Military Helicopters flying in the skies of Houston

I have seen the reports of helicopters flying violating US airspace. Now after reading this post, this is what I believe is going on:
Posturing. You see the US military can not confirm if it is true that the Mexican military has been violating our air space without creating an incident, nor can they continue to allow for such. With the distance of radar, to monitor airspace, then it only makes sense that you are going to see more helicopters flying around over cities, the excuse would be that they are flying from point a to point b, or doing training exercises. The reality may be that they are actually making their presence known to the other military forces, as part of a rapid response against such incursions, and ensuring that peace is kept, or at least make them think twice about doing anything rash. Most aircraft have radar, it allows for them to fly at night and to see what is on the horizon, picking up targets. Now they do not tell you if said aircraft is armed. So what better way to deter and diffuse a situation than to put out something, just out of the line of sight, to be picked up on Radar, but unarmed?

They definitly came from Ellington.I was driving through Pasadena yesterday and saw 2 of them. Almost positive they were Apaches. Just giving a little confirmation on the sighting

reply to post by sdcigarpig


Most aircraft have WEATHER radar at best. Weather radar will give you a nice big beautiful picture of that thunderstorm ahead of you, and that's about it. It's not going to help with target selection, or aircraft avoidance, etc. And as far as I remember, helicopters don't even all carry that much, they rely on radar from escorting C-130 tankers on long missions.

Originally posted by budaruskie
reply to post by Tentickles

 

It has been my experience that Apache helicopters are frequently in the skies above Houston, and if memory serves the 30mm canon on the front is always present.



I would be more surprised to NOT see the cannon mounted on an Apache, it is a permanent part of the airframe, more or less. Its movements are controlled hydraulically, and not something that can just be taken off when not in use. It is ever bit as part of the aircraft as the engine, transmission, and rotor systems.

Yeah, I wouldn't think much of it. Where I live, there is a small runway near bye for small turbo prop aircraft and small commercial jets (Lear Jets, etc.) This airport also houses 8 F-18 fighter jets and very rarely do they take off. But a month ago or so, while at school, 2 military helicopters took off (too far away to distinguish what kind) and followed by 4 F-18's (much closer to my class), which where not armed. Less than one minute later, the remaining 4 F-18's took off following the other aircraft, leaving no jets stationed at the airport. I didn't think much of it as it has happened a few times before. I take it as they were on a training exercise or something to keep there flying abilities sharp.

I grew up in Maryland, where there are a lot of military bases packed into a pretty tight area. I was probably closest to the Martin State Airport, which was the base for the Maryland Air National Guard's A-10 squadron. I used to see A-10's flying over my neighborhood on training missions almost every other day. Except for being a bit noisy sometimes, there wasn't anything to worry about. They fly around, they train, the land, then do it again the next day. It was the same thing for the decade and a half I lived near there, maybe still is.

Maybe whatever base is near you has changed it's flight patterns for whatever reason. As long as the choppers are flying overhead and not landing in or strafing neighborhoods, I wouldn't be too worried about it. They've got to train somewhere.