someone shot at a military helo

I've patch more than one bullet hole, made by a civilian
 
As an Army Aviator in former life and had plenty of time talking with and flying with NG and USAR units some places over the years it’s been a not uncommon hazard...Low level over areas in where Marijuana was grown in particular...friends of mine were a couple of TANG pilots that ATF led down the rosy path at Waco. Plenty of big holes in the UH-1 and two OH-58’s ( mix may be reversed ). Talk about some guys that are still ****ed off about that.
 
I have found more than a couple bullet holes in roofs. In fact my own house was hit 2x over new years. Could have been totally random.
 
Middleburg is high-end "horse country". Although there are a few less-genteel areas not far away. It's also on the flight path from DC to Mount Weather.

To get an idea of the area, look up the Upperville Airport (2VG2)

This could be anything from someone thinking it was a drone, someone taking potshots, someone that thought it was a 'black helicopter', or something more sinister given that this bird was part of the executive transport group at Andrews.
 
Nothing surprises me lately. Unless they catch the shooter we’ll never know the reason why.
 
You guys are reading way too much into this. We go to Middleburg for horse shows a couple times a year. There's plenty of toothless "hold my beer" rednecks who'll take a shot at about anything. Drive outside of town a bit and you won't find a road sign that's not all shot to hell, so they even do it from moving vehicles.

Just because there's a lot of rich land owners doesn't mean there aren't a bunch of poor folks who work it.
 
A few years ago I found a bullet hole in my 5th wheel as it was parked in my yard.
 
Chip Sylverne said:
You guys are reading way too much into this. We go to Middleburg for horse shows a couple times a year. There's plenty of toothless "hold my beer" rednecks who'll take a shot at about anything. Drive outside of town a bit and you won't find a road sign that's not all shot to hell, so they even do it from moving vehicles.

Just because there's a lot of rich land owners doesn't mean there aren't a bunch of poor folks who work it.
Click to expand...

No disagreement there. But I think the "it's because of anti-american sentiment" is a load of BS.
 
I was a Navy helo crew chief. One tour I did was in UH-1Ns providing mountain SAR out of NAS Lemoore. I've often joked that I got shot at more by pot growers in California than I did in the PG.
 
Chip Sylverne said:
You guys are reading way too much into this. We go to Middleburg for horse shows a couple times a year. There's plenty of toothless "hold my beer" rednecks who'll take a shot at about anything. Drive outside of town a bit and you won't find a road sign that's not all shot to hell, so they even do it from moving vehicles.

Just because there's a lot of rich land owners doesn't mean there aren't a bunch of poor folks who work it.
Click to expand...

Yeah this. When I was an Oceana/VA Beach guy, there was always some clown with a house under the pattern at Fentress with a high powered laser trying to blind us. Granted this isn't shooting a firearm, but there are yahoos everywhere. I'd guess the anti-gov conspiracy folks especially don't like helicopters (they all kinda look "black" in the right lighting). My cousin was an H-46 crew chief in Tustin in the late 80s/early 90s and had lots of stories about getting shot at near 29 palms. More than he was shot at in Somalia.
 
35 AoA said:
Yeah this. When I was an Oceana/VA Beach guy, there was always some clown with a house under the pattern at Fentress with a high powered laser trying to blind us. Granted this isn't shooting a firearm, but there are yahoos everywhere. I'd guess the anti-gov conspiracy folks especially don't like helicopters (they all kinda look "black" in the right lighting). My cousin was an H-46 crew chief in Tustin in the late 80s/early 90s and had lots of stories about getting shot at near 29 palms. More than he was shot at in Somalia.
Click to expand...
The cops have a good record of figuring out exactly where a laser is coming from, as it tends to go perfectly straight. They arrested a guy in Florida a few months ago for doing this.
 
In a suburban upscale community in Fairfield County, CT I found about 8 arrows stuck in the lawn and in the roof of the house. Not acceptable with small children in the family, or for any reason I guess.

So I called the local PD and surrendered. The LEO who responded gathered the arrows for evidence and went to the home across the street and confronted the teenager who lived there. He was well known by the cops as a juvenile delinquent in training, and was transported to the station for his parents to fetch.

I have no knowledge of any further resolution...

-Skip
 
gkainz said:
Kind of an odd way to word that ... made me think you shot the arrows? Reading on changes that thought, but still?
Click to expand...
upload_2020-8-13_12-20-48.jpeg

It occurred about 30 years ago, and I no longer live there. I reserve the right to joke about it now! Sorry if the joke fell flat.

-Skip
 
Whoooosh ... the sound a joke makes as it flies right over my head ..... :D
 
I'll see if I can find that picture of the Citabria with the arrow stuck in the wing...

I've also found bullet holes in the TOP of a metal wing. Independence Day revelers, no doubt!
 
Kenny Phillips said:
The cops have a good record of figuring out exactly where a laser is coming from, as it tends to go perfectly straight. They arrested a guy in Florida a few months ago for doing this.
Click to expand...

Yeah they were pretty good/quick up in VA as well. I'm guessing these clowns either 1) don't realize how significant the charges are that can/will be brought against them, or 2) are too dumb to know how easy it is for someone to pinpoint their location and record evidence of the act.
 
I know plenty of hunters and firearm enthusiasts who have told me "I bet if you flew over I could hit your airplane". I'm sure the occasional yahoo gives it a try and sometimes succeeds. Probably a LOT more miss.
 
kyleb said:
I know plenty of hunters and firearm enthusiasts who have told me "I bet if you flew over I could hit your airplane". I'm sure the occasional yahoo gives it a try and sometimes succeeds. Probably a LOT more miss.
Click to expand...
When I was doing mapping over the Colorado mountains, people told me that hunters might shoot at the airplane. It made a visible target because it was orange, and we maneuvered over the same area for a length of time, which probably annoyed hunters. If they did shoot, they missed.
 
When I was doing fire patrol in West Virginia, I learned to leave small columns of smoke alone....:stirpot:

All the rednecks would tell me they could shoot my plane.

Ok, how high is that plane flying over.?? I dunno...

How far away is that plane right now.?? I dunno....

How fast is that plane traveling.?? I dunno....

Would you aim above the planes path or below it.?? I dunno....

So, of the 2 planes flying over, which is faster, the one up high or the one down low.?? The one down low because it flew over faster.

Well, you are no Alvin York....Tell me again why I should be worried.??

'Cause my bullets are travelin' 2300 FPS outta the barrel.!!
 
"Kielisch wasn’t a target in that search — but he reportedly told law enforcement “he fired at the helicopter because he didn’t like it flying near his home,” the release says."

JFC
 
Tantalum said:
"Kielisch wasn’t a target in that search — but he reportedly told law enforcement “he fired at the helicopter because he didn’t like it flying near his home,” the release says." JFC
Click to expand...
I live 0.8 nm from a major hospital's helipad. I don't like that thing flying over my house several times a day. 'Cuz I'm not flying it. Shooting at something you don't like is lunacy; take that man's guns away.
 
Tantalum said:
"Kielisch wasn’t a target in that search — but he reportedly told law enforcement “he fired at the helicopter because he didn’t like it flying near his home,” the release says."

JFC
Click to expand...

Georgia. All you need to know.
 
luvflyin said:
How’d Portland get into this?
Click to expand...
Perhaps the post was deleted, someone referenced something tangentially related.. if the point is now moot I can also delete mine
 
Where I grew up we had some low altitude training routes that A-10s used to run almost daily in and out of a target range. I overhead some young hunters once say they had a pool going on who could shoot one down. I always wondered what the ROE in country was at the time. Didn't seem real bright to use a bolt action .308 on an armored plane with a 30mm cannon and 500 lb bombs on the wings. Something about a knife to a gun fight...

The airport there was also in the "rougher" part of town. I had a friend find bullet holes in the back of his hangar one day. One went right through a new coil of aluminum he was using for a restoration project. Another grazed the wing strut of a Champ or Citabria that was in the hangar bad enough it had to be replaced.
 
... and this is why we can't have nice things
 
Tantalum said:
Perhaps the post was deleted, someone referenced something tangentially related.. if the point is now moot I can also delete mine
Click to expand...

Ah. Someone was probably worried about getting a slap on the wrist or getting the thread locked
 
midwestpa24 said:
Where I grew up we had some low altitude training routes that A-10s used to run almost daily in and out of a target range. I overhead some young hunters once say they had a pool going on who could shoot one down. I always wondered what the ROE in country was at the time. Didn't seem real bright to use a bolt action .308 on an armored plane with a 30mm cannon and 500 lb bombs on the wings. Something about a knife to a gun fight...

The airport there was also in the "rougher" part of town. I had a friend find bullet holes in the back of his hangar one day. One went right through a new coil of aluminum he was using for a restoration project. Another grazed the wing strut of a Champ or Citabria that was in the hangar bad enough it had to be replaced.
Click to expand...

The cockpit of the A-10 is protected by a titanium “bath tub” but the remaining structure is typical composite / aluminum. A lot of military aircraft only use armor plating in select areas or none at all in garrison. In Iraq and Astan we added over 600 lbs of armor plating to our helicopters. Without that, 7.62 would be like a hot knife thru butter.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top