Courtesy Photo | Surrounded by windows in his cockpit, an 82nd Combat Aviation Brigade OH-58D Kiowa...... read more read more
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FORT CARSON, Colo. – Caught out of the corner of the eye, the movement perceived against the side of Cheyenne Mountain appears the size of tiny flies buzzing down the mountain. As they fly further down, the peripheral vision grows larger and appears more like humming birds coming closer and closer.
Not until the descending birds are about three miles away, when the ear drums pick up on the hum of blades, do the eyes turn to meet the sight of OH-58D Kiowa Warrior helicopters flying into Butts Army Airfield.
Along with other Rotary Wing pilots, the OH-58D pilots from the 82nd Combat Aviation Brigade have been flying in the mountains just west of Fort Carson, Colo., during High Altitude Mountain Environmental Training to prepare for their coming mission in Afghanistan.
As the Army’s only single-engine helicopter, the Kiowas face more power limitations, in general, than the larger aircraft. Even when the pilots are flying closer to sea level, they must balance the aircraft’s requirement for ammunition and fuel.
“There is not enough horsepower to carry a full load of ammunition and a full tank of fuel,” said Chief Warrant Officer Aaron Floyd, an OH-58 pilot and tactical operations officer with Troop B, 1st Squadron, 17th Air Cavalry Regiment and Task Force Saber. “The thinner air at high altitudes becomes another variable and acts as a limiting agent to the amount of power available to the aircraft.”
For the pilots of this armed-reconnaissance aircraft, any mission can arise. Before taking off for a six-hour block of time flying through the mountains of eastern Afghanistan, Floyd and other Kiowa pilots will determine if ground troops need their support as an armed helicopter for any specific mission. This information helps the pilots decide if they will need more ammunition than they will otherwise carry, or if they can carry more fuel.
Even if the pilots initially carry more ammunition to support ground troops, ultimately, a good portion of their six-hour flight will include scouring the terrain and collecting intelligence about the people and the area.
“Our primary job is reconnaissance and to be the eyes for that ground force commander,” said Chief Warrant Officer Steve Huitron, a Kiowa instructor pilot and the Task Force safety officer for TF Saber.
To perform this mission, the pilots must keep a low profile, as they spend hours flying around and through mountainous terrain. Unlike the larger and louder lift aircraft, which focus on flying soldiers from one point to another, the Kiowas are geared to stealthily cover and observe hundreds of square miles.
Except when filling up with fuel at a Forward Arming and Refueling Point, the OH-58D pilots are unlikely to land in the middle of their flight time. As a result, the intense attention paid to the strategic movement in the mountains during their training differs slightly from the lift-helicopter pilots.
The Black Hawk and Chinook pilots focus on landings and approaches, where as the Kiowa pilots will focus on flying and maneuvering tactically around the mountains, Huitron added.
As they push close to their maximum power available, the Kiowa helicopters are especially reliant on the wind, as they cover vast areas in the mountainous terrain. Flying closer to the mountain, where the wind moves uphill, can give the helicopters more lift.
“We have to move left to right to help use the effects of the wind to climb in elevation or around the mountains,” Huitron, a Phoenix native, said. “The wind helps to hold the aircraft up, so it doesn’t use maximum power.”
While the Kiowa pilots are not focused on the approaches and landings themselves, sometimes the landings can be used during HAMET to reinforce the wind and terrain analysis associated with the mountainous environment.
“Conducting a pinnacle landing, where only part of the skids rest on the surface, helps demonstrate how to control the aircraft and forces the pilot to determine where the winds are coming from during both the landing and the take off,” said Chief Warrant Officer Bernd Knox, the TF Saber Standardization Instructor Pilot.
In addition to understanding the wind direction to help control the aircraft as they fly in the mountains, the wind also plays another large role in how covert the aircraft can be.
“Knowing which direction the wind is coming from can affect whether or not the enemy can hear us,” Huitron said.
As they continue to learn more about the combined effects of the wind, mountainous terrain and high altitude on their helicopters, 82nd CAB Kiowa Warrior pilots are preparing to become, quite literally, “flies in the mountains,” as they will gather mission-essential information and support the troops in eastern Afghanistan.
| Date Taken: | 05.20.2011 |
| Date Posted: | 06.19.2011 15:41 |
| Story ID: | 72377 |
| Location: | FORT CARSON, COLORADO, US |
| Web Views: | 208 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
This work, Flies in the Mountains: 82nd CAB Kiowa pilots train for high-altitude flying, by SSG April Campbell, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
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