helicopter downforce

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ColinJ

ColinJ

Puzzle game procrastinator!
Location
Todmorden - Yorks/Lancs border
I have often seen pro riders gesticulating at helicopter pilots and indicating to them to make haste elsewhere ASAP!

You can see the effect that low-flying helicopters have by watching foliage in trees and bushes below.

I'm sure that there were accusations that low-flying helicopters flew slightly behind local riders in one big tour and slightly in front of foreign riders! Ah, yes - The 1984 Giro d'Italia, for example...

Wikipedia article said:
In the final time trial, TV helicopters have been accused of flying low behind Moser in order to propel him forward, increasing his speed. Fignon told the media that the helicopters were flying in front of him in order to slow his pace.
Click to expand...
 
slowmotion

slowmotion

Quite dreadful
Location
lost somewhere
What's the difference between the poor diddums whining about an air ambulance and those who start frothing if an ambulance blocks "their" parking space?
 
M

MichaelW2

Guru
I cycled to Heathrow airport once, around the perimeter road to one of the terminals. The road crossed a runway and barriers were down so I waited.
The aircraft landing was Concorde and I think I was the closest you can possibly be to a flying Concorde. The noise was shattering and I had to crouch down and hold my ears.
 
Kempstonian

Kempstonian

Has the memory of a goldfish
Location
Bedford
I was at a fishing lake with a friend and we were just standing there, taking in the beauty of the surroundings, when two American fighter planes flew over at VERY low altitude. We never heard a thing until they were overhead - and the noise then nearly burst our eardrums! Probably the biggest scare I've had in my life. I nearly had to go home and change my pants!
 
byegad

byegad

Legendary Member
Location
NE England
Motorcycling up a valley in the North Yorks Moors in 1970 my bike started to sound very rough, the ground shook and a Luftwaffe F104 Starfighter passed me at my level going like a bat out of hell. He must have been less than 50 feet above the valley floor. The pilot looked at me as he roared past, and had the cheek to wave. I honestly thought my time was up.
 
Dogtrousers

Dogtrousers

Lefty tighty. Get it righty.
I was at a cricket match in India which got rained off. They tried various things to make the pitch playable.

First a huge army of women with rags and buckets to soak up the water.

Then they brought in a helicopter, to blow-dry the pitch. It managed to blow all the advertising hoardings into the crowd and cause the rag ladies to run for their lives but didn't seem to achieve much else.
 
graham bowers

graham bowers

Guru
Location
NW Leicestershire
I'd just completed a rock climb and was on top of Tryfan, when a rescue helicopter on an exercise flew over very low. The blast was ferocious so I cowered between two boulders for a bit.
 
Globalti

Globalti

Legendary Member
If you are ever close to a helicopter rescue on a ski slope the guides will tell you to pack everything inside your rucsac and sit on it so as to prevent the possibility of clothing flying up and being ingested by the engine or caught in a rotor.
 
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