Help in Identifing A Hand held instrument for the AH-1G

[memphismeister]

Any rotor heads know what this is. It pertains to General helicopter aviation I do believe. Circu 66-70

[hawkdriver]

E6B flight computer, used to calculate everything from fuel burn to density altitude, to wind drift correction. It is nothing more than a circular slide rule. It has been issued to aviators from WWII to present. Never leave home without one.

[swag]

That's an E6B Flight Computer. Every aviator is issued one and it has a myriad of uses for today's fashionable aviator.

[swag]

And just in case anyone who reads this thread decides they can't live with out one, I may be able to help you.

 

 

I've only got 20 so act now! hahaha

[memphismeister]

Thank you so much

I even have the leather pouch it came in

[swag]

Thank you so much

I even have the leather pouch it came in

 

Well post a picture of the pouch too! How different is it from the modern day red case that they're issued in?

[memphismeister]

Well post a picture of the pouch too! How different is it from the modern day red case that they're issued in?

Nothing fancy

[swag]

Fancier than the red case they come in now-a-days.

[memphismeister]

Was hoping to find a surprise in it but oh well, aw shucks

[hawkdriver]

Sounds like you did, you found an E6B, nice shape and one of the rarer styles. Haven't seen a painted one like that in a long time.

[swag]

And its got the 'tits' on it too, another feature most of the newer ones don't have.

[Cobrahistorian]

WHIZ WHEEL!!!

 

Man I hate that thing...

[swag]

WHIZ WHEEL!!!

 

Man I hate that thing...

 

What!?! I love that thing! Of course I'm one of probably 27 guys in the army who actually used 'em. Its great for burn rates, and that's about the only thing I used it for.

[Cobrahistorian]

What!?! I love that thing! Of course I'm one of probably 27 guys in the army who actually used 'em. Its great for burn rates, and that's about the only thing I used it for.

 

Eh... I usually figure my burn rate in my head. Fortunately the Longbow does it for you too!

I think my disdain for it also came from our instructor at the time, who was a bitch on wheels...

 

Jon

[hawkdriver]

As soon as I would get issued a new one, I would take it to the sheet metal shop and cut it off so that I didn't have that 400 knot section sticking out the bottom. After I got older and wiser, I figured out that I could really give a damn about wind drift correction in a holding pattern, quit using the slide all together. Then one day, when the screw fell out and the plastic circcle fell off, I realized that it was even lighter and then from that day on, I throw the slide away, take the back off and put it in my knee board.

I delight in torturing the young pilots with it, it is amazing how many of the newbies barely know how to turn the the damn wheel! For some reason, most are learning how to use a calculator. On long trips when fuel is critical, I torture the calculator users by making them recalc every five minutes or so. When they get pissed, I take thier calculator away, give them the whizz wheel and show them how much easier it is to simply set it and monitor. Between the whizz wheel and making them do a hand jammed PPC, you can make the entire top of their heads unscrew.

[swag]

A hand jammed PPC? Oh yer a b@stard! hahaha Until my second tour in the desert I did most of my PPC's by hand so I wouldn't be caught flat footed for my APART. I also put the E6B away during that second tour in favor of the EDM. It has a fuel burn program that rocks, way easy to use. But I hear where you're coming from hawk, kids today don't know how to break it down old school, Amelia Earhart style.

I can still spit out a wind drift correction angle if I need to. haha

[memphismeister]

Its a blast watching you guys describe it. BTW Tits?

[swag]

Its a blast watching you guys describe it. BTW Tits?

 

The little up-raised dots on the wheel, makes it easier to spin the wheel while wearing flight gloves.

[hawkdriver]

The little dimples on the front that you use your thumb on to turn the outter wheel. You have obviously struck on a topic of interest. I even had a plan to use mine as a weapon of death if I was to have to egress. You can give it a good wrist flick and damn near take someone's head off!

Swag, you think that's cruel, watch the yung'uns flounder over a weight and balance sheet!

[memphismeister]

Well you should have seen me a non pilot looking at this thing and going ummmmmmmmmmmm.

What is the circle loop for?

[swag]

Amazing that such a little object can generate so much conversation.

When I got to the UH60 qual course my IP there saw me using the E6B and tried to teach me a new way to do a fuel burn. "Put that thing away, here's how to do it in yer head" he said to me. I sat there for 15 minutes arguing with him that I wasn't going to do it his way, I knew how to accurately compute a burn rate on the 'whiz wheel' and I wasn't, in no uncertain terms, gonna fix something that ain't broke. Well he got his way and I put it away. He soon realized (as I had told him) that I could not learn to fly a Blackhawk, remember chapter 5 & 9, recite 95-1, chew gum, shoot an ILS, and compute a fuel burn at the same time. He quickly relented and let me use my beloved E6B.

[hawkdriver]

Tying it to yourself in case you are absent minded.

[swag]

Tying it to yourself in case you are absent minded.

 

Kept it in my pubs bag which was connected to my ALSE vest, which was connected to the helmet bag, which was connected to my overnight bag, which was....

[hawkdriver]

The best thing about the E6B is that once you determine the fuel burn, leave it on that fuel burn and monitor. If something changes, you can tell before other indications spring up. It is typically more accurate than the calculator in giving realistic times because you can see more than one point in time.

[swag]

Yep. I always read down in 15 minute increments on the wheel and compared it to what was left in the tanks. Generally it was very accurate. Can't really do that with a calculator.