Pics of brother working... Apache Longbow pics

[PicassoCT]

brother must be hell of a mutlitasker, heard the appache has quite a complex controll & Hud-system to get into.

[echoone]

brother must be hell of a mutlitasker, heard the appache has quite a complex controll & Hud-system to get into.

Whoever told you that is spot on. I'm lucky enough to have been in a simulator. You'd be amazed at how much crap you have to go through just to designate a target and fire. And from time to time, they even forget. Sadly, if you've seen a rather infamous video of an Apache killing an unfortunate farmer in Iraq (object misidentified as weapon), you'll notice the pilot fires and initially misses with the 30mm cannon. That's because he didn't lase the target for proper range before he fired.

I'm a private pilot and fly complex single engine, fixed wing. Flying rotor wing is more complex but ignoring that, I was fairly overwhelmed and I was tasked with very little other than flying, targeting, and shooting, with some of their easier to use weapon systems. And each weapon system seems to have its own juggling act. Of course, I don't have the thousands of hours he does doing this but its easy to see how new pilots in an Apache can be quickly overwhelmed; especially in combat. Needless to say, it can make instructors gray before their time.

Add in the information from their eye reticle, which displays external visuals x-feet forward and y-feet down (via the FLIR - the funky rotating pod on the front), plus their MFDs and radios, there's a lot of information to take in.

I'm told a lot of new Apache pilots vomit their brains out while their body is adjusting to the use of that eye reticle. Information overload to say the least. And that's with their cockpit completely blacked out such that they can only see outside through the reticle, which eases things on the brain.

In case you didn't know, in helicopters, unlike fixed wing, all four limbs stay pretty busy just flying. Add to that he has to talk/instruct while flying and maintaining situational awareness, and monitoring the student, he definitely has his hands full. Made even worse, the margin for error is typically 20-50 feet of altitude for obstacle clearance at roughly 110-150 mph. Of course, that likely explains why he's lost one bird in a crash with a student. Trees do nasty things to tail rotors! He is now ~1/2" shorter due to spinal compression. No joke.

[PicassoCT]

holy shit, always knew that copters sneaking from hill to hill had it way moar dangerous (something springs brawlers never transported, this feeling of how vurnerable, touch,sniper and dodge a copter really is) in comparisson to plane (lock on, fire and fast up&away, staying completely out of sight for air-targets (dont cout A10)

Hope your brother doesent get addicted to pain-relievers, most spine injured people have to take them sooner or later. But one can imagine how much he likes his job and the flying, just by his return after the crash, takes much dedication. :)

[echoone]

copters sneaking from hill to hill had

Actually, the highways in Iraq are far, scarier.

While he was deployed to Iraq, on patrol, they found an IED on the side of a major highway in the form of several 50-gallon drums. Bravery is parking (hovering) feet above the highway so you can bring cars, trucks, and semis to a full stop so they can safely shoot IED from afar. Lots of smoke from tires and owl eyes staring back at them.

Of course, the real surprise was the dummy who didn't stop from the other direction and was shocked to find HE 30mm rounds exploding all over the place, nowhere near the IED, and right behind the car as he streaked past the IED.

Guess someone didn't lase the target before they fired. Also, that cannon isn't accurate for the first three or four rounds. They tend to fly wild until the cannon locks into its recoil system. That's why they typically fire 10-20 round "bursts".

[Panda]

I'm lucky enough to have been in a simulator.

I'm a private pilot and fly complex single engine, fixed wing. Flying rotor wing is more complex but ignoring that, I was fairly overwhelmed and I was tasked with very little other than flying, targeting, and shooting, with some of their easier to use weapon systems. And each weapon system seems to have its own juggling act. Of course, I don't have the thousands of hours he does doing this but its easy to see how new pilots in an Apache can be quickly overwhelmed; especially in combat. Needless to say, it can make instructors gray before their time.

That is very cool that you and your brother can fly!

I like flight simulators too even though I've never flown anything and don't want to fly an Apache or anything like it. Aircraft are fun to ride in, but I don't want to do all of the stuff that you and your brother can do in planes even if it is neat that the two of you can do that.

Add in the information from their eye reticle, which displays external visuals x-feet forward and y-feet down (via the FLIR - the funky rotating pod on the front), plus their MFDs and radios, there's a lot of information to take in.

I'm told a lot of new Apache pilots vomit their brains out while their body is adjusting to the use of that eye reticle. Information overload to say the least. And that's with their cockpit completely blacked out such that they can only see outside through the reticle, which eases things on the brain.

I've heard that a lot of pilots get nauseous after doing stunts, but don't in simulators because of differences in air pressure and adjusting to the different environment. It must be a difficult thing for new Apache pilots to adjust to.

He is now ~1/2" shorter due to spinal compression. No joke.

Did you know that practicing Yoga could help with spinal compression in a way similar to how physical therapy works for an injured person? It's not good to have spinal compression because your nerves are located behind the spinal cord. I'm currently working on stretching my spine so that I can improve my ability to do acrobatics and balance while doing handstands. It seems to be working very well. The key is to breath and relax while stretching and exercising.

A lot of people don't think that it's possible to improve the condition of their spine or spinal flexibility because they believe that only children can do that sort of thing, but good yoga practitioners frequently prove this to be wrong. A person who is very good at practicing yoga can do back bends and all sorts of other things that so many people believe isn't possible. They also look younger than their chronological age because they take care of their health, internal organs and structures included. Perhaps your brother should take up Yoga. Physical therapists recommend it given that you are careful and don't push yourself to hard or do anything to further your injuries. A physical therapist should be able to advise an injured person as to what kind of exercises that they can or can't do if someone is unsure about what they should do and doesn't want to be on pain pills all the time.

[Wolf-In-Exile]

Whoever told you that is spot on. I'm lucky enough to have been in a simulator. You'd be amazed at how much crap you have to go through just to designate a target and fire. And from time to time, they even forget. Sadly, if you've seen a rather infamous video of an Apache killing an unfortunate farmer in Iraq (object misidentified as weapon), you'll notice the pilot fires and initially misses with the 30mm cannon. That's because he didn't lase the target for proper range before he fired.

Just a few corrections there. That was a video on wikileaks, and the man in question was not a farmer. He was a journalist working for Reuters, and the 'weapon' was a telephoto lens and tripod. He was not the only casualty, several other civilians were gunned down.

Furthermore, several people who tried to help the injured were shot at including a van with children inside. Now while I understand that in any conflict accidents happen, but in this day and age, there are ways to positively identify threats from bystanders (UAVs, high-powered telescopes etc.), incidents like this shouldn't happen.
With great power comes great responsibility and all that.

Video

[echoone]

Sadly, if you've seen a rather infamous video of an Apache killing an unfortunate farmer in Iraq (object misidentified as weapon), you'll notice the pilot fires and initially misses with the 30mm cannon. That's because he didn't lase the target for proper range before he fired.

Just a few corrections there. That was a video on wikileaks, and the man in question was not a farmer.

What you're talking about is a completely different event. He (and several others) was a farmer, which only became clear months later because of video analysis.

In your case, he was a reporter, acting very suspiciously, with people who appeared to be armed (cross hairs on him at 4:02, does look like a slung rifle). Contrary to the mass of misinformation spread about that incident, it was a legal, yet unfortunate killing; much like the video to which I referred. Any time you are around armed people in a combat zone, you are a legitimate target; especially when you act suspiciously, like he was. This is why news ("TV") and medical ("+") people go to great lengths to mark themselves and their vehicles - assuming they want to stay alive. Basically, he's a poster boy of what not to do, if you want to stay alive, in a war zone.

The video to which I referred follows. Warning, this video is very graphic. Again, notice that when he fires the first time, you can hear it but never see anything impact anywhere near the people in the video. This is because he failed to range his target before he fired. One last note here, this is the shorted version of the video. It is not the full length version which can likely, also be found on You Tube.

There's a lot of misinformation put forward, even by mainstream press, about the video link you provided.

[echoone]

Here's some of his crash pics. I scaled them down. The safety features built into the copter saved both of their lives. Both the landing gear and seats are specifically designed to absorb huge g-forces, thereby protecting its occupants. Both the gear and seats were fully "stroked". Meaning, they had no more protection or offer and all excess was transferred to the occupants.

Also, the fuel tanks did completely reseal and no fuel was spilled. The engines had to be shut off as they were still running. Had the fuel tanks not sealed...well...

And of course, the pilot made a huge difference. He was able to maintain within 1-degree of level prior to impact. That feat allowed the other safety equipment to provide maximum protection as well as prevented a roll over.

crash1-scaled.jpg

Bad tree! Very bad tree!

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crash2-scaled.jpg

Round and round we go!

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crash3-scaled.jpg

Maximum g

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yoga

I'll pass on those comments. He's also had surgery on both knees. I have a hard time imagining him doing Yoga but you never know.

And to be clear, you can't consume any painkiller and have flight status. Even the mildest of allergy pills and other over the counter drugs are seriously frowned upon. Many are outright illegal to consume and fly. That true for civilian pilots too.

[Panda]

And to be clear, you can't consume any painkiller and have flight status. Even the mildest of allergy pills and other over the counter drugs are seriously frowned upon. Many are outright illegal to consume and fly. That true for civilian pilots too.

Good to know.

[PicassoCT]

But thats for copter pilots only - closecombat aircrafts if you want soo, but jetfighterpilots, who have missiontimes well over 24 hs need there speed to stay awake. True is that any sedatives are forbidden.

[Wolf-In-Exile]

What you're talking about is a completely different event. He (and several others) was a farmer, which only became clear months later because of video analysis.

In your case, he was a reporter, acting very suspiciously, with people who appeared to be armed (cross hairs on him at 4:02, does look like a slung rifle). Contrary to the mass of misinformation spread about that incident, it was a legal, yet unfortunate killing; much like the video to which I referred. Any time you are around armed people in a combat zone, you are a legitimate target; especially when you act suspiciously, like he was. This is why news ("TV") and medical ("+") people go to great lengths to mark themselves and their vehicles - assuming they want to stay alive. Basically, he's a poster boy of what not to do, if you want to stay alive, in a war zone.

The video to which I referred follows. Warning, this video is very graphic. Again, notice that when he fires the first time, you can hear it but never see anything impact anywhere near the people in the video. This is because he failed to range his target before he fired. One last note here, this is the shorted version of the video. It is not the full length version which can likely, also be found on You Tube.

There's a lot of misinformation put forward, even by mainstream press, about the video link you provided.

Haven't seen that video, my bad.

I'm not very sure about the 'acting suspicuously' part, after all anyone would be on their guard in a warzone since you never know when someone decides it'd be fun to use you as target practice.

Anyway, about your brother's back issues, exercise is the way to go as panda said. Strengthening the back muscles will ease the stress on the spine, though if someone has had injury before its best to start slow.
Strengthening core muscles is also important (doing squats, deadlifts etc).

[Caydr]

I recommend 4chan for the latest info on squats and dead lifts.

[Gota]

4chan?
what is that?

[Jazcash]

4chan?
what is that?

That really doesn't work for you seeing as you spend most your day posting /b/ images in #main

[PicassoCT]

I neva saw GOTAs name on any of the nomorus poasts on 4chan, except for /b/ i dont lurk there, its to crowded these dayz.

[Wombat]

most of them are about black ppl, ironic isnt it ? :D

[jeykey]

weapon loadout of AH-64 Apache

[Jazcash]

"Happy birthday son!"

[knorke]

(German Tiger Pilot)

[Gota]

(German Tiger Pilot)

It seems that not only are the flying vehicle mechnisms inspired by flying insects but also the pilot gear.
That's clearly a Mantis.