External Loads-what Have You Dropped?

[Cole]

Cool stories, keep 'em coming

 

"moly" ya bet that came right after "hmmm this is unfortunate"

 

 

Cole :punk:

[twinstar_ca]

lmao!! my thoughts exactly, cole!!!

[hookweight78]

Picture it .... An average late fall morning in north eastern BC .... Tooga area

I am pilot operating at the time and go to check my remote compressor and a few wells .... i remember that their are some empty drums at the compressor that can be brought back so i think perfect i'll grab my net and a line and practice this long lining stuff..... i get the empty drums off the lease beautifully (in my mind at the time) ..... cruising back to the main plant with my net load of drums and feeling pretty good about myself i wonder , how fast could i get this load off me if something were to happen ..... so i decided to jump my thumb over the release ... not hit the button but just see how fast i can get my thumb there ..... hahahaha well the button was sensitive and HOLY #### there goes my load .....it kind of stayed with me for a second and then started descending , maintaining it's forward speed as it headed for the ground. The net load of drums smoked the ground like some kind of non exploding air to ground weapon.....luckily i was following a pipeline and no people were hurt and no property damaged ... except the drums....... i tried to land where my load was but it was to overgrown ..... so i took a huge gulp ... swallowed my pride , went back to the plant , explained to the guys what happend grabbed a sled and a sleigh and collected my net , line , and drums.

Live and Learn.

[twinstar_ca]

and i'm sure "hmmmm.. this is unfortunate" was the phrase that escaped you too, hw78!!! how many beers did that cost you that nite??

[downwash]

A momentary digression, if I may.

 

One of the things I like best about this forum is the number of contributors who are willing to tell potentially embarassing stories about themselves cmpared to the number who only want to criticize others. There's nothing quite so refreshing as someone laughing at themselves. :up:

[twinstar_ca]

well said, DW... :up:

[T tail]

I can think of a couple of loads I should have buttoned .... but didn't have the experience or maybe the brains to hit the button, thankfully they both had a happy ending and my learning curve got that little bit steeper :up:

 

Cheers TT

[Jay Flight]

keep it coming... for a newbie this is the best stuff I have ever read and thanks for not burning me on the bump......any other stories that are funny but may not include a long-line???? stuff blowing out the door..... bears waking up....... pictures would top it off.......

[bleed air]

Our choppers are set-up with the double-pull system similar to what Cap described in an earlier post.

 

One of my more embarassing episodes occurred after shortlining I-don’t-know-how-many loads into an alpine site where I had to use the double-pull system to release the belly hook. I was then to longline a couple of loads to another nearby site. After getting all proud of myself for nicely setting the first longline load right at the feet of the ground crew, I then (suffering from what I can only explain as force of habit, brain fart, helmet fire, whatever) proceeded to hit the “double-pull” buttons to release the remote hook...d’uh!

 

From 120’ up, it appeared as if in slow motion :shock:, the longline practically coiled itself up with the 5/8” pear ring on top, all centred neatly on top of the load…like I could manage that feat again!. All of it having missed the ground crew by inches…who for some reason were reaching in to manually release the hook!

 

You can imagine the looks I got after I landed nearby and walked over to retrieve my line! (Note to self: PAY ATTENTION…DIP $HIT!)

 

Some of the more entertaining loads I’ve released (intentionally), have been animal carcasses that I’ve had to move away from hiking trails in the national & provincial parks. We’ve all heard of horsefly and deerfly, if I may, I’d like to add bearfly, elkfly and moosefly to that list. It gives one an appreciation for that saying...it's not the fall that hurts, just the sudden stop at the bottom!

[Cole]

BA- had to pick myself off the floor after that one, I could just imagine the look on the ground crew's face after that :shock: hahahaha

 

Well any news on the tasman machine that accidentally lost its bucket 2 blocks from my house. Roumer(sp?) is he was asked to alter heading to let the (probably jazz or central mountain air) aircraft out behind him, proceeded and when he went to call to acknowledge he hit the OOPS button insted good thing it was in the summer, not that there is any school going on now, actually that might help the situation, taking out a few teachers with a bambi bucket that is.

However, I have also heard speculations and whitnesses that said he didnt have anything attatched to the hook... me thinks he lost one?

 

Cole :punk: