Live from Afghanistan, it's Saturday night! Or, t_b_f's on the road!

Finally made it to Afghanistan. We're about 500 meters from the water "treatment" facility, so you can imagine what it smells like when the wind blows just right.

We got here just before midnight on Sunday, and I racked out about 0300 local and took a short nap so I could get my sleep schedule straightened out today.

It's OK here, I guess. The chow ain't bad, and the sun tan is free. I'll probably spend more time at work than in my room, since work is upwind of the shit ponds. Our rooms are a little cramped because of the influx of people. We've got six in rooms made for four. I guess the good part is that all of us will rarely be here at the same time, as we'll be rotating around to different FOBs to provide coverage for different units.

I just dropped $124 on a $20 phone and 1000 minutes, then walked over to the internet dude and dropped another $100 on a month's worth of what amounts to dial-up. Maybe a little faster, but it ain't high-speed, by no means.

I'd better run. Time to get some chow, a shower and relax a bit.

Thanks for your support, guys. It means a great deal to me that I can get on here and vent, and you guys just cheer me up.

Oh, almost forgot. The Canuckistanis have built a fucking hockey rink right in the middle of this place. I walked by it today, and they were playing. They had one pretty hot chick out there, too. I'll try to get some photos.

 

Glad you made it safely 3B. How will your assignment work ? Will you be at a base area waiting for Medivac calls?

 

Yeah. From Kandahar, we cover a few other locations, so we'll all be rotating out to the forward sites. Flying is a pretty small part of my job, in particular. I've got a platoon of folks to take care of and make sure they have what they need to do their jobs, first and foremost. My platoon is charged with operating our small command posts, and since they're spread out, that's not the easiest task. But we're managing, so far.

 

Best of luck over there, three_bags. You're a cut above, and we're pulling for you.

 

Be safe, man.

Be safe.

You are in my prayers.

 

Keeping you in mind.

I once saw a two-man ARVN chopper in Rock Jaw trying to take off, rookie pilot; I swear the helo was rotating while the blades stood still. The thing got up about six feet and came down in a cloud of dust. Nobody hurt, thank God.

Tell me, please, what do you do with the collective to make that happen?

Keep those blades turning and land lightly.

 

Reason no. 1,492 why SportsJournalists.com is bookmarked on my computer.

 

Godspeed, TBF. Hope you have the most boring Kandahar Resort vacation ever and get back home soon. (And say hi to my brother while you're over there.)

 

Depends on the issue.

Obviously, helicopters have to deal with a phenomenon called torque effect. Blades turn one way. Body turns the other. Like a twisted rubber band.

If there was no malfunction, then the pilot just needed to add some left (or right, depending on which way the blades turn) pedal. That would've increased the pitch in the tail rotor and stopped the spin.

If there was a tail rotor (anti-torque) malfunction, then reducing power would reduce the spin. But then you've got to deal with that pesky little ground issue. In my helicopter, we pull the engines offline and accomplish an autorotative descent to the ground. That is to say, land the helicopter with no power.

 

Bravo Zulu, three; now we know. It's a good thing when everyone can walk away from something like that.

 

TBF explains flight to SportsJournalists.com

 

Our best, TBF. Stay safe. Take care ...