This Doesn't Happen Every Day

TriTownTB · Mar 21, 2013

Ever have a guy stop at your house and ask permission to land a helicopter in your yard?

Harvey 2 · Mar 21, 2013

Never had any one ask permisson to land.
But several years ago when my nephew wuz in the army and flew the Appache helicopter he landed in my field and we talked a while, after he took off one of the neighbors asked, "what wuz that all aboot?"
I told them two solider boys were wanting to know how to get to Fort Knox

JD Farmer · Mar 21, 2013

Yep, had it happen right here about 1977. Copter landed in my front yard and stayed the weekend. I told folks that I had traded my car for it, lol.
I have a picture somewhere if I could find it, I'd scan it and post it here.

Bob Bancroft · Mar 21, 2013

Only in my dreams. I have my fixed wing license. It's a dream of mine to master the rotary wing. Problem is I'll have to sell the farm to do it! Then what do I live on?

Mark-Ia · Mar 21, 2013

Looks like a tree cutter laying there. Are they trimming "powerline right of ways"??

TriTownTB · Mar 21, 2013

yes they were trimming the high line right of ways and were hoping to be able to land in the area where they were working to refuel the helicopter and service the saw. I don't know if the pilot was nuts or great at what he did or a little bit of both but there's no way i'd try to land where he did. and the saw never drug an inch when landing or taking off. very interesting to watch.

Straw Boss · Mar 21, 2013

Local Crop Duster back when (1970s-early 80s)used to use a helicopter and would land right on the back of a semi flatbed parked next to the field to refill spray tank or refuel. Never landed on the ground. Always thought they could use their skid to turn the page of a book if they weren't fighting a wind.
He also used an Ag Cat or Ag Tractor??? airplane for spraying sunflowers at night after the wind went down. Bright lights on the wings and a vehicle at each end of the field with a beacon on the cab top to line up on for each pass. After each pass the vehicle would pull ahead x number of feet for the next run. Sure was something to watch in the dark of night.

BIG RUH · Mar 21, 2013

Yes to both thoughts on the pilot. They're good and they're nuts.

Unruh · Mar 21, 2013

I had a helicopter spray corn for me one year. I never had a better job of Ariel spraying. He backed right into the corners, sprayed right up to the fence lines and the down-wind of the rotors put it right down between the rows on the weeds. Wonderful job compared to the fixed wing experiences.

Dick2 · Mar 21, 2013

We had a local that sprayed with a helicopter. He would rest one skid on the supply truck bed and balance while they refilled the tanks. One day he lost it and did a lot of damage. It turned out that the guy was 80 years old!

Paul from MI · Mar 21, 2013

Had a local copter pilot try to take off from a trailer about 15-20 years ago. on of the skids caught, copter tipped, rotors hit the ground and killed him. Maybe not a good idea?

GordoSD · Mar 21, 2013

1-Upper. Navy exercise in the Bell H-13 was to use a bottle opener taped to the skid to pop the cap off a coke bottle standing in a pipe buried in the ground.Takes about three broken bottles to do it. Edit those out!

showcrop · Mar 21, 2013

(reply to post at 13:12:05 03/21/13) [/quot

When I checked into my hotel room in Marietta Ohio last April There was a helicopter very similar to the one pictured here parked on the front lawn. I watched him take off the next morning. It was open cockpit and only about 45 degrees. I didn't envy him at all.

john in la · Mar 21, 2013

The local forestry service has come by a couple of times with a small helicopter equipped with a bambi bucket to get water out of my pond. Both times were in the middle of the night.
I guess it must be eaiser to fight a fire with a helicoptor at night than a fire fighter trecking around the woods in the dark.

Nothing like getting woke up at 2am with a helicopter 20 ft off the ground in your yard.

fixerupper · Mar 21, 2013

A few years ago a neighbor of mine was in the barn doing chores when he heard a racket outside. He looked out the north door and there sat a little helicopter in the field just north of the grove. A couple of guys were walking through the grove toward him. One of them asked the neighbor if they could buy a little gas from him. He sold them ten gallons or so and then they asked him where the nearest airport was. He told them Storm Lake was the closest one. The neighbor asked them where they were from and they said Minnesota and they were headed for California. After the conversation they got back in the little chopper and flew away and disappeared into the distant skies. Jim

Dalet · Mar 21, 2013

(quoted from post at 21:06:28 03/21/13) A few years ago a neighbor of mine was in the barn doing chores when he heard a racket outside. He looked out the north door and there sat a little helicopter in the field just north of the grove. A couple of guys were walking through the grove toward him. One of them asked the neighbor if they could buy a little gas from him. He sold them ten gallons or so and then they asked him where the nearest airport was. He told them Storm Lake was the closest one. The neighbor asked them where they were from and they said Minnesota and they were headed for California. After the conversation they got back in the little chopper and flew away and disappeared into the distant skies. Jim

I am fixed wing, but I am curious why people would have that problem. If i am going to CA, I file a plan and roll. Not always, but most times. Cross Country is different than local.
Those guys must have had a goal, but no way of achievement. Like many these days.

John_PA · Mar 21, 2013

The sad part is, those guys only make $14-18 an hour to fly that until they get their hours up. The gas drilling seismic test crews have a helicopter that drops big canvas bags at certain intervals around the area, and then the ground guys set them up. It's quite a sight. Those big pole saws have something like an air cooled motorcycle or snowmobile engine on them. Very neat to watch!

Thanks for sharing. I love aviation.

Dan T in MO · Mar 21, 2013

One of these days I'm gonna get a picture to prove it. Whiteman AFB uses my farm for practice (no live fire, not sure exactly what they do). Kinda cool to see A-10 Warthogs come over the western horizon and buzz my house.

I've also seen B-2 Stealth bombers but they were flying much higher.

ShadetreeRet · Mar 22, 2013

The man who lives next door to me spent 20 or so years in the air force and is now in the reserves. (And I don't know what all else, he doesn't discuss it.) One night a few years ago I heard a helicopter coming and next thing I knew it was in a field less than a quarter mile from me.This was a military 'copter, not just a small one. Suddenly, a vehicle went flying out from next door in that direction. In a few minutes the helicopter left. I didn't ask, not sure I would want to know.

EricInSEI · Mar 22, 2013

One day before they closed Jefferson Proving Ground I watched A-10s flying over our driveway like they were following it. JPG was on the other side of the next county to the west (SW Ripley Cty) and we could sometimes hear explosions in NE Dearborn Cty.

RBnSC · Mar 22, 2013

Not every day but back in the 60's our Uncle was in the Army he would stop by fairly often with helicopters. One day I was having a birthday party and He stopped by and another time he landed one of those big ones with a rotor on each end and took us all for a ride.He always landed in the pasture behind My Grandparents house.
Ron

mkirsch · Mar 22, 2013

I saw a saw like that in a James Bond movie... Didn't look very realistic to me, and I find it hard to believe they actually work. Wouldn't they just swing away from the limbs, or snag and yank the helicopter out of the air?

John_PA · Mar 22, 2013

They have weight to them, and the cable from the saw to the helicopter is very long which gives it more stability.

Here's a video.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Eh_LzxV31Bs

This Doesn't Happen Every Day

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