Deer Valley Airport has been VERY busy...

Discussion in 'General Discussion' started by dragonfly, Jul 30, 2011.


  1. dragonfly

    dragonfly Monkey+++

    Lately we have seen a "swarm" of large helo's going thru...some heading pacific northwest some headed west....
    I am unable to identify them and catching them for a photo has proved to be hard thing to do...They move FAST!
    They have been seen in green ( not really OD) kind of a lacquered shiny color, and sand or some variant of tan.
    Most come in or leave in 2's and 3's.
    This afternoon they came in 3 groups of 2's, and they rocked the place...flying low and very fast in from the west. Until I get a still photo I can't tell, but I'd say these monsters have 8 blades.
    They all have strangely large offset tails (strange to me) but no idea of what they are. They all seem to have either large side (saddle) tanks or perhaps wells for the landing gear to set in.....( can you tell I need NEW glasses?) But one thing they all have in common is the "stinger" out front, for re-fueling?....
    Now they more than likely came out of Mesa where they have a huge helo assy. plant, and may be heading out to the Yuma proving grounds, those that are going west, BUT, they'd have to turn and head straight south. But those that are heading northeast is a different matter. I know they go thru a shakedown flight, but I was recently informed that they do NOT come this way from Mesa, but head out east to the San Tan mountain range for their maiden flight/s and such. That way they are out of the way of most of the cities and in case they should have a malfunction they are in the desert for all intents and purposes.
    Either way, this miniscule airport has had a LOT of traffic as of late and although we get a ton of flights in and out from the 2 flight schools there, when these boy's come in, nobody else is in the sky!
    When and "IF" I can get a shot of these, I'll post it.
     
  2. hank2222

    hank2222 Monkey+++

    they are hunting rabbit's that all the one in the middle of nowhere
     
  3. Seawolf1090

    Seawolf1090 Retired Curmudgeonly IT Monkey Founding Member

    Sounds like the M60 variants used by Spec Ops....... Training for 'who knows what'.......?
     
  4. dragonfly

    dragonfly Monkey+++

    I have uploaded 2 shots, to my albums: one is clear ( rear only) and the other is fuzzy but you can see all 7 blades...They move fast enough I had taken 7 shots and only these 2 are good enough to even see....
     
  5. dragonfly

    dragonfly Monkey+++

    Sikorsky...CH-53E Super Stallion!
     
  6. Tikka

    Tikka Monkey+++

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