CH-46 going about his day, picking up bombs for delivery.

If someone can get the video up, that would be great.

https://youtube.com/shorts/VnU...?si=mQVW3f_uy7fPcUcH

Hol-eee-sheite !!!

Something tells me that wasn’t his first time.

For the old goats what can't see gooder.

Thank you Paul and Mr. Monkey.

quote:

Originally posted by wrightd:
Hol-eee-sheite !!!

No kidding, especially when you consider that that ship was also underway and moving forward while he was doing that!

Impressive flying, but if they were really picking up bombs, would the bombs be “live” at that point?

Skilled!

quote:

Originally posted by trapper189:
Impressive flying, but if they were really picking up bombs, would the bombs be “live” at that point?

As someone noted in the comments, the video title is not correct. Rare, for sure.
The fuses may not have been installed yet.

1966-68 aircraft carrier in Vietnam. We rearmed via helo only once that I can remember and it was for some missiles. Normally accomplished via high line underway same as any other resupply.

And,no, the bombs would not have been fuzed

No big deal, fusing is done later on and dropping that isn’t going to do anything.

I honestly read the title as “how to do a pick up with a hello.” I was going to say, “I catch their eye and then I slowly lick my eyebrows.”

What impressed me was underway replenishment with a helo in rough seas.

quote:

Originally posted by trapper189:
Impressive flying, but if they were really picking up bombs, would the bombs be “live” at that point?

Live as in munitions with a charge. Yes.
But relatively safe condition. They are not fuzed.

All munitions for aircraft contain charges either initial stores in the ships magazines prior to deployment or resupply underway and in theater.

On carriers they are loaded on ejector racks (specifically MERS/TERS "multiple/triple ejector racks), and are fuzed, and safed using stiff single wire(s), and pins or "switches".

The ("munitions loaded" racks are on wheeled dollies to facilitate loading racks onto aircraft (dollies may have hand jack capability to hand load racks), or "jammers" (driven bomb loading lift vehicle to move rack from dolly to aircraft)* while missiles and smaller munitions may be individually hand loaded. directly to aircraft hardpoints, pylons or magazines (rockets).

*(my Air Force brain used "jammer" incorrectly. not a Navy thing)

Arming is done, typically after engine start and transferred to internal electrical power and in prescribed "Arming Area" (pointed off ship with nothing in line of sight)

And "de-armed" in the same manner prior to parking and shutdown.

With exception, the USAF does not have "pre-loaded" racks, but load all aircraft at the (parking) "spot" from munitions trailers to the racks on installed on the aircraft.

Air Launched Cruise missiles and some other munitions are on "racks/launchers" and loaded as a "unit", for bombers and such, but it is a small and specific procedure.

It's just a different rodeo.

Edited to add.
(this is my anecdotal recollection from my interaction with Navy "Plane Captains" and others about 45 years ago, so I may be suspect on complete accuracy)

This message has been edited. Last edited by: sigmonkey,

quote:

Originally posted by Rey HRH:
I honestly read the title as “how to do a pick up with a hello.”

I thought it was going to be about how to turn a helo into a pickup.

Side Flare 67 of HC-11

There's a decent chance I'm on the Cruiser in the background. A bubby of mine was an aircrewmen with that Det doing the vertrep. No one did that mission better then the 46.

quote:

Originally posted by Expert308:

quote:

Originally posted by Rey HRH:
I honestly read the title as “how to do a pick up with a hello.”

I thought it was going to be about how to turn a helo into a pickup.

Or turning a non truck into a pickup.

I'd be more than a little nervous being the hookup guy standing on the deck of that stores ship, watching that chopper skid backwards at me and just above my head.

While that looks impressive to people who have never done an underway replacement, we just called that Tuesday.
They would use 3 CH-46s to transfer pallets of everything from the oilier's flight deck to our flight deck while we were alongside taking on fuel through 2 stations. We were capable of transferring the pallets via transfer stations, but it is much slower, so large transfers were done by helo.
One would hook up, lift the pallet and just slip sideways 120 feet to our flight deck, drop the pallet, and just drop back astern. Before the 1st helo was clear, the 2nd helo was already slipping sideways with it's load and the 3rd helo was hooking up it's load. Meanwhile the 1st helo was now making its approach to pick up it's next load. They would just racetrack and drop 30 pallets on our deck in 15 minutes in a non-stop cycle. Sometimes they would split up, dropping pallets on the ship refueling on the other side of the oilier at the same time. And as an added "we bad", the pallets would be lined up and spaced out neatly.
It was always an impressive display of serious pilot skills.

I only did a weapons transfer once, we took on a telemetry SM1 missile in the med for a missile exercise shoot. They brought it over already in the transfer dolly and the flight over was more sedately as they dropped on the bow forward on the missile launcher.

Time is a wonderful thing, now I can remember how cool it was instead of how much it sucked to do it.