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Helicopter Lands top Mount Everest

Posted by Hemos on from the new-methods-of-flying dept.

FlyByPC writes "The Eurcopter team has succeeded in landing a helicopter on Everest and returning safely to base, setting another ultimate aviation milestone -- for highest-altitude takeoff and landing. Interesting pictures of Lukla airfield, as well -- essentially a runway carved out of a mountainside."

47 comments

  1. oxygen tanks by ForestGrump · · Score: 1

    oh good, now all you need to do is to setup a bungee cord and have someone jump off, grab a few oxygen tanks and return to base.

    --
    Is it true that more people vote for the winner of American Idol, than vote for the president? -Ali G.
  2. Interesting "landing" by volsung · · Score: 4, Informative
    For those who haven't watched the video, they "landed" the helicopter not in the way you think.

    From the pictures it looks like the top of Everest isn't flat enough to actually touch down and turn off your engines. Instead, they lowered until one of the landing gear ("feet"? not sure what you call those things on a helicopter) sunk into the snow, but kept the engines running the whole time to keep them balanced. The video makes it appear that they just hovered that way, partially airborne, partially touching the surface, until the 2 minute time requirement was achieved. Then they powered back to full engines and took off again.

    Not that I fault them.... :) This is probably the best you can do given the area.

    1. Re:Interesting "landing" by earthman · · Score: 4, Funny

      Perhaps they should flatten the top of the mountain to make a helipad and make it a tourist attraction.

    2. Re:Interesting "landing" by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Informative

      ("feet"? not sure what you call those things on a helicopter)

      "skid" is the word you are looking for.

    3. Re:Interesting "landing" by uradu · · Score: 3, Funny

      I would have thought the real problem would be finding a spot to touch down amongst all the flags up there.

    4. Re:Interesting "landing" by wed128 · · Score: 1

      If i was busting my ass climbing everest, and saw a helicopter at the summet, i'd be pissed...

    5. Re:Interesting "landing" by wertarbyte · · Score: 2, Interesting

      This reminds me of an old sketch of the german tv show "Verstehen Sie Spaß?". It's a hidden camera show, where celebrities are tricked into a strange situations (you certainly know the concept). One of the greatest episodes featured Reinhold Messner, famous mountaineer and conservationist, climbing the Matterhorn. They put up a kiosk right beneath the top via helicopter, selling all kinds of kitsch and junk to visitors...a nightmare to Messner, who got into rage after his (well-informed) companion even wanted to buy some kind of firework "to celebrate the reaching of the top". The TV crew then lowered the shows host from a helicopter, resolving the delicate situation

      --
      Life is just nature's way of keeping meat fresh.
    6. Re:Interesting "landing" by lubricated · · Score: 1

      yeah, I'd be on that helicopter I would laugh at you. Then I'd tell you it's called summit.

      --
      It has been statistically shown that helmets increase the risk of head injury.
    7. Re:Interesting "landing" by Profane+MuthaFucka · · Score: 1

      The difference between you and me is that I'd be pissed if the helecopter left without me.

      --
      Fascism trolls keeping me up every night. When I starts a preachin', he HITS ME WITH HIS REICH!
    8. Re:Interesting "landing" by NateTech · · Score: 1

      It's called a "pinnacle landing" and in most helicopter pilot manuals it's described as being quite a bit harder to do than a full skid landing, especially if high winds are involved.

      --
      +++OK ATH
  3. The seem to be on top of things.... by selfsealingstembolt · · Score: 2, Funny

    *ducks*

    Sorry, couldn't help myself. *g*

    --
    Keep open minded - but not that open your brain falls out...
  4. why not front page news? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    This is an important milestone in aviation history... I think it should be front page news, as it seems to be "stuff that matters" a lot more than the latest SCO scuffle, for example. This is one of the reasons I read slashdot with sections collapsed... I don't like it when interesting things like this take a back seat.

    1. Re:why not front page news? by Scott7477 · · Score: 1

      It is especially significant for the alpinist community because it appears that barring extreme wind and visibility conditions now if there is an accident helicopter rescue is feasible. The difference in time between being carried off the mountain by your climbing mates and a helicopter pickup could mean the difference between dying and surviving.

      --
      "Lack of technical competence coupled with the arrogance of power, as usual, leads to no good end."
  5. Hold up by Striker770S · · Score: 1

    essentially a runway carved out of a mountainside
    Wait. If it's a helicopter, why does it need a runway? I thought, you know, they land on helipads. Would planes really be flying here because of the mountains are everywhere, and going nearly 700 mi/h makes flying a plane suicide. Please help clarify this one.

    --
    I thought what I'd do was, I'd pretend I was one of those deaf-mutes. - Catcher in the Rye
    1. Re:Hold up by Paul+Rose · · Score: 2, Informative

      essentially a runway carved out of a mountainside
      That was describing the base camp...
      They didn't build a runway atop Everest!

    2. Re:Hold up by IvoryRing · · Score: 1

      You do know that there are planes made that are able to fly at significantly less than 700 mph, right?

    3. Re:Hold up by blacksway · · Score: 1

      Nope, not base camp.

      Lukla is the nearest (still used for planes - there is one now only used for helicoptors nearer, and a small Japanese owned hotel (Everest View Hotel) has a helipad at a slightly higher altitude I believe) runway to Everest base camp.

      It is at a high of approx 2840 m and is indeed a runway cut into the mountain (it even slopes to speed slow down when landing, and speed up when taking off). It is approximately 1 weeks walk (at least) from there to Everest Base Camp. Everest Base Camp is at about 5000m+ altutide (if I remember correctly), with Everest itself being at 8000m+ - so its quite a difference as you can see.

    4. Re:Hold up by Cecil · · Score: 1

      Would planes really be flying here because of the mountains are everywhere

      Yes.

      --
      Random and weird software I've written.
    5. Re:Hold up by FlyByPC · · Score: 1

      Lukla (ICAO code VNLK) is an airport with a runway, designed for small planes. It can also, of course, support helicopters, and made a convenient base. It's one of the highest airports in the world, although it's not *the* highest.

      Fun airport to fly in to, in Flight Simulator. Not all that challenging in the right plane, but in larger aircraft that would never go there in reality (say, a 737), it's fun to drop off the end of the cliff, as the plane picks up enough speed to fly while dropping towards the valley floor.

      --
      Paleotechnologist and connoisseur of pretty shiny things.
    6. Re:Hold up by hedronist · · Score: 5, Informative

      Short version: Yes, helicopters use runways.

      Long version: Most people assume helicopters just jump off the ground and are suddenly flying. The reality is a good deal more complex than that. (Which is a true statement about almost everything to do with helicopters.)

      1. When a helicopter first lifts off the ground it is inside its 'ground effect envelope', where part of its lift is coming from pushing air against the ground. Once it is above a certain height (varies by aircraft -- anywhere from 10 feet to 80 feet), the ground effect falls away and it is now fully airborne.

      2. Pure hovering (outside of the ground effect) takes an amazing amount of energy. It also has the danger, if maintained in one place on a still day, of creating a torroid of moving air: first pushed down by the blades, then sucked up and over the top to be pushed down again. This means the copter now has to push harder and faster to make up for the fact that the air it is pushing against is already moving down at some speed.

      3. Most fly time in a helictopter is spent moving forward in the air. The disc created by the spinning blade generates lift as it moves forward through the air. In fact, helicopters are called 'rotary-wing aricraft'.

      4. During takeoff, a heavily loaded helicopter -- or one operating at high alititude -- will want to stay inside its ground effect envelope while building up forward speed. Once it's going fast enough to generate lift forward motion, then they can start to gain altitude and move out of the ground effect.

      One page with more info: http://www.helicopterpage.com/
      Peter
      284th AVN Co, ATC, 8th Army

    7. Re:Hold up by VStrider · · Score: 1

      Wait. If it's a helicopter, why does it need a runway? I thought, you know, they land on helipads.

      Yes, they land on helipads. But I'd imagine takeoff would be a problem there, due to high altitude/low pressure, so they might need a runway to hover, pick up speed and make sure they don't get a rejected takeoff. I'm not so sure about helicopters but planes would definitelly need longer runways there.

      Would planes really be flying here because of the mountains are everywhere, and going nearly 700 mi/h makes flying a plane suicide.Please help clarify this one.

      You must be thinking fighter jets. GA aircraft don't fly that fast. You're looking around 100-350 mph ground speed. If you're thinking commercial airliners, they top at around 350kias(knots indicated airspeed) which at the altitude of everest would be around 400-450mph gs.(at 30000ft, 350kias would be around 700mph gs).

      --
      VStrider.
    8. Re:Hold up by fname · · Score: 2, Informative

      I flew into Lukla once, so I can assure you it's used all the time for plane arrivals and departures. There were a few planes pushed off the end of the runway, for the times when a plane couldn't stop fast enough and crashed. It's probably too hard to retrieve the plane or fix it, since there's no driveable roads to Lukla and not much in the way of airplane facilities. The airstrip gets shut quite often due to clouds, since if you can't see the runway you can't land.

    9. Re:Hold up by geoffspear · · Score: 1

      You should go to the Denver airport sometime. It's really amazing to watch all of those planes landing at 700 mph and dodging mountains the whole time.

      --
      Don't blame me; I'm never given mod points.
    10. Re:Hold up by Detritus · · Score: 1

      Is that why they use taxiways and runways? I was watching Army helicopters operate at an Air Force base and it seemed odd that they would hover and follow the taxiways just like a fixed wing aircraft. I had assumed that they would just get a clearance and go straight up.

      --
      Mea navis aericumbens anguillis abundat
    11. Re:Hold up by Johnno74 · · Score: 1

      Did you know that helecopters can't really fly?

      They are just so ugly that the ground repels them.

  6. They didn't pilot the chopper themselves! by H4x0r+Jim+Duggan · · Score: 1

    Oh My God! They didn't have the guts to fly the helicopter themselves so they paid some local children to fly it instead!!

    This is a new low for the international avaition community.

    --
    Please help publicise swpat.org - the software patents wiki
    1. Re:They didn't pilot the chopper themselves! by empaler · · Score: 1

      Nono, that's just the Catholic minister they brought along, he's doing missionary work, converting the heathens.

    2. Re:They didn't pilot the chopper themselves! by Eccles · · Score: 1

      Those aren't children, the Sherpas are just really undernourished. Heck, Tensing Norgay was barely three feet tall, and Sir Edmund practically carried him the whole way in his backpack.

      --
      Ooh, a sarcasm detector. Oh, that's a real useful invention.
    3. Re:They didn't pilot the chopper themselves! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Check out the girl closest to the camera, she's palming one and waiting for another -- we need to get her an honorary Geek Card, ASAP!

  7. I predict... by Anonymous+Codger · · Score: 1

    ...that this record will never be broken. At least not on Earth (let's see them try it on Olympus Mons).

    --
    No sig? Sigh...
    1. Re:I predict... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Just a bring a bulldozer up there and build the peak up a bit.

  8. Dead bodies too? by spineboy · · Score: 1, Interesting

    Apparently Everest is littered with all of the people who've died up there. Roughly 25% of the people who atttempt to climb it have died somewhere along the route.

    --
    ..........FULL STOP.
  9. Re:Two words are coming to mind.. by kyle90 · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Yes, because it's clearly so easy to land a helicopter on top of Everest... even ignoring the challenge of performing a landing in such extreme conditions, it's impressive that they were able to design a helicopter that could function perfectly up where the air is so thin. Quite an achievement. I know there will be those who say this "cheapens" the experience of climbing the mountain, but I hope that maybe now we could use helis to clean up Everest; get rid of all those oxy tanks, dead bodies, etc.

    --
    Real_men_don't_need_spacebars.
  10. Some thoughts by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Er, is there not a single picture of the 'copter actually on top of Everest?!

    Crap those pictures are huge for a public web site.

    Does that 5(?) year old Nepal kid have a nose ring?! Does she have a tattoo on the small of her back too? They teach 'em to be slutty teenagers quite early in Nepal?

    1. Re:Some thoughts by CrosbieFitch · · Score: 2, Funny

      Check out this piccie:

      http://everestnews.com/stories2005/pictures/029p.j pg

      Why does it look like the helicopter has been Photoshopped into the shot?

      Are they using photomontage for 'artists impressions' these days?

    2. Re:Some thoughts by CrosbieFitch · · Score: 1

      That was just the thumbnail. Doh!

      Try this for the full 'photo':

      http://www.eurocopter.com/everest/img/029.JPG

    3. Re:Some thoughts by CrosbieFitch · · Score: 1

      Hmmm... perhaps it's a JPEG artefact?

      Where's the lossless version for such a critical piccie eh?

    4. Re:Some thoughts by tgd · · Score: 1

      Its more likely an atmospheric artifact... the air is really dry up there, and the motor is throwing a lot of moisture out. It may be getting trapped around the helicoper and forming a cloud the way you see jet trails when they're that high.

  11. Order of events by yotto · · Score: 1

    *highest-altitude takeoff and landing*

    You mean highest-altitude landing and takeoff, of course. :D

    --
    Pulp Audio Weekly - Geek News and Reviews
  12. Did you make up this statistic? by BraceletWinner · · Score: 5, Informative
    From http://www.mounteverest.net/story/MountEverestKill erMountainsAnExplorersWebSeriesOct292003.shtml/ (a link from 2003):

    To date, there have been 1,924 ascents of Mount Everest (more than 1,300 different climbers), and 179 people have died. The overall fatality rate is thus about 9% (fatality rate is defined as successful summits compared to fatalities). However, since 1990 there has been an explosion of summiteers and fatality statistics have changed. Up to 1990, the Everest fatality rate is a whopping 37%, with 106 deaths and only 284 summits. Yet from 1990 until today, the rate has dropped to 4.4%; 73 people have died, and 1,640 have summited. Thus, the rate decreased to about eight times less than the pre-1990 fatality rate!

    The fatality rate from attempts is even less since more people attempt it each year than actually summit. Look something up before you spout off stats that sound good.

    1. Re:Did you make up this statistic? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0
      Look something up before you spout off stats that sound good.
      Let's all go to Jesus Christ's house, mkay?
    2. Re:Did you make up this statistic? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      The fatality rate from attempts is even less since more people attempt it each year than actually summit.

      As opposed to more people reaching the summit than attempting the climb?

  13. Re:Two words are coming to mind.. by joib · · Score: 1

    Well, considering how much of that Jet-A1 goop helicopters drink, I suspect it would be less bad for the environment just to leave those oxygen bottles there.

    For the bodies, I guess its more about what the relatives feel or something like that..

  14. Clearly.. by slashmojo · · Score: 1

    They are just paying some of the local kids to keep an eye on the chopper while they go for a beer otherwise some rascal would half inch it..

  15. You could just ski down by BraceletWinner · · Score: 1
    The difference between you and me is that I'd be pissed if the helecopter left without me.

    http://www.guinnessworldrecords.com/content_pages/ record.asp?recordid=56192