Thread: Can You Believe?

I agree that the media can be callous and a nuisance but I wager in these circumstances, they are doing a lot of intel gathering and passing that on to the appropriate authorities.

And yes, as has been stated by others, the TV crew would be incapable of rescuing the stricken folks and would almost certainly have made things worse, even to the extent of losing the helo.

Two old Navy Hueys.....geez....they'd never be in the air and would cost an arm and a leg to operate....

Originally Posted by UncleHo

Yes, it was a little insensitive, BUT it also highlights the fact that the Qld Police service does NOT have it's own Helo,as other states do, but relies on media and other sources, this should be the first order of business post this flood disaster, maybe Captan Bligh should ask her good friend the PM to make available 1 or 2 now de-commisioned Hueys at a reasonable price some of which I think are winch equipt after spending $$$$$ on failed dams/desalination plants,and wasted money on arty-farty stuff,emergency services should get $ priority

rant over

Sounds like a good idea, I remember being told the old Huey's are a better aircraft for rescue purposes because their rotor wash is not as violent close to the ground as Blackhawks [ mind you it was a Huey pilot who told me ] Perhaps a donation from the Federal Govt.? Qld pays for the maintainance, thru a State lottery? Another idea is levees around low lying industrial estates[ Rocklea markets, Rocky airport, etc.] Bob

G'day Celtoid

No, not those navy Sea-Kings,to unreliable, Bell-UH1's Irouqoi, army helos recently de-commisioned and replaced by Blackhawks, been around since 60's Vietnam War era, the great grandfather of most of todays helos

Easy to maintain by todays standards,very good low speed handling,lower rotor wash,quick to load/unload and good forward vision

Originally Posted by PhilipA

I agree with them totally if the helicopters have "7" or "9" on them.

I am still fuming hopefully unnecessarily about the 3 people on the AWD in Toowoomba. It appears on the surface that:-
1 this is the same AWD shown with people inside(certainly there was a child in the passenger seat.)
2 next shown is three people on top of the car
3 next night the station 7? says on the news that their helo went away to get an emergency service sperson and the car was then gone.

It appears on the surface to me that the people saw the helo , got on top hoping to be rescued and the helo then went away. Later it was announce dthat the woman and child lived but the man died

IMHO time is the absolute essence in these things and the pilot should have immediately rescued them. If the capacity was not enough he should have ditched the cameraman on the nearest dry ground and went back immediately.
If the above is the case the pilot should be charged .
Regards Philip A

TV crew couldn't save them, they had to make the news.

Clive Plamer was able to do it in his helo.
Clive Palmer uses chopper to rescue 60 Local Gold Coast News | goldcoast.com.au | Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia

As for looters, well i'm not sorry, they should be shot on sight. Lowlifes.
Best wishes for all impacted by this natural disaster.
Regards
Robbo.

Talking about helicopters, just had one of those French ones[ dauphne? ]dark brown one, never seen it around before, fly about 50 ft. above houses here, then the beach front. Considering we didn't get our feet wet, despite what Mr. Newman said, I find it curious.Might find ourselves on European TV as flood victims. Mind you,cool looking chopper.
Bob

Dauphine I think, & yes they're very nice looking. Them & The old Bell Triple 2 (the heli in Airwolf) are the best looking civi heli's imo.

If the situation put forward by PhilipA is correct, it's extremely sad, but yeah, I don't see how they could have saved them without the gear due to the down draft. I'm presuming Palmer's heli was rescuing people from roof tops or islands where the down draft wouldn't be such an issue?

Originally Posted by UncleHo

G'day Celtoid

No, not those navy Sea-Kings,to unreliable, Bell-UH1's Irouqoi, army helos recently de-commisioned and replaced by Blackhawks, been around since 60's Vietnam War era, the great grandfather of most of todays helos

Easy to maintain by todays standards,very good low speed handling,lower rotor wash,quick to load/unload and good forward vision

Hi UncleHo,

Not sure where I got Navy from....must have been the CPT Bligh comment... Sorry.

I thought that you were referring to the old B model Hueys that the RAAF and RAN operated.

I'm an ex RAAFie who worked on B & H model Hueys and Blackhawks. In those days the H models were reliable and easy to work on but talking to Army Aviation guys I met in recent times, they were starting to get a bit wheeezy....just like the old Caribous. Which is understandable, given their age. They were also very uneconomical (expensive to run) by today's standards.....sucked more AVTUR than a Toyo does oil....LOL!!!

New choppers, like a lot of new aircraft are bloody expensive to buy but are far more reliable and less labour intensive to keep flying & to fly, especially in hazardous conditions.

Not sure about the rotor wash statements....spent many hours around both but never really took that much notice....they both chuck out heaps of air... Huey has two blades, Blackhawk has four but I suspect the Blackhawk is significantly heavier....so that would probably explain the extra downwash.

You don't need anything as big as a Huey or a Blackhawk for SAR or Police work. The former helo's are troop carriers and as such are large.

They (as in Police) should just get the $ for a fit for purpose machine....new and high tech equipment (Infra-Red and the like)

Cheers,

Kev.