Dolphin!

[Firis]

Re: Dolphin!

I also took two pictures... with my cell phone. So the helo is tiny. Does this look orange to you?

Spoiler

Blue to me, out of innocent curiosity, what does your love of the Navy/Coast Guard stem from?

 

[Walker]

Re: Dolphin!

I'm afraid that's just my ****ty cameraphone, though.

I'm going to assume you're not an American, so I won't rip your throat out. There. Is. No. Navy/Coast Guard. The Coast Guard is an entirely separate entity, unless specificially placed in the Department of the Navy by specific order of the president or Congress for a limited duration in time of war. It is a branch of the US military in its own right, and the only US agency to have combined military and law enforcement authority. It is clinically awesome. I want to be a Coast Guardsman.

I'm interested in the Navy because I'm a general military buff and I like ships as much as I do aircraft. Plus, my grandpa enlisted in the Navy during WWII and Korea (Navy Reserve for Korea). He flew on PB4Y-2 Privateers in both wars, I want to say. As a gunner-- he was a Aviation Machinist Mate 2nd class.

Edit: And yes, I am aware that you were probably just being too lazy to say "Navy and Coast Guard." But hey! I said I wasn't ripping your throat out! That makes it okay, right!

EDIT: OH! I just got the googling done. Wikipedia says http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maryland_State_Police#Aviation_Command

And Wikipedia confirms it on two separate pages-- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eurocopter_Dauphin#Governmental_.2F_Law_Enforcement_operators Lists the Maryland State Police as well. So I guess the MSP flies out of CP Airport. Incidentally, does everyone here know how awesome College Park Airport is? Very awesome.

EDITEDIT: I also wanted to mention. In my surfing of the web I came across a description of the 65 as the "whistling teakettle." I noticed it when I was looking at the Dauphin fly over, going, who the **** is flying that. It does sound really odd-- it whistles as it flies.

 

[Firis]

Re: Dolphin!

I'm afraid that's just my ****ty cameraphone, though.

I'm going to assume you're not an American, so I won't rip your throat out. There. Is. No. Navy/Coast Guard. The Coast Guard is an entirely separate entity, unless specificially placed in the Department of the Navy by specific order of the president or Congress for a limited duration in time of war. It is a branch of the US military in its own right, and the only US agency to have combined military and law enforcement authority. It is clinically awesome. I want to be a Coast Guardsman.

I'm interested in the Navy because I'm a general military buff and I like ships as much as I do aircraft. Plus, my grandpa enlisted in the Navy during WWII and Korea (Navy Reserve for Korea). He flew on PB4Y-2 Privateers in both wars, I want to say. As a gunner-- he was a Aviation Machinist Mate 2nd class.

Edit: And yes, I am aware that you were probably just being too lazy to say "Navy and Coast Guard." But hey! I said I wasn't ripping your throat out! That makes it okay, right!

My bad on the Navy Coast Guard separation.

Cool on the military interest, I know several people interested in military, I used too but I lost most interest other than the new unmanned tech.

 

[Walker]

Re: Dolphin!

Meh. If I got into Maryland's aerospace program I'd probably get all the UAV and USV fun I could want. But I'm not all that interested. Know anything about the CG's unmanned program as part of Deepwater? Last I heard they scrapped their plan for their own UAV (a really cool tiltrotor VTOL design*), but were thinking about getting some Predators and a Navy VTOL UAV whose name I can't remember.

Out of curiosity, ARE you American, or are you a Brit? Can't remember?

Oh, and I checked-- there aren't any MSP aircraft actually based at CP. My guess would be that it was Trooper 2, out of Andrews AFB. Probably picking someone up for medevac or something.

*Edit: A really cool-looking design, I should say. Knowing the people they had running Deepwater, it would probably have made a better paperweight than an operational aircraft.

 

[TRA Rotid]

Re: Dolphin!

Off topic a bit, but I generally prefer Russian aircraft design. Look at Su 47, what a beauty.
Nonetheless, fighter aircraft rock!

 

[Walker]

Re: Dolphin!

I admit forward-swept wings and canards look cool... but only because they're out of the ordinary.

I prefer the Warthog. Seriously. Ugly, straightworward, extremely unique because of it. A tank with wings, too.

 

[TRA Rotid]

Re: Dolphin!

Well the Warthog is pretty much on a whole different level of awesomness. Don`t forget the massive GAU 8 too (maybe the newer models have GAU 9, I don`t know, my information is outdated), it alone would deserve the Miss Universe award.

 

[Firis]

Re: Dolphin!

Out of curiosity, ARE you American, or are you a Brit? Can't remember?

American, which makes me slightly ashamed that I do not know as much about our military as I should.

 

[Walker]

Re: Dolphin!

Yeah. I don't know... I just don't like fighters that much, I think. Especially ones like the F-22. Fragile, overpriced ****. They're sorta like... the Ferraris of military aircraft. They look good, but they aren't so good for actually doing any work.

You and everyone else, Firis. I get into huge arguments with people who try to say the CG isn't military, or it's part of the Navy, or whatever **** they're spouting on any given day. Dumbasses.