Hostagecs post:
This is where the joke comes from fdisk, we all wonder why these guys come back and can't explain a simple fault for us to fix. this video shows why he wasn't even watching what he was doing. I've known a few pilots that have gone down in OF1 and OF2. I'm sorry but this guy's commander seen this video he would have alot of explaining to do. I dont feel wasting a test or normal flight for lifetime access to a web form justify's doing so. But im sure if I confronted the person if i seen them doing it after he/she got out of the air they would just pull the old rank card and try to end it there.
Wow. Just WOW. Im compelled to respond to this, if just for the sake of dispelling some of your pure ignorance, that you so obviously have, of the operational employment of this machine. Even tho, you claim to be one of her maintainers.
There are two, yes
TWO pilots in the Apache. The dude in the back was actually
FLYING the aircraft and yes, he was actually watching where he was going. But believe me, even the crewmember on the controls is multitasking at all times. We have five radios tuned to different freqs, he's monitoring the aircraft instruments and nav systems, he is looking out for enemies on the ground trying to shoot us or our wingman down, and a million other things WHILE he is flying. Amazing isnt it?
In this video, I am sitting in the Gunners station and was not touching the controls or in anyway influencing the actions of the airfcraft. Now believe it or not, as the Gunner, in any normal mission profile, I dont spend alot of time even LOOKING outside of the aircraft. You see that screen in front of my chest with the handgrips and all the funny little buttons?? That is called the TEDAC, that is where I am looking, manupulating the aircrafts sensors and weapons systems to find and destroy enemy targets.
Im sure you saw my kneeboard with the notepad on it that I was writing on. Do you think I just took that up there with me for the sole purpose of writing MMOBugs.com on it? During a normal Combat Air Patrol I will probably go thru 10-15 pages on that kneeboard. Yes, heads down, writing. I trust my backseaters ability as a pilot to keep us alive while I handle the mission set wich involves about 90% of my time heads down inside the cockpit, either writing on that pad as you saw me do or staring at that screen sensing for targets and shooting them. The backseater spends 99% of his time heads up, maintaining aircraft control, obsticle avoidance, and situational awareness.
For all I know, your a master electrician, and thats great, please make all the comments you like about the electrical systems on my aircraft, you may actually know more than I do about them. (and I doubt that) But please, refrain from making negitive, and just downright idiotic comments about things that you know absolutely nothing about. i.e. Piloting and conducting combat operations in the AH-64D Apache Longbow.