This is one of Sheriff Joe‘s Helicopters flying just above our little corner of town. It’s unusual to see any kind of law enforcement helicopters out of the metro area, but this morning this one circled overhead twice. I don’t know the purpose of their surveillance, but it was weird to see them circling.
At the old place, we had helicopters coming and going from the Robinson factory all day long. The occasional night time orbiting helicopter with their spotlights would give us concern since their presence usually meant that a crime had been committed nearby.
However, the helicopter overhead today didn’t concern me much, since the crime rate is so low here. Nevertheless, I will still be carrying my personal self defense device with “limited penetration” JHP projectiles, just in case of zombie attacks.
For a number of years whenever I saw a helicopter I was reminded of Vietnam. Back in Norton, Massachusetts we had a small farm that was adjacent to some power lines and MassElectric inspected with a helicopter. This not only scared the bejeebees out of the horses but reminded me of 1970-1971. Then there was the police helicopters when we moved to Rhode Island…again southeast Asia came to mind. For some reason they once circled my sailboat while out sailing in Narragansett Bay and I could hear the heliport sounds of yesteryear. Finally got over the whirly bird memories when we moved here to Alabama. Most of my friends and associates are helicopter pilots/instructors and routine training missions fly over my swimming pool several times daily for you see, I live nearby Fort Rucker…home of the US Army helicopter pilot training program. Yes, the sight and sound of helicopters makes me wish I could start all over and instead of an Air Force career I’d opt for the chance to fly the Apache, Kiowa, or Huey…looks like fun!
PS: Did you ever try using the manual settings on your camera (if you have such). Most of my helicopter pictures look like the one you took…with the stationary rotor blades.
With the manual settings you should be able to use a slower shutter speed to make the blades blurr for the action effect.
Norm
Word of warning: the zombies are in the White House and the halls of Congress!
“…He has sent hither officers to eat out our substance…”
Although I was a crew member on board Navy helicopters, I didn’t get my helicopter certificate until I was a commercial pilot and instructor working in a flight school. Helicopters are indeed fun to fly.
I don’t think Sheriff Joe’s guys are zombies, but you can’t trust anyone in Gov’t these days.
I’m sure the little camera has that function but it’s a pain to try and set it up when the target is in motion.