I need help finding a helicopter that can fit twelve men plus a coffin for an overly large person (like "The Mountain" on "Game of Thrones," who is 6' 9" and ~417 pounds). Twelve men with guns, ammunition, grenades, and a 1,000-pound bomb on a cart that is remote-controlled. The twelve men enter an underground facility in New Mexico, kill everyone in it, and lose four men in the process. After unloading and arming the bomb, they steal the "coffin" (a life-support unit for the "mountainous," sedated creature within) and use the cart to take it back to the helicopter, where they secure the coffin so it can't shift in flight. Leaving their dead comrades behind to be incinerated by the bomb, the helicopter takes off, and flies northeast through the mountains of Colorado. Around Colorado Springs, they fly into a blizzard, where the helicopter crashes approximately 150 miles from where it took off, 30 miles short of its intended landing zone. The way I see it, I need a helicopter that can handle: First Leg 12 men * 225 pounds = 2,700 pounds 1 bomb + cart = 1,200 pounds TOTAL: 3,900 pounds Second Leg 8 men * 225 pounds = 1,800 pounds 1 coffin + cart = 815 pounds TOTAL: 2,615 pounds Preferably civilian, and bonus points if it's crap in snowstorms. Can anyone help?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eurocopter_AS332_Super_Puma https://www.verticalmag.com/news/battle-of-the-super-mediums/
Okay, so I made a miscalculation, but that helicopter allows for the weight of guns and ammo I didn't account for. This is great. Thank you very much.
You might look up civilian helicopters for supply of offshore wind parks. I don't know the types in use off the top of my head, but I do know that they'd be equipped to handle that kind of load. If you want, I could ask (I've a friend who's civilian helicopter pilot who flies for such a company). Depends on if you want military type- or civilian type helicopters. You might also look up the range. Load and range is a trade-off.
That would be awesome if I could get your friend's input. Thank you! I just need a helicopter that a private military contractor could get their hands on. The CEO of the company is a multi-billionaire, but he purposely gets a flying rust bucket for his team. So it needs to handle the load I've mentioned and travel from Albuquerque, NM to Dulce, NM, to Colorado Springs, CO (130 miles on the first leg of the trip, 177 on the second) on the same tank of gas. And if (when) it crashes, it'd be great if people were to say, "those things crash all the time."
Then I'll do that tonight. If you need any other specifications, you've a few hours yet before I can make the call. Drop me a PM if you think of something else
That might be stretching it Those helicopters aren't prone to failure, and they have strict regulations on safety/maintenance. As for a flying 'rust bucket': every component has a limited time it's allowed to stay in, and, failing that, a limited flying hours time, until the authorities clamp down and its licence is removed. No company would let a helicopter just sit around and rot, they'd sell it first. Usually pilot error is the thing to go with (if there isn't someone shooting, or ash getting into the engines, or ...).
That'll work, too. The more people who assume it was an accident completely unrelated to the zombie apocalypse that followed, the better.
I overlooked this comment before, so... the implication is that the CEO wants this thing to crash? If so, I guess fudging maintenance records would be possible but I'm not sure how definite the assurance would be that the chopper crashes on this specific flight, on this leg. There's always a component of 'luck' involved if a component breaks or not. It might hold, it mightn't. Also: Even if the CEO simply doesn't want to spend the money on such a little thing as maintenance, if the authorities get wind of the scam, he's in with a deep legal issue. It'd simply not be smart to risk the consequences of legal action. I still think that pilot error is the thing to go with. It might help if you'd explain if the crash is something that's supposed to happen from the CEO's point of view, or if you just need a crash with no sinister motive behind it
My MC will eventually discover that the CEO of said company was part of a plan to use Colorado Springs as a "live fire exercise ground" for an illegal bioweapon project. The idea all along, from the CEO's point of view, was to have the helicopter crash so Patient Zero (who is on the chopper) could escape to wreak havoc. Of course, the crash couldn't happen in a way that was easily traced back to said CEO. There's a lot of broken trust and backstabbing among the "men and women behind the curtain" that creates the conditions for a world-ending apocalypse. I'm not sure how I'll handle all of it yet, but when the book starts, all my MC knows is that a helicopter crashed during the blizzard two weeks ago, and now the city's evacuating. It won't be until later that he connects the two and gets curious. That said, my CEO has no problem breaking the law and doing whatever it takes to cover it up (including killing his own son).
Okay, now I know what to ask for specifically from my friend. You need a way to make a two-pilot, twin engine supply helicopter purposefully crash, which can be explained by just pilot error. I think the blizzard would be a convenient excuse for pilot error (loosing orientation), though I do have to get specifications about instrumentation on board which would give warning before a crash with the ground. How many get killed/injured in the crash? Sorry for being so nitpicky, but there'd be an investigation into the crash for sure. Tell me if I should stop asking questions and poking holes into this scenario.
No, questions are good. It makes me get the details right. There are eight men on board, plus Patient Zero. Originally there were twelve men, but four died while picking up Patient Zero and destroying the lab. Two of those eight are the pilots. All in all, I only need two left alive long enough to get to the hospital (say thirty minutes), plus Patient Zero, who escapes on foot.
you would also have to account for the NTSB crash site investigation, which would reveal any maintenance issues. something that crashes or has a history of crashing Following the fatal helicopter crash in Norway almost two weeks ago, and a ban on all Airbus EC225 Super Puma helicopter flights, Norwegian and UK authorities have extended the no flight ban on another type of helicopter. According to Oil and Gas UK, the UK and Norwegian Civil Aviation Authorities have agreed to extend the scope of the restriction on helicopter flights to include the AS332L2 Super Puma helicopter until further information is available. http://www.offshoreenergytoday.com/another-helicopter-type-banned-after-crash-in-norway/ ----------------------------------------------- if the ceo is a billionaire then he might be able to get his hands on a pave low... which would be awesome https://wikivisually.com/wiki/MH-53_Pave_Low ----------------------------------------------- his alternative would probably be something along the lines of ... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sikorsky_S-92 the VH-92 is the same helicopter used by the President i.e Marine One you could have your CEO buy the canceled --- Lockheed Martin VH-71 Kestrel https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lockheed_Martin_VH-71_Kestrel
Pilot error , like putting in a control movement with the head unloaded (like when you come over a ridge and swoop down) - that tends to lead to the rotors coming off. Bird strike on the tail rotor - puts you into a spin, a good pilot might be able to autorotate but if you are low when it happened not so much Mechanical failure - seals letting go in the engine etc or electrical failure etc Ground fire as they take off from a security guard they missed
An heliflopter wise the Bell 212 is a pretty old model of which there are a lot around , they stopped being made in 1998 but they'd be plausible as a flying rust bucket - they used to be used a lot in the oil industry and you can still pick them up second hand today. Capacity wise they seat 15 including the pilot and will lift about 5k lbs or the bell 205 which was the civy version of the UH1 huey .... they only seat 9 in theory but you could get 12 guys in if you stripped one down like a slick (slick hueys in vietnam would lift with ten squadies plus a flight crew) , lift capacity is about 3k lbs and again there are a shit load of them arround
Why not a Chinook from Boeing? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boeing_CH-47_Chinook Plenty of space for your crew, and can carry 10,000 lbs (4,500 Kg). Bit slow compared to most helicopters, but it would manage.
