Following the deployment of Kenya Defence Forces (KDF) to disturbed areas in the North Rift region, an undated video of soldiers disembarking from a chopper emerged online, eliciting debate.
Kenyans raised different reactions, with others arguing that the tactics displayed by KDF were enough to neutralise banditry in the North Rift region.
Others were surprised by how KDF helicopter remained stationery on air with soldiers alighting it using ropes.
However, the operation’s location and time was not immediately established.
Fast-roping technique
Fast-roping, also known as Fast Rope Insertion Extraction system, is a technique used by KDF soldiers to descend from a chopper using a thick rope.
The technique is used to deploy KDF troops where choppers cannot touch down. The tactic is synonymous with KDF during special operations.
When executing the technique, KDF soldier holds onto the rope with gloved hands and feet while sliding down it. Several soldiers can slide down the rope simultaneously.
Before a pilot gives a go ahead; usually a sandbag is placed at the ed of the rope to hold it on the ground. The sandbag also keeps the rope from getting tangled and endangering the troops descending from the chopper.
Fast-roping takes 30 seconds from a chopper to the ground.
How Chopper Remains Stationary on air
On the video, air force chopper remained stationary on air allowing KDF soldiers to disembark. It was several feets above the ground with the propellers moving.
According to aviation experts, air force helicopter remainined stationery by propelling a large mass of air down through the main rotor.
” Some of the air is recirculated near the tips of the blades, curling up from the bottom of the rotor disk and rejoining the air entering the rotor from the top,” Federal Aviation Administration Helicopter Flying Handbook read in part.
The phenomenon is also referred to as tip vortices. According to Federal Aviation Administration, in vortex ring state, most of the power developed by the engine is wasted in circulating the air in a doughnut pattern around the rotor.
“A helicopter remains stationary by balancing the external forces. There are no horizontal forces, as the helicopter is not moving left or right, so there is no drag or horizontal thrust,” How Things Work, an aviation handbook, further explained the phenomenon.
“The blades generate a vertical lift, and when this is exactly balanced with the force of gravity, the helicopter remains stationary,” the handbook explained.
Source: kENYANS.CO.KE