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.