Apache's and Blackhawks

[Ballen Photo]

Mess with one of these,
http://www.fototime.com/50B975DBA495821/standard.jpg

and you might get to see what one of these can do.
http://www.fototime.com/579BC7634E038A6/standard.jpg

A friend flew down to Vegas from Idaho, but decided to skip the commercial airlines, what with all the crowds, lines, etc. :lol: Actually, He pilots one of the Blackhawks. They had two Blackhawks, and three Apache's in their little airbourne convoy.
-Bruce

[jgbeam]

Mean looking machines. :cool:

Jim

[CyberDyneSystems]

Nice shots of some mean looking equipment!

Nice to see someone get the names right too... when you watched the news during the gulf war,.. 9 times out of ten an "Apache" was in fact video footage of a Marine Cobra...

[Ballen Photo]

Nice shots of some mean looking equipment!

Nice to see someone get the names right too... when you watched the news during the gulf war,.. 9 times out of ten an "Apache" was in fact video footage of a Marine Cobra...

Thanks Guys.
CDS, I know what you mean. The Cobra was an awesome bird in it's day, and is still one of my all time favorites.
I'm betting they mix the two of them up because they both have tandem seating. :rolleyes:
-Bruce
http://www.fototime.com/7E63043156113D5/standard.jpg

[stoneylonesome]

Great shots. I think I'd rather be on the business end instead of the recieving end of either one of those babies. That has to be one scary sight to see one those pop up over the horizen aimed right at you. :lol: :lol:

[Mills]

Thanks Guys.
CDS, I know what you mean. The Cobra was an awesome bird in it's day, and is still one of my all time favorites.
I'm betting they mix the two of them up because they both have tandem seating. :rolleyes:
-Bruce
http://www.fototime.com/7E63043156113D5/standard.jpg

How old are they? Are they going to be replaced? Cool Shots.

[CyberDyneSystems]

How old are they? Are they going to be replaced? Cool Shots.

Cobras?

The original Cobras were during the Viet Nam war... it was essentially huey chasis and motor,. they just deisned a super narrow two person cabin to lower the birds cross section, making it much harder to hit.

And of course they mounted all that firepower :)

The Hughes designers hit the proverbial nail on the head with the creation of the Cobra.. using 90% of the same parts as the ubiquitous Huey multirole/transport/gunship,. and yet a completely different level of performance and operability,..

The Cobra was in fact the first (and for along time the only) purpose designed attack helicopter from the ground up. All previous and many subsequent platforms used for this purpose were merely general helicopter designs loaded with firepower. The often called "Huey Cobra" set the standard for the dedicated "attack helicopter" which all following designs have emulated.


The Marines still use a VERY modern twin engine version,.. the "Super Cobra" (electronics and weapons systems really as sophoistaicated as those in the Apache) as there primary attack helicopter,. as do many National Guard divisions. .. but they are getting rarer.

Likewise the Apache is supposedly going to get replaced with the almost mythical vaporware "Commanche" of which we saw flying prototypes as far back as 1994.. and yet no progress seems to be made since.

[Mills]

Thanks for the info CDS. Seems as though the Helos are slow to be updated relative to planes and tanks. Not glamourous enough I guess.

[KevC]

Sweet shots! I personally like the Cobra better than the Apache. No doubt the Apache is a much more capable machine, but I dunno... the Cobra just looks better IMHO :D

[peter/c]

Wouldn't Dare to even think of Messing with those guys!
peter.

[gramps]

Thanks for the great shots!!!!! I'm jealous, before 9/11 whenever we went to Vegas (about 2 hours from home) we would get some fast food for lunch and park next to the Helo Port at Nellis and watch, or sometimes park at the north end and see some great "air shows". I wish I could get inside like you.

[Ballen Photo]

Thanks again Guys. These Birds were fun to watch. :D
Here's a couple more of them as they were leaving.
-Bruce
http://www.fototime.com/26F46F23BC21E1D/standard.jpg
http://www.fototime.com/4A9A059C10BD560/standard.jpg

[marie]

especially love the last shot Bruce

[MegaTrixel]

The 4 in flight is an awesome shot Bruce!

[Jonny]

Bruce,

Looks like its time to clean that sensor!!!! Nice shots tho

[Ballen Photo]

The 4 in flight is an awesome shot Bruce!

Thanks James and Marie. I coudn't quite get the framing I wanted with all five of them, so this was the result. :D
-Bruce

[Ballen Photo]

Bruce,

Looks like its time to clean that sensor!!!! Nice shots tho

UH OH! I've been Dreading having to do that. :shock:
Time to find the sensor cleaning tips here. :o
-Bruce

[NikonF4s]

They sure are mean, I had an Apache model that I built as a kid, I was in love.

It's funny that New Zealands armed forces only helos are UH-1H and UH-1D Iriquois, bought from the US. These date back as far as 1966, and are still operational!!!

[Ballen Photo]

They sure are mean,

They sure CAN be. :shock:
Thanks for the comments.:D
-Bruce

[tim]

Nice pics there, and yep, sensor cleaning time.

It's funny that New Zealands armed forces only helos are UH-1H and UH-1D Iriquois, bought from the US. These date back as far as 1966, and are still operational!!!

I thought we sold most of the aircraft in the air force and just kept the cargo planes?

[pcasciola]

Nice shots Bruce.

My neighbor is an attack helicopter test pilot. He mainly tests the targeting systems, and buzzes our houses all the time because the kids like it. At a BBQ one year he explained that the systems are so good that he can actually see inside the houses, and told one of the neighbors that he saw her lying on the couch in the middle of the day, confirming our suspicion that our wives sit around and do nothing all day while we work. :D

[marie]

Nice shots Bruce.

My neighbor is an attack helicopter test pilot. He mainly tests the targeting systems, and buzzes our houses all the time because the kids like it. At a BBQ one year he explained that the systems are so good that he can actually see inside the houses, and told one of the neighbors that he saw her lying on the couch in the middle of the day, confirming our suspicion that our wives sit around and do nothing all day while we work. :D

ha ha ha ha ha ha ha


:lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol::mrgreen::lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:


:shock:
so long as she was not caught lying on the couch with another neighbour

[Ballen Photo]

Nice shots Bruce.

My neighbor is an attack helicopter test pilot. He mainly tests the targeting systems, and buzzes our houses all the time because the kids like it. At a BBQ one year he explained that the systems are so good that he can actually see inside the houses, and told one of the neighbors that he saw her lying on the couch in the middle of the day, confirming our suspicion that our wives sit around and do nothing all day while we work. :D

Thanks for the comments as well as the interesting story. :lol: :lol: :lol:
-Bruce

[froman98]

I used to have one of those with my GI Joes.

[swoop1156]

Those Apache's are some devistating machines! Good snaps!

[Ballen Photo]

Thanks for the kind words Marie, Froman, and Swoop. :D
-Bruce

[dewmuw]

They look like dragon flies on steroids.

[Pyromaniac]

Being a former Marine I have to say that I like the Cobra's better. The Apache's are ok but when you need close air support theres nothing like seeing that Cobra come over the tree tops and rain death from above. It also has a very distinct sound and if your the bad guys by the time you hear it it's to late to run.

[Avalonthas]

Give me a blackhawk any day with machine guns covering my rear end.

[Youngster]

I like them for what they are, but not for what they do. Killing machines, they are!

Good pictures, though.

[René Damkot]

Last shot is great! Very beautifull line & exactly enough movement in the rotorblades. The rest is a bit too militaristic to my taste.... Should almost put a warning ('potential violence') on the topic title :D

[Markus]

This one eats Apaches for breakfast.....
:lol:

[Ballen Photo]

I like them for what they are, but not for what they do. Killing machines, they are!

Good pictures, though.

Thanks for your opinion, however, I like to think of them as "Protection machines". ;)
-Bruce

[Ballen Photo]

This one eats Apaches for breakfast.....
:lol:

WOW Markus! They didn't let me see THAT one! ;)
-Bruce

[Ballen Photo]

Thanks, Pyro, Avalonthas, Dewmuw, Markus, Rene', & Swoop. Hope I didn't miss anybody. :rolleyes:
Pyro, A friend told me a good one about a Cobra saving His bacon in South America, by just showing up out of nowhere it seemed, but I'll save that one for another time. ;)
-Bruce

[drisley]

Very nice pictures.
Apaches are mean looking, and yet there have been a few times they have been brought down by ground small arms gun fire.
Blackhawks, well, they crash all the time. I can't count all the stories I see on TV of Blackhawks making a rescue, overseas and in the US, and they crash. Anybody know why?

[Ballen Photo]

Very nice pictures.
Thanks Dris. :D


Blackhawks, well, they crash all the time. I can't count all the stories I see on TV of Blackhawks making a rescue, overseas and in the US, and they crash. Anybody know why?

I'll hazard a guess that you hear about so many of them crashing because there are so many in service that it sounds disproportionate when they do. Plus, I was talking to the pilot of one of them, and He said they are pushed into precarious situations in rescue attempts where they might have only a portion of one skid resting on a cliff edge or rock to try and stabilize the bird while making a pickup. Some of these Blackhawks in the photos have actually been used for civilian rescue operations also.

As far as being shot down by small arms fire, that was most likely a lucky shot, but I sure wouldn't want to be that shooter when the Apache shows up though. That 30mm canon under the nose has an extremely long range and is pretty accurate as well as hard hitting. :shock:
-Bruce

[Medic1]

NIce shots...

[dkord]

One of the most memorial shots I never got to take was seeing a field full of Blackhawks, with their rotors going: the static making them look like pinwheels in the morning predawn. I would of stop to take a shot but I had other pressing matters at hand...

[Ballen Photo]

NIce shots...
Thanks Medic1. :D
-Bruce

[Ballen Photo]

One of the most memorial shots I never got to take was seeing a field full of Blackhawks, with their rotors going: the static making them look like pinwheels in the morning predawn. I would of stop to take a shot but I had other pressing matters at hand...

That sounds like it could have been a great shot. ;)
When these guys showed up at NLV Airport in the more secluded back lot, there were only two civilians that were allowed in the area. I was lucky to be one of them.
How could I refuse?
-Bruce