[CholeraJoe]

Whenever we made a remote landing, my job was to hang out the door and watch the tail rotor to make sure it didn't hit anything. You lose the tail rotor and you'll suddenly feel like a frog in a blender.

Reasoner was right. A helicopter violates every law of aerodynamics and most of the laws of physics. They can fly backwards, too, but not far.

[SAMWolf]

So you were a "Rear Rotor Watcher"?

Sounds like a song title in there somewhere? ;-)

[snippy_about_it]

...my job was to hang out the door and watch the tail rotor...

That's what I want to hear CholeraJoe, tell us more stories!

[U S Army EOD]

When ever I rode in helicopters I would watch everything in case some of you guys missed something. A lot of my rides in helicopters were to help recover one just like the one I was riding in. I always considered that when I got on board.

Now to the subject of my comment. Once while watching TV I saw the program "This Is Your Life". They had on the program an Air Force Sergeant who was with the rescue service as the subject. They brought back a number of the pilots he had pulled out of the jungle and each told the story of how this guy rescued them. The program had me in tears the entire length of it. In the eyes of these pilots this sergeant was a greater figure in history than Daniel Boone, Davy Crockett, and John Wayne all combined into one. You could see this in their eyes. By any chance have you heard of the program or do you know the story. He would sure be a good individual to feature on Foxhole??