As said in @zoupskim 's progress journal, I need a bit of help from you two/three. I've looked at youtube videos how the inside of these birds look like and as expected found a lot of wiring/tubes. Now I don't need to know what each does, but it'd be nice to give labels to a few when Daniel first goes inside. He's a qualified helicopter pilot and would look for critical bits, judge their status in terms of service. What would he look for? In terms of 'comfort', of course there'd not be any. Still, on a ten-hour flight when on difficult weather conditions that make getting up impossible, how the fuck does on take a leak? I'm familiar with the use of bottles, yes thank you , but would this be done or is there a better?/worse? way?
I'm not an aviation tech, I'm ground, but I've worked with Brit and American crews. We flew in 3 different kinds of aircraft: American Osprey, and Sea Stallion, and British Chinook. Before each mission we always received briefs, then refreshers, on the 'hot spots' and 'soft spots' on the insides of the birds. Hot spots were parts/wires/areas that could injure us, and damage the aircraft if we touched them. Electrical, and some hydraulics. Soft spots were parts/wire/areas that could damage the just aircraft. Even if you were forgetful they were good about marking that kind of stuff for us, and if you forgot what they taught you, a good rule of thumb was to always inward and don't lift your arms from the sides of your torso. When we exited there was always rotor consideration, and we usually had an NCO standing right beside the rotor to direct people away from it. As far as what an expert would look for, I can't tell you. I remember they always said hydraulics were a big thing. Also, one of my aviation friends always complains about the hydraulics on US Navy aircraft
British army preflight check list takes two forms - the official version is that the pilot checks the whole thing inside and out with the maintenance crew cheif and signs it off ... the practical on the ground version is that the crew divide it up, or sometimes the pilot just looksbriefly at it and says 'yeah fuck it that'll fly' - the key things you are looking for are fuel leaks, and hydraulic leaks and anything sparking from the electrics. (and making sure the "Fuck Me Nut" is tight, the FM nut is the huge nut that hold the rotors on.... so called because if it comes off in flight you just have time to say ahhh fuck me" before the earth comes up and hits you in the face ( I believe the americans call this the J or Jesus nut on a similar principal) Hydraulics on the back ramp are usually fucked on birds that have seen a lot of service... its not unusual to see cheifs or soldiers, or both jumping up and down on them just before lift off trying to unjam them so they can raise... If you are fast ramping (that is the heli lands, vehicles drive up the ramp and it lifts with the ramp still down and closes it in the air) and the ramp jams the really key thing is to get the vehicles strapped down and chocked asap, so that nothing slides or rolls out if the heli climbs. The main difference between British kit and American is that the UK operates on a shoestring, so our chinooks are/were considerably more fucked than the american ones... it used to be rumored that our brass had the option of buying shit the americans didnt want anymore, but wouldnt spend that much money. * Incidentally the troops nickname for the chinook the "Noisy Green Target" talking of piss bottles , I remembered an annecdote told me by an american sergeant who'd served in gulf 1 in '91 - apparently instead of using piss bottles, his unit had taken to pissing in condoms then tying them off and tossing them out the door like water bombs as the birds passed over remf units... I've no idea how true that was but it make a great war story (I've mentioned before that the only difference between a fairy story and a war story is that one starts 'once upon a time' and the other 'no shit bro, I was there' ) (* classic case in point - the british winter shirt, known as "shirt- hairy" horrible horrible thing, itchy, not breathable, cold when wet, sweaty when hot... cost £8 per unit - at the time the far superior Nato shirt which was essentially fleece, both breathable and lightweight whilst still being warm cost £18 per unit, but British millitary procurement wouldn't buy them for usbecause there was 'no clear operational need' .... in our unit the colonel signed off on us buying them ourselves if we wanted to, which nearly everyone did )
Which kind of stickers? Or is that color-coded? I'm going to make something up, so I think using colors would be a good choice. Incidentally, which kind of light is inside? Going from my sailing experience, I'd say red, so which kind of colour would be visible in red? White? Is there a coating which reflects specifically red light to make for more visibility? Just free-thinking here, tell me if I'm blabbering Yeah, I imagine. I should probably ask my heli pilot friend how often these kind of things get checked Not funny for the one riding inside... Just read 'Fire Strike 7/9' from a JTAC and got a short introduction about how to manage airspace, and from how far away these kinds of helicopters are hearable (is this a word???) Yeah! I'll make a mental note for later... if there ever is an opportunity I'd be delighted to go back to this little story!
America may be different but British choppers aren't lit up inside at all - you just have the ambient from any windows or doors (if you read vietnam books the Huey slicks had their doors removed for weight saving but they don't do that with Chinooks) The reason for not being lit up is that in daylight its not needed and at night it would attract unwanted attention - a chinook is about half as manueverable as a walrus on an icerink so you definitely don't want to attract the attention of enemy gunners/fighters/attack choppers. British troops carry an L shaped torch, with red and white filters, and if you really need to look at a map or something you use that, but you keep it to an absolute minimum. In terms of what not to touch , we brits like to keep it simple - typical briefing- "when the birds get here, run, don't walk, inside sit down by squads and don't touch anything. When we land run, don't walk, off and assume all round defence... the bird will take off whether you are off or not, so if you hang about you'll be making your first jump without a shute and staying on the LZ til a medivac arrives"
You may find these useful https://www.cnet.com/uk/pictures/inside-the-armys-new-ch47f-chinook-helicoptor-pictures/
