From: randall abshier <abshierr@cox.net> Sent: Monday, January 19, 2026 3:12 PM To: Mike Brattland <mgbrattland@gerlecreek.com>; Dick Catone <dickcatone@bellsouth.net> Subject: Fwd: : For all you rotorheads .. or wannabe rotorheads!! Just got this from my flight surgeon(HS-15, early 70s). Sent from my  Subject: For all you rotorheads .. or wannabe rotorheads!! 1. Once you are in flight, it is way too late to wonder if this is a good idea.. 2. It is a fact that helicopter tail rotors are instinctively drawn toward trees, stumps, rocks, etc. While it may be possible to ward off this natural event some of the time, it cannot, despite the best efforts of the crew, always be prevented. It's just what they do. 3. The engine RPM and the rotor RPM must both be kept in the Green. Failure to heed this commandment can affect the morale of the crew. 4. Decisions made by someone above you in the chain-of-command will seldom be in your best interest. 5. The terms Protective Armor and Helicopter are mutually exclusive. 6. Sometime being good and lucky is still not enough. 7. "Chicken Plates" are not something you order in a restaurant. 8. The BSR (Bang Stare Red) theory states that the louder the sudden bang in the helicopter, the quicker your eyes will be drawn to the gauges. The longer you stare at the gauges the less time it takes them to move from green to red. 9. Nomex is not fire-proof. 10 In helicopters there is no such thing as "a good vibration". 11. A free fire zone has nothing to do with economics. 12. The further you fly into the mountains, the louder the strange engine noise becomes. 13. "Pucker Factor" is the formal name of the equation that states that the more hairy the situation is, the more of the seat will be sucked up your butt. It can be expressed in its mathematical formula of S - (suction) + H - (height above the ground) + I - (interest in staying alive) + T - (number of tracers coming your way). 14. Running out of pedal, fore or aft cyclic, or collective are all bad ideas. Any combination of these can be deadly. 15. There is no such thing as a small fire fight. 16. While the rest of the crew may be in the same predicament, it is almost always the pilots job to arrive at the crash first. 17. A billfold in your hip pocket can numb your leg and be a real pain in the ass. 18. It does too get cold in Vietnam. 19. If something hasn't broken on your helicopter, it's about to. 20. Eat when you can. Sleep when you can. Visit the latrine when you can. The next opportunity may not come around for a long time. If ever. 21. A standard opening line for Army instructor pilots instructing on helicopters in the 60's: "There are 25 instruments in front of you, and the only one you can trust is the clock". 22. Hovering ..is for people who love to fly helicopters but have no place to go! 23. Flying helicopters isn't more dangerous. Crashing them is what's dangerous, and it just happens more often. 24. During autorotation at night, turn on landing light. If the terrain looks unsuitable turn the landing light back off... 25. The purpose of the main rotor is to cool the pilot. Watch how he sweats if it slows down a little. 26. There are only two kinds of helicopter pilots: those that have crashed and those who are going to. 27. Always remember that helicopters are different from airplanes. Helicopters are thousands of pounds of parts all flying in opposition to each other, and unlike airplanes, they fly by beating the air into submission.