1. This article doesn’t mention the weight at all, and a marginal increase in weight for the capability to land nearly anywhere for a military or rescue helicopter would be an awesome added capability.

Oh wow, that looks much better than the choppiness of how mine turned out. I’ll give it a shot, I think I still have the original photos somewhere on my external drive, thanks for the tip!

Nothing fancy, I used the software that came with my Olympus TG-3 camera! It came out a thousand times better than I expected, the light from the sunset was spectacular!

And one more!

Thanks for the star, jeffowl!

Thanks for the awesome feature, Tyler, here’s some more that I took!

The deployment was longer than 10 months, the 6 month period was how long they spent flying aircraft off the boat into the middle east.

Recent deployments are 8-10 months, not sure how long the Vinson was out. It takes 3 carriers to make a constant presence somewhere, one is deployed, one is at home in the shipyards for refit and repair, and one is in the workup cycle, training the crew for deployment.

Mostly just reduced maintenance requirements (after landing in a dusty environment without the filters part of the post-flight maintenance is an engine wash using highly corrosive agents that takes 30 minutes to an hour), and it can prevent power loss in extremely dusty environments. Like what fuzzy_uts said, it…

Hey, I am not sure where to share this, but this is the first post I found that is remotely related on Jezebel, but I thought you might be interested in this bad ass mom/wife who has a special connection to Memorial Day. Her husband was a mentor of mine, and she is an inspiration to me.

I just saw this airframe and its competitor, the V-280, at the Naval Helicopter Association symposium in San Diego. Both are pretty impressive pieces of technology, that could bring a lot of awesome capability to the FVL program. One thing the Sikorsky product has an advantage over the Bell product (and over most…

Navy helo pilot here... Flight ops do not happen without a helo airborne, day or night. There are between 10-16 helos on a carrier that are conducting flight ops nearly 24-7 (anti submarine warfare patrols, logistics runs, ship escort, etc.), but there is always one dedicated to Search and Rescue. When the jets are…

Just a few quick clarifications, Tyler: the real lost capability is overland direct action, basically what you saw in black hawk down or zero dark thirty. There is a huge range of SOF support missions from covert infil/exfil and convoy escort to maritime interdiction and ISR that navy helo squadrons are equipped,…

Sorry, I know they have active duty components, some of my good friends are stationed with them as active duty flyers. The weaponry is different between the 60H and 60S, the 60H can carry the GAU-17 minigun, but the mount and gun have not been bought to outfit the 60S community. The 60H cannot carry the 20mm gun,…

MH-60S aviator here. The shuttering of HSC 84 and 85 is still an in progress operation, rather than a "done deal". Tyler, while I'm sure you got some very outspoken sources who want to keep their job and traditions alive, the reserve Navy SOF squadrons are facing the chopping block for providing minimal extra…