I heard this helicopter doing tight circles last night around sunset:
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Tail N239PS, a Bell OH-58-A. Owned by Pasadena PD.
After it flew away and I found the above URL I watched it for awhile.
It went east, did steep ascent then steep descent, flew south-east, repeated,
a couple more of these (maybe 2300 fpm ascent, 3000 fpm descent), before
finally going down at what looks like the base of the Devil's Gate reservoir, into a golf course,
at -3500 fpm. Looks like it took off from the same place.
Those elevation changes seem extreme for a police helicopter. At first I was wondering
if he was trying to make a pax airsick, or had a rookie copilot and showing him the airframe's
capability. But why drop 3500 fpm into a golf course? Never to ascend again.
Now I'm thinking it was for a movie shoot.
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After it flew away and I found the above URL I watched it for awhile.
It went east, did steep ascent then steep descent, flew south-east, repeated,
a couple more of these (maybe 2300 fpm ascent, 3000 fpm descent), before
finally going down at what looks like the base of the Devil's Gate reservoir, into a golf course,
at -3500 fpm. Looks like it took off from the same place.
Those elevation changes seem extreme for a police helicopter. At first I was wondering
if he was trying to make a pax airsick, or had a rookie copilot and showing him the airframe's
capability. But why drop 3500 fpm into a golf course? Never to ascend again.
Now I'm thinking it was for a movie shoot.
