? Helicopter

Did anyone notice the mysterious helicopter flying along the shoreline Thursday afternoon? We first saw it flying over U.S. 98 in the Miramar/Destin area towards KDTS, then later (around 3 or 4 in the afternoon) flying east and then west above the coastline in Seagrove. It appeared to be a 1960s or 1970s era military transport or search & rescue helicopter, possibly a Sikorsky CH-3 or HH3, or a Russian Mil Mi-8. It had no military markings, butit did have a "?" on the side and a tail number which I mistakenly typed as N171BW. It looked like something off of LOST.

Was it white? If so, I saw it too.

I think Tyndall is having its open house this weekend (or next) so there will probably be all sorts of cool flying things around here in the next few days. As for the ? question mark.....that is an odd one, but it would be cool if The Island popped up around here one episode.

Forget the name

My husband and I saw it yesterday too. He knew the name of it, but I don't remember. I'll reply again if I remember to ask him!

Osprey

Not sure if this is what you saw, but my husband and I saw a VTOL V-22 Osprey. Looks like part plane part helicopter.

My husband and I saw it yesterday too. He knew the name of it, but I don't remember. I'll reply again if I remember to ask him!

[FONT=arial,sans-serif][SIZE=-1]Air Rescue HU16




[/SIZE][/FONT]H-34 "Choctaw" (US Army designation) or "Seahorse" (USMC designation)


Was it similar to these, but painted light green and white-washed? If so, I saw it heading east toward Tyndall AFB on Thursday. Pretty different from the usuals, but as noted, Tyndall is having an air show (I thought next weekend, but maybe it is this weekend) -- free admission and free parking. The Navy's Blue Angels (although two pilots are from the Marines) will also be there.

Geo & Smiling JOe: I was thinking it was white, but it may have been a very light "whitewashed" green. There may have been some type of national or military emblem on the tail rutter. Smiling JOe, it was within that genre of helicopter, but I can't be certain as to which one it was. I mentioned the Russian Mi-8 because, like the H-34s you posted, it does not have the short side "wings" like the H-3s have. I'm now thinking it was an Mi-8 or H-34.

jodiFL, if I can follow the bearing of 305 on my kayak trip today, I hope to find the island.

FlordaBuckeye, it wasn't an Osprey, but I have seen those strange things down here! They are stationed at Hurlburt with Special Ops.

~Everytime

I caught a quick glimpse of it. It looked like a Russian type to me. It made quit a different sound from all the other aircraft that fly by my place. You do know when an Osprey is coming. It has a very distinct sound.

It has been a while since I have flown out of Destin, but the last time I did fly out of there I saw a M-8 or a variant parked on the north end of the ramp area beyond the T hangars. It may have been that. It was white-ish, BTW...

Sounds like the Russian MI-8 that I have seen at Destin on several occasions. There is a private defense contractor that has an MI-8 HIp and an MI-24 Hind that support a special squadron at Hurlburt Field. I went out to Destin airport a while back and poked around to learn about the company. Bottom line is that the unit at Hurlburt is trained to fly other aircraft of "countries of interest". So this private contractor maintains and flies these aircraft to train them.

I see Ospreys every now and then. A couple of times I have seen one towing another - very strange.

There's also a group out of the Destin airport that has some seriously vintage military aircraft they take out for fun and private rental. Cool stuff to see WW II era planes out in formation flying overhead on the odd Sunday morning.

Saw a Pave Low down at the beach yesterday. I know that they were supposed to be replaced by the Osprey last fall for active duty. Are the Guard and Reserve still flying them?

We saw all of them. First the one with the question marks and then the second was the walton county sheriff's coptor. They did cruise at a low altitude. At first I thought they were looking for something. We then realized they had a lot of activity on the beaches and maybe it is used to promote military enlistment with all the young kids on the beaches this week. It was the beginning of spring break.

Yep. That's it. Surely, they weren't flying that low to look at all the babes in bikinis.

There's also a group out of the Destin airport that has some seriously vintage military aircraft they take out for fun and private rental. Cool stuff to see WW II era planes out in formation flying overhead on the odd Sunday morning.

Saw a Pave Low down at the beach yesterday. I know that they were supposed to be replaced by the Osprey last fall for active duty. Are the Guard and Reserve still flying them?

The "seriously vintage military aircraft" you speak of are T-6 Texans. It was my trainer in AF primary flight training at Bainbridge, GA. There are always interesting aircraft flying up and down the beach.

Sounds like the Russian MI-8 that I have seen at Destin on several occasions. There is a private defense contractor that has an MI-8 HIp and an MI-24 Hind that support a special squadron at Hurlburt Field. I went out to Destin airport a while back and poked around to learn about the company. Bottom line is that the unit at Hurlburt is trained to fly other aircraft of "countries of interest". So this private contractor maintains and flies these aircraft to train them.

Bingo...I found it via yahoo search:



It's on the Milavia military aviation website.

Regarding the Pave Lows, I think Special Ops at Hurlburt still uses these. Also, the Navy and Marines use the Sea Stallion variant; I frequently see a U.S. Navy Sea Stallion fly over, late in the afternoon, but I'm not sure where it's from. Do they have these at Pensacola NAS or Panama City?

I see Ospreys every now and then. A couple of times I have seen one towing another - very strange.

Sounds more like they are training for air to air refueling; however, I don't know that they are equipped for that. I can't imagine that they are towing due to the logistics of having to lift the second straight up and then have both transition to foward flight mode.

Saw a Pave Low down at the beach yesterday. I know that they were supposed to be replaced by the Osprey last fall for active duty. Are the Guard and Reserve still flying them?

They are in the process of phasing out the CH-53's, but there are a lot still in use. HUrlburt still operates them

Regarding the Pave Lows, I think Special Ops at Hurlburt still uses these. Also, the Navy and Marines use the Sea Stallion variant; I frequently see a U.S. Navy Sea Stallion fly over, late in the afternoon, but I'm not sure where it's from. Do they have these at Pensacola NAS or Panama City?

There are always Navy variants at Pensacola NAS for the airshows, but I don't think they are based out of there as it's a training wing. Maybe Whiting Field?