Cobra Ride

Velocity173

Velocity173

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Velocity173
Went flying with the Sky Soldiers Cobra today at the Rome Air Show. Good non-profit program and well worth the $295 for 7 min.

Impressions:

88% TRQ yielded just shy of 130 KIAS. Not bad. I'd say almost exactly Bell 407 cruise speeds. Much smoother than I thought for a two blade with a ridiculously wide cord. Not quite as smooth as a 4 blade but definitely doable for X-country flying. We did several "return to targets" (RTT); 30 degrees (ish) 60 degree bank (ish) and 30 down. On the down line you can hear the wind whistling by thè canopy and a little more vibrations when you're approaching approx 130 KIAS, but still surprisingly smooth & quiet. We probably peaked at 135 KIAS and 3,000 FPM in the dive. Did an auto at 80 KIAS and around 2,000 FPM.

Great time and recommend the ride to anyone interested in historic military helicopters and the need to keep them flying.
 
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Velocity173 said:
Went flying with the Sky Soldiers Cobra today at the Rome Air Show. Good non-profit program and well worth the $295 for 7 min.

Impressions:

88% TRQ yielded just shy of 130 KIAS. Not bad. I'd say almost exactly Bell 407 cruise speeds. Much smoother than I thought for a two blade with a ridiculously wide cord. Not quite as smooth as a 4 blade but definitely doable for X-country flying. We did several "return to targets" (RTT); 30 degrees (ish) 60 degree bank (ish) and 30 down. On the down line you can hear the wind whistling by thè canopy and a little more vibrations when you're approaching approx 130 KIAS, but still surprisingly smooth & quiet. We probably peaked at 135 KIAS and 3,000 FPM in the dive. Did an auto at 80 KIAS and around 2,000 FPM.

Great time and recommend the ride to anyone interested in historic military helicopters and the need to keep them flying.
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For us mere fixed wing pilots, what is TRQ?

Is that the same group that had the Cobras at Fond du Lac during AirVenture? Those were cool, but the price was a little rich for me.

Sounds like it was an action packed 7 minutes. Sounds fun. :thumbsup:
 
nddons said:
For us mere fixed wing pilots, what is TRQ?

Is that the same group that had the Cobras at Fond du Lac during AirVenture? Those were cool, but the price was a little rich for me.

Sounds like it was an action packed 7 minutes. Sounds fun. :thumbsup:
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Sorry, TRQ is torque. Pics to follow. For some reason they aren't loading from my phone.
 
35 AoA said:
Very cool, looking forward to pics. You get to shoot the gun? :)
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Lol! Nah no shooting guns. I believe it's 20 mm like yours??? I think at a lesser cyclic rate though.

Would have been nice to fly it but their official policy is no passengers touch the controls.:wink2:
 
nddons said:
For us mere fixed wing pilots, what is TRQ?

Is that the same group that had the Cobras at Fond du Lac during AirVenture? Those were cool, but the price was a little rich for me.

Sounds like it was an action packed 7 minutes. Sounds fun. :thumbsup:
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The bird I fly is fixed wing. It has a TQ instrument but reads in ft.lbs.
 
If you liked that you would have really liked the Zulu model we had in the Corps.
 
Some Pics. Also pretty maneuverable for an underslung system. Just gotta keep positive G on it at all times.
 

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Did the T-birds launch out of Rome for the show? Every time I've seen 'em, they started and finished with a precision ground display. Today, I saw them land at Dobbins after the show, which was odd...
 
I wonder what the Marines think when they see a "historic helicopter ride" being given in a helicopter they still use?

Imagine if someone was giving F-15 rides in a "historic" Eagle?
 
It was a great show! We were running late even before hitting headwinds; I only heard three other planes land after me.

Slight sunburn, not too bit, good visibility--couldn't have asked for nicer weather!
 
kyleb said:
Did the T-birds launch out of Rome for the show? Every time I've seen 'em, they started and finished with a precision ground display. Today, I saw them land at Dobbins after the show, which was odd...
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No I believe Dobbins. I was thinking the 6,000 ft runway at RMG wouldn't suit their needs. Dobbins seemed like the most logical choice. Solos bugged out first, probably because they're working the burner more than the diamond. Diamond did one last pass and turned south. Did a really good job. Good lighting and good blue sky with high cirrus. Last time I saw them was in 2007 with their older block F-16s so it was good to see them with their new stuff.

It was also nice to see Jim Tobul with his Corsair up again since he just flipped that thing on it's back a few months ago. P-51 "Quick Silver" does an excellent demo as well. Of course Patty Wagstaff did a fine job too. One of my new favs is Mike Wiskus in the Lucas Oil Biplane. He does some hard core stuff in that aircraft.
 
Velocity173 said:
Solos bugged out first, probably because they're working the burner more than the diamond.
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Our house is under the base leg for 28 at Dobbins, and I was working on closing the pool for the winter when the two solo aircraft came over.

The balance of the aircraft didn't arrive for another 3-4 minutes.
 
Art VanDelay said:
If you liked that you would have really liked the Zulu model we had in the Corps.
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Yeah I imagine the Zulu would eat his lunch in a fight. Two engines, four blades, faster, more maneuverable, better avionics. Light years ahead. I suppose the only similarity between the old and the new would be a tandem cockpit.

Still, it was nice to go up in an old Cobra. Local Guard unit used to fly them to my high school when I was a kid and I always thought they were cool. It's imazing how narrow the fuse is and how wide the cord on thè blade is. Those blades are huge!
 
HIT check.... That's something I haven't heard in a while! Doggone FADEC and all!
 
nddons said:
For us mere fixed wing pilots, what is TRQ?

Is that the same group that had the Cobras at Fond du Lac during AirVenture? Those were cool, but the price was a little rich for me.

Sounds like it was an action packed 7 minutes. Sounds fun. :thumbsup:
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Oh yeah, they were at OSH this year. Believe they brought a couple Hueys as well. They're the Army Aviation Heritage Foundation. Non-profit organization.

They used to have a four ship Cobra demo painted in US Army black & gold. The Army in their infinite wisdom decided to pull the plug on financing them so now they just operate the two Cobras during demos.
 

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Flymy47 said:
HIT check.... That's something I haven't heard in a while! Doggone FADEC and all!
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We still do power assurance checks in the 407 but it's not an every day thing like HIT checks in the Army before the first flight of the day. Every 50 hrs we do one and it's done in the air. I suppose they're real similar to one another in that you're checking to make sure the engine is putting out the HP it's suppose to within the temps allowed.
 
Saw them at KHOP maybe 3-4 years ago. Incredible show they put on with the four ship demo. We were out on the flightline watching the practice show on Friday afternoon. I actually didn't mind staying late that day! Army always drops the ball on recruiting stuff like this. Think Silver Eagles...
 
So much helicopter language here. Taking me awhile to translate. :D

Cool ride for sure though!

David
 
Velocity173 said:
We still do power assurance checks in the 407 but it's not an every day thing like HIT checks in the Army before the first flight of the day. Every 50 hrs we do one and it's done in the air. I suppose they're real similar to one another in that you're checking to make sure the engine is putting out the HP it's suppose to within the temps allowed.
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When I was but a young CE, we did them every day prior to first flight, before we got the FADEC birds. Now we do a Power Assurance Check. Similar, but the FADEC is telling you what you have instead of the raw data you get with the HIT. I'd take the HIT any day! You have the RR engines in the 407, correct?
 
Flymy47 said:
When I was but a young CE, we did them every day prior to first flight, before we got the FADEC birds. Now we do a Power Assurance Check. Similar, but the FADEC is telling you what you have instead of the raw data you get with the HIT. I'd take the HIT any day! You have the RR engines in the 407, correct?
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Yep, RR 250 C47B.
 
Flymy47 said:
C47B? I remember my CFI raving about the C20R he had in his Hughes 369/500C back in the day!

Those engines are pure art.
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Yep, C47B. A whopping 813 HP derated to 674 at 100 % TRQ. The 250 series is extremely reliable. Although I'd rather fly dual engine & IFR, I can't complain. I call the 407 "lil Hawk" because she's got a good power to weight ratio just like the UH-60. Just got an auto pilot last month as well. Not that I really needed it.
 
35 AoA said:
Awesome, thanks for the pics! I see a go pro, shoot any video?
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Go pro was actually theirs. They've got them in several spots for promo stuff I guess. I shot some with my iphone. Gonna have to compress it to fit as an attachment.
 
Some shots of the show.
 

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Few more.
 

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Great shots!

They did Cobra rides at a fly-in at Defuniak Springs I went to in the spring. Would've killed to get up in it but I was happy to just to fly in solo as a student pilot.
 
And some more. Didn't get any shots of the OV-1. Wish I would have but I was getting food at the time. One of my favorite aircraft.
 

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Spent my first six years in the Army flying Snakes and what a good time...unlike modern attack aircraft you strapped on a Cobra and flew...best aviation time of my life...slick at 135 knots is right on.
 
Velocity173 said:
Yeah I imagine the Zulu would eat his lunch in a fight. Two engines, four blades, faster, more maneuverable, better avionics. Light years ahead. I suppose the only similarity between the old and the new would be a tandem cockpit.

Still, it was nice to go up in an old Cobra. Local Guard unit used to fly them to my high school when I was a kid and I always thought they were cool. It's imazing how narrow the fuse is and how wide the cord on thè blade is. Those blades are huge!
Click to expand...

I once used a pair of those blades like cot between two saw horses to take a nap !
 
It was a good show, I was there today. Nice pics!


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk
 
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