National Guard helicopter lands in Dunn Meadow

When Aileen Scales' Franklin Hall office windows began shaking Thursday morning, she ventured to Dunn Meadow to see what was going on. \nWhat she found was a large National Guard UH-60 Blackhawk helicopter sitting square in the middle of the meadow's west end. \nThe chopper arrived for an IU ROTC display and recruitment event and was landed by Lt. Bryon Blohm, a graduate of IU's program. Passersby had the \nopportunity to hop into the chopper, sit in its passenger seats or even spend some time in the cockpit learning about its many complex features. \nOne of those features, the rescue hoist used to lift people off the ground without landing, attracted Scales' attention.\n"I'd love to do that," she said. "I think it'd be like being on a rollercoaster, maybe."\nThe Blackhawk flew in from Shelbyville, Ind., in only 15 minutes -- compared to an hour-and-a-half-long car ride -- at speeds exceeding 200 miles per hour. \nSgt. 1st Class Ty Barnett said the purpose of the event was to engage people and teach them about ROTC and the National Guard.\n"We are National Guardsmen, and this is part of our job," Barnett said. "We're explaining to everyone some of the different jobs we have and display the pride we have in what we do."\nBarnett said the Blackhawk can carry up to 11 passengers and a four-person crew and is built to be able to move a lot of people in a short amount of time and land in tight spaces. \nThose attributes came in handy in its last mission, helping with the hurricane relief along the Gulf Coast. Barnett was a part of that mission, which lasted through most of September. \nThough he said he witnessed a lot of destruction, Barnett said it was rewarding to see the guardsmen's work making a difference. \n"It's always rewarding just to have people come up and say 'thank you,'" he said. "That's a world of difference. We got to meet a lot of people there and they were all very appreciative that we dropped in and were giving them water and ice and food."\nHurricane relief efforts were a popular conversation topic at the event, though most people just stopped by to find out what a large helicopter was doing in the middle of campus.\nSophomore Brennan Golightly toured the Blackhawk Thursday afternoon. He said he figured it was for a military display, but he might have thought differently had he seen it land.\n"I don't know what I would have thought," Golightly said. "Seeing a helicopter landing here at first, I'd be like 'Uh,oh, someone's done something now. Someone's in trouble.'"\nCarlos Colon, who works with IU's instructional support services in Franklin Hall, said he came to see it because he's fascinated with aviation. Colon, who has flown planes before, was less enthusiastic about piloting the Blackhawk after spending several minutes in its cockpit getting a guided tour from a guardsmen.\n"If someone else is doing the flying, then yes," he said of going up for a spin. "Those things are really difficult to fly."\nSgt. 1st Class Dale Blubaugh, National Guard liaison for IU's ROTC, helped organize the helicopter landing. He said IU approved the event about two months ago after some planning.\n"We just said, 'we'll blow your leaves off for free,'" Blubaugh joked. "And we don't need an 'A' permit or anything."\nBlubaugh said the event was important to remind people of the importance of the National Guard for war-time and humanitarian purposes. \n"It's important for people to understand we're not just out here doing the war thing," he said. "We're trying to help where we're needed always"