steel guitar players versus helicopter pilots

About Steel Guitarists and their Music

Moderator: Shoshanah Marohn

Gale Huey
Posts: 92
Joined: 21 Apr 2006 12:01 am
Location: Frisco, Texas USA

Post by Gale Huey »

A Swingin’ Wing, A Pedal Steel guitar, little bit of coordination, life doesn’t get any better. You know time fly's when you're close to either one

GH
User avatar
Dave Harmonson
Posts: 1817
Joined: 21 Dec 2006 1:01 am
Location: Seattle, Wa
Contact:

Post by Dave Harmonson »

When you crash and burn playing steel it's embarassing but at least you don't die.
User avatar
Joe Casey
Posts: 6185
Joined: 25 Jan 1999 1:01 am
Location: Weeki Wachee .Springs FL (population.9)

Post by Joe Casey »

Jeff,I wonder if you would deem them ugly if you were stuck in 3 feet of swamp mud dodging enemy fire.?
User avatar
Jeff Garden
Posts: 3645
Joined: 21 Aug 2003 12:01 am
Location: Center Sandwich, New Hampshire, USA

Post by Jeff Garden »

Hey Joe, check my earlier post - I'm on your team. I flew helos proudly for 21 years...just that all we ever got was abuse from the "fast movers"
User avatar
Jeff Garden
Posts: 3645
Joined: 21 Aug 2003 12:01 am
Location: Center Sandwich, New Hampshire, USA

Post by Jeff Garden »

Greg...thanks for posting the MH-60 rescue story. It's always nice to read the about the ones that have happy endings.

Gale...you were born to be a helicopter pilot with that last name!
Gale Huey
Posts: 92
Joined: 21 Apr 2006 12:01 am
Location: Frisco, Texas USA

Post by Gale Huey »

Jeff, I guess so..... All of my child hood dreams were of flying. GH
User avatar
John Drury
Posts: 2026
Joined: 23 May 1999 12:01 am
Location: Gallatin, Tn USA

Post by John Drury »

I can fly a helicopter but am not that swooft behind a steel. Don't believe everything you hear.

I will say this though, with an engine out, unless your autorotation techniques are real sharp, most choppers have about the same sink rate as a D-12 Sierra.
Last edited by John Drury on 15 Feb 2008 12:59 pm, edited 1 time in total.
John Drury
NTSGA #3

"Practice cures most tone issues" ~ John Suhr
User avatar
Jim Mitchell
Posts: 617
Joined: 15 Nov 2007 1:24 pm
Location: Phily,Pennsylvania, USA

YOU FLY THEM I BUILD THEM

Post by Jim Mitchell »

I am an Inspector at BOEING HELICOPTER Ridley Park Pa

I inspect all the( 5 ) tranmissions parts
Engine mounts
Air frames

HELL NO I AINT GOING UP IN ONE


Image

FREE with more tabs

MY SITE GO TO GUITAR PAGE

http://www.geocities.com/insp/SUPRO6420.html

What I Have in there to date

1 A White Sports Coat
2 Bad Moon Risen
3 Steel Guitar Rag
4 Blue Eyes Crying In The Rain
5 Big Iron
6 Sentimental Journey
7 Crazy By Willie Nelson
I am trying to play a Harlin Brothers 1956 Multi Kord 6 String 4 Pedal Steel Guitar
and a RONDO lap
Retired from Boeing Helicopters in Ridley Park Pa.
we build the CH47
User avatar
Jeff Garden
Posts: 3645
Joined: 21 Aug 2003 12:01 am
Location: Center Sandwich, New Hampshire, USA

Post by Jeff Garden »

Jim,
I always enjoyed talking to factory tech guys like yourself to find out all the cool things they never wanted us to know in the fleet and wouldn't put in our flight manuals ("I know the chart in the flight manual says the angle of bank limitation is 90 degrees but there's another 20 degrees there if you ever really need it!"). My flying background is all Bell and Sikorsky helicopters but Boeing makes a great product as well - although I still get a little squeamish thinking about that whole tandem rotor sync shaft thing!):D
User avatar
Connie Mack
Posts: 173
Joined: 4 Feb 2007 9:42 pm
Location: phoenicia, new york

Post by Connie Mack »

when an fellow dad and i were talking a couple of months back, he mentioned how he had started taking helicopter lessons. when he was explaining how it worked i told him that it sounded just like playing the pedal steel guitar.

i also compared it to playing the irish bagpipes. it's a similarly confusing use of many different body parts and motions although it doesn't use the legs.

still dicombobulating though.
User avatar
David L. Donald
Posts: 13696
Joined: 17 Feb 2003 1:01 am
Location: Koh Samui Island, Thailand
Contact:

Post by David L. Donald »

I have played with an Irish Ullian Piper.
Yeah it DID make think of Steel playing complexity.

Another demonic instrument to play.

Pump the foot, or pump one arm.
While preasuring the bag in the other
Play the chanter, don't forget partial fingerings
and use it vertically on you leg for octaves
And somewhere in there count time.

Oh yeah it takes two microphones
and you must stay near then, 'just so' for BOTH.

Yep steel player multi-tasking.

And you DO crash and burn REAL easy.
Been there seen that.
When you get booted from and IRISH BAR
you REALLY have to be a horror....
DLD, Chili farmer. Plus bananas and papaya too.

Real happiness has no strings attached.
But pedal steels have many!
User avatar
Jim Mitchell
Posts: 617
Joined: 15 Nov 2007 1:24 pm
Location: Phily,Pennsylvania, USA

DO YOU REMEMBER THESE RULES

Post by Jim Mitchell »

1. Once you are in the fight, it is way too late to wonder if this is a good idea.

2. Helicopters are cool!

3. It is a fact that helicopter tail rotors are instinctively drawn toward trees, stumps, rocks, etc. While it may be possible to ward off this natural event some of the time, it cannot, despite the best efforts of the crew, always be prevented. It's just what they do.

4. NEVER get into a fight without more ammunition than the other guy.

5. The engine RPM, and the rotor RPM, must BOTH be kept in the GREEN. Failure to heed this commandment can affect the morale of the crew.

6. A billfold in your hip pocket can numb your leg and be a real pain in the ass.

7. Cover your Buddy, so he can be around to cover you.

8. Letters from home are not always great.

9. The madness of war can extract a heavy toll. Please have exact change.

10. Share everything. Even the Pound Cake.

11. Decisions made by someone over your head will seldom be in your best interest.

12. The terms "Protective Armor" and "Helicopter" are mutually exclusive.

13. The further away you are from your friends, the less likely it is that they can help you when you really need them the most.

14. Sometimes, being good and lucky still was not enough. There is always payback.

15. "Chicken Plates" are not something you order in a restaurant.

16. If everything is as clear as a bell, and everything is going exactly as planned, you're about to be surprised.

17. The BSR (Bang Stare Read) Theory states that the louder the sudden bang in the helicopter, the quicker your eyes will be drawn to the gauges.

18. The longer you stare at the gauges, the less time it takes them to move from green to red.

19. It does too get cold in Vietnam.

20. No matter what you do, the bullet with your name on it will get you. So too can the ones addressed "To Whom It May Concern".

21. Gravity: It may not be fair, but it is the law.

22. If the rear echelon troops are really happy, the front line troops probably do not have what they need.

23. If you are wearing body armor, the incoming will probably miss that part.

24. It hurts less to die with a uniform on than to die in a hospital bed.

25. Happiness is a belt-fed weapon.

26. If something hasn't broken on your helicopter, it's about to.

27. Eat when you can. Sleep when you can. Vist the head when you can. The next opportunity may not come around for a long time. If ever.

28. Combat pay is a flawed concept.

29. Having all your body parts intact and functioning at the end of the day beats the alternative.

30. Air superiority is NOT a luxury.

31. If you are allergic to lead it is best to avoid a war zone.

32. It is a bad thing to run out of airspeed, altitude, and ideas all at the same time.

32a. Nothing is as useless as altitude above you and runway behind you.

33. While the rest of the crew may be in the same predicament, it's almost always the pilot's job to arrive at the crash site first.

34. When you shoot your gun, clean it the first chance you get.

35. Loud sudden noises in a helicopter WILL get your undivided attention.

36. Hot garrison chow is better than hot C-rations, which, in turn is better than cold C-rations, which is better than no food at all. All of these, however, are preferable to cold rice balls (given to you by guards) even if they do have the little pieces of fish in them.

37. WHAT is often more important than WHY.

38. Boxes of cookies from home must be shared.

39. Girlfriends are fair game. Wives are not.

40. Everybody's a hero on the ground in the club after the fourth drink.

41. There is no such thing as a small firefight.

42. A free-fire zone has nothing to do with economics.

43. The farther you fly into the mountains, the louder the strange engine noises become.

44. Medals are OK, but having your body and all your friends in one piece at the end of the day is better.

44a. The only medal you really want to be awarded is the Longevity Medal.

45. Being shot hurts.

46. Thousands of Vietnam Veterans earned medals for bravery every day. A few were even awarded.

48. Running out of pedal, fore or aft cyclic, or collective are all bad ideas. Any combination of these can be deadly.

49. Nomex is NOT fire proof.

50. There is only one rule in war: When you win, you get to make up the Rules.

51. Living and dying can both hurt a lot.

53. While a Super Bomb could be considered one of the four essential building blocks of life, powdered eggs cannot.

54. C-4 can make a dull day fun.
55. Cocoa Powder is neither.

56. There is no such thing as a fair fight, only ones where you win or lose.

57. If you win the battle you are entitled to the spoils. If you lose you don't care.

58. Nobody cares what you did yesterday or what you are going to do tomorrow. What is important is what you are doing NOW to solve our problem.

59. If you have extra, share it quickly.

60. Always make sure someone has a P-38.

61. A sucking chest wound may be God's way of telling you it's time to go home.

62. Prayer may not help . . . but it can't hurt.

63. Flying is better than walking. Walking is better than running. Running is better than crawling. All of these however, are better than extraction by a Med-Evac, even if this is technically a form of flying.

64. If everyone does not come home none of the rest of us can ever fully come home either.

65. Do not fear the enemy, for your enemy can only take your life. It is far better that you fear the media, for they will steal your HONOR.

66. A grunt is the true reason for the existence of the helicopter. Every helicopter flying in Vietnam had one real purpose: To help the grunt. It is unfortunate that many helicopters never had the opportunity to fulfill their one true mission in life simply because someone forgot this fact.

67. "You have the right to remain silent" is always EXCELLENT advice.
I am trying to play a Harlin Brothers 1956 Multi Kord 6 String 4 Pedal Steel Guitar
and a RONDO lap
Retired from Boeing Helicopters in Ridley Park Pa.
we build the CH47
User avatar
Ron McLaren
Posts: 43
Joined: 8 Mar 2007 9:08 am
Location: Buckinghamshire, UK

Post by Ron McLaren »

Helicopters dont fly!

They beat the air into submission! :lol:
Homebuilt E9, Roland Cube amp, Telecaster
User avatar
Alan Brookes
Posts: 13218
Joined: 29 Mar 2006 1:01 am
Location: Brummy living in Southern California

Post by Alan Brookes »

Who is going to be the first steel guitarist to play pedal steel guitar in a helicopter ?
I bet all that vibration would add to the tone. :eek:
Post Reply