Why is this one of the best videos on the internet? - No crappy music - No robot voice - Camera was steady and focused - Video was not filmed vertically Its not hard...but too many youtubers fuck it up. Be like this guy!
But, those are ways to save upload gig loss, and still get the point across, this was worth the gig loss, glad they fixed it and did not bring the cam into the heated meeting that later commenced. 🤯😤🥺
The control needed to not only hover a helicopter but to hover it metres off the ground over the same position while people stand below it is crazy.... that pilot is very skilled!
One guy had a boatload of skill. The other group had a boatload of trust. Of course, they got that trust by watching videos just like this one. Of course we’re being impressed only because it worked out perfectly, if the ground crew did exactly the same things that they did here, and it worked out “poorly”, then we’d be discussing their “recklessness”.
The pilot flying has one hell of a hover button, the pilot monitoring is keeping his/her head (Hey! Women fly these things too!) Yea! that ground crew must have trouble walking with such big stones.
I mean what did you expect the pilot to do other than to hold the hover? Have his copilot get out and get the wheel down rather than the maintenance crew who knows the landing gear specifically? Don’t be an idiot tommy.
@@streetDAOC I don't think he said that at all, pretty sure all he was talking about is the size of the balls on a person who'll sit underneath a helicopter trying to pry it's gear out but ok go off then lmfao
Honestly I'm kinda surpized they don't have something , be it a jack or otherwise, that could be quickly dragged under the helicopter and wedged in to let the pilot land and shut that thing down, even a big as big as that can't hold enough fuel to just hover forever while they try to get the gear loose
@@UNSCPILOT yeah I've seen footage of the Royal Navy putting a make shift platform under a Harrier when it's nose gear got stuck. The pilot hovered over a put it down on that.
Focus, control, a steady hand and an excellent display of craft- the camera person was truly in the groove. The pilot and ground crew were pretty good, too.
Happened to us on an MH-53M at Mildenhall, UK, in 2002. Paul Carbine and Rusty did the honors of getting the nose gear to come down. I was the flight engineer sitting right over where the nose strut is. LtCol Brown was the aircraft commander. It took a few minutes, but they broke it free; It was a rock-solid hover. Rest In Peace Paul, you are missed.
Hovering over a flat ground with no wind is no incredible skill at all. This is basic training. Especially for military transport crew. Frankly this situation was a useless hazard to everyone around on the ground. Any power issue would result in the helicopter tilting and the blades hitting the ground and flying all around the place. They should have brought some support to hold the nose up while completing the landing. Then the maintenance crew could safely check everything with the engine shut down. There are enough good reasons to risk soldier lives on the battlefield. No need to add unnecessary danger on the home base.
We had a MH-53 with a bad nose gear. The cylinder over extended and was hanging. We made a platform out of mattresses and plywood and sat the bird down on that. Then we could jack up the acft to repair the strut. No damage to the acft.
This happens occasionally. When I was in MOS school learning to work on Marine 53s, my Staff Sergeant told me of times when he'd had to hang upside from the edge of the nose gear door (the door only seals against the fuselage on the front and sides. There's a small opening at the rear of the door that you can get your hands into) with his feet on the belly of the bird, and physically pull the door open to lower the gear.
Ocker3 Yup. It's an unfortunate side effect of the design of the nose gear actuator, the door itself, and the simple scissors mechanism that opens the door. The door is in two pieces, hinged at the front and middle, with just a scissors mechanism connecting it to the nose gear strut. When the nose gear is lowered, it pushes the door open, and vice versa. There are rubber pads around the edge of the door that fit it snugly into the nose gear well. Too snugly, sometimes. The nose gear is actuated by a large hydraulic cylinder, which also locks in place when extended or retracted, and when retracted, also holds the door tightly closed. The problem is that the nose gear actuator has almost no leverage to move the gear and the door when it's all retracted. If the door fits too snugly, the nose gear sticks. Long and technical, I know. Sorry.
I just found this video in my reccomended. I was working In the Tower talking to this aircraft and the guys on the ground gettinjg these gents back onto the deck. crazy im just finding this now. Thanks to all the hard work from the crew and the guys on the ramps to getting her home safely. I can remember a time when one of the 53s from the seawall had to make an emergency landing in a field and we had to make sure we got it back. Crazy couple years in norfolk 🤣
Thats crazy! Congrats to you all! Honestly surprised they just didn't land the aircraft on its belly rather those guys risking their lifes to save some expensive damage costs from a belly landing of an aircraft that failed them. either way great work to them all!
@@cloakedsniper5016 there was direct communication between the ground team and the pilots yes. But the airspace and airport is the responsibility of the air traffic control team so the pilots are talking to both of us and the ground team was also talking to us in the tower.
Firewing131 thanks for that. The nearest I’ve ever come was an MH53 at Aviano about 500m away on the ramp and I could feel all kinds of wash from that. Even so that was mighty fine work from the ground crew.
Neil Gregson, It’s also important to note that helicopter aerodynamics are different than most people realize. It isn’t air moving downward (aka thrust) that keeps a helicopter aloft. If that was the case, then the force of the air moving downward would have to equal the weight of the aircraft which would be significant. Instead, it’s the motion of the rotor blades through the air that creates lift the same way that an airplane’s wing does. Add all the lift forces from all of the rotor blades together and that’s the force that keeps a helicopter in the air during a hover. Yes, there is downwash, but it makes up a fraction of the weight of the helicopter. Of course, if the pilot increases power to gain altitude, the pitch on the blades will increase accordingly to increase lift and the result is also an increase in downwash. A 53 with an armpit of power will put out a massive load of downwash for sure, but a stable hover is fairly manageable. Ground effect reduces the power required for the hover as well.
ng: The H-53 has a downwash of over 100mph. That's a major reason why the USN decided decades ago not to use it for search and rescue. It pushes people under the water.
I was driving north on California Highway 101 approaching the Highway 85 junction (South of San Jose). There was a helicopter hoovering over the Metclaf power station while others were working on the power lines. (see Wikipedia Metclaf Sniper Attack; en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metcalf_sniper_attack ). I had the helicopter in sight for about 4 minutes and it looked like it was pinned to the sky. Another viewer commented that that particular model could be equipped with an autopilot capable of that stable of a hover. There was no bobbing or side to side wobble.
They have a hovering auto pilot system all they have to do is turn the dials to the height you require and the computer will put it there even in high winds
@@jj516 You should try it from under the main gear box...there's a nice lateral shuffel...kinda has a rocking effect...lol So, between the 7 blade sooth and the rocking if you brought a turkey sandwich for snack your eyelids are going yo-yo.🤣 ...hmmm...very similar the H-1...right? H1? ...I find the Huey comforting cuz I think of Marines...there's nothing quite like a Marine....so much fun to be around...make you feel safe....at least for me anyway.
Stuckgrenadepin You don’t understand what level of fascist trump is, I’m sure if he had his way he would. Did he not advocate shooting protesters? I love the mental gymnastics republicans are doing to defend trump
I have about 20 hours in a helicopter, and I want to take my hat off to this pilot on how perfect he is at hovering. This ladies and gentlemen is a true work of art
There isn't much chatter during an inflight emergency like this one. Standard procedure (at least in the usaf) is to call in the ife, #of souls on board, nature of emergency, fuel remaining time to landing and desired emergency vehicles. After that it's pretty standard approach and ground communication.
I want to see ONE NFL or NBA player do THAT! The pilot that held that helicopter that steady and the Air Crew that risked their lives are the true heroes, not some guys playing with a ball
This doesn't look like their first rodeo with a hung nose gear. I had a real landing gear emergency on my multi-engine, commercial check ride. I was flying under the hood, single engine, ILS approach and my FAA examiner was pumping the nose wheel to get the third down and locked light lit up and green. Needless to say, I passed the check ride and had a good sized audience on the ramp as we taxied back to the hangar and ramp.
That is one hell of a pilot , hovering that low without getting ground resonance was amazing. Dont try that in a Robinson 22 or 44. The trust level of pilot and ground crew is off the scale. Team work in action , much respect
Navy helicopter do it better as a video o f a stuck nose gear on the helo pilot landed on the fight deck at a hover while carrier deck crew unstuck it the carrier was at speed go check out the vid
We had a C model, got hooked on a refueling basket. Pilot stayed, rest of crew bailed out. He then played with it and finally pulled loose, bent the refueling boom so that it hit the ground. We put a maintenance stand out, he landed with the nose gear on the stand. Worked, Maintenance pulled and replaced the boom, flew the entire time I had left in England, part of a Rescue Squadron.
@@Mike-oxlong1029 He was our check pilot and giving a bunch of new pilots practice at air refueling. One of them hit the shuttlecock too hard, got the tip wedged, the rest was not good news. The pilot and I were good friends out on the line. He was Air Force Major Merchant. One crazy dude. We had a Doppler navigation system on the old C versions, I got it to work, the only working systems in the entire Air Force! Merchant kept after me, he wanted me to go get my degree and come back as a pilot, I just liked fixing things. If there was a hard rescue, or they had to get into a tight spot, he flew it. I got to go on a ride during one of their Air Refueling missions. Nice ride...right up until you pull up so close to a C-130 that you could count the screws in access panels on the rudder, seven thousand feet up, and over the North Sea. After five or six times hooking up, I got use to it. When he needed a maintenance guy along on a cross country, he took me. I liked the rides.
@@jamesberwick2210 WOW!!! You must've had the time of your life!! I love fixing things too and I am studying for my pilots license but ill never be anything close to you or Major merchant. I would love to join the navy but my body is too broken. : (
@@Mike-oxlong1029 There were times we had fun, but working long hours, rain, sleet and snow, or 130 degree temps in South East Asia for 12-14 hours a day, took its toll on all of us. I learned electronics, and put it to good use as a civilian. It was fun when your young, but as you age, the military life starts to wear on you. I had no intention of becoming an officer to either fly as a pilot or as a navigator, both sets wanted me to come back as an officer, I just liked the feeling of fixing something as complex as the navigation systems on aircraft.
Interesting bs story...the boom operator or basket operator can jettison the drogue hose if the probe malfunctions or any other malfunction that may occur. A likely event which would have happened well before any of the 'crew' would have to 'bail' out as you say. I'm calling BS on your story. Bent boom a 'sceptical maybe' but the 'bail out' part is a complete load of shit.
First tour was HM-19 at NAS Alameda. They are some of the best pilots that have to tow the mine sweeping rigs through the ocean. What they can do when not pulling those things is super human.
Pilot Error, when taxing out for take-off, if you turn to lift off, you have to hover or lift-off and allow the nose gear time to center-up with the nose gear centering spring, when you don't, the nose wheel retracts sideways, and get caught in the wheel well, and it's a BITCH to pull it down, it takes 3 to 4 with a cargo strap wrapped around the nose strut to yank-it down, if that fails, bring out the mattresses and land the nose on it, also, trying to use the emergency Blow-down system doesn't work, not enough pressure. - (Been there - Done That !!!) "Semper=Fi"
If the nose strut doesn't center when it extends, it's improperly serviced. It's centered by an internal cam, not spring. Nose wheel steering automatically turns off when weight off wheels is achieved and gear internal pressure engages the cam to center gear to neutral position for retraction. Lack of pressure = offset gear. My experience with Marine aircraft is, "if it leaks, stuff some more rags in to catch the mess". True story, George AFB, late 70s, a transient Marine F-4 couldn't get #2 engine started. He asked transient mechanic to, "defuel me down to 4000 lbs and I'll take off with 1 engine, I gotta get to Point Magu". Needless to say, the mechanic refused.
Okay so that is pilot error for doing it if they know it can happen: but I would argue its a design error for either allowing it to be able to go up sideways, or not be able to cope with it going in sideways.
Most times, hung NLG are caused by a worn or improperly adjusted NLG door system getting jammed on the airframe. I saw this happen a few times and the airframe (hydraulics) mechanics simply used a regular broom stick to break the jam, after ensuring the plane was grounded.
@@henrys.6864 They likely already know what went wrong. But in the event that they don't, you're right they'll follow their troubleshooting package and eventually the defective parts will stand out and swinging the gear is part of the procedure. I'm blown away the techs were able to unjam the gear, it appears they lowered the gear by hand. I wonder if they disconnected the actuator. If so, one of them has to be soaked in hydraulic fluid...
I will say one thing ! Thats a DAMN GOOD PILOT ! (to hover perfectly still) those men under the chopper are risking their lives literally ! That pilot should get a raise !
Had a similar issue when I was serving in the RAN, aircraft (SH2GA Super Seasprite) returned from a sortie and was showing unsafe gear lights in the cockpit. The pilot put it in a hover over the taxiway and a couple of us went out under the disk and checked it out. Turned out it was a faulty cockpit indication and the aircraft landed on without further incident. Just another advantage a rotary wing has over fixed.
With the exception to anything with Fixed gear, but that's mostly tiny civi stuff anywho... well, and seaplanes maybe if they don't need to deploy anything
@@bobkoncius7381 It's from the expression that comes with being on a Sea Stallion:. "Don't worry about the hydraulic fluid leaking. Worry when it STOPS leaking."
No , its not. I was in HM-14 for eight years, and only saw that once. Very reliable aircraft. And, that is an MH-53 Sea Dragon variant of the Super Stallion, for mine countermeasures.
Ahhh, the smell of JP in the morning, especially after a hard night of drinking. Work hard, play hard. Brings back memories. Had a stuck nose gear on a 53, quite literally 'shocking' putting in the gear pins after the gear was finally brought down while the rotors were still keeping the full weight of the aircraft off of the wheels. (Static build-up just going from gear to gear).
That was remarkably the best team work, sooooooo calm, so amazing WAY TO GO GUYS!!!I AM 74 yrs young, most amazing example of team work I have ever seen!!! No loss of life or helio totally amazing video!!!!!!thank you 😳😬😊👍
@@paulf1389 No job has to be done in an unsafe manner. As if setting the nose down on the pavement would result in "writing off a multi million dollar helicopter" or resulting in the loss of "pilots lives". The freaking front wheel wasn't down. FFS.
@@paulf1389 Why, because I think that doing something as needlessly dangerous as this for no good reason demonstrates poor decision making ability? I'm still waiting for you to explain how fixing this safely with the aircraft on the ground would have resulted in writing off a multi million dollar helicopter or would have cost the pilot's life. I can clearly see how the way they did it endangered 5 people's lives.
@Saber Fox Hey, you may known this : a Harrier landing on a "chair", or almost a chair !" : Well, it was not so soft... czcams.com/video/vIhefke0Q9Y/video.html Ok, with a plane, it's more difficult. But, a long time ago, they've done that ! czcams.com/video/-BfZ1g_x8wA/video.html I'm very impressed by the pilot working, making a so long and so low fix point, with working men under this big beast. Great job.
Wow! What amazing teamwork. Without everyone’s collective bravery and skills this could’ve ended very differently. And thank you thank you thank you for recording in "landscape"!
For anyone who's never worked around helicopters you would not believe how dangerous that was and how skilled that pilot is. All it would've taken was a wind gust or miscommunication between the pilot and the ground crew for this to go bad. I used to work at Sikorsky. We have the best pilots in our military. Period.
This happened a few times when I was stationed at MCAS Tustin in the 90's. Somebody decided to go get about 10 or so mattresses from the Barracks and then set her down on those and saved the day. Seems to be an occasional problem on the CH-53's
I can hear the talking head on the news now, "During a routine training mission blah-blah-blah..." This is another example that shows there is nothing that goes on out there that is "routine".
I noticed the nose gear finally "extended" when that female aircrewmen walked by. 🤣😁 Guess it just needed the right motivation. We had one of the landing gear on our SH-2F not extend and lock while at sea. So while the helo hovered just above a rolling deck we forced the gear down and got the safety pin in place. Stuff like this happens all the time.
Blow down bottle will only give you one shot. If it is stuck it won't move it. Hyd pressure is a constant 3000 psi the blow down starts at 3000 and bleeds down as it is being used.
They should build a cushion on shocks stand on wheels that they can roll out and put under any of the wheels that won’t go down. Then they can jack it up and fix it later.
Do they have lifts for choppers on carriers? Thats so dope if they do. Especially since that chopper weights like 3 times more than your average compact car
The thing I kept thinking about while watching this beyond the great piloting and ground crew was you knew there was guy on the helicopter who really had to use the bathroom. It would be my luck to be that guy. "What do you mean you can't land?!?!?!?!?"
See them hooking a static line on the other side before touching that thing? That's a demonstration of hover skills with what must surely be some off shoe or on shore breezes trying to push him around. Good job by all.
Static lines are for discharging built up static, which all aircraft suffer from. It's known as grounding the aircraft. There's a pretty good depiction of it in the movie The Hunt For Red October.
@@spannerturnerMWO I am an Ironworker and years ago erected some iron with a helicopter. The connectors had to whack the incoming iron with a tool to discharge the static
Pilot is incredible such a long stationery hover even with auto pilot is difficult, hats off to the pilot but again here ground Maintainence crew is simply awesome very very brave work👍🏻👍🏻 love and regards from India
Great piloting skills to hold the collective that steady for that long. There's obvious trust between this ground crew and the pilot as well, not everyone would be brave enough to walk under that operating machine and do that.
@@jimmyhenderson2860 No, you suck because you have no respect for traditional military means. And the new K model is 4000 times more crap too. Go away and never comment again!
Did you read my reply. It said unfortunately it won't be around by 2030. And if you thank i dont have respect for traditional military then you should rethink that. I am so traditional that I have worked on the a model, b , c , d, h , j and m model 53's in addition to the e. Any of the first 3 could fly circles around an e model. An e can carry more and faster,but no where near as maneuverable. I am not a fan of the k but it is coming weather I want it to or not. Try again.
A damn good pilot to hover that long in an almost stationary position. Hat’s off to him and the ground maintenance crew!
Pilot needs a serious beer and a break after that shit. Wow
I can’t imagine trying to do this on a carrier
@@way2sh0rt07grad its actually easier on the boat, since they helo doesn't actually hover with no airspeed. Ship + headwind =good
This thing is amphibious. Put it on the water beside the landing pad. Done
They have auto hover. Its easy.
Why is this one of the best videos on the internet?
- No crappy music
- No robot voice
- Camera was steady and focused
- Video was not filmed vertically
Its not hard...but too many youtubers fuck it up. Be like this guy!
Yes please
The hero we need...
-helicopter
Nuff said...
But, those are ways to save upload gig loss, and still get the point across, this was worth the gig loss, glad they fixed it and did not bring the cam into the heated meeting that later commenced. 🤯😤🥺
Where is the top gun song!!!
The control needed to not only hover a helicopter but to hover it metres off the ground over the same position while people stand below it is crazy.... that pilot is very skilled!
As with most problems in life, the solution is usually to poke at it with a stick.
I thought it was to hit it with a hammer.
That's exactly what I was thinking haha. "Don't worry guys, I got this stick. We've got this."
I tried that with the wife. She gets damn cranky when I do that.
@@6milesup When you poke her with a stick or hit her with a hammer?
@@madtrucker0983 Stick. Which reminds me of a joke my daughter told me... "What is brown and sticky?" .... A Stick!
At one point you hear somebody by the recorder say “that is so sketchy”
Pretty much summed up my entire military service.
I'm not sure what impressed me more the Aviators skill holding the hover or the blokes who got under it to fix the gear during said hover 😳
One guy had a boatload of skill. The other group had a boatload of trust.
Of course, they got that trust by watching videos just like this one.
Of course we’re being impressed only because it worked out perfectly, if the ground crew did exactly the same things that they did here, and it worked out “poorly”, then we’d be discussing their “recklessness”.
teefkay2 amen to that.
@Devbo Slice he actually does have a hover button
I don't know which one is more impressive but i know which on i would rather be..
@Devbo Slice military helicopters are way more advanced than the ones youve trained in. i used to work on mrh-90's
Guess who has more balls than the pilots? GROUND crew.
Well that’d be because there are more ground crew than pilots
The pilot flying has one hell of a hover button, the pilot monitoring is keeping his/her head (Hey! Women fly these things too!) Yea! that ground crew must have trouble walking with such big stones.
I mean what did you expect the pilot to do other than to hold the hover? Have his copilot get out and get the wheel down rather than the maintenance crew who knows the landing gear specifically? Don’t be an idiot tommy.
@@streetDAOC I don't think he said that at all, pretty sure all he was talking about is the size of the balls on a person who'll sit underneath a helicopter trying to pry it's gear out but ok go off then lmfao
@@brdplaysgames2231 And I bet the ground crew (enlisted) were probably given a good talking to about safety and orm neglections after this happened.
All in the life of a Navy pilot and his crew, as well as the mechanics ground crew....Thank all you serving and who have served!!!!
That was some superior airmanship, balancing that big, heavy bird on the main mounts, while the ground crew works at trying to unjam the nose gear.
Honestly I'm kinda surpized they don't have something , be it a jack or otherwise, that could be quickly dragged under the helicopter and wedged in to let the pilot land and shut that thing down, even a big as big as that can't hold enough fuel to just hover forever while they try to get the gear loose
Normal stuff. Hovering is hovering.
@@UNSCPILOT yeah I've seen footage of the Royal Navy putting a make shift platform under a Harrier when it's nose gear got stuck. The pilot hovered over a put it down on that.
Colin Fee Where’s the video of the Royal Navy doing that?
@@UNSCPILOT what do you do in combat?...you do what you must to get the job done...it was good practice for these guys.
Focus, control, a steady hand and an excellent display of craft- the camera person was truly in the groove. The pilot and ground crew were pretty good, too.
Happened to us on an MH-53M at Mildenhall, UK, in 2002. Paul Carbine and Rusty did the honors of getting the nose gear to come down. I was the flight engineer sitting right over where the nose strut is. LtCol Brown was the aircraft commander. It took a few minutes, but they broke it free; It was a rock-solid hover. Rest In Peace Paul, you are missed.
Incredible pilot skills, dedicated ground crew, job very well done everybody involved 👍🏻
Hovering over a flat ground with no wind is no incredible skill at all. This is basic training. Especially for military transport crew. Frankly this situation was a useless hazard to everyone around on the ground. Any power issue would result in the helicopter tilting and the blades hitting the ground and flying all around the place. They should have brought some support to hold the nose up while completing the landing. Then the maintenance crew could safely check everything with the engine shut down. There are enough good reasons to risk soldier lives on the battlefield. No need to add unnecessary danger on the home base.
We had a MH-53 with a bad nose gear. The cylinder over extended and was hanging. We made a platform out of mattresses and plywood and sat the bird down on that. Then we could jack up the acft to repair the strut. No damage to the acft.
Sadly, people are less interested in safe and simple procedures. It's so much more fun to put lives at risk so they can brag about how brave they are.
Ha i just commented saying "youd think they have a giant matress that allows you access to the landing gear for this situation." Guess they do
@@natelav534 Navy ships have lots of matresses.
@@natelav534 Well, sounds like they didn't but made one in a pinch
And no risk to personnel
Excellent piloting skills and great improvisational troubleshooting skills, kudos to all involved.
This happens occasionally. When I was in MOS school learning to work on Marine 53s, my Staff Sergeant told me of times when he'd had to hang upside from the edge of the nose gear door (the door only seals against the fuselage on the front and sides. There's a small opening at the rear of the door that you can get your hands into) with his feet on the belly of the bird, and physically pull the door open to lower the gear.
Autopilot....
@@FS2K4Pilot bloody hell, and they had to do this a number of times!!
Ocker3 Yup. It's an unfortunate side effect of the design of the nose gear actuator, the door itself, and the simple scissors mechanism that opens the door.
The door is in two pieces, hinged at the front and middle, with just a scissors mechanism connecting it to the nose gear strut. When the nose gear is lowered, it pushes the door open, and vice versa. There are rubber pads around the edge of the door that fit it snugly into the nose gear well.
Too snugly, sometimes.
The nose gear is actuated by a large hydraulic cylinder, which also locks in place when extended or retracted, and when retracted, also holds the door tightly closed. The problem is that the nose gear actuator has almost no leverage to move the gear and the door when it's all retracted. If the door fits too snugly, the nose gear sticks.
Long and technical, I know. Sorry.
From an old SeaSprite swimmer....
WELL DONE!!!!
That pilot had a steel spine holding the hover that way for so long. Bravo Zulu.
Yup, know the pilot personally…..a total stud
I just found this video in my reccomended. I was working In the Tower talking to this aircraft and the guys on the ground gettinjg these gents back onto the deck. crazy im just finding this now. Thanks to all the hard work from the crew and the guys on the ramps to getting her home safely. I can remember a time when one of the 53s from the seawall had to make an emergency landing in a field and we had to make sure we got it back. Crazy couple years in norfolk 🤣
Thats crazy! Congrats to you all! Honestly surprised they just didn't land the aircraft on its belly rather those guys risking their lifes to save some expensive damage costs from a belly landing of an aircraft that failed them. either way great work to them all!
Wait there was no direct communication between the mechanics and the pilot? That seems really risky
I thought that was Norfolk!
Man I would love to go to Norfolk if I ever visit the States. Just the Naval history.. wow! Cheers from Leb!
@@cloakedsniper5016 there was direct communication between the ground team and the pilots yes. But the airspace and airport is the responsibility of the air traffic control team so the pilots are talking to both of us and the ground team was also talking to us in the tower.
Videographers arm must have felt like lead after this...
I hear ya.
brave brave people. things could of gone bad a dozen ways... commendations for everyone.
Bless you sir
Professionals. Rock steady nerves.
I say no, the natops has a way to properly do it. A for effort , F for execution Long talk with the LSO and AMO after its done.
"could of gone bad"
You semi-literate oik
I wonder if anybody did a risk assessment before trying that.
Even standing upright under the down wash of that thing must have been hellish. Well done all.
Yeah, I loved the wash of the shitters
Not that bad actually. The body of the helicopter blocks the down force so you can stand up normally except for a occasional gust slipping through.
Firewing131 thanks for that. The nearest I’ve ever come was an MH53 at Aviano about 500m away on the ramp and I could feel all kinds of wash from that.
Even so that was mighty fine work from the ground crew.
Neil Gregson, It’s also important to note that helicopter aerodynamics are different than most people realize. It isn’t air moving downward (aka thrust) that keeps a helicopter aloft. If that was the case, then the force of the air moving downward would have to equal the weight of the aircraft which would be significant. Instead, it’s the motion of the rotor blades through the air that creates lift the same way that an airplane’s wing does. Add all the lift forces from all of the rotor blades together and that’s the force that keeps a helicopter in the air during a hover. Yes, there is downwash, but it makes up a fraction of the weight of the helicopter. Of course, if the pilot increases power to gain altitude, the pitch on the blades will increase accordingly to increase lift and the result is also an increase in downwash. A 53 with an armpit of power will put out a massive load of downwash for sure, but a stable hover is fairly manageable. Ground effect reduces the power required for the hover as well.
ng: The H-53 has a downwash of over 100mph. That's a major reason why the USN decided decades ago not to use it for search and rescue. It pushes people under the water.
Damn good pilot .... and a ground crew with balls of steel .
I am very impressed with how air man or woman was able to hover for so long in order for the others to sort out the problem. Kudos to everyone
When you're in ground effect like that, it makes it a bit easier. If there's a slight breeze you can turn the nose into, i think it's easier still.
I was driving north on California Highway 101 approaching the Highway 85 junction (South of San Jose). There was a helicopter hoovering over the Metclaf power station while others were working on the power lines. (see Wikipedia Metclaf Sniper Attack; en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metcalf_sniper_attack ). I had the helicopter in sight for about 4 minutes and it looked like it was pinned to the sky. Another viewer commented that that particular model could be equipped with an autopilot capable of that stable of a hover. There was no bobbing or side to side wobble.
I don't think military members are so hung up on gender language. Female members are still airmen!
@@jpjp3873 They are in Canada. A Seaman is no longer a Seaman.
@@GrizzAxxemann I didn't realize, eh.
This is referred to in the ops world as “serious skills”
Whoever's flying this helicopter is a damn good pilot
The skill-set of the US forces is waaay up there
Bravo
This video should make anyone who cares - - proud
That's some amazingly delicate flying there, holding the hover so precisely for that length of time.
agreed hats off to all
Those pilots had to have been wiped out, after.
They have a hovering auto pilot system all they have to do is turn the dials to the height you require and the computer will put it there even in high winds
George Don’t spoil it for us!
auto pilot altitude hold🤣👍
...does anyone else find that sound soothing?
Wow I thought I was all alone on that one too
@@sc0rpion616 I thought I was't
I prefer the old 2-bladed Hueys, but a 53 doesn’t sound bad.
@@jj516 You should try it from under the main gear box...there's a nice lateral shuffel...kinda has a rocking effect...lol
So, between the 7 blade sooth and the rocking if you brought a turkey sandwich for snack your eyelids are going yo-yo.🤣
...hmmm...very similar the H-1...right? H1?
...I find the Huey comforting cuz I think of Marines...there's nothing quite like a Marine....so much fun to be around...make you feel safe....at least for me anyway.
Sure do. Sound of freedom
Surprised they don't have a support they can slide under like they did with the harrier
Exactly what I thought. Lol also, looks like we are in the same suggestions loop lolol
@@nathanchalecki4842 haha. Seems like I'm on it as well. I was thinking if that could be possible in this circumstance & saw this comment. xd
Me too. Same thought.
Couple of pallets should do it
Why is he hovering where he wants to land better leave that for the ground crew to put down a couple of pallets
Fixing the nose gear underneath a 100 ft long helo in mid-hover...that air crew deserves a commendation medal
Amazing work by our dedicated Service People. No suckers or losers among them.
You realize Trump never said that. Thanks for being a communist.
Johnny Fred212 What a retarded statement, Americans don’t even know what communism is anymore.
@@johnnyfred2125 I am not a communist. I am a US Veteran. And at least I am not a Facist like our current so-called leader.
Stuckgrenadepin You don’t understand what level of fascist trump is, I’m sure if he had his way he would. Did he not advocate shooting protesters? I love the mental gymnastics republicans are doing to defend trump
Stuckgrenadepin More running in circles, Talking with people like you is like talking to a wall.
Congratulations! You had two beautiful twin tires.
Needs to get some kind of pilot award for the intense flying that he did, long hovering (always the hardest task). Great job everyone.
I have about 20 hours in a helicopter, and I want to take my hat off to this pilot on how perfect he is at hovering. This ladies and gentlemen is a true work of art
I would love to have heard the radio and intercom chatter during this event.
They were probably just humming their favourite song..
There isn't much chatter during an inflight emergency like this one. Standard procedure (at least in the usaf) is to call in the ife, #of souls on board, nature of emergency, fuel remaining time to landing and desired emergency vehicles. After that it's pretty standard approach and ground communication.
How many F bombs in those coms
Would like to see the landing after watching for twenty minutes a$$hole.
Probably very cool, collective
I want to see ONE NFL or NBA player do THAT! The pilot that held that helicopter that steady and the Air Crew that risked their lives are the true heroes, not some guys playing with a ball
This could have gone wrong so many different ways and yet it didn't - mad respect to all involved pure professionalism.
These are the moments which bring entire team together.
Big kudos from England to all these USN guys, bad situation made good.
Big kudos to the people walking around not giving a fuck whats going on, like me 🖕
Genio Cristo Alright then?
Stickman kJ
@@geniocristo5297 Whats the big deal mate? Trolling or just being an ass? That's not called for...
This doesn't look like their first rodeo with a hung nose gear. I had a real landing gear emergency on my multi-engine, commercial check ride. I was flying under the hood, single engine, ILS approach and my FAA examiner was pumping the nose wheel to get the third down and locked light lit up and green. Needless to say, I passed the check ride and had a good sized audience on the ramp as we taxied back to the hangar and ramp.
That is one hell of a pilot , hovering that low without getting ground resonance was amazing. Dont try that in a Robinson 22 or 44. The trust level of pilot and ground crew is off the scale. Team work in action , much respect
Navy helicopter do it better as a video o f a stuck nose gear on the helo pilot landed on the fight deck at a hover while carrier deck crew unstuck it the carrier was at speed go check out the vid
It’s good to see US Navy Air-dales still have balls. Great work. It takes nerves of steel to work under one of those
My Navy bud, 'Mr Joe', was an Airedale...crew on a P3 Orion ASW work in the 80s...
We had a C model, got hooked on a refueling basket. Pilot stayed, rest of crew bailed out. He then played with it and finally pulled loose, bent the refueling boom so that it hit the ground. We put a maintenance stand out, he landed with the nose gear on the stand. Worked, Maintenance pulled and replaced the boom, flew the entire time I had left in England, part of a Rescue Squadron.
Props to you and they people who served with you. That pilot is a pilot in the most uplifting sense of the word
@@Mike-oxlong1029 He was our check pilot and giving a bunch of new pilots practice at air refueling. One of them hit the shuttlecock too hard, got the tip wedged, the rest was not good news. The pilot and I were good friends out on the line. He was Air Force Major Merchant. One crazy dude. We had a Doppler navigation system on the old C versions, I got it to work, the only working systems in the entire Air Force! Merchant kept after me, he wanted me to go get my degree and come back as a pilot, I just liked fixing things. If there was a hard rescue, or they had to get into a tight spot, he flew it. I got to go on a ride during one of their Air Refueling missions. Nice ride...right up until you pull up so close to a C-130 that you could count the screws in access panels on the rudder, seven thousand feet up, and over the North Sea. After five or six times hooking up, I got use to it. When he needed a maintenance guy along on a cross country, he took me. I liked the rides.
@@jamesberwick2210 WOW!!! You must've had the time of your life!! I love fixing things too and I am studying for my pilots license but ill never be anything close to you or Major merchant. I would love to join the navy but my body is too broken. : (
@@Mike-oxlong1029 There were times we had fun, but working long hours, rain, sleet and snow, or 130 degree temps in South East Asia for 12-14 hours a day, took its toll on all of us. I learned electronics, and put it to good use as a civilian. It was fun when your young, but as you age, the military life starts to wear on you.
I had no intention of becoming an officer to either fly as a pilot or as a navigator, both sets wanted me to come back as an officer, I just liked the feeling of fixing something as complex as the navigation systems on aircraft.
Interesting bs story...the boom operator or basket operator can jettison the drogue hose if the probe malfunctions or any other malfunction that may occur. A likely event which would have happened well before any of the 'crew' would have to 'bail' out as you say. I'm calling BS on your story. Bent boom a 'sceptical maybe' but the 'bail out' part is a complete load of shit.
It's hard to say what's more impressive, the skill of the pilot or the trust the men on the ground has in his skill set to control that bird! 👏👏👏👏👏
First tour was HM-19 at NAS Alameda. They are some of the best pilots that have to tow the mine sweeping rigs through the ocean. What they can do when not pulling those things is super human.
Pilot Error, when taxing out for take-off, if you turn to lift off, you have to hover or lift-off and allow the nose gear time to center-up with the nose gear centering spring, when you don't, the nose wheel retracts sideways, and get caught in the wheel well, and it's a BITCH to pull it down, it takes 3 to 4 with a cargo strap wrapped around the nose strut to yank-it down, if that fails, bring out the mattresses and land the nose on it, also, trying to use the emergency Blow-down system doesn't work, not enough pressure. - (Been there - Done That !!!) "Semper=Fi"
damn is it really that common?
If the nose strut doesn't center when it extends, it's improperly serviced. It's centered by an internal cam, not spring. Nose wheel steering automatically turns off when weight off wheels is achieved and gear internal pressure engages the cam to center gear to neutral position for retraction. Lack of pressure = offset gear. My experience with Marine aircraft is, "if it leaks, stuff some more rags in to catch the mess". True story, George AFB, late 70s, a transient Marine F-4 couldn't get #2 engine started. He asked transient mechanic to, "defuel me down to 4000 lbs and I'll take off with 1 engine, I gotta get to Point Magu". Needless to say, the mechanic refused.
TJ USMC he won’t make that mistake again!
Okay so that is pilot error for doing it if they know it can happen: but I would argue its a design error for either allowing it to be able to go up sideways, or not be able to cope with it going in sideways.
Most times, hung NLG are caused by a worn or improperly adjusted NLG door system getting jammed on the airframe. I saw this happen a few times and the airframe (hydraulics) mechanics simply used a regular broom stick to break the jam, after ensuring the plane was grounded.
Now they need to do a "gear swing" to see why the nose fear keeps getting "hung up"! Good job guys for getting the nose gear down!👍🇺🇲
Why do you "randomly use" quotation marks?
@@slappy8941 Cause he "wants to"
There's always that guy who thinks the military is getting its helicopter maintenance advice from CZcams comments.
I worked aircraft maintenance for 15.5 years.
@@henrys.6864 They likely already know what went wrong. But in the event that they don't, you're right they'll follow their troubleshooting package and eventually the defective parts will stand out and swinging the gear is part of the procedure. I'm blown away the techs were able to unjam the gear, it appears they lowered the gear by hand. I wonder if they disconnected the actuator. If so, one of them has to be soaked in hydraulic fluid...
A fine example of teamwork, airmanship and professionalism, well done... 👍
I will say one thing ! Thats a DAMN GOOD PILOT ! (to hover perfectly still) those men under the chopper are risking their lives literally ! That pilot should get a raise !
Saw a Harrier land on deck with nosewheel up, on a cart
My first thought exactly. Saw that years ago.
Here’s the link to that video...
czcams.com/video/pRtlM6IoH-Y/video.html
I remember that video also and was wondering why they dont have something similar?
Sir. Thank you. Were you a Marine?
On youtube.
Teamwork, knowledge and ability combined.
This is the reason why we can say America is great. Brave men and women who do awesome stuff like this. Nerves of steel..
Epic bravado of the ground crew and amazing flying by the pilots ! Simply staggering professionalism !
Ground crew: “Hey, hang in there”
Pilot: “Hold my beer”
Had a similar issue when I was serving in the RAN, aircraft (SH2GA Super Seasprite) returned from a sortie and was showing unsafe gear lights in the cockpit. The pilot put it in a hover over the taxiway and a couple of us went out under the disk and checked it out. Turned out it was a faulty cockpit indication and the aircraft landed on without further incident. Just another advantage a rotary wing has over fixed.
With the exception to anything with Fixed gear, but that's mostly tiny civi stuff anywho...
well, and seaplanes maybe if they don't need to deploy anything
That's what you call superior flying AND ground support!
Amazing talented people thank you for your service from Queensland Australia
Super dangerous, much respect
That's like a regular Tuesday with a Sea Stallion
You’re not kidding
Must have stopped leaking. ;)
@@kenlittle1762 does that happen that often?
@@bobkoncius7381 It's from the expression that comes with being on a Sea Stallion:. "Don't worry about the hydraulic fluid leaking. Worry when it STOPS leaking."
No , its not. I was in HM-14 for eight years, and only saw that once. Very reliable aircraft. And, that is an MH-53 Sea Dragon variant of the Super Stallion, for mine countermeasures.
Ahhh, the smell of JP in the morning, especially after a hard night of drinking. Work hard, play hard. Brings back memories. Had a stuck nose gear on a 53, quite literally 'shocking' putting in the gear pins after the gear was finally brought down while the rotors were still keeping the full weight of the aircraft off of the wheels. (Static build-up just going from gear to gear).
I love that and diesel
@@victorbernier4765 I have yet to come across any other smell like that in the morning. Memorable.
That was remarkably the best team work, sooooooo calm, so amazing WAY TO GO GUYS!!!I AM 74 yrs young, most amazing example of team work I have ever seen!!! No loss of life or helio totally amazing video!!!!!!thank you 😳😬😊👍
that’s some serious “holding your hover”
That has got to be one of the most dangerous positions to be in for the ground crew and the pilot!
FANTASTIC piloting skills holding that hover for as long and as steady as needed. Impressive. Veritable workhorse of a platform too
Exceptional piloting skills! Great work from the maintenance crews! Great video.
Precision flying!
14:28 Dude says "Just another day at the office" and keeps on walking.
LOL!
Well, back in my AF days, they would have wheeled out a dolly to rest the nose on..
Excellent airmanship and ground crew work.
Excellent effort in a tight spot. Love you professionals!
You’ve got to hand it to the pilots for keeping that monster still all that time and the ground crew working underneath it. Brave people to be sure.
Brave is not the word I would use. Stupid comes to mind.
Star Gazer Some jobs have to be done. It’s either that or writing off a multi million dollar helicopter, not to mention pilots lives.
@@paulf1389 No job has to be done in an unsafe manner. As if setting the nose down on the pavement would result in "writing off a multi million dollar helicopter" or resulting in the loss of "pilots lives". The freaking front wheel wasn't down. FFS.
Star Gazer You are obviously not military.
@@paulf1389 Why, because I think that doing something as needlessly dangerous as this for no good reason demonstrates poor decision making ability? I'm still waiting for you to explain how fixing this safely with the aircraft on the ground would have resulted in writing off a multi million dollar helicopter or would have cost the pilot's life. I can clearly see how the way they did it endangered 5 people's lives.
airplanes must be jealous
I used to work on the F-14 Tomcat as a AE-2........id not be jealous i'd be scared as a Plane on Carrier landing would take the barricade.
Helicopter: hold up, gear's jammed, I'll hover while you guys fix this
Plane: Gear's jammed, welp, this is gunna hurt
@@bobkoncius7381 wait, this is on a carrier!? I thought this was on a (for lack of a better term) runway that was just next to the water
@Saber Fox Hey, you may known this : a Harrier landing on a "chair", or almost a chair !" : Well, it was not so soft...
czcams.com/video/vIhefke0Q9Y/video.html
Ok, with a plane, it's more difficult.
But, a long time ago, they've done that !
czcams.com/video/-BfZ1g_x8wA/video.html
I'm very impressed by the pilot working, making a so long and so low fix point, with working men under this big beast.
Great job.
19.5 minutes of bravery and dedication - a smart salute to everyone involved. Bravo Zulu!
Wow! What amazing teamwork. Without everyone’s collective bravery and skills this could’ve ended very differently. And thank you thank you thank you for recording in "landscape"!
That is serious piloting skill, such a steady hover for 20 minutes! Did he get a medal? And a lot of trust from the ground crew. Fly Navy!!
I would fly Navy! But all the planes I fly on, are white!
Amazing video, now that’s nerves of steel right there. God bless.
Respect and love from Dublin Ireland 🇮🇪
One hell of a lot of trust between the pilot and ground crew! Incredible flying and dedication to their maintenance work.
I've seen them used a big stack of mattresses on a CH-53 in the Marines once
Solid piloting skills mixed with a ballsie ground crew. That's just one of the numerous examples of why the American military is Awesome.
For anyone who's never worked around helicopters you would not believe how dangerous that was and how skilled that pilot is. All it would've taken was a wind gust or miscommunication between the pilot and the ground crew for this to go bad. I used to work at Sikorsky. We have the best pilots in our military. Period.
I don't know what was more impressive, the bravery of the ground crew or the skill of the pilot !!🇺🇸👍🇺🇸👍🇺🇸👍🇺🇸👍🇺🇸
This happened a few times when I was stationed at MCAS Tustin in the 90's.
Somebody decided to go get about 10 or so mattresses from the Barracks and then set her down on those and saved the day.
Seems to be an occasional problem on the CH-53's
Been there done that... I used to have a fork lift with a pallet of bed mattresses for just this occasion
Sadly, your girlfriends bed wouldn't have worked in this situation.
You know you don't need to lie about Everything you see
what amazing airmanship and ground crew to get the job done
fantastic video, the pilot is one of the best that i have ever seen. the focus he must have had is INSANE !!!
That procedure is in the POH
I can hear the talking head on the news now, "During a routine training mission blah-blah-blah..." This is another example that shows there is nothing that goes on out there that is "routine".
Wow! I watched the whole 20 minutes. Awesome job, ground crew and pilots!
Fantastic video
I noticed the nose gear finally "extended" when that female aircrewmen walked by. 🤣😁 Guess it just needed the right motivation.
We had one of the landing gear on our SH-2F not extend and lock while at sea. So while the helo hovered just above a rolling deck we forced the gear down and got the safety pin in place. Stuff like this happens all the time.
Weirdo
Usually stack mattresses put nose of helicopter on them then work to free nose gear
No blow down bottles on those things?
Good idea 💡
Blow down bottle will only give you one shot. If it is stuck it won't move it. Hyd pressure is a constant 3000 psi the blow down starts at 3000 and bleeds down as it is being used.
Blow down bottle doesn't work half the time doing drop checks.
Holy moly that's amazing teamwork. Great work by everyone. Amazing!
You too camera guy.
Great job from everyone.
The pilot, by keeping the helo steady, and the groung crew for taking the landing gear out.
They should build a cushion on shocks stand on wheels that they can roll out and put under any of the wheels that won’t go down. Then they can jack it up and fix it later.
Do they have lifts for choppers on carriers? Thats so dope if they do. Especially since that chopper weights like 3 times more than your average compact car
Exactly what I was thinking since the beginning. A cushion or simply put something rather heavy under the nose, even a car or truck.
This happened on land, not a carrier. Carrier decks are non-skid black and much smaller.
pile of old tires?
@@strawsparky33 I think it weighs more than 3x.
The thing I kept thinking about while watching this beyond the great piloting and ground crew was you knew there was guy on the helicopter who really had to use the bathroom. It would be my luck to be that guy. "What do you mean you can't land?!?!?!?!?"
Now that is a skilled pilot.
Be even WORSE if the pilot was a woman :-)
Just land on the mains and anyone who has to go can jump off. Would it be too windy to go off the back ramp out over the water? :)
You could have just paused the video and gone to the bathroom. LOL
Use the relief tube. Doesn't that empty out by the nose gear? :)
Outstanding handling of the situation.
Nice job by both the pilot and ground crew. Way to go guys!!!
See them hooking a static line on the other side before touching that thing? That's a demonstration of hover skills with what must surely be some off shoe or on shore breezes trying to push him around. Good job by all.
Static lines are for discharging built up static, which all aircraft suffer from. It's known as grounding the aircraft. There's a pretty good depiction of it in the movie The Hunt For Red October.
@@spannerturnerMWO I am an Ironworker and years ago erected some iron with a helicopter. The connectors had to whack the incoming iron with a tool to discharge the static
The static will kill if not grounded
Had this happen in an airplane once in 40 years. I remember thinking that I wished I was a helicopter pilot as we went sliding down the runway.
Reason number 437 why I didn't become an airplane pilot, that and the whole altitude and gravity thing.
Pilot is incredible such a long stationery hover even with auto pilot is difficult, hats off to the pilot but again here ground Maintainence crew is simply awesome very very brave work👍🏻👍🏻 love and regards from India
Great piloting skills to hold the collective that steady for that long. There's obvious trust between this ground crew and the pilot as well, not everyone would be brave enough to walk under that operating machine and do that.
Beautiful helicopter and I want it to remain operational for many more decades.
Unfortunately they won't be around to see 2030. Sucks for me because that is my job. Hopefully the new K model work will come to us.
@@jimmyhenderson2860 No, you suck because you have no respect for traditional military means. And the new K model is 4000 times more crap too. Go away and never comment again!
Did you read my reply. It said unfortunately it won't be around by 2030. And if you thank i dont have respect for traditional military then you should rethink that. I am so traditional that I have worked on the a model, b , c , d, h , j and m model 53's in addition to the e. Any of the first 3 could fly circles around an e model. An e can carry more and faster,but no where near as maneuverable. I am not a fan of the k but it is coming weather I want it to or not. Try again.
@@jimmyhenderson2860
I DO NOT BELIEVE IT!
Well, That's one advantage of a rotary-wing aircraft over a fixed-wing. Try doing that on a fixed-wing aircraft.........
Do you mean like this? czcams.com/video/qP1XQzwRuV8/video.html
Mark Emanuele , look for the video where a guy helps pull a nose wheel down whilst riding the back of a pickup, they got it right too