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DPD1

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Posts posted by DPD1

    Sale Canceled

    in Buy and sell - add scale to your title

    Posted

    It's not that I don't WANT to ship them guys... The rates are too high for a box big enough to hold them. Even just to AZ would be $70 parcel post, and I wouldn't trust that. UPS would be $56 (To AZ), but way higher most other zones. I assume that sort of ruins the deal.

    I'm in the San Fernando Valley.

    MH-60s got Bin Ladden

    in Helicopter Modeling

    Posted

    If somebody told me there was going to be a stealth helicopter, I actually wouldn't think that's crazy at all. It fits perfectly with the spec ops build-up over the last 10 years, and fills a very important niche. I think all the stuff that's been reported on the helicopter is most likely to be the least accurate, because #1... It's the thing that secrecy would be the most enforced on, and #2... It's the thing that is most likely to purposely have disinformation put out. All I know is that part of the ship left, absolutely has typical low RCS stealth design. But I do not see any significant noise suppression. They could possibly have one that focuses on that, but I think that would be odd. Why not do it right and offer both. A redesign is a redesign. It would probably cost more money to develop two separate ones that just one that does both. Also... No helicopter is ever going to be "quiet". Less noise yes... Quiet, no. I just don't see what the big advantage would be. Your flight profile is what gives you the best stealth on all levels.

    MH-60s got Bin Ladden

    in Helicopter Modeling

    Posted

    Like every version told so far, I would imagine there's parts that are true, and parts that are warped a bit. It's already been clearly established that they left to the west, then transferred onto another aircraft in Afghan to go to the carrier. Which makes a lot more sense. So if that's wrong with this version, then there's other things wrong. The actual book might be more legit. But "green box"? What the heck is that? Sounds ridiculous to me.

    I can see them being ticked, but truth is, the whole world was going to know he was dead whether the Prez said something or not.

    But it's funny... How many times have top level missions like this, been supported by a tired old Prowler in the last 15 years? The unsung hero of US air power. lol

    Blackwater USA MD-530

    in Helicopter Modeling

    Posted

    I saw a document posted on the net in relation to Dyncorp and it states that they are selling seven Hueys and two MD530s, so maybe they are bringing their aviation activities in Iraq to a close. N530MG is one of their 530s and one website listing it for sale states it has optional "Armor Works" armour available. Dyncorps acquired this helicopter in 2009 after it was refurbished by Northwest Helicopters. N530KD is possibly the other F-model in their fleet. Both currently for sale.

    Besides Blackwater-Xe and Dyncorps, does anyone know of any other private security companies operating the MD530FF in Iraq or A/stan? Thanks.

    LD.

    A new agreement was reached recently, so things have probably changed yet again. But as of a few months ago, a large portion of the Army helicopter brigade was due to leave in Dec. Dyncorp has the air ops contract, so if anything, their activity would increase. They might be selling stuff to buy new stuff. There's many PMC outfits over there, but I don't think there's many involved in air ops. The DSS might also be taking over that kind of stuff at some point. The Dyncorp 500 series is probably being held under a front company identity, which is why it doesn't show up under them.

    Blackwater USA MD-530

    in Helicopter Modeling

    Posted

    For those of you interested in special-use versions of the MD500 series, it looks like Dyncorp have replaced Blackwater/Xe in the aerial security role in Iraq.

    http://www.naukrigulf.com/job-listings-Pilot-Rotary-Wing-LLH-MD-530--Baghdad-Iraq-Dyncorp-International-3-to-6-years-020911500010-

    The MD530Fs they are using are flat Olive Drab overall with black interiors on tall skids. Not sure if the helicopters are civil-registered in Iraq or are using some kind of other serial number but they don't appear to carry an N-Reg.

    LD.

    I saw a tiny photo of one of the Dyncorp ships on a pilots profile, but you can't get a good look. If you run them in the database, all that comes up is a bunch of UH-1Hs. I know they did send some of those over there... Bell UH-1H Iroquois N51AG, DynCorp

    They changed stuff so many times, it's hard to keep track. I think the DSS was even running the air ops for a while or something, and they borrowed H-1s from DEA. It's been kind of a mess after the Blackwater shakeup. They've been cracking down on the cowboy stuff with the contractors, so there's probably not going to be many photos or videos anymore.

    USMC Helo squadrons training at the local airport

    in General Discussion

    Posted

    Nice catch... That's interesting, because I caught a few Dragon flights through the SF valley around then. So they were probably making some runs to other locations on missions. Notice how they all carry the REIN code when they've joined together. Sometimes you can find something published that lists the other units with the REIN at that time, but it's not always easy.

    Helos used in MacGyver

    in Helicopter Modeling

    Posted

    Thanks for the info. I'd be very interested to see a list of the aircraft they operated. Any idea how Blue Thunder ended up in the show?

    Ray

    I believe at least one of the two modified copters was bought by a guy in New Mexico. He leased it out to some people for filming, including a TV movie called "Amerika". I believe both airframes were sold for parts quite a while back. People have reported them still being displayed here and there, but those are actually mockups used for static shots.

    Art Scholl flew in BT, and he was huge around that time. He flew in tons of stuff form that a period, including Top Gun, and unfortunately died in a crash while filming that, in 85 I believe. I think Tom Friedkin also did some flying on BT.

    Yeah, Jetcopters has been involved with tons of stuff over the years. Helinet has done a lot of stuff over the years.

    Steve Hinton, Craig Hosking, Peter McKernan, Rick Shuster... Just a few of the guys that have been around since back then. Hinton did work on AirWolf.

    What they do is assign someone "air coordinator". Depending on how big something is, that could just be the pilot, or a whole separate job. That person will hear what the director/art people would like to see, then he goes out and tries to find it. There's plenty of private owners, so they go to people they know, or make an offer to people who own something they'd like to use. It's actually a good way for owners to make some extra money and help pay the bills. But ships come and go, so that accounts for the turnover and all the different copters you would see back in the day.

    Little trivia... The "Santini Air" Ranger was also used as one of the LAPD copters in BT. Rick Shuster owned that one for a while after the show. Alan Purwin started West Coast Helicopters, which turned into HeliNet eventually. A lot of those guys use to eat at the Van Nuys Holiday Inn restaurant back in the day. But it's a small community and they all know each other.

    Helos used in MacGyver

    in Helicopter Modeling

    Posted

    A lot of the individual operators back in those days, eventually ended up consolidating and running one co-op company. So even though you might have one pilot, or a couple pilots hired... they knew all the other guys and knew who owned what. So they could get their hands on just about whatever they needed. I swear I remember the name of the guys who owned that MD, but I'd have to jog the memory. The same guys that did AirWolf did a lot of other stuff in that period. Most of them operated out of Van Nuys.

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