Look, the guys were showing off and doing a buzz job, like many before them and like the many that will follow. That is what we do when the CO is not around.
The first part of the explanation from a [supposedly] former Apache pilot s total BS "What you saw there is NOT hot dogging by any stretch of the imagination. It's a standard combat approach,....The RTT turn more than likely was SOP in order to land in that LZ due to prevailing winds, terrain, etc. That is a maneuver we do on a daily basis and is by no means dangerous (except to those we're targeting)."
There is no such thing as a 'standard combat approach' That's totally absurd. And as far as that being a SOP approach to an LZ that too is absurd. And the idea that one would over fly the target then climb to a low airspeed over the target's position, then do a zero air speed pedal turn is just completely absurd, too. Crop dusters do this type of cyclic climb and pedal turn, but no gunship tactics ever taught would recommend that.
The pilot was just showing off. I did it, every attack pilot I know did it at some point or another, so to try and explain it in some other way than that is just stupid. Get real.
