Helicopter lands on the summit of Mt Everest

[Lebenz]

http://www.mounteverest.net/story/MysteryChopperlandsontopofEverestMay242005.shtml

[diametricalbenz]

I saw the Everest IMAX awhile back and I remember them mentioning that the base camps were put more or less where the Russian helicopters could ascend to. 30k feet in a helicopter is amazing. They must have had to fit the helicopter with an Oxygen supply and retrofit it for that bitter cold.

I bet it must be burning fuel like crazy to keep the rotor speed up and at max prop pitch at the peak due to the thinning air!

[Kuan]

Great! Now lets start giving people rides up there so they can ski down the thing.

Maybe the rich nature loving environmentalist climbers that have polluted Mt. Everest can charter that thing for a clean up.

[Kuan]

Have you seen basecamp pictures? That place is a garbage dump. The guys finally developed a conscience a few years ago and are now organizing cleanup days.

[Since66]

On May 14th, 2005 at 7h08 (local time), a serial Ecureuil/AStar AS 350 B3 piloted by the EUROCOPTER X-test pilot Didier Delsalle, landed at 8,850 meters (29,035ft) on the top of the Mount Everest (Kingdom of Nepal

Ecureuil is French for squirrel, so maybe...........!

[Hatterasguy]

It is amazing a chopper can fly that high! They must have had the thing stripped out and the throttle's pegged.

[sfloriII]

Originally Posted by MedMech

Maybe the rich nature loving environmentalist climbers that have polluted Mt. Everest can charter that thing for a clean up.

The Chinese side has something like 100,000 tons of garbage. To their credit, they're beginning to clean the garbage up.

[pxland]

Originally Posted by sfloriII

The Chinese side has something like 100,000 tons of garbage. To their credit, they're beginning to clean the garbage up.

Now, I am as environmentally friendly as the next guy.

But....If you could pick anywhere in the world to turn into a dump. What's wrong with an area that only the wealthiest, healthiest, whack-jobs are gonna see.

It's like country club members throwing their trash in the pool, it doesn't effect anyone but them.

[sfloriII]

Originally Posted by pxland

Now, I am as environmentally friendly as the next guy.

But....If you could pick anywhere in the world to turn into a dump. What's wrong with an area that only the wealthiest, healthiest, whack-jobs are gonna see.

It's like country club members throwing their trash in the pool, it doesn't effect anyone but them.

I think it's a matter of principle. Funny how the "wealthiest" are such slobs!?

As for me, I'm anal enough that when I repainted my kitchen, I also painted all of the wall behind the fridge. Simply because it'd bother me knowing that it wasn't painted-- even though I'll never see it.

[pxland]

Originally Posted by sfloriII

As for me, I'm anal enough that when I repainted my kitchen, I also painted all of the wall behind the fridge. Simply because it'd bother me knowing that it wasn't painted-- even though I'll never see it.

Glad I'm not the only one!

I would think that an endeavor like Everest can not be considered conquered if you can't even take all of the supplies it took you to get up back down with you.

Now what really impresses me.....are the bodies.

Talk about the coolest form of littering.

[Kestas]

Originally Posted by diametricalbenz

I saw the Everest IMAX awhile back and I remember them mentioning that the base camps were put more or less where the Russian helicopters could ascend to. 30k feet in a helicopter is amazing. They must have had to fit the helicopter with an Oxygen supply and retrofit it for that bitter cold.

I bet it must be burning fuel like crazy to keep the rotor speed up and at max prop pitch at the peak due to the thinning air!

Didn't we (or the English at Rolls Royce) develop airplanes during WWII to fly 30K feet? They supercharged the engines and we can assume the props worked at that altitude. I still think it's amazing though.

Originally Posted by Kestas

Didn't we (or the English at Rolls Royce) develop airplanes during WWII to fly 30K feet? They supercharged the engines and we can assume the props worked at that altitude. I still think it's amazing though.

A fully loaded B-29 could cruise @ 300 mph 30,000 ft in 1940, wings and rotor blades are a completely different animal, dead weight vs. lift assisted by air speed.

Igor Sikorsky set a helicoptor altitude record of 25000 ft in the 50's.

[mzsmbs]

sure but Chomolungma is not just altitude... and it is 29035ft... and that's 4k ft of dead zone above sikorsky's record...

[Kuan]

Originally Posted by pxland

Now, I am as environmentally friendly as the next guy.

But....If you could pick anywhere in the world to turn into a dump. What's wrong with an area that only the wealthiest, healthiest, whack-jobs are gonna see.

It's like country club members throwing their trash in the pool, it doesn't effect anyone but them.

They're not wealthy by any means. The trash is from the old days. Most climbers rely on major sponsorship to make it to the Himalayas.

There's a name for Everest, they call it the Yak trail.