Chief-T said:
Definitely not a hiway cruiser as jet fuel is not available at most gas stations or even truck stops. How would you like that exhaust blowing in your face?? The smell of burnt jet fuel----UGH!!!
Jet A is pretty close to diesel fuel.
I worked for a Helicopter company for a few years that had a pilot that used to tell a great story. He said he got into trouble flying back to Colorado from fighting a fire in California. Normally he would stop at airports along the way to fuel up. With only a 450 mile range, he needed to fill up at least three times to get back.
But he decided to fly back in the middle of the night. One stretch of his trip home had no place open for fuel at three in the morning when he needed it. So he lands the chopper in the parking lot of a truck stop somewhere in Nevada. Sets it down as close to a pump as he can. Walks into the store with his credit card, and hands it to a young gal standing behind the counter with her mouth wide open. Walks back out to the lot, and and gets a couple of guys to help him walk the chopper on it's skids closer to the pump so the hose would reach. Fills up with diesel, pays his bill, gets help dragging the aircraft back out from the pump, and then takes off. He tells the story as though he was just filling up his car! I'm sure everyone at the truck stop got a big kick out of it.
Oh, he also said he could have lost his license for making an unauthorised landing in a public place, and for running his aircraft on non-approved fuel. But then, if any of you have met many helicopter pilots, you already know what some of those guys are like.
Added Content: The helicopter I used to work with was the Aerospatiale SA-315B, also known as the "Lama." They called it the Lama because of it's high altitude work, and it was commonly used to pick climbers off the top of Mount Everest. The Lama also holds the high altitude record set in Vail Colorado at 40,820 feet. That's high for a helicopter. The craft is not that big, but it has a really big engine for it's size called the Turbomeca Artousete IIIB. The aircraft was famous for being able to lift a lot compared it's own weight. In fire fighting, it's used to haul large buckets of water or chemicals over fires to dump.
With it's big engine, the pilots used to say it was one of the funnest and most powerful and nimble helicopters to fly. They used to compare it to a small car with a powerful engine.
Opps! Wrong video! Try this one:
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