Canon EOS 5D Mark II
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This only fully fly-by-wire helicopter in the US Army fleet. The orange bits are add-on equipment that allow it to simulate the flight characteristics and response of any other current or planned helicopter. Photo sequence below of this Army Racsal UH-60.

The helicopter is able to operate completely autonomously, although like Google self-driving cars, it “always has a pilot on board” (which they are quick to point out… and makes me wonder…).

13 responses to “Black Hawk Gown”

  1. jurvetson Avatar
    jurvetson

    I had to knock…
    IMG_7667

    From full scale rotor model testing, they learned that each sweeping blade tip can create vortices that, unlike a fixed wing, will impact the next blade to swing around, and the next one in a complex compounding effect. In the latest iteration, they tilt the blade tips downward and gain an extra 2% of lift — enough to carry an extra soldier.
    IMG_7692
    So if you see a Black Hawk coming at you with tilted blade tips, you can bet it’s special ops because they get the best birds…

    A closer look…
    IMG_7694

    Full frontal
    IMG_1270
    In helicopters (and Shuttles), the pilot sits in the right seat. When flown in fly-by-wire mode, there is a also safety pilot on the left with traditional hydraulic controls.

    The canted tail rotor allows operation over a wider range for the ‘copter’s center of gravity, which is especially important for a cargo-hauler like this UH-60
    IMG_7675

    Taking a look inside
    IMG_1266

    The junk in the trunk…
    IMG_1269

    Thanks!
    IMG_7702

    Reply
  2. P^2 - Paul Avatar
    P^2 – Paul

    [http://www.flickr.com/photos/jurvetson] "In helicopters (and Shuttles), the pilot sits in the right seat. "
    There are exceptions. After more hours than I care to remember in the right seat of a Bell 47 (the M*A*S*H type helicopter), I can assure you the pilot was always on my left. (collective control is still on pilot’s left though)

    Reply
  3. msamaclean © Avatar
    msamaclean ©

    A fine lookin’ bird in any configuration! How fun!

    Reply
  4. Kaets Ebut Avatar
    Kaets Ebut

    Ze Germans vill no doubt be able to glean much sensitive information from zese photographs, no? 😉

    Reply
  5. Duncan Rawlinson - Duncan.co Avatar
    Duncan Rawlinson – Duncan.co

    Is this the same one in action? youtu.be/GoCFE8xVhKA

    Reply
  6. Aris Jansons Avatar
    Aris Jansons

    Many thanks for educating explanation. Good excursion.

    Reply
  7. CoryMarchand Avatar
    CoryMarchand

    Great photo set!!

    Reply
  8. jurvetson Avatar
    jurvetson

    Kaets – well, ze French ‘copteurs spin their blades in ze opposite direction… just to mess with the Germans’ heads when captured. =)

    [http://www.flickr.com/photos/thelastminute] — Yes, great video of its recent autonomous flight over the East Bay hills. The two guys you see here in my bottom photo are on the left side of the closing team shot in the video (wearing the same clothes for easy identification).

    From Daily Tech

    During the two-hour flight, the RASCAL was able to navigate an obstacle field and use terrain-sensing capabilities, while performing statistical processing, risk assessment, threat avoidance, and autonomously operating flight controls in real-time.

    "This was the first time terrain-aware autonomy has been achieved on a Black Hawk," said Lt. Col. Carl Ott, chief of the Flight Projects Office at AMRDEC’s Aeroflightdynamics Directorate [Ott is the guy in camo in my photo].

    During the test, the RASCAL flew at between 200 and 400 feet above ground level. During the test, the helicopter was also able to identify a safe landing spot within a forest clearing and was able to hover 60 feet over the identified landing spot with within 1-foot accuracy.

    "A risk-minimizing algorithm was used to compute and command a safe trajectory continuously throughout 23 miles of rugged terrain in a single flight, at an average speed of 40 knots," said Matthew Whalley, the Autonomous Rotorcraft Project lead. "No prior knowledge of the terrain was used."

    Reply
  9. rocketmavericks Avatar
    rocketmavericks

    Actually, you are half right on the Shuttle. It is true that the right seat is for the pilot, but the pilot in the Shuttle is the co-pilot in traditional aircraft. The left seat in the Shuttle is for the Commander, which is equivalent to the pilot in a commercial aircraft.

    Short of it is, that the roles are the same, but in teh shuttle they just changed the names. Technically, you can fly the Shuttle from either seat.

    Reply
  10. bike-R Avatar
    bike-R

    oh oh, BLACK HELICOPTERS

    Reply
  11. Duncan Rawlinson - Duncan.co Avatar
    Duncan Rawlinson – Duncan.co

    [http://www.flickr.com/photos/jurvetson] wow!

    Did you see that show on NOVA recently called the rise of the drones?

    This part in particular blew my mind:
    youtu.be/4OKluZFZoHs?t=30m35s

    Reply
  12. bike-R Avatar
    bike-R

    [http://www.flickr.com/photos/thelastminute] couls swear we saw that GLOBAL HAWK type of drone crusing NYC harbour when OBAMA and crew in town for fundraisers last spring..white, lo and slo and small.definately not a PIPER CUB………….

    Reply
  13. gina_durante Avatar
    gina_durante

    Cool to learn about how changes in the rotor design provide the additional lift. Takes me back to Intro to Aero/Astro w/ Prof. Kroo. Would be neat to understand more about the modeling and simulation work that is done when making these kinds of design changes…

    Do you know if Sikorsky was the manufacturer?

    Reply

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