National Guard Training at the Pemi
June 2016
Judy and I went for a bike ride in the flood control area along the
Pemigewasset River this afternoon. The National Guard from
Concord fly Black Hawk helicopters here for training, and they
put on a show for us.
They fly up the river and practice picking up a 4000 lb dead weight
in a field
where I often operate. We could hear them today as we came around
the bend
in the river. I sped up and found them about a mile and a quarter
north of where
we parked. It's always exciting. We sat down on a rock and watched
as they hooked
the dead weight to cables.
After a few minutes they lifted off. There was a whoosh of wind...
maybe 70 MPH and they
circled at several hundred feet with the concrete weight hanging
below.
Helicopters are magic as far as I can tell and we enjoyed every
minute of it. They continued their
drill for 20 minutes or so then left. We exchanged friendly waves
with the pilot and crew.