Special Ops night landing question

[Trent Moorehead]

I have crossposted this question because I realized that those in the
military area would definitely have some knowledge about this.

Last night, which was a super quiet, calm and moonless night, I was out
standing on the ramp when I heard the rather sharp bark of tires as a plane
landed at the far end of the runway. There was no sound to preface this.
Immediately afterward I heard the sound of prop blade reversal which was
fairly loud. Then I noticed that this plane probably only rolled about 100
feet after touchdown. From my perspective, it looked like this plane hardly
rolled at all after touchdown.

The plane, which was a turboprop by the sound of it and fairly large, took
off with about another 100 feet of ground roll. I could hardly believe what
I could hardly see (it was very dark). The airport beacon did splash some
light on it for a split second as it rotated, but I couldn't discern much.

It stayed in the pattern, but only got to about 100 feet off the ground and
was moooving fast. It came in for another landing, banking extremely to line
up for final. I now realized that there was no landing lights (just nav
lights, no strobes), but more importantly, no runway lights. "Holy crap, how
is the pilot doing this?", I thought.

I remember when arriving at the airport, seeing a black SUV parked at the
landing end of the runway, just visible in the waning light. Could he be
helping with this operation?

Another pilot joined me and said that this was Special Ops from a local base
and that the plane was a Pilatus. Not the new fancy ones, but a special STOL
equipped aircraft.

Does anyone have information about this? This was the most eerie display of
flying I've ever seen....well, barely. :)

Thanks,

-Trent
PP-ASEL

[Larry Dighera]

On Tue, 5 Oct 2004 11:10:11 -0400, "Trent Moorehead"
> wrote in
>::

>the plane was a Pilatus. Not the new fancy ones, but a special STOL
>equipped aircraft.
>
>Does anyone have information about this

http://search.yahoo.com/search?_adv_prop=web&x=op&ei=UTF-8&prev_vm=p&fr=fp-top&va=Pilatus+stol&va_vt=any&vp=&vp_vt=any&vo=&vo_vt=any&ve=&ve_vt=any&vd=all&vst=0&vs=&vf=all&vm=i&vc=&fl=0&n=10

[Hartwig Flamm]

Trent Moorehead wrote:
>
> Another pilot joined me and said that this was Special Ops from a local
> base and that the plane was a Pilatus. Not the new fancy ones, but a
> special STOL equipped aircraft.
>

It is most likely a Pilatus PC-6. Go to:

http://www.pilatus-aircraft.com/4_special_missions/special_missions.htm

--

Remove the cork to Reply by e-Mail.

[Maule Driver]

NC by any chance?

"Trent Moorehead" > wrote in message
...
> I have crossposted this question because I realized that those in the
> military area would definitely have some knowledge about this.
>
> Last night, which was a super quiet, calm and moonless night, I was out
> standing on the ramp when I heard the rather sharp bark of tires as a
plane
> landed at the far end of the runway. There was no sound to preface this.
> Immediately afterward I heard the sound of prop blade reversal which was
> fairly loud. Then I noticed that this plane probably only rolled about 100
> feet after touchdown. From my perspective, it looked like this plane
hardly
> rolled at all after touchdown.
>
> The plane, which was a turboprop by the sound of it and fairly large, took
> off with about another 100 feet of ground roll. I could hardly believe
what
> I could hardly see (it was very dark). The airport beacon did splash some
> light on it for a split second as it rotated, but I couldn't discern much.
>
> It stayed in the pattern, but only got to about 100 feet off the ground
and
> was moooving fast. It came in for another landing, banking extremely to
line
> up for final. I now realized that there was no landing lights (just nav
> lights, no strobes), but more importantly, no runway lights. "Holy crap,
how
> is the pilot doing this?", I thought.
>
> I remember when arriving at the airport, seeing a black SUV parked at the
> landing end of the runway, just visible in the waning light. Could he be
> helping with this operation?
>
> Another pilot joined me and said that this was Special Ops from a local
base
> and that the plane was a Pilatus. Not the new fancy ones, but a special
STOL
> equipped aircraft.
>
> Does anyone have information about this? This was the most eerie display
of
> flying I've ever seen....well, barely. :)
>
> Thanks,
>
> -Trent
> PP-ASEL
>
>

[Trent Moorehead]

"Maule Driver" > wrote in message
. com...
> NC by any chance?

Yep. Harnett Co. airport in Erwin.

-Trent

[Chuck]

"Trent Moorehead" > wrote in message
...
> I have crossposted this question because I realized that those in the
> military area would definitely have some knowledge about this.
>
> Last night, which was a super quiet, calm and moonless night, I was out
> standing on the ramp when I heard the rather sharp bark of tires as a
plane
> landed at the far end of the runway. There was no sound to preface this.
> Immediately afterward I heard the sound of prop blade reversal which was
> fairly loud. Then I noticed that this plane probably only rolled about 100
> feet after touchdown. From my perspective, it looked like this plane
hardly
> rolled at all after touchdown.

<snip>

It was Jay dropping off brochures for his establishment. :)

(Sorry Jay, couldn't resist)


---
Outgoing mail is certified Virus Free.
Checked by AVG anti-virus system (http://www.grisoft.com).
Version: 6.0.772 / Virus Database: 519 - Release Date: 10/1/2004

[Jon Kraus]

It was John Edwards sneaking home after bull****ting his way through
last nights debate....

Jon Kraus
PP-ASEL-IA
Student Mooney owner


Chuck wrote:

> "Trent Moorehead" > wrote in message
> ...
>
>>I have crossposted this question because I realized that those in the
>>military area would definitely have some knowledge about this.
>>
>>Last night, which was a super quiet, calm and moonless night, I was out
>>standing on the ramp when I heard the rather sharp bark of tires as a
>
> plane
>
>>landed at the far end of the runway. There was no sound to preface this.
>>Immediately afterward I heard the sound of prop blade reversal which was
>>fairly loud. Then I noticed that this plane probably only rolled about 100
>>feet after touchdown. From my perspective, it looked like this plane
>
> hardly
>
>>rolled at all after touchdown.
>
>
> <snip>
>
> It was Jay dropping off brochures for his establishment. :)
>
> (Sorry Jay, couldn't resist)
>
>
> ---
> Outgoing mail is certified Virus Free.
> Checked by AVG anti-virus system (http://www.grisoft.com).
> Version: 6.0.772 / Virus Database: 519 - Release Date: 10/1/2004
>
>

[Maule Driver]

Figgers. There's a lot of that strange stuff going on in NC...Unmarked G4s
zooming out of unmarked hangars. "What was that?" "What? That?" "Don't
know...". "You've been here 10 years, what do you mean you don't know!"

"Trent Moorehead" > wrote in message
...
>
> "Maule Driver" > wrote in message
> . com...
> > NC by any chance?
>
> Yep. Harnett Co. airport in Erwin.
>
> -Trent
>
>

[John Szalay]

Maule Driver wrote:
> Figgers. There's a lot of that strange stuff going on in NC...Unmarked G4s
> zooming out of unmarked hangars. "What was that?" "What? That?" "Don't
> know...". "You've been here 10 years, what do you mean you don't know!"
>
>

Yep, like the 747 and the IL-62 that were used last year at
Laurinburg-Maxton NC (MXE) by someone for what appears to be HRT training.
they are gone now, cutup for scrap, but we found lots
of 9mm paintball rounds, casings and silhouette targets
on board, just before they were scrapped.

Just for reference...
http://home.earthlink.net/~silverrequiem2/maxton.htm

[Big John]

Trent

Use to make blackout landings in a U-10 when in the 605th Air Commando
Sq.

Used a large open field with three individuals with flash lights in an
"L" shape.

Set up rate of descent and flew bird into the ground. No flare.

Donut cutters :o)

Big John


On Tue, 5 Oct 2004 11:10:11 -0400, "Trent Moorehead"
> wrote:

>I have crossposted this question because I realized that those in the
>military area would definitely have some knowledge about this.
>
>Last night, which was a super quiet, calm and moonless night, I was out
>standing on the ramp when I heard the rather sharp bark of tires as a plane
>landed at the far end of the runway. There was no sound to preface this.
>Immediately afterward I heard the sound of prop blade reversal which was
>fairly loud. Then I noticed that this plane probably only rolled about 100
>feet after touchdown. From my perspective, it looked like this plane hardly
>rolled at all after touchdown.
on it for a split second as it rotated, but I couldn't discern much.

----clip----

>Does anyone have information about this? This was the most eerie display of
>flying I've ever seen....well, barely. :)
>
>Thanks,
>
>-Trent
>PP-ASEL
>

[ian maclure]

On Wed, 06 Oct 2004 21:00:29 +0000, ian maclure wrote:

[snip]

> Helio Stallion or Pilatus PC-6 IIRC.

Pilatus Turbo-Porter.
My bad

__________________________________________________ _____________________________
Posted Via Uncensored-News.Com - Accounts Starting At $6.95 - http://www.uncensored-news.com
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[Thomas Borchert]

Jon,

> It was John Edwards sneaking home after bull****ting his way through
> last nights debate....
>

Oh! They broadcast two debates? 'Cause the one I watched showed a
pathetic liar who had helped driving his country into a still on-going
war by telling blatant lies about WMDs and Al-Quaida connections. And
the guy's name wasn't Edwards...

--
Thomas Borchert (EDDH)

[Cub Driver]

On 6 Oct 2004 21:02:10 GMT, "ian maclure" > wrote:

>Helio Stallion or Pilatus PC-6 IIRC.
>
> Pilatus Turbo-Porter.

The Pilatus Porters were much used for glacier skiing in Switzerland
and, for a brief while, in Canada. I always had the devil of a time
remembering whether it was a Pilatus Porter or a Porter Pilatus.

What's the Helio Stallion? (At least I'll never mix that one up!)

all the best -- Dan Ford
email: (put Cubdriver in subject line)

Warbird's Forum www.warbirdforum.com
Piper Cub Forum www.pipercubforum.com
Viva Bush! www.vivabush.org

[Mailman]

Cub Driver wrote:

> On 6 Oct 2004 21:02:10 GMT, "ian maclure" > wrote:
>
>>Helio Stallion or Pilatus PC-6 IIRC.
>>
>>Pilatus Turbo-Porter.
>
> The Pilatus Porters were much used for glacier skiing in Switzerland
> and, for a brief while, in Canada. I always had the devil of a time
> remembering whether it was a Pilatus Porter or a Porter Pilatus.
>
> What's the Helio Stallion? (At least I'll never mix that one up!)

A solar powered CH-53? (shudders)
--
Mailman

[Peter Stickney]

In article >,
Cub Driver > writes:
> On 6 Oct 2004 21:02:10 GMT, "ian maclure" > wrote:
>
>>Helio Stallion or Pilatus PC-6 IIRC.
>>
>> Pilatus Turbo-Porter.
>
> The Pilatus Porters were much used for glacier skiing in Switzerland
> and, for a brief while, in Canada. I always had the devil of a time
> remembering whether it was a Pilatus Porter or a Porter Pilatus.

That would depend on whether you're in a German, French, or
Italian-speaking Canton, right? :)

> What's the Helio Stallion? (At least I'll never mix that one up!)

Basically, it's a pumped-up Helio Courier with a turboprop in the
nose, It's about the same size & performance as a Turbo Porter, but
ot lookes a little swoopier. (As in they took the parts out of the
boxes before they bolted them together. ) I don't think too many were
built. A couple of dozen were used as "Mini-Gunships" by the Laotians
in the early '70s.


--
Pete Stickney
A strong conviction that something must be done is the parent of many
bad measures. -- Daniel Webster

[G.R. Patterson III]

Cub Driver wrote:
>
> What's the Helio Stallion? (At least I'll never mix that one up!)

http://www.skydive182.com/pages/fun/about/air_craft/he_st.htm

George Patterson
If a man gets into a fight 3,000 miles away from home, he *had* to have
been looking for it.

[Rick Durden]

Trent,

As earlier posters have said, probably a Turbo Porter. Used to see
them parked at the Fairchild offices (Fairchild was tied in with
Pilatus at the time) northwest of D.C. along the freeway (I think it
was I-270). The building had two parking lots (neither very big).
One was for cars. The other, without lines, or any connecting
pavement to the street, was where they'd land a Porter. Kind of odd
to see one parked there as one drove by. Very capable short field
airplane. If you watch the otherwise silly movie, "Air America", you
see a Turbo Porter operating from a short, steep mountain strip. No
special effects, they did it well.

Night vision goggles will allow the operation you described, without
much effort on the part of the pilot. I'd hope he or she was touching
down in the same spot each time, that's what one expects from a
reasonably well trained pilot in STOL equipment. Called a friend of
mine who flew helos in the Army some years ago and asked about night
ops. She said that she was trained on night vision goggle operation
starting early on in primary flight training and it continued
throughout her service. She expressed surprise that the commercial
helicopter operators that do the life flight stuff for hospitals don't
use them.

All the best,
Rick

"Trent Moorehead" > wrote in message >...
> I have crossposted this question because I realized that those in the
> military area would definitely have some knowledge about this.
>
> Last night, which was a super quiet, calm and moonless night, I was out
> standing on the ramp when I heard the rather sharp bark of tires as a plane
> landed at the far end of the runway. There was no sound to preface this.
> Immediately afterward I heard the sound of prop blade reversal which was
> fairly loud. Then I noticed that this plane probably only rolled about 100
> feet after touchdown. From my perspective, it looked like this plane hardly
> rolled at all after touchdown.
>
> The plane, which was a turboprop by the sound of it and fairly large, took
> off with about another 100 feet of ground roll. I could hardly believe what
> I could hardly see (it was very dark). The airport beacon did splash some
> light on it for a split second as it rotated, but I couldn't discern much.
>
> It stayed in the pattern, but only got to about 100 feet off the ground and
> was moooving fast. It came in for another landing, banking extremely to line
> up for final. I now realized that there was no landing lights (just nav
> lights, no strobes), but more importantly, no runway lights. "Holy crap, how
> is the pilot doing this?", I thought.
>
> I remember when arriving at the airport, seeing a black SUV parked at the
> landing end of the runway, just visible in the waning light. Could he be
> helping with this operation?
>
> Another pilot joined me and said that this was Special Ops from a local base
> and that the plane was a Pilatus. Not the new fancy ones, but a special STOL
> equipped aircraft.
>
> Does anyone have information about this? This was the most eerie display of
> flying I've ever seen....well, barely. :)
>
> Thanks,
>
> -Trent
> PP-ASEL

[Jay Honeck]

> Oh! They broadcast two debates? 'Cause the one I watched showed a
> pathetic liar who had helped driving his country into a still on-going
> war by telling blatant lies about WMDs and Al-Quaida connections. And
> the guy's name wasn't Edwards...

What? You're saying a product liability lawyer -- the lowest form of life
on this planet -- isn't a liar?

Surely you jest?
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"

[Jay Honeck]

> Oh! They broadcast two debates? 'Cause the one I watched showed a
> pathetic liar who had helped driving his country into a still on-going
> war by telling blatant lies about WMDs and Al-Quaida connections. And
> the guy's name wasn't Edwards...

What? You're saying a product liability lawyer -- the lowest form of life
on this planet -- isn't a liar?

Surely you jest?
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"

[Jay Honeck]

> It was Jay dropping off brochures for his establishment. :)

Dang. And I wore my new CAP BDUs and soft-soled boots, and everything.

And you guys STILL caught me!

;-)
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"

[Jay Honeck]

> It was Jay dropping off brochures for his establishment. :)

Dang. And I wore my new CAP BDUs and soft-soled boots, and everything.

And you guys STILL caught me!

;-)
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"

[Larry Dighera]

On Sat, 09 Oct 2004 04:08:14 GMT, "Jay Honeck"
> wrote in
<OuJ9d.206662$MQ5.186368@attbi_s52>::

>What? You're saying a product liability lawyer -- the lowest form of life
>on this planet -- isn't a liar?

If it weren't for the work of Ralph Nader, Detroit auto makers would
still be abiding by the "it's cheaper to pay for the deaths caused by
our unsafe designs than recall and fix them" philosophy.

[Larry Dighera]

On Sat, 09 Oct 2004 04:08:14 GMT, "Jay Honeck"
> wrote in
<OuJ9d.206662$MQ5.186368@attbi_s52>::

>What? You're saying a product liability lawyer -- the lowest form of life
>on this planet -- isn't a liar?

If it weren't for the work of Ralph Nader, Detroit auto makers would
still be abiding by the "it's cheaper to pay for the deaths caused by
our unsafe designs than recall and fix them" philosophy.

[Ash Wyllie]

Larry Dighera opined

>On Sat, 09 Oct 2004 04:08:14 GMT, "Jay Honeck"
> wrote in
><OuJ9d.206662$MQ5.186368@attbi_s52>::

>>What? You're saying a product liability lawyer -- the lowest form of life
>>on this planet -- isn't a liar?

>If it weren't for the work of Ralph Nader, Detroit auto makers would
>still be abiding by the "it's cheaper to pay for the deaths caused by
>our unsafe designs than recall and fix them" philosophy.

If it weren't for the work of Ralph Nader, I could be driving an Austin Mini.
But allowing us peasants a choice is not to be allowed.



-ash
Cthulhu for President!
Why vote for a lesser evil?

[Ash Wyllie]

Larry Dighera opined

>On Sat, 09 Oct 2004 04:08:14 GMT, "Jay Honeck"
> wrote in
><OuJ9d.206662$MQ5.186368@attbi_s52>::

>>What? You're saying a product liability lawyer -- the lowest form of life
>>on this planet -- isn't a liar?

>If it weren't for the work of Ralph Nader, Detroit auto makers would
>still be abiding by the "it's cheaper to pay for the deaths caused by
>our unsafe designs than recall and fix them" philosophy.

If it weren't for the work of Ralph Nader, I could be driving an Austin Mini.
But allowing us peasants a choice is not to be allowed.



-ash
Cthulhu for President!
Why vote for a lesser evil?

[Thomas Borchert]

Jay,

> a product liability lawyer
>

No product liability lawyer ever made a product liability law.

--
Thomas Borchert (EDDH)

[Thomas Borchert]

Jay,

> a product liability lawyer
>

No product liability lawyer ever made a product liability law.

--
Thomas Borchert (EDDH)

[Jay Honeck]

>> a product liability lawyer
>>
>
> No product liability lawyer ever made a product liability law.

True. And no good judge ever interprets the laws beyond what was intended
by the authors. Unfortunately, this happens every day, to an alarming
degree.

I'm sure the authors of the liability laws never intended that someone could
bankrupt a mom & pop business by the clumsy act of tripping on their front
step -- but that's the cold, harsh reality in America today.
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"

[Jay Honeck]

>> a product liability lawyer
>>
>
> No product liability lawyer ever made a product liability law.

True. And no good judge ever interprets the laws beyond what was intended
by the authors. Unfortunately, this happens every day, to an alarming
degree.

I'm sure the authors of the liability laws never intended that someone could
bankrupt a mom & pop business by the clumsy act of tripping on their front
step -- but that's the cold, harsh reality in America today.
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"

[Thomas Borchert]

Jay,

All I was trying to say is: It's the legal system that nees fixing, not
the lawyer's exploiting it. That's their job.

--
Thomas Borchert (EDDH)

[Thomas Borchert]

Jay,

All I was trying to say is: It's the legal system that nees fixing, not
the lawyer's exploiting it. That's their job.

--
Thomas Borchert (EDDH)

[G.R. Patterson III]

Thomas Borchert wrote:
>
> No product liability lawyer ever made a product liability law.

How many Congresscritters are lawyers?

George Patterson
If a man gets into a fight 3,000 miles away from home, he *had* to have
been looking for it.

[G.R. Patterson III]

Thomas Borchert wrote:
>
> No product liability lawyer ever made a product liability law.

How many Congresscritters are lawyers?

George Patterson
If a man gets into a fight 3,000 miles away from home, he *had* to have
been looking for it.