Aviation Mishaps and Mischief
This week, I’ve collected the best of what I’ve watched and read this month, in hopes that you will be equally intrigued and entertained.
Rescued and Dizzy
It started when I saw this video posted on Reddit today and literally put my hands over my eyes as I watched in horror.
According to Fox10, the basket started to spin as they lifted it off the ground. Thankfully, the woman was OK, although she suffered some swelling and bruising as a result, as well as a large settlement from the city of Phoenix.
Love is in the Air
Kaypius describes himself as a full-time aviator and a part-time writer who writes about aviation news in India. This particular heartfelt post made me feel almost as if I’d met the author as a young man.
My reasons for floating over the skies of Delhi and neighbouring Haryana was rather simple: my fiancée Madhuri was posted to Delhi while I was serving on a warship in Southern Naval Command for award of watchkeeping ticket (WKT). The ship’s CO was a thoroughbred gunner; a hard taskmaster who viewed everything that flew — pilots included — as legitimate targets. Standing watches at sea for hours & manning the gangway in harbour was giving me a stress fracture in the brain. Separation pangs were upon me and I would’ve run an ultramarathon to New Delhi if somebody would grant me leave. But it was easier to ask for the Kohinoor diamond under that command.
Radio Silence
This is the audio of this poor pilot who meant to welcome his passengers to the flight but instead blocked the radio as he gave the entire spiel on the Ground frequency instead. The other pilots do their best to notify the poor pilot by beeping on the frequency but once he finally stopped, they jumped in to make fun of him, with even the air traffic controller jumping in at the end.
Air Traffic Confusion
I don’t usually get excited about flight sim videos but I had to share this one with you. Airforceproud95 is a commercial pilot who enjoys trolling people as a virtual Air Traffic Controller in multiplayer Microsoft Flight Simulator X. His interactions on this video had me gasping with laughter.
I join a random session in FSX multiplayer and spawn as the air traffic controller at Honolulu Int’l Airport (PHNL). I immediately begin issuing IFR clearances to the pilots in the session and provide a variety of copyright-free soundtracks to an F-18 airshow taking place. Enjoy!
A Phantom Makeover
To be honest, the title of this article at the Aviation Geek Club gives a better introduction than I could.
Feel free to leave links (or questions, for another Q&A!) in the comments.
That… spinning… basket… oh christ. It started bad and got worse, and even worse than that. The whole time you’re going “it’s going to eventually slow down, right?”
So what is the problem there? Was it new rope with a lot of twist? So the guy raises her and puts his leg in the bridle to stop the spin, but then he’ll get trapped too. Or lower the helo/rope and put her back on the ground, will it start tumbling? Is there any good action to take I’m not aware of?
I’m going to have nightmares for the rest of the month.
The spinning slowed once they built up some horizontal speed. Typically, ground crew employs a tag line (preferably two), tied off the end, to keep the basket from spinning.
When I was in, the RNZAF had a nice little zap that was a sillhouette of a kiwi, well, having relations with a kangaroo. It showed up on some ground equipment after they came in, but I don’t think they got any of our F/A-18s!