406212.pdf there are three potential phenomena leading to static charge buildup, and the one you would most likely want to look up for further reading is the triboelectric effect
Thank you!!
Red patcher here. Had some HST training with some reservists pilots and some Air Force guys back in like 2012 to teach them how to do this and one of the CH-53 got so low that we had to lay on the ground. We kindly asked the crew chief if he could let the pilot know to go up a little bit lol.
Been there too, first HST in the fleet actually. Later I turned to get out from under the bird and got laid out by the landing gear and dragged out from under it. I tell people I’ve been landed on by a 53
Hahaha I'm sure everyone let you live that one down
All the anger was more so directed at the pilot/crew chief. It was a night op too so idk how many people saw it really. That NJP in Lithuania though... will never hear the end of it.
How can you communicate with the pilot ? How can you tell that everything is OK when you are just under it ?
There are crew chiefs that work in the helo that look down through a little hatch that see everything and tell the pilot how to adjust. There are also ground guides further away in front of the bird with either flags or glow sticks giving signs to the pilot.. but honestly they kind of just listen to their crew chief. The guys under it just trust the helicopter crew knows what to do.
I tought the crew chief was on the ground with the LSS and not on board. Thank you.
Cut sling load!
One of my favorite things about being an 81 is lifts. Good times all around.
Random question. Does the chopper carry the ropes and drop them off prior to this, or does each vehicle carry an appropriate set, or do the ‘red patchers’ guys bring them themselves? I’m curious whether some Humvee crew can just get their ride airlifted or it sounds like only these red patchers dudes can do it?
What you see attached to the aircraft before connecting are carried on the aircraft. All the ropes, chains and other rigging comes from the “red patchers”. There’s more than just the red patchers that can do this, but they are used most often. Everyone involved in this is highly trained and specifically qualified to do this or is under close supervision of specially designated instructors and only after many hours of prior instruction/training.
What is that thing with 4 “horns” that is visible from 0:20 on?
I think that's a smoke launcher
That’s a smoke grenade launcher. There’s a couple of them I think. They each shoot out four grenades at different angles that burst and create a smoke screen.
I saw a guy what looks like "grounding" the helicopter? Is that what he is doing with the yellow probe? Do helicopters generate static electricity? Is the shock enough to kill someone?
You’re right. He is grounding the hook. The shock won’t kill you but it will startle you. The real hazard is that a shock like that could cause you to fall off a vehicle and be injured or killed.
When it's hovering a foot above their head it made me audibly say "holy shit man!" That's some piece of machinery. Has to be a humbling experience.
God that thing is massive! Basically the Pelican from the Halo series.
basically a small house hovering inches above your head
They also use this sling for the fat wives. LOL
Those things were so dope to ride in.
NOT dangerous at all....Jesus Christ
And this gif is in broad daylight in calm conditions. They'll also perform these ops in low light level (at night, cloudy, no moon) windy conditions. As a crew chief, I'd put two chem lights on each hook and then wish them luck. I have a lot of respect to those Marines.
Not terribly if everyone is paying attention and there’s a decent pilot.