As a young Bell Helicopter Quality Engr., I was working late one evening out on the flight line. A pilot asked if I’d like to go up because he needed some “ballast”. Of course I jumped at the chance!
I was front seat in an AH-1G Cobra, about 1967, during the flight and the pilot gave me the ride of my life with the power dives from high altitude, low terraine at high speed, etc.
I consider the AH-1W Cobra by Bell to be one of the finest, if not the best, rotary wing attack aircraft and it is a Navy-Marine buy. The Cobras are deployed on ships, just as the other helos are, but they seldom get any press and their big brothers the V-22 Ospreys don’t either.
Yeah....I’m somewhat biased since I worked there for over 35 years, but those are some great aircraft and the military folks love ‘em.
Grin-—I guess the pilots love to show them off, mine did the same thing. We were low-leveling through the German countryside and he asked me if I understood how dangerous that was. Yep — and I don’t care.
Then he asked me if I would get sick if he made some hard turns, etc.. I told him that after over 500 freefall jumps, he would be scared long before I was. (As pilot, he would KNOW we were in trouble).
Yep. You don’t forget things like that.