Just got buzzed by a hot squad of attack helicopters...?

Il try to keep this brief. I have a chinook come in low over my house several times a month. Sometimes 2-3 times a week. I've been trying to get some good pics with my camera of it but I just never seem to be ready. Today is no exception... All my gear was fully stowed and would of taken several minutes to get to.

Well I hear the rotor blades coming and I had the thought "damnit again without the camera!" But then it was different. I was looking everywhere for where this chopper should be and nothing.... It's a real low ceiling today so I thought "maybe he's up above... But then how can I hear him so good?"

This is about when my chandelier started to rattle badly... Violently.... My windows started chattering and that was enough for me... I ran outside..

200 meters to the south of my house I have an east - west landing/takeoff corridor for a local international airport that the planes usually pass my house under 1000 feet on. These birds came right through/under that path at 100 feet or so. I could clearly see the pilots and the hellfires and rocket pods...

They were in Flying V formation with a blackhawk leading the way. 2 apaches off his right side and an Apache and an Mi-8 off his left.... The Mi-8 has me scratching my head. Might not be an Mi-8 but it sure looked like one I rushed inside to try to ID it.

This all took at 2:20 pm give or take 2 minutes. They were heading directly for grailing so that was my first guess but why travel hot if it's a training excercises for the guard?

VIP transfer in the black hawk maybe? Why the hind? Foreign special forces/Vip maybe? I know Nato likes the Mi-8

Any ideas?

a reply to: mindseye1609

What color were the munitions? If they were blue they were practice rounds.

a reply to: mindseye1609

I have no particular idea at this point, other than to say the possibilities of a VIP being flown in from the airport to some other place would not be entirely outlandish. I suppose it could have been a training flight for some sort of joint operation?

I will however, pop in periodically to see what else gets suggested!

Just got buzzed by a hot squad of attack helicopters...?

Consider yourself special. All I ever get is a two seat high wing plane that circles a few times then leaves. LOL LOL LOL

a reply to: mindseye1609

When I was in the Guard in NY, our Cobras always had the pods attached, they were empty tho...dunno about apaches tho

a reply to: mindseye1609

Was it an Mi-8/17 cargo helicopter or a Mi-35 Hind? My initial guess would be joint training of some kind.

a reply to: mindseye1609

Interesting. Definitely training if the armaments were blue.

Chances are you did see an Mi-8. If you even know what that is, likely you ID'd it correctly. Not many people know what an Mi-8 is.

My guess is they were possibly using it as well for training. I know they train with "captuted" Mi-24 Hinds. Or at the very least, they have trained with them.

Not exactly hard to buy Russian hardware on the market. Hell, you could buy a fully functional Hind if ya had the cash.

a reply to: Sparkymedic

Yup, saw them on the airfield at both Ft Polk, LA for JRTC and Ft Irwin for NTC

a reply to: mindseye1609

They were heading directly for grailing so that was my first guess but why travel hot if it's a training excercises for the guard?

Near Grayling, MI? There is a live fire practice area northeast of there. The National Guard trains there all year. Stays east, goes almost as far north as Gaylord. It's on the aviation charts at R-4201A/B.

I recently had a similar experience with a F35. House rattling good time!


We get our fair share of helicopters too. The choppers fly at night around here. The F35 was in the morning.

a reply to: Sammamishman

Ok my bad it was the 8 most likely. I thought the hind was just a classification for all those Russian big bellied beauties. I just looked Im pretty sure it was the 8 and not the 35.

originally posted by: mindseye1609
a reply to: Sammamishman

Ok my bad it was the 8 most likely. I thought the hind was just a classification for all those Russian big bellied beauties. I just looked Im pretty sure it was the 8 and not the 35.

NATO code for Mi-8 is Hip vs the Mi-24 Hind.

Idk if the pods were blue. I couldn't clearly see if the missiles were blue or not. ANNNNDDD they weren't apaches, they were cobra's. I knew I has that wrong they were to sleek to be apaches. No pointed noses. Very thin and narrow. Definitely Cobras.

Could this by any chance be what you saw and identified as a Hind-8 ?

a reply to: Greathouse

Nope, that's a blackhawk if I'm Not mistaken right? A panhawk my buddy just said? That's looks more like what was up front looked like.

a reply to: butcherguy

Are you giving away a secret saying those codes? Just curious?

I do not have any miltary in my family, but I do remember them telling military personel to scrub there social media and what not

In war they would be a gaggle, and at night, not a tight v formation. National guard or joint ops. IMO.

a reply to: mindseye1609

Yes correct. That's a pic of a Pavehawk. Designated as such due to the air refueling probe. Blackhawks don't have the probe.

Chances are you correctly ID'd the Mi-8. They have that very distinct round nose/front windows. Also, its quite big compared to a Blackhawk. More the scale of an MH-53.

a reply to: mindseye1609

No actually it's a The Sikorsky MH-60G/HH-60G Pave Hawk .

Where do you live Kansas, Arkansas or California?

a reply to: crappiekat

Nope. Those are just the NATO reporting names for different vehicles. Nothing secret about it.

Wikipedia article on NATO reporting names

Edit to add:

Looks like the US may have purchased 30 birds back in 2013 for use in Afghanistan. I'm sure some of them made it Stateside for training purposes.

Officials of the Army Contracting Command at Redstone Arsenal, Ala., are awarding a $572.2 million contract to JSC Rosoboronexport in Moscow for 30 Mi-17 helicopters, spare parts, test equipment, and engineering support.

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