[cyberferret]

Watching this in action, as well as some other sling load pilots working away [0], I am amazed as the skill and dexterity that they can handle their flying machines and use physics to best effect.

When you consider that I heard a veteran chopper pilot once say that flying a chopper was like "balancing a dinner plate on a ball bearing", then these guys and gals are next level aviators!

[0] - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=08K_aEajzNA

[JshWright]

I am not a pilot (of anything, let alone helicopters), but sometimes movement and inertia make things easier, not harder.

In an unstable system, the hardest thing to do is to maintain a constant position. Once you introduce some momentum, that adds some stability.

Certainly there are dozens of reasons why this is harder than "regular" flying, but I think physics may actually be in the pilot's side here.

[cyberferret]

I am a pilot (fixed wing, not helos), and while you can use physics to assist, there are a myriad of other variables in play such as wind currents, turbulence, air density, temperature, delays in throttle response, fatigue, visibility and visual obstructions, effects of constant g-force changes etc. etc. etc which are always changing the conditions and responses around you.

Swing loading like that can also cause problems with instability due to harmonic resonance. Plus other issues like differing weight of the loads, how securely the loads have been packed, whether the release catch works when the pilot dumps the load in the truck, or the load comes loose halfway through the loop etc. can turn a smooth ballet into a catastrophic scenario in short order.

It is a bit like saying that if someone can juggle 3 balls, then they should be able to easily juggle 6 balls because - inertia.

[JshWright]

> It is a bit like saying that if someone can juggle 3 balls, then they should be able to easily juggle 6 balls because - inertia.

It's not at all like that... Adding more balls doesn't increase the inertia of the existing balls, it purely adds complexity.

I'm not suggesting this is easier. As I said, there are dozens of complexities it adds (like you outlined). It also means the margins get a lot tighter, and the consequences for exceeding those margins are a lot more significant.

My point was just that the added inertia is one of the things that actually reduces a few variables. The system is inherently unstable, and one of the ways to counter that is to constantly "push" it in one direction, so it doesn't more in an unexpected direction.