"Black Hawk Down": question for soldiers?

[OH58D]

Actual surveillance footage of the Battle of Mogadishu, Somalia (inspiration for Black Hawk Down) (October 3-4, 1993)

https://v.redd.it/dqh2356gt2b31

Video courtesy of the Kiowa Delta Model mentioned in post 24 of this thread. The Kiowa Warrior's Mast Mounted Sight uses a TV camera with 12 to 1 zoom ratio, thermal imaging for white and black hot with a video tape recorder at that time, and a laser target acquisition designator (TADS).

The Blackhawks came in with Rangers, the Little Birds with Delta, including 2 Delta snipers. The original footage would have been quite high quality and used as a gun camera recorder. I never saw any weapons packages on this Kiowa when parked off to the side of the airport, nor when aloft, and as mentioned before, no interactions with the crew.

I trained a flew that model of aircraft a year later.

[Belmont31R]

Just curious about the dust. Obviously an issue in the ME at large but have never been able to ask an aviator. How does it play a factor and how does it affect the AC? Before moving into Iraq we dealt with with the talcum like shit on the ground and ‘raining mud’ but just curious how it works when you land a little bird in a street and the whole block instantly turns into white out like conditions. I can’t imagine the intakes sucking in that dust for very long is healthy.

Thanks for your insight!

[OH58D]

Just curious about the dust. Obviously an issue in the ME at large but have never been able to ask an aviator. How does it play a factor and how does it affect the AC? Before moving into Iraq we dealt with with the talcum like shit on the ground and ‘raining mud’ but just curious how it works when you land a little bird in a street and the whole block instantly turns into white out like conditions. I can’t imagine the intakes sucking in that dust for very long is healthy.

Thanks for your insight!

Dust is a problem for visibility and for an open cockpit like the MH6/AH6. The engine intake uses a baffle for the air intake which eliminates most of the fine particles. A more serious issue caused by dust is a static charge on the leading edge of the rotor blades, which you can see in low light. You touch the aircraft when it's not grounded and the static charge is enough to knock you flat. That's why sling load crews use an extended hollow tube grounding pole to dissipate the charge before connecting the load.

For the small aircraft like the Little Bird, if I were hovering in heavy dust at say 8 feet or so above ground level and someone grabbed the skid at arms length, it could be a shocking event. That's why the FRIES (Fast Rope Insertion Extraction System) runs the three inch thick rope out on each side away from the skids to allow an operator to hook on, but not actually touching an un-grounded part of the aircraft. The Fast Rope system can be quite effective for exfil operations and quick departures from a location. Most people see it only for fast roping in. There's a FRIES mulit-use rope for going in and out with hooks and lanyards, then there and a special rope with heavier clips strictly for exfil needs.

[Diamondback]

Thanks for pulling the curtain back a bit on combat rotorcraft operations, amigo. Always interesting to see the "hows" and "whys".

[WillBrink]

Dust is a problem for visibility and for an open cockpit like the MH6/AH6. The engine intake uses a baffle for the air intake which eliminates most of the fine particles. A more serious issue caused by dust is a static charge on the leading edge of the rotor blades, which you can see in low light. You touch the aircraft when it's not grounded and the static charge is enough to knock you flat. That's why sling load crews use an extended hollow tube grounding pole to dissipate the charge before connecting the load.

For the small aircraft like the Little Bird, if I were hovering in heavy dust at say 8 feet or so above ground level and someone grabbed the skid at arms length, it could be a shocking event. That's why the FRIES (Fast Rope Insertion Extraction System) runs the three inch thick rope out on each side away from the skids to allow an operator to hook on, but not actually touching an un-grounded part of the aircraft. The Fast Rope system can be quite effective for exfil operations and quick departures from a location. Most people see it only for fast roping in. There's a FRIES mulit-use rope for going in and out with hooks and lanyards, then there and a special rope with heavier clips strictly for exfil needs.

Interesting stuff!

[FromMyColdDeadHand]

M4C, making dirt interesting....

[chuckman]

I hated--HATED--FRIES/SPIES ops. Me no likey the heights. Helocasting is right up there, too, with activities I did not like.

[FromMyColdDeadHand]

I hated--HATED--FRIES/SPIES ops. Me no likey the heights. Helocasting is right up there, too, with activities I did not like.

Fishing from a helicopter sounds like fun, though it might scare away the fish...

[Uni-Vibe]

Since it was 1993, I suppose the rifles were M16A2 with fixed carry handles and 3 round burst? Does anybody know?

[C-grunt]

My 1st Sgt was a private with 10th Mountain that went in at the end. Be had stories of that day. The once thing he said that really never made public knowledge was the amount of women who were fighting as well.