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thedrifter
09-16-04, 06:17 AM
Marines take flight at expo


By DANIEL DREW
ddrew@potomacnews.com
Wednesday, September 15, 2004


Only a hangar away from what is likely the world's most elite helicopter fleet, Marine Capt. Henry Frank sat in the co-pilot's seat of a training simulator, guiding a TH-67 over a war zone.

The 32-year-old Marine at first struggled to gain his bearings but then guided the chopper over a field of trees and houses amidst columns of smoke and nearby traffic from friendly aircraft.

Trying to follow an allied helicopter, he turned too far left and crashed the chopper -- one of several accidents in which Frank and others were involved Tuesday.

Frank was one of many Marines who tried the simulator on the second day of the Modern Day Marine Exposition, held at the base's airfield, only yards from where the president's fleet of Sikorsky transports is kept.

The simulator, which costs between $150,000 and $2.5 million, was "pretty easy," to use, Frank said.

"I'd like to have one in my house."

The TH-67 Frank maneuvered through the area is similar to a Bell 206 helicopter, and is used by the military for training.

"Why am I scared I'm gonna crash?" Frank rhetorically asked Dan Meyers, the other person in the simulator. Meyers is the marketing director of FlightSafety international, makers of the simulator.

"It's so realistic that I was scared to crash, which is weird because it's a video game," the training and education command officer said following his flight.

"It was fun," said Capt. John Dobrydney, 30. "It has its role in training."

Hundreds of vendors and Marine Corps contractors were at the three-day long event, which is held every year to give Marines an opportunity to speak to, and learn from, the people providing goods and services to the Corps.

Organizers hope the event "will lead to improvements in manufacturing, understanding of user needs, and an awareness among Marines of new equipment coming on line," officials said in a release.

The event, in its 24th year, is sponsored by the Marine League, a national veterans association.

It is held inside three massive hangars at the base's airfield, east of Amtrack rail lines on the banks of the Potomac River.

Some exhibitors also display their products outdoors.

An unmanned helicopter that can be used for precision targeting was parked between two of the hangars.

Marines explored armored vehicles, trucks, and other all-terrain capable vehicles they might use in combat.

The Marine Corps also had on display several helicopters, and a Harrier jet. An Osprey, an airplane-helicopter hybrid, was also on display.

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Ellie