He wants to fly helicopters, preferably the Super Cobra or Viper. He did say though that the great thing about the Marine Corps is that all of their aircraft are pretty cool!
All gifted minds want to fly helicopters! And after experiencing the controls of a Cobra, all jet-jockeys want to transition!
I was fortunate enough to graduate U.S. Army Flight school way back in 1979, and was then selected to attend Cobra transition. Back in those days we still had the "G models" in service for transition, but WOW was learning the fly an AH-1G something exciting compared to flying the UH-1H during training (though it too was a sweet ride when advancing up from TH-55s!).
After Cobra transition I was assigned to Alpha Troop, 1 Squadron (Air), 17th Cavalry at Ft. Bragg. There we started out with AH-1S "Tow" Cobras that had the updated helmet sight system, the 13X TSU up front, and uprated T53-L-703 Lycoming, but still carried the 7.62 minigun and 40mm grenade launcher turret, plus 19-shot 2.75" FFAR pods.
Later we upgraded to the "ECAS" model with the 20mm, 3-barrel cannon in the turret, and finally we go the AH-1S "Modernized" with a Rocket management system allowing us to load an array of rockets with selectable zones, plus laser designator and Doppler nav designed for targeting for the extended range Tow missle and rockets.
Once while training down at Camp Blanding Florida where we had access to the Naval bombing range set up with Soviet style air defense electronics to create realism, my Squadron commander selected ME of all aviators to give a Marine Major a "joy ride" in the Cobra. (Probably because he knew I was the crazy b@@@@@d who was pushing for the Army to start actively training for A2A combat against rotary wing and low-flying fixed wing). Anyway, so the Marine was in the front seat which is really cool with the side-stick controls and you're right out there in the nose so to speak. Naturally I gave him a fun-filled ride racing just above and often below tree-top level at 150 kt., pop-ups, pedal turns, RT's and even some near-inverted dive entries. He was impressed to say the least! He was an A4 pilot and commented on how much the Cobra's cockpit resemble the A4 with the side-sticks, but of course in the A4 the throttle moves forward to go fast, whereas on a Cobra, the left stick (collective) rotates aft to go up and add power, while the right stick (cyclic) goes forward to put the nose down and accelerate - and of course I did some "Vietnam style" take offs where you pull pitch and push the nose down to generate an impressive nose-down, feels like your about the crash sensation, while remaining in the "dead man zone" about as long as possible before easing back on the cyclic and zoom-climbing several thousand feet in seconds. That Marine fixed-wing jockey got out of that Cobra with a new respect for helicopters! He told me that was the most exhilarating aircraft he had ever flown in, and of course I let him have some stick time since the Cobra has a 4:1 mechanical advantage in the back-seat controls (Pilot in Command) versus front.
Another time - again while the Army was briefly considering A2A with rotorcraft (actually inspired by the Marines to be sure), a bunch of us loaded up and flew over to Cherry Point Marine Air Station and sat in on a class and briefing where former fixed-wing fighter pilots gave us pointers on A2A combat. One point I'll never forget is that he said always keep your power to the maximum and never do "tight turns", but keep turns shallow with as much speed as possible. This is because if you look at a helicopter from BEHIND when it does a really tight turn it appears to literally stop in mid-air and rotate around, which is a perfect opportunity to pour fire into it!
We went on to do some simulated "cat fights" and came away with the realization that if two armed helicopters ever ended up in close firing "cannons" at each other there could be no winner. Gunships carry cannon made to take out light armor, and this cannon is flex mounted. On the Cobra that meant 110 deg travel left and right, 15 deg up and 30 down, with a helmet mounted sight that allowed you to depress the action bar and the gun slew to where the sight is pointing (where your eyes are looking), then start firing. Nothing can "out-turn" that. Best way to win against another armed helicopter is to see him first, get in range (around 2 clicks) and bust him with the cannon before he knows it's coming!
Now, we did learn some really interesting ways to deal with low-flying fast-movers. When (IF) you see one coming your way, immediately turn into them and descend. Because of their close proximity to the ground they dare not steepen their dive which they must do to shoot you. Moving toward them and down creates an angle they cannot accommodate. Then, as they break and go over you are simultaneously using your HELICOPER superiority to turn right around and start pumping 20mm rounds at them, before they get away - maybe. If they're smart they'll likely go vertical to put themselves outside the helicopter's gun angle, but if they're dumb, they'll assume all helicopters are easy pickings and stay low (which they might have to do depending on AD systems in the area), which keeps them in the attack helicopter's envelope for a brief moment. What you never do in a helicopter is turn away and run for it...you can't outrun a fast mover, and going away from him at 150 knots only makes his angle on you easier!
We used to conduct Joint Air Attack Team (JAAT) missions with Air Force A10s where the A10s would use our hovering OH-58 scout birds as reference when making their run in and they'd go screaming past us at 300 knots and treetop level, then do a "bump" followed by rolling inverted to visualize the target, before rolling back nose down and squirting off a burst with their 30mm. So one day we were flying back from somewhere and saw a couple of A10s coming our way. They went by us and we by them, then my front seater who was craning his head around to watch told me, "they turning!" (All "fighter pilots" including "fighter helicopter pilots" love any opportunity to score a simulated tail shot! We also LOVE to dive on trains and do a gun-run right on the tracks head on!). So we (two Cobras) immediately turned hard - granted only about 3 Gs but that will drag your head down on your chest if you weren't prepared and made sure to have your head back on the seat, and it will make your eyeballs "precess" too! So around we came, the A10s were already coming at us, so we both would have had a gun shot with our gun being far more accurate since the "gunner" could use the TSU and flex capability to hold the muzzle in perfect alignment with the on-coming jets. BUT...and isn't there always a but...that 30mm cannon in the A10 is no ordinary 30mm. I'm sure it's horizontal engagement range is greater than was our 20mm gun, which I seem to remember was around 3,000 meters, which means WAY out there! They could have started shooting virtually as soon as they got their noses pointed at us and probably scored some hits, any one of which would have done the job! Our only chance would have been that from a nose-on view, the Cobra was only 36" wide not including the intakes (and wings), which makes a VERY small target at 3-5 clicks, but even so, they could likely have been able to absorb quite a few 20mm HE rounds from our 750 rpm gun, and fly home. If they hit us with their 4,000 rpm 30mm AP, we'd be toast!
I do remember thinking the Marines went way overboard with the Super Cobra, but then they require two engines, which does give them enhanced lifting power and maybe a bit more speed, but remember, with single-rotor attack helicopters, speed is limited by the particular day's critical mach number at a given power setting, as well as retreating blade stall. But the Marines did manage to talk somebody into forking over the money to modify their Cobras to carry Sidewinders!
I think the Army got it right with the Apache in that they built an air frame with enough armor that could take a lot of hits and keep flying, as well as active and passive systems to defeat missiles. The real threat to a low-flying or hovering Apache is that one dude with an RPG standing right below you!
If your son wants helicopters that's great, even better if he can get a Sea Cobra transition! As long as the U.S. has air superiority our helicopters can operate freely in support of ground forces and you can be sure the guys on the ground - including and especially the bad ones, respect a gunship when they see it coming!
