Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!cs.utexas.edu!tut.cis.ohio-state.edu!att!cbnews!military
From: u714092@eagle.larc.nasa.gov (prichard devon )
Newsgroups: sci.military
Subject: Re: How to assault a tanker
Message-ID: <1990Sep18.024625.20968@cbnews.att.com>
Date: 18 Sep 90 02:46:25 GMT
References: <1990Aug28.042834.29477@cbnews.att.com>
Sender: military@cbnews.att.com (William B. Thacker)
Organization: Lockheed Engineering & Sciences Co.
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From: u714092@eagle.larc.nasa.gov (prichard devon )

   From: gwh%tornado.Berkeley.EDU@ucbvax.Berkeley.EDU (George William Herbert)


   Pardon injection of some reality into this discussion, but the deck of a 
   tanker is among the most cluttered surfaces on the face of this planet.  There
   are pipes, walkways, machinery...you name it, it's not flat.  This makes it a 
   hard enough place to land a helicopter, nonetheless a parachutist at night.

who said anything about _landing_ a helicopter?? even out in the field,
classic doctrine is to hover at about 3' skid height.  this way, the rotor
stays loaded and controllable, skids don't get hung up on foliage (or deck
hardware). alternatively, one can rappel, or faster yet, fast-rope. fast-roping
is an insane maneuver where a big (maybe 3" diameter) fuzzy rope is hung
from the helicopter, and troops slide down it, gripping it with gloved
hands. speed of descent controlled with grip pressure.  takes a lot of
practice, nerve, and trust in the guy above you.  it is do-able, however,
and I'm sure our SOF does it routinely by now.

the difficulty with helicopter ops are with wind eddies behind structures
(probably not a problem with a steaming tanker, with deckhouse far aft),
and various cable stays & antennas well above deck level.  however, this
is lots easier than trying to land a sufficient number of parachutists
on the same tanker at nearly the same time...



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 | Devon Prichard             making the world safe for helicopters ... |
 | u714092@eagle.larc.nasa.gov                                          |
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