Dillon Aero

[hrt4me]

I was fortunate to get invited to sit in on a recent class at Dillon Aero. Day 1 covered operation and immediate action drills on the minigun. We spent Day 2 on the range firing from a Huey while the Little Bird alternated gun runs with dual miniguns, and then later on the ground we fired the Dillon Aero once again, along with various other weapons. My girlfriend accompanied us to the range. Day 3 was back in the classroom learning inspection, maintenance and repair procedures. Thanks and kudos to Mike Dillon and all the other gracious hosts at Dillon Aero. Here are a few photos and two high-resolution videos.

http://i842.photobucket.com/albums/zz344/hrt4me/Dillon%20Aero/th_Huey.jpg (http://s842.photobucket.com/albums/zz344/hrt4me/Dillon%20Aero/?action=view&current=Huey.jpg)

http://i842.photobucket.com/albums/zz344/hrt4me/Dillon%20Aero/th_standingbesideHuey.jpg (http://s842.photobucket.com/albums/zz344/hrt4me/Dillon%20Aero/?action=view&current=standingbesideHuey.jpg)

http://i842.photobucket.com/albums/zz344/hrt4me/Dillon%20Aero/th_onmountindoorwayofHuey.jpg (http://s842.photobucket.com/albums/zz344/hrt4me/Dillon%20Aero/?action=view&current=onmountindoorwayofHuey.jpg)

http://i842.photobucket.com/albums/zz344/hrt4me/Dillon%20Aero/th_readyforflight.jpg (http://s842.photobucket.com/albums/zz344/hrt4me/Dillon%20Aero/?action=view&current=readyforflight.jpg)

http://i842.photobucket.com/albums/zz344/hrt4me/Dillon%20Aero/th_preflight1.jpg (http://s842.photobucket.com/albums/zz344/hrt4me/Dillon%20Aero/?action=view&current=preflight1.jpg)

http://i842.photobucket.com/albums/zz344/hrt4me/Dillon%20Aero/th_bigsmile.jpg (http://s842.photobucket.com/albums/zz344/hrt4me/Dillon%20Aero/?action=view&current=bigsmile.jpg)

http://i842.photobucket.com/albums/zz344/hrt4me/Dillon%20Aero/th_holdingDillonAero.jpg (http://s842.photobucket.com/albums/zz344/hrt4me/Dillon%20Aero/?action=view&current=holdingDillonAero.jpg)

http://i842.photobucket.com/albums/zz344/hrt4me/Dillon%20Aero/th_DillonAeroontruckwithbrasspile.jpg (http://s842.photobucket.com/albums/zz344/hrt4me/Dillon%20Aero/?action=view&current=DillonAeroontruckwithbrasspile.jpg)

http://i842.photobucket.com/albums/zz344/hrt4me/Dillon%20Aero/th_DillonAero-gunsmoke.jpg (http://s842.photobucket.com/albums/zz344/hrt4me/Dillon%20Aero/?action=view&current=DillonAero-gunsmoke.flv)

http://i842.photobucket.com/albums/zz344/hrt4me/Dillon%20Aero/th_DillonAero-2passes.jpg (http://s842.photobucket.com/albums/zz344/hrt4me/Dillon%20Aero/?action=view&current=DillonAero-2passes.flv)

[RetreatHell]

Very cool, Man! Looks like you had a great time.

Did you guys learn how to shoot it from the hip, while wearing the 1,000-round ammo rucksack, like in the movie Predator? I mean, that is actually possible, right?

Kidding:D

So, how does one get into this class? Do I just need to flash my "Certified Cool Guy" card?:p

BTW, nice pics too!

[supersix4]

Very cool, Bach. how did you get in on this gig? you still working the same job? Did you get to add this to your collection? ;):D

[Buck]

"Ok class, for the next drill you will need 11,000 rounds of 5.56 and 50 gallons of JP5..." :cool:

B

PS: Very cool...

[hrt4me]

Very cool, Bach. how did you get in on this gig? you still working the same job? Did you get to add this to your collection? ;):D

Yes, I'm still working the same job in Dallas, TX. I met Mike Dillon a month ago at the Quad-A annual convention in Fort Worth, and he and the rest of the Dillon Aero crew kindly invited me to come visit sometime.

I wish I could have added his Aero minigun to the NFA collection, but as you know it's a post-86 DS; that's okay, though, because I only have 80k rds of mil-surp 7.62x51mm for my M60E4, and at 3000 rpm, that wouldn't last too long (we fired over 37,000 rounds that day in the Arizona desert south of Phoenix without a single stoppage, hangfire or cook-off!).

Anyway, seems I picked the wrong week to sit in on the class because had I gone this week instead, some of the Dillon calendar models were scheduled to fly and fire the Aero as part of a photo shoot...

[hrt4me]

Ten months after I first visited Dillon Aero last year, I was once again invited to sit in on their latest 3-day training class (http://www.dillonaero.com/training.html) in Scottsdale, Arizona. For all students in this iteration, Day 1 was a review of basic operation and immediate action drills on the minigun, including how to properly load the ammunition cans to keep rounds from tilting inside (which would lead to feed jams in the feeder/delinker and possibly hand-off jams between the feeder/delinker and the minigun itself). We spent Day 2 on their range firing from their UH-1 Huey and later on the ground using a vehicle mount, while the customized Land Rover Defender with its custom turret fired in the background. I fired between 3500 to 4000 rounds through the Dillon Aero M134 minigun ((firing at 3000 rpm, or 50 shots per second), again without a single stoppage, hangfire or cook-off. Finally, Day 3 was hands-on back in the classroom again reviewing inspection, maintenance and repair procedures as we completely tore down the minigun we had fired the day before, inspected it for damage and wear, and reassembled and properly lubed all its parts. Here are eight videos; enjoy!

Taking off in the UH-1 Huey from Dillon Aero's facility in Scottsdale:
http://i842.photobucket.com/albums/zz344/hrt4me/Dillon%20Aero%202011/th_takingoffinHueyfromDillonAeroinScottsdale.jpg (http://s842.photobucket.com/albums/zz344/hrt4me/Dillon%20Aero%202011/?action=view&current=takingoffinHueyfromDillonAeroinScottsdale.mp4)

firing to the side:
http://i842.photobucket.com/albums/zz344/hrt4me/Dillon%20Aero%202011/th_lateral.jpg (http://s842.photobucket.com/albums/zz344/hrt4me/Dillon%20Aero%202011/?action=view&current=lateral.mp4)

firing toward the rear:
http://i842.photobucket.com/albums/zz344/hrt4me/Dillon%20Aero%202011/th_outtheback.jpg (http://s842.photobucket.com/albums/zz344/hrt4me/Dillon%20Aero%202011/?action=view&current=outtheback.mp4)

overhead pass:
http://i842.photobucket.com/albums/zz344/hrt4me/Dillon%20Aero%202011/th_overhead.jpg (http://s842.photobucket.com/albums/zz344/hrt4me/Dillon%20Aero%202011/?action=view&current=overhead.mp4)

low and fast:
http://i842.photobucket.com/albums/zz344/hrt4me/Dillon%20Aero%202011/th_lowandfast.jpg (http://s842.photobucket.com/albums/zz344/hrt4me/Dillon%20Aero%202011/?action=view&current=lowandfast.mp4)

Land Rover Defender:
http://i842.photobucket.com/albums/zz344/hrt4me/Dillon%20Aero%202011/th_LandRoverDefender.jpg (http://s842.photobucket.com/albums/zz344/hrt4me/Dillon%20Aero%202011/?action=view&current=LandRoverDefender.mp4)

dueling miniguns:
http://i842.photobucket.com/albums/zz344/hrt4me/Dillon%20Aero%202011/th_duelingminiguns.jpg (http://s842.photobucket.com/albums/zz344/hrt4me/Dillon%20Aero%202011/?action=view&current=duelingminiguns.mp4)

spraying the berm:
http://i842.photobucket.com/albums/zz344/hrt4me/Dillon%20Aero%202011/th_sprayingtheberm.jpg (http://s842.photobucket.com/albums/zz344/hrt4me/Dillon%20Aero%202011/?action=view&current=sprayingtheberm.mp4)

[Kazzy]

Awesome! Thank you for sharing

[Iraqgunz]

I went to the course in 2007. Flying in that Huey and strafing targets in the desert was simply bad ass.

[MOTRON]

I don't know why these aren't installed on Cruisers and Destroyers for defense from small boat attack. One forward and aft, port and starboard and the whole ship would be covered.

These would be especially effective during swarm attacks in narrow waterways, ie. the Straight of Hormuz.

Hell, one 2-3 second burst would kill everyone aboard a small boat.

[hrt4me]

I don't know why these aren't installed on Cruisers and Destroyers for defense from small boat attack. One forward and aft, port and starboard and the whole ship would be covered.

These would be especially effective during swarm attacks in narrow waterways, ie. the Straight of Hormuz.

Hell, one 2-3 second burst would kill everyone aboard a small boat.

Dillon Aero asea (http://www.dillonaero.com/content/p/61)