I've ridden with THREE. After one almost smacked me into cumulo-granite out at Bridgeport, I had a long and rather profanity-laden conversation with the OPSO. (I came in cussing a blue streak, told OPSO what just happened, and the OPSO began cussing a blue streak--if someone had set up a beat track and gotten us to rhyme the cussing, we could've cut a gangsta rap album on the spot! :o)
That hotdog was FNAEB'd, and spent the rest of his time as the Clubs Officer at COMCABWEST.
No matter what the rules are or what the flight manual says, they will push the limits to "find out" what they really are.
And if they wax a couple dozen grunts in the process, hey, stuff happens, eh?
On the maintenance side of the house: helicopters have a LOT of kinetic energy whirling around in variously-opposed directions. Get sloppy on maintenance, and the forces can tear the airframe apart.
And it's that way for ANY helicopter. Lose either main rotor on a Phrog or a S***-Hook, and you're dogmeat...
And if they wax a couple dozen grunts in the process, hey, stuff happens, eh?I never dealt with transport pilots on a professional basis, but I suppose they're the same as any others, and they may even be a bit envious of high performance pilots who can play tag with the clouds.
Flying passengers is a lot like being a glorified bus driver, and I'm sure the temptation to "wring it out" is there. When it takes over, that people will die is almost guaranteed.
A pilot's mind must always be faster than the airplane, and how easy is that when outside of the envelope...?
I always thought of choppers as thousands of parts dancing furiously with the need to stay in tight formation. It was a useful attitude to say goodbye to everything before getting in one....