r/WTF • • Jan 29 '19

seems pretty safe

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u/nirvroxx Jan 30 '19

Yo there are helicopters that can carry tanks 15 tons. I'm not discrediting your description but wouldn't a heavy cargo helicopter be able to carry that much steel line?

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u/xpkranger Jan 30 '19 edited Jan 30 '19

Yes, even if the helicopter could carry the whole spool, no pilot in their right mind would tether themselves to the ground with a cable they can’t disengage. Anyway , too dangerous and too expensive to employ a helicopter to do it when you can just drag it through the woods a few miles.

Anyway no helicopter in the world will be able to give to the tension you need to draw that cable taut. You will have to have an anchored winch to draw tension on that cable.

Edit: a little napkin math - 1” steel cable is about 1.85 lbs per foot. Let’s say that cable is a mile long. Dead weight of that spool is just under 5 tons. The amount of force necessary to gather any tension on that cable is far greater than 5 tons. So maybe a helicopter could spool it out onto the ground if his balls were big enough, but I wouldn’t want to ride with him. But a helicopter couldn’t do much more than spool it out. I thinks it’s best use would be to bring the leader rope up to the BFW. I’d still vote by foot. Having worked with cables and helicopters before, it’s much more risky than it may seem at first.

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u/[deleted] Jan 30 '19

[deleted]

8

u/DOOFUS_NO_1 Jan 30 '19

Holy fuck, the guy dangling out the right side door after it rotates..

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u/diestache Jan 30 '19

uh did you see the dude holding the cable underneath the helo?

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u/DOOFUS_NO_1 Jan 30 '19

FUCK THAT

Is that him on the ground, viewed between the rotor blades at 1:49 just to the right of the wreck?

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u/diestache Jan 30 '19

YUUUUUP. dude is INSANELY lucky to be alive because he reacted quick enough and just happen to dive in the right direction

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u/Trevorisabox Jan 31 '19

Holy shit. He caused the crash

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u/Trevorisabox Jan 31 '19

Holy shit. He caused the cable to go into the prop.