New Helo Style for Marines
The nearby USMC Aviation Depot is trying out a new, streamlined air hull configuration, which they insist on flying over my house.
This sleek, shiny, brightly colored style has been given the name ‘Skyfish’, owing to its quickly taking to the air as if it were born there.
The traditional helo rotors are shipped and locked above the cockpit and fuselage and are designed to be used only in emergencies.
In flight, the bird has two rear paddles to propel it through the air, taking advantage of air currents and rising air bubbles, very much akin to the previously tested Ornithopters which were designed to be used in deserts like the Sahara and Arrakis. The Skyfish configuration has been found to be very adaptable to flatlands, dunes, drumlin ranges and Silurian cave zones.
The electronics have been updated to include worm, wookie and Cardassian detection, all at more than ten thousand feet of distance. The cargo load is currently rated at 5,750 kilograms (2.2 pounds/KG), which allows for the inclusion of heavy weapons such as the A&P-51 assault laser mortar launcher and its accompanying load of mortars and pineapples, plus lunch and cold drinks for the crew.
Unlike the currently popular Sikorsky (below), now being used to increase the Aviation Dept’s cash flow for aviation fuel and air time by delivering Rosati’s pizzas and Peapod grocery orders, the Skyfish runs on what is popularly termed ‘green fuel’, e.g., alcohol left over from parties, or strained vegetable oil from the base galley’s used oil drums. Rather than just toss it, recycling these substances is becoming a big part of the military’s cost-savings programs.
It also keeps the ecohippies at arm’s length, off the base.
Photos by Ex-PH2
Category: "Your Tax Dollars At Work"
I’d jump it.
I knew I could count on you!
Does it have an inflight crayon/GED dispenser?
Rumor is that such things are in the trout line once testing is completed.
Wonderful news!
Wait till you see the interior accommodations.
Said pizzas are expeditiously delivered anywhere, any time.
It was just an idea! I don’t have the right tools to photoshop a pizza box onto the Sikorsky just yet. Or a green mustache.
Just go with it, Ex.
*grin*
Maybe I could get Frankie to do it. He’s good with that stuff.
“The traditional helo rotors are shipped and locked above the cockpit and fuselage and are designed to be used only in emergencies”
Wow. They look huge in the photo.
Glad I put the tea down before I read that!
So like I GET IT, the rotors are used in an emergency like if the Red Mercury Fusion Levitator/Propulsion Reactor suffers a failure!!!
Yes!!!
The locking rotors also avoid EO issues by stopping that triggering WOP-WOP sound.
Good point! The old style gave ample warning of your approach but with the new drive system stealth is now here.
Pretty cool Ex-PH2, but what are those doohickeys sticking out of either side of the fuselage, is that for the Laser Pineapple Mortar Launcher?
Oh, no! As I understand it, they’re part of the aerial propulsion system, kind of like fins on porpoise.
The Pineapple Mortar Launcher will be attached after test runs are completed.
Keeping the rotors is akin to the early steam boats keeping the sails for emergency. Once the technology matures those rotors will go away.
EEyyyyyep!!! Let them perfect the performance of them thar Red Mercury Fusion Propulsion Reactors and…
They definitely need them on Arrakis. The spice must flow.
Thank you!
Nextgen PDV (Pizza Delivery Vehicle)
Currently under test at NAS Pax River, Area X-ray. Nothing to see here, Citizen, move along.
NOW look at the device in my hand and one, two, three,.. *FLASH*
Ha! the Marines have nothing on the Army’s new Valor. The new MEDEVAC version will have a full surgical suite and renal dialysis machine too!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pM-llvS7wLw
No doorgunners?
Way to many giant moving parts.
The wing looks like a playground teeter totter with a pair of 5 ton fatties on it.
Guess what happens when one side farts.
If they are relying on alcohol left over from parties they are going to have a fuel source problem. Better stick to emptying deep fat fryers at the mess hall and food facilities.
Are you saying this because you could never account for that pallet of beer that somehow vanished while you were at dinner? 🙂
Burp!
Ex, nice stop action photo there. What speed film did you use? Are you trolling for comments from Yef and other gullible readers?
Why, thank you, kind sir!
I used my no longer popular Nikon D50 with an ISO of 1600 and the P (programmed automatic) setting, which thinks for the camera and takes the burden off the beleaguered photographer.
In checking the various shots, I found that the P setting put the shutter speed at 1/4000th second – yes, that fast – which provided several choices of images to use. That shot was the best one. I also saw that the helicopter has only two rotors instead of the usual four, hence the “new design” stuff.
Thank you again. More to come. 🙂
Umm…. anyone is welcome – always – to leave a comment. The more imaginative, the merrier.
Many older model helos have only two rotor blades, like the UH-1 models (Hueys). An AK-47 (7.62mm x 39) round will punch nice neat holes in them (the rotor blades). I’ve seen the result in a bird I was flying in when it was hit about fifteen times (about four or five bullets went through the blades).
Guaranteed the pilots will be the cockiest, self absorbed, well coiffed, duchebag frat boys…
You’ll taste the axe body spray before the bird even touches down.
Hey, they’re Marines, Roh-Dog, not Zoomies!
Well-coiffed????? That’s worth a gigglesnort all by itself.
Need to rename it “Tadpole” as I’m sure it will have amphibious capabilities…
Is the pilot looking for his brother who’s MIA in ‘Nam, too?