Watching it closely, I have some questions y'all smarter folks might be able to answer.
When the little birds that first came in were taking off again, they passed through the light for a sec. Were there white-suited "skid riders" on them?
Was the second "wave" a black hawk or a Pave Low (Sikorsky MH-53)?
For question #1, yes. They were riding the skids. From analysis from others, those little birds are used by Special Forces because they are small and quiet and they do ride the skids.
What got me wondering is, in the vid from approx 1:21 to 1:25 we get some glimpse of the craft's nose profile.
What I think I see is a more verticle front windscreen/window than in a Black Hawk, bulkier engine housings on the upper hull, and the sensor protrusion seeming to be on the left nose of the craft.
I'm not a Heli'spert though. My only xp was on CH47 and CH53 rides way back in the day.
To be fair I could be wrong, all a very similar outline even with the refuelling extension. I've flown the Black Hawk once along with the older AH1 W Cobra, but I was in a different military and country when I was flying rotary with different aircraft. I was going mainly on instinct.
Watching it closely, I have some questions y'all smarter folks might be able to answer.
When the little birds that first came in were taking off again, they passed through the light for a sec. Were there white-suited "skid riders" on them?
Was the second "wave" a black hawk or a Pave Low (Sikorsky MH-53)?
For question #1, yes. They were riding the skids. From analysis from others, those little birds are used by Special Forces because they are small and quiet and they do ride the skids.
Blackhawk.
What got me wondering is, in the vid from approx 1:21 to 1:25 we get some glimpse of the craft's nose profile.
What I think I see is a more verticle front windscreen/window than in a Black Hawk, bulkier engine housings on the upper hull, and the sensor protrusion seeming to be on the left nose of the craft.
I'm not a Heli'spert though. My only xp was on CH47 and CH53 rides way back in the day.
To be fair I could be wrong, all a very similar outline even with the refuelling extension. I've flown the Black Hawk once along with the older AH1 W Cobra, but I was in a different military and country when I was flying rotary with different aircraft. I was going mainly on instinct.
I have heard that only SpecOps exclusively uses Blackhawks with refueling extension.
However, I think both Blackhawks and those killer egg copters were both on the deck on Wilshire Blvd that night.