Not CAP related, but definitely Aviation related. One of our pilots recently retired this past June with 27,000+ hours and 47 years of service in Law Enforcement. A company put this together for us.
Retirement of an Eagle on Vimeo (http://vimeo.com/51325068)
Neat, Rob: did you get promoted?
Very impressive.
Neato! Thats an impressive career.
Operational question, Rob: You guys often exit the aircraft and leave the controls unmanned with blades still turning?
I'm assuming that the blades are winding down, but yikes!
Yes. We dont usually walk away like that but I dont sit in it. After you cut the throttle there is no need to sit at the controls. I usually get out and do a post flight walk around while they are spinning down, open the cowls and check the engine, listen for any weird sounds or grinding, creeking, etc. We have a rotor brake but Jim never used it. You can put in a full control deflection after you cut the throttle and nothing happens. In additon the controls have friction locks as well.
Paul, Not really promoted but I moved from full time airplane part time helo to full time helo, part time airplane. Not a bad way to make a living :)