12 August 2001
"Safety first. Please ensure you have your hearing protection before
we hit the 'line"
"Helping out with the tour is Cpl Beth Keeler, the crew chief of the new
helo. Beth is a USDOC troop, and has 4 years of helo maintenance
experience. Even though this helo is single seat, and the crew chief's
don't fly along, all L7 troops are also qualified security troops." (Beth
is wearing the flightsuit that comes with the helo. It is too tight for
male figures. Toss the figure, it's junk. The boots are vintage
style, but crap. The helmet is OK with some work.)
"Here is the flightline view from a security tower. You can see how
the JCP helo compares in size with the Littlebird and the First Strike."
"Beth and I will get the canopy off for a better view of the cockpit."
" Here is the cockpit. There is a center stick attached to the
instrument panel. Rudimentary dials with white and red solid painted dials
are on the front panel."
"Here are three shots of the head clearance with the canopy
installed. First is a Supersoldier with a Jane helmet. This
offers plenty of room. Second, is the same figure with the 21st helmet
with NVGs. The fit is real tight so the pilot requires "scrunching"
down to prevent the helmet from going over his eyes. The third is a pilot
Jane. Plenty of room here. Overall the cockpit is roomy, except for
the head clearance."
"Here is Al "Roscoe" Ross, the pilot for the new helo."
"In this view you can see the wing stations. The "wings"
come un attached. There are a gun/missile pod and rockets on each
side. The tips have some sort of launcher looking thing as well.
Way small in scale, but hey, the Littlebird's pods are almost as long as this
whole aircraft!"
"Whoops! Pull the wrong bolts? No, Beth is showing how the two
hull pieces come in the box. They snap together fairly solid. Good
news is that the helo is made from styrene, like the Littlebird,
so it should accept paint fairly well. The hull is screwed together as
well so complete disassembly should be easy. The main rotor and tail rotor
are made of the shiny soft plastic, so they won't be as easy to paint. The
helo comes sporting OD and tan camo that fits in good here in Southwest
Idaho. There is a sticker sheet with white and red number markings as
well."
"At the nose, the sensor pod moves from side-to-side. You can also
see the beacon o the nose."
"Here is the tail section. The tail plane in Beth's hand snaps in to
position."
"here is a top view. Beth is showing how the rotor blades go passed
center. There are little screws that hold them on, but the material is too
soft to tweak hard. I suppose the blade could be made to go past the
centers on purpose in a "swastika" type deal."
"This shows such an arrangement. Notice the undersized pod on the
top. The rotor assembly fits on a tube on the top of the helo, but only
goes in about a quarter of an inch, so watch out for those steep attack
angles."
"Here is a rear view. you can see the engine pod mounted on the left
side. Opposite on the right is a 2inx2in open panel. Landing gear is
made up of a tricycle wheel set-up, two main tires up front and a tail
dragger."
"Overall it's a good vehicle for Joes. The scale is small, but at
least there is room in the cockpit for a larger figure. It still needs a
chin gun. Thanks for your attention. Are there any questions?"
