Fast Helicopter Flight Through Extreme Canyon

Expert helicopter pilot flies extremely l ( Stikine River watershed )ow and fast through the Iskut River Canyon. Video shot by pilot using handheld digital camera with video function. Pilot formerly flew with the Snowbird Airshow Team while in the service of our Country (Canada).

Category:

Autos & Vehicles

Tags:

• helicopter
• low
• level
• flight
• extreme
• canyon
• Iskut
• River
• airplane
• risky
• altitude
• pilot
• jet
• ranger

[dochertyinbc]

To answer your question, I reckon I defend him because I care for my friends and for their honor, yet perhaps you are correct, enough said. Thank you for your supportive words and know this, I would probably defend you too if events called called for it. Enough said.

[1BustedMyth]

Nice video, really need to adjust the exposure, its being shot by the passenger not the pilot, when your flying you dont have a spare hand!

:)

[dochertyinbc]

Right about the exposure. Wrong about the myth: This is a Bell Jet Ranger, which IS being flown AND video'd by the pilot! This turbine craft is flown at 100% torque (overtorqued briefly when needed) and therefore the collective (throttle) does not require constant attention. The cyclic on the other hand (3D steering) demands fairly constant contact ( I have a still photo of another pilot having a drink of coffee inflight). Note @ 2:15 the camera pans to the left and there is nobody in that seat.

[1BustedMyth]

Hi there not sure what you mean by "myth" I am very familiar with the aircraft thanks, then I am even more concerned because at this height he should have his hand on the collective at all times. Are you sure this isn't a helmet mounted cam?

[dochertyinbc]

Absolutely positive the pilot shot the video and NO, it is not helmet mounted. It is shot with a hand held Canon Powershot A530 still camera using the cheapo video mode.

[soccergod561234]

hmm videotaping and flying at a level only capable of about three pilots world wide... i cant tell if this is an expert show if confidence and skill or a extre case of the crazys? anyone wanna help me decide?

[dochertyinbc]

No doubt you will make your own mind up (if you haven't already) but when standing on a blowdown log over a flowing river (yes, circumstances have dictated it) and entering a hovering helicopter, who do YOU want at the cyclic? I knew quite a few surveyors and geologists who were asking for this guy, even though we had as many as six choppers serving our camp at a time!

[PegasusRomeo1]

@Jesseronimo I agree Jessee...not too big a deal. I, personally would not fly in such terrain in a single engine craft, I wouldn't want to have a situation where one of my chip lights came on and I'd have to add power to climb out of the rocks. Bad joojoo.

[PegasusRomeo1]

@rapidcolt Really? You don't think he could get his left hand to lower the collective before rotor RPM decayed below 90%? It's not at all uncommon to add some collective friction and take your hand off of it. Aside from that, at many points in his flight through the canyon, and autorotation doesn't do you much good without a suitable place to land.

[alitmz]

Arrogant piloting will eventually get you into an accident. Its nice that you can film your flight, but it is also extremely arrogant to fly that way, that low at those speeds with a camera in your collective hand. Not impressed at all.

[alitmz]

@19DeltaDave 500k? try at least 1.5 million used.

[getous]

@1BustedMyth True, but whoever shot it is in the right hand front seat, always occupied by a pilot or a student pilot, so even if he is not actually in control, he is still a pilot :P

[19DeltaDave]

clearly after this guy dropped $500k on the helicopter he didn't have enough left over for a decent video camera...should have went for the $499k model and then he'd have the best of both worlds.

[rapidcolt]

@JWoyt In a helicopter, taking your hand off the controls to do anything that isnt brief and vital makes your dad the retard. If you have a power failure, you need to drop that collective within seconds, and if you're a bumbling moron with a camera in your hands, you may just kill everyone.

[rapidcolt]

Fat chance doing an auto if you have a power failure. Thrilling, but what an unnecessary risk.

[Jesseronimo]

@soccergod561234 This is not as extreme as the filmer and poster made it out to be. It doesn't take an impossible amount of skill, there are a LOT of heli pilots that could do this, most just choose NOT too for multiple reasons. So the answer to your question is he's got a "case of the crazies." You have to be partially crazy to want to fly a mass of thousands of rotating parts in the first place.

PS. I am a helicopter pilot, I know what I'm talking about.

[heliduty]

@dochertyinbc i call bullsh*t...about this pilot setting the torque to 100% and then just flying one hand cyclic and the other filming.. All jetrangers have 2 main rotor blades atop a rather tall mast and the two rods that are visible running vertically beside the mast are what control the pitch of the blades. these pitch change arms will bend if a 206 travelling faster than 85 knots has a torque setting more than 80%. Not instantly but quick enough that this canyon flight is not at 100%