spanish pitol flies backwards

[Daveroo]

http://fireaviation.com/2017/09/14/t...nd-drop-water/

[Tako_Kichi]

More sideways I think but there may have been a backward component in there too. Neat flying all the same, he really threw that bird around, I especially liked his rudder control just prior to the hover when collecting water.

[napamule]

The heli pilot is probably some 26 yr old 'playboy' showing off his skills and laughing his head off while he rocks out to some 'musica'.

[Flyboy208]

Talk about changes in CG ! Mike

[SSI01]

It does make one wonder about the stresses on various parts of the airframe while that's going on. His maintainers must be grinding their teeth watching this.

[zswobbie1]

Gotta watch out for those backward flying pitols!

[napamule]

It's 'PILOTOS' (pilots in Spanish).

[Victory103]

It does make one wonder about the stresses on various parts of the airframe while that's going on. His maintainers must be grinding their teeth watching this.

Exactly and the other question is "why?". I didn't see any immediate danger. We (UH-60) and the contracted UH-1 with snorkel would be very careful trying to not to spill the water load.

[Daveroo]

ow many gallons do the helicopter tanks carry?..i imagine there are differences for the different platforms,but any basic size would be telling..lol

[srgalahad]

ow many gallons do the helicopter tanks carry?..i imagine there are differences for the different platforms,but any basic size would be telling..lol

Size is dependent on allowable load of the aircraft...
The expanding line of Bambi Buckets now offers more than 20 different sizes, ranging from its smallest (a Robinson R44 bucket) to its massive 2,600 US gallon version.
http://www.sei-ind.com/products/bambi-bucket-systems

[Ivan]

That Pitol certainly had pretty good control over his bird.
I doubt he was showing off or even knew he was being watched.

As for spilling a little water, I figure the objective is to get as much water on the fire as quickly as possible and he seems to have done that. It wasn't like he was going to run out of water from that river any time soon.

A few years back, I watched a fellow in a skid-steer clearing snow from a parking lot.
He worked quickly and maneuvered his vehicle like it was a part of him.
At times, he spun or cornered fast enough to lift a couple wheels off the ground but never looked like he was not in total control.
He would move snow, add it to the pile and shape the pile in a way that seemed like he was just doing it with a giant trowel.

This pitol kind of reminds me of that fellow. He just maneuvers his vehicle without having to think about it.

- Ivan.

[gman5250]

That vid put me in mind of this one. These guys are definitely yankin' and bankin'. Really incredible feel and control coordination.