Quote:
Originally Posted by oldE
I think in the case of the cobra the co-pilot is the gunner and doesn't have command authority. Seahawk, please correct me if this is not the case.
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Les, I was on the same track but I don't know how the Army does it. In the Navy the person who "signs" for the aircraft is the pilot in command.
When you toss in Section Lead, etc. it get a bit more complicated.
I flew a single engine Cobra with the Maryland National Guard in the late '80's I sat in the gunners seat up front and Pilot in Command was a Vietnam era Cobra pilot. Great fun.
I also flew in a Hughes 500 which, frankly, may be the coolest machine on Earth.
One Quick Sea Story:
In helo flight school after Primary, on of the LT flight instructors had been an Army Cobra pilot. He left the Army, went to college and became a Navy pilot. Not that unusual at that time.He was a big softball player so we got to know each other well.
We flew together four or five times and he was the best, by far, instructor I have every had. Case in point:
The Navy is big on "Standard Procedures", which I have no problem with.
We, Terry and I, were practicing full autos in the T-57 and I entered the first auto and hit all the numbers (rotor speed - Nr - descent rate, forward velocity, flair altitude aircraft pitch, etc. then the transition to the ground.
Terry asks me why.
Huh?
That is what NATOPS says.
But, he asks, if you need to drop faster, bleed off energy quickly to meet the only spot in the woods you can safely auto? What, then?
Well, Terry, show me ecause you have stumped the Ensign. So he did. Master class in how to fly a helo.
Vietnam era helo pilots, and I know many, were flying in an environment that was tactically, mechanically and environmentally unforgiving.
Hope that helps!