Helicopter Fact/Tribute Video!

[imhumanoid]

I made a helicopter fact/tribute video a few days ago. Hope you enjoy

Pictures: CreativeCommons
Song: Shine Your Light - Ladder 49

[YOUTUBE]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ergdwDbUsao&fmt=18[/YOUTUBE]

Like?

 

[Ridryder911]

Nice tribute and admire your enthusiasm; but I believe your sources have the helicopter facts a lttle skewed. Don't let Dr. Bledsoe see this.....

Not trying to burst any bubbles but as a former flightnurse/paramedic I can assure you it is a business alike any other. Also they crash and they crash a lot. When helicopters crash they don't usually land "softly" or "float" to the ground as your sources described. People die in helicopter crashes in fact way too many. The reason there is Senate and Congressional studies being conducted because of the unsafe measures of many.

I love flight medicine, but anyone involved will also be the first to point out the dangers of it.

The other point is, many of the times the helicopter is over abused. It has not been shown to really save lives as thought of. It also costs millions of dollars to operate just one helicopter. As well patients are usually charged $6,000-15,000 for a simple flight in lieu of a ground transport for a few hundred bucks.

Again, I compliment your video as a feel good but mythical. I realize your dreams and that is excellent but a little realism needs to be thought of.

R/r 911

 

[imhumanoid]

The facts I believe were from a helicopter museum site. The site looked accurate :unsure:

 

[VentMedic]

Very nice video but agree with Rid.

We do have a forum member who did survive a helicopter crash, MSDeltaFlt.

 

[LucidResq]

2008 was the deadliest year on record for medical helicopters. In the US, 29 died in 13 accidents.

7 deaths in 2007. 5 in 2006. 11 in 2005. 18 in 2004. 7 in 2003.

 

[Flight-LP]

I love the crewmember standing BEHIND the tail rotor at 1:55. Not the best of ideas.........

Spirra - I notice you are using 38D as your model. That is my old helicopter. Where are they flying it now?????

 

[imhumanoid]

I love the crewmember standing BEHIND the tail rotor at 1:55. Not the best of ideas.........

Spirra - I notice you are using 38D as your model. That is my old helicopter. Where are they flying it now?????

Not so smart. I had not noticed it until you brought it up.

38D as in Tail number? It is at an AirEvac base in Kerrville Texas. ^_^

 

[Flight-LP]

Cool. It has been throughout the Texas bases, was at San Marcos for the longest time. It also used to be our reserve at Critical Air. I see AEL finally sent it in for a new paint job.

 

[imhumanoid]

Interesting helicopter history o_o Thats neat

38D is the one I got my flight in ^_^ Non medical.

 

[fortsmithman]

My service works with the air ambulance here in the NWT. During my year and five months with my service the air ambulance has never used any helicopters. The air ambulance uses the Beechcraft King Air. The only time a helicopter was used was by our hospital air ambulance had no involvement. It was a single MVA motorcyclist wiping out on our gravel highway. The helicopter contained a nurse and a physician. The accident happened at the end of our service area. To get to the area it would take about 2 hours driving at highway speeds since the incident our service area is now 1.5 hours highway driving time) . In my neck of the woods we are in forest fire country and helicopters are use to bring initial attack crews to the fire. The helicopters are used quite successfully I don't believe we have ever had a helicopter crash in my are involving helicopter involved in fire suppression duties.

 

[usafmedic45]

Nice tribute and admire your enthusiasm; but I believe your sources have the helicopter facts a lttle skewed. Don't let Dr. Bledsoe see this.....

Not trying to burst any bubbles but as a former flightnurse/paramedic I can assure you it is a business alike any other. Also they crash and they crash a lot. When helicopters crash they don't usually land "softly" or "float" to the ground as your sources described. People die in helicopter crashes in fact way too many. The reason there is Senate and Congressional studies being conducted because of the unsafe measures of many.

I love flight medicine, but anyone involved will also be the first to point out the dangers of it.

The other point is, many of the times the helicopter is over abused. It has not been shown to really save lives as thought of. It also costs millions of dollars to operate just one helicopter. As well patients are usually charged $6,000-15,000 for a simple flight in lieu of a ground transport for a few hundred bucks.

Again, I compliment your video as a feel good but mythical. I realize your dreams and that is excellent but a little realism needs to be thought of.

R/r 911

+1. As someone who has flown aeromedical mission in the past and now works doing aviation safety research, I think you really need to double check your sources when it comes to aeromedical utility and the safety thereof.

"Did you know helicopters are fundamentally safer than airplanes?"

Where exactly did you get that? They have no ability to glide and are inherently unstable unlike a fixed wing aircraft. Credibility of that statement: zero.

The ability to move sick/injured people to hospitals saves thousands of lives.

There is no evidence to support that. There is not even evidence to support that it has saved hundreds of civilian lives in a given year

allowing the machine to slowly land, generally without crashing to the ground

Ever seen an autorotation (which is what you are trying to describe)? It's not a "slow landing" or anything else but a potentially survivable crash. Emphasis on "potentially".

Does this look like "without crashing to the ground"?
[YOUTUBE]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dyhGZzxjiU8&feature=PlayList&p=389BE83160A9F515&index=0&playnext=1[/YOUTUBE]

Helicopters are safest to fly in bad weather because they can slow down, stop and/or fly backwards or sideways.

They are also unstable (unlike fixed wing aircraft) and helicopter pilots are more prone to the development of spatial disorientation. There is a very good reason why so many of our colleagues die in helicopter flights into bad weather. Single pilot intentional flight in helicopter into bad weather or over unlit terrain is one of the dumbest things one can do in aviation short of drinking before flying yet it is a common practice (the industry standard de facto) in HEMS.

As for hovering or flying backwards or sideways in low to zero viz conditions, can you say "increased difficulty and increased risk"?

Modern day helicopters are no more difficult to fly than many types of fixed wing aircraft

That is arguable since it really does not give you an adequate yardstick to measure the claim by. Are we talking a Robinson R22 trainer helicopter or a BK117 medical helicopter compared to a Cessna 172, an ultralight or a Boeing 777? Even then it is often said that the washout rate for military rotorcraft training programs is higher than for their fixed wing counterparts and that is probably the best comparison to HEMS operations rather than someone tooling around in a Robinson R22, especially since many HEMS pilots are/were trained by the military. That and while you could teach most people to fly a helicopter, they are far less forgiving and the learning curve is a lot steeper.


Basically every claim you made is questionable at best, if not an outright falsification by the source you cite. Relying on the American Helicopter Society (or the Association for Air Medical Services, nothing more than the HEMS lobby) for a fair appraisal of the situation is about like asking Rush Limbaugh whether the Republican Party is on the right path: the answer you get is going to be so skewed and not grounded in fact that it is nothing but BS. Just be careful what sources you cite.

 

[Ridryder911]

Wow! Steve's back!... Long time no see!


R/r 911

 

[usafmedic45]

Yeah, sorry for going incommunicado for so long (there's a PM coming your way Rid) but I have been insanely busy and just have not had much time for the EMS forums.

If anyone is interested, I have a blog at: http://strangedichotomy.blogspot.com/ There is a lot of commentary there on aeromedical transport and related matters.

 

[imhumanoid]

My bad guys. The site looked like a trust worthy one.

USAFmedic45:
Glad you found every flaw I made. <_< I make these mainly to get the word about EMS/HEMS that most people do not even give a second thought at UNTIL they need you guys.

That was very embarrassing for me when you posted that, ALL of that.
I mean, I want rating/criticism yes. But not to the point of what that was. If you have THAT much of a problem with the video just ask me to remove it or redo it. I do still have the files on my computer to do so.


I have seen a helicopter crash. It's not a pretty site. No one survived that one.

It was at our local airport 3 years ago. I used to live next to the airport for about 5 years.
I walked outside hearing one and I was watching it come in for landing, it got to close to the electric lines and hit them with the rotors. Went down, lit fire, 2 people died. The stench of the jet fuel was very strong. I remember that well. We lost power to the house for about 4-5 hours.
People who were closer to the airport told some stuff that I am VERY glad I did not see. (person walking out in shock on fire collapsing at scene, my best friend saw that)


I know they are not the safest. K? I have witnessed this stuff, and I know what I am getting into with my future. I questioned the facts too, but noticing they were from a museum website, I figured they were okay. MY BAD. <_<

 

[usafmedic45]

My bad guys. The site looked like a trust worthy one.

It happens to the best of us.

Glad you found every flaw I made. <_<

You didn't make them and I don't hold that against you. I was just clarifying the issues.

I make these mainly to get the word about EMS/HEMS that most people do not even give a second thought at UNTIL they need you guys.

The problem is that the "word" that gets out is often incorrect and/or skewed because of the marketing practices of a lot of HEMS operations (Air Evac Lifeteam ranking as one of the worst, especially given their position of having the worst safety record in HEMS). Also, not many people "need" HEMS. It is foisted upon us because of flawed science and profiteering.

That was very embarrassing for me when you posted that, ALL of that.

Sorry, I didn't mean for it to embarrass you. I was just trying to make sure that there is not further disinformation.

I have seen a helicopter crash. It's not a pretty site. No one survived that one. It was at our local airport 3 years ago. I used to live next to the airport for about 5 years. I walked outside hearing one and I was watching it come in for landing, it got to close to the electric lines and hit them with the rotors. Went down, lit fire, 2 people died. The stench of the jet fuel was very strong. I remember that well. We lost power to the house for about 4-5 hours. People who were closer to the airport told some stuff that I am VERY glad I did not see. (person walking out in shock on fire collapsing at scene, my best friend saw that)

I lost three friends (and an acquaintance) last year in crashes of HEMS flights (for a total of 11 since I got my start in EMS in 1996). I agree it's not pretty.

BTW, I know the crash you're talking about....

I know they are not the safest. K? I have witnessed this stuff, and I know what I am getting into with my future.

Hopefully by the time you get there, the new FAA regulations that are coming will have gutted the industry and increased the safety of operations. Sadly for you, if that happens finding employment as a flight nurse or flight paramedic will become even harder due to a decrease in number of operators.

Whatever happens, stay the heck away from Air Evac Lifeteam if they are still in operation when you get in a position to become an HEMS crewmember. I am tired of burying friends.

I questioned the facts too, but noticing they were from a museum website, I figured they were okay. MY BAD.

It's not a "museum", it's a commercial organization although it's easy to mistake that if you don't know that before going to the website.