No Seats Left.....Sit on the wing....

[fletcherfu24]

While looking for An-2 vids I came across this one.....would make a good thrill seeker ride at your local airport... ;D


Make your kid jump...


May as well make the dog jump too..

[stu]

Jan 2, 2010 15:46:29 GMT 12 @fletcherfu24 said:

would make a good thrill seeker ride at your local airport... ;D

I would REALLY like to try that - seriously

[kiwithrottlejockey]

Remember the helicopter operator who offered a ride at Taupo down the Waikato River and over the Huka Falls slung beneath the cargo hook of the chopper? CAA put a stop to it!

They also put a stop to AJ Hackett using a helicopter as a commercial bungy-jumping platform, hovering 1,100 above the ground for a 1,000-foot bungy-jump across the lake from Queenstown at Cecil Peak Station. I managed to get in and enjoy that particular adrenalin rush in April 1994, just before CAA spoiled the fun and banned it.

[stu]

Jan 2, 2010 16:25:24 GMT 12 kiwithrottlejockey said:

They also put a stop to AJ Hackett using a helicopter as a commercial bungy-jumping platform, hovering 1,100 above the ground for a 1,000-foot bungy-jump across the lake from Queenstown at Cecil Peak Station. I managed to get in and enjoy that particular adrenalin rush in April 1994, just before CAA spoiled the fun and banned it.

That must have been about the same time we recorded one of the presenters of the long gone Mobil Sport bungy jumping from a helicopter over the Auckland waterfront. I had a radio mic attached to him but the audio was unusable as he seemed to be calling out to a nearby bird all the way down - don't know why, I couldn't see a duck anywhere

I managed around half an hour in the open door of a chopper chasing racing cars at Bay Park back in my TVNZ days, classic foot on the skid - camera on shoulder pose, eighties hair style flowing in the wind (brief stint as a news camera op).

The good old days, getting paid to muck around in helicopters at least several time a week.

Enough of a stroll down memory lane and back on topic... if harness systems akin to those used for wing walking were installed on the wings of an appropriate aircraft, I wonder how much red tape you'd have to go through before being able to offer yet another attraction for adventure tourists?

Hmmmm..... anyhow, supposed to be putting the news to air so I'd better pay attention.

Cheers,
Stu.

[kiwithrottlejockey]

Then there was the Country Calendar episode about Dave Saxton that was made and broadcast about 14 or so years ago. During one part of shooting the footage for that episode, Dave was flying a Hughes 300 up the head of the Landsborough Valley with a deer shooter onboard (Phil Wright if my memory serves me correctly) with the footage being shot from the open doorway of a Hughes 500 flown by Colin Tuck slightly above and behind Dave's helicopter. The transmission failed on Colin Tuck's helicopter and down they went, in a short auto-rotation straight into the ground, with the impact writing of the Hughes 500. The cameraman kept the camera rolling right through the crash and as they emerged from the wreckage with the camera still rolling, Colin Tuck made a legendary comment to the TV crew: “Well, you got the whole nine yards today!” Dave landed nearby and the two chopper pilots then spent some time laughing about the numerous helicopter crashes they had both had over the years. It was absolutely classic footage. I've got that episode of Country Calendar on VHS videotape somewhere. I viewed it about three years ago and it is still in good condition. I must go looking for it sometime and transfer it onto DVD.

At the recent 75th Airline Anniversary Celebrations at Haast, I looked up Colin Tuck to say hi to him from one of my workmates who was his best friend at school in Greymouth. While we were chatting, I reminded him about that Country Calendar episode and he pissed himself laughing and said, “I've wiped out a couple more helicopters since then, but I'm still here to talk about it”. Colin is flying choppers in Indonesia these days, working six weeks on, then four weeks off back in NZ. Both his son and daughter are flying helicopters for a living on the West Coast.

[Dave Homewood]

In about 1996 or 1997 I was in the Cambridge RSA following the ANZAC Day service and was having a few beers with the old boys. One chap i got talking with said he'd been a mechanic in the RNZAF, and I'm sure he said before the war, at Wigram. He told me they often went with the Vildebeests on deployments or trips and they'd load all the tools and gear and as many people as they could into the rear cockpit, but sometimes there was not enough room for all the groundies so they used to ride on the wing, clutching for grim life to the fuselage cockpit edge. Eventually the boss found out they were doign this and banned it, and made them drive. The carefree days of the 1930's eh. I wish to hell I'd gotten his details and gotten more from him. I was not doing veteran interviews back then. He may be still around town but I've never seen him again and he's likely to be long gone sadly.

[Bruce]

A year or two ago Aeroplane monthly had a photo article showing a method devised for transporting groudcrew on the wings of Spitfires in Europe. Some boffin had devised some large canvas bag with sturdy loops that slipped over the canon barrels so the bag could lie back along the wing, secured by a clip in the flap bay. Unfortunate Erks could be zipped (Forceably one assumes!) one into each bag and the aircraft flown off to the next forward airstrip. Aparently never used in service, but I recall the photos shown had a couple of airmen demonstrating how it worked, and they looked decidedly against the idea!

Incidentally the business about CAA and "the rack" (slinging a passenger under the helo) was due to the fact that there was no existing regulations to govern safety standards in such operations. CAA had no framework to approve it so they couldnt sign it off. New legislation covering "Adventure Aviation" will come into effect this year providing a framework of standards to certify and measure such operations by - providing such activities have sufficient safety measures in place, theres nothing stopping it. The other advantage of the new rules will be the ability to take commercial joyrides in non - certified vintage and ex military aircraft! (which appeals to me more than hanging underneith a chopper anyway.....)

[oldfokker]

Enjoying the Wide Bay breezes along the crowd line at Bundy '09.



OF

[Dave Homewood]

Neat picture OF. One way to keep cool I guess.

[baz62]

Why don't blind people skydive?
Scares the hell out of their guide dogs!

[Bruce]

yeah, but they can work out when to pull the ripcord when the leash goes slack......

[chewy]

I got to jump out of a 206 float plane once. You can stand on the float without having to hold on. Standing on the wing of a cessna 402 in flight takes a bit to hang on. Another interesting aircraft to jump out of is the cherokee 140 with the door off. You just stand on the wing and the aircraft rolls out from under you. The pilot only let us do it once. Being inverted with the door off frightened him.

[oldfokker]

Jan 4, 2010 0:00:46 GMT 12 Dave Homewood said:

Neat picture OF. One way to keep cool I guess.

Thanks Dave - cool, but not the quietest seat in the house.



OF