Dawn helicopter question

[sandrock74]

I was wondering if anyone has any helicopter knowledge/experience. I had always wondered about the flight taken in Dawn, from Philly to Monroeville, as it is essentially a cross state trip.

We know they refuled at least once. Is that something realistic, or would they have had to refuel more, but we were just shown the one stop? (Maybe the other stops were uneventful) How long would it take to fly from Philly to Monroeville? Also, Fran mentioned that they had no radio...helicopters don't have a simple radio installed? How about a CB of some sort? That would have helped Flyboy when he was trying to warn Peter of the zombie ssneaking up on Roger while he was hotwiring the truck.

I was just wondering about this and hopefully someone here can shed a little light on things.
Thanks!

[Mr.G]

We know they refuled at least once. Is that something realistic, or would they have had to refuel more, but we were just shown the one stop? (Maybe the other stops were uneventful)

I'd love to see additional scenes of Peter wasting more zombie kids...

[SRP76]

You would think they'd have a radio,since it's a traffic helicopter, Stephen's the traffic reporter, and the news has to get to the station. What the fuck did Stephen do, observe traffic jams and then land to send a telegram?! No. There would be a radio, and he'd be sending his reports directly to the station. I would classify that as just a movie mistake.

[bassman]

You would think they'd have a radio,since it's a traffic helicopter, Stephen's the traffic reporter, and the news has to get to the station. What the fuck did Stephen do, observe traffic jams and then land to send a telegram?! No. There would be a radio, and he'd be sending his reports directly to the station. I would classify that as just a movie mistake.

In the trucking industry, drivers sometimes have to supply their own radio/CB when they're using a company truck. So perhaps the station makes each traffic reporter supply their own?

That doesn't answer why he wouldn't have brought his own, just throwing it out there....

[darth los]

You would think they'd have a radio,since it's a traffic helicopter, Stephen's the traffic reporter, and the news has to get to the station. What the fuck did Stephen do, observe traffic jams and then land to send a telegram?! No. There would be a radio, and he'd be sending his reports directly to the station. I would classify that as just a movie mistake.


In the trucking industry, drivers sometimes have to supply their own radio/CB when they're using a company truck. So perhaps the station makes each traffic reporter supply their own?

That doesn't answer why he wouldn't have brought his own, just throwing it out there....

Or perhaps Fran was referring to just a regular old AM/FM radio which would help them have a better idea what was going on on the ground.

:cool:

[SRP76]

Or perhaps Fran was referring to just a regular old AM/FM radio which would help them have a better idea what was going on on the ground.

:cool:

That could be possible, but Fran and Stephen came from a tv station. Fran in particular knows how outdated and unreliable and just generally useless the "news" is that's being (non)circulated. Why would she think radio broadcasts would be any more valuable than the clusterfuck she just ran out on?

[darth los]

That could be possible, but Fran and Stephen came from a tv station. Fran in particular knows how outdated and unreliable and just generally useless the "news" is that's being (non)circulated. Why would she think radio broadcasts would be any more valuable than the clusterfuck she just ran out on?


There are some instances where misinformation is better than no information. Because as we know even the most well crafted lies have truth in them.

For example: Yes they had rescue stations up that have since closed down, so even a false report could give them the location of an overrun/abandoned rescue station that they could perhaps loot for supplies.

Just throwing it out there since we're doing all the speculating.

:cool:

[Trin]

The most reliable form of communication in a crisis is ham radio. They work long range and can be received on a whole host of hardware, including handsets no bigger than a walkie-talkie and available at any radio shack. The red cross has a network of self-powered trailers that would keep the ham radio network viable for weeks or months into a crisis.

[Eyebiter]

Discussion about the Dawn helicopter from a few years ago
http://forum.homepageofthedead.com/showthread.php?t=1097

[Zombie Snack]

breaker breaker one nine...how about a Z report ..come on

[Publius]

I was wondering if anyone has any helicopter knowledge/experience. I had always wondered about the flight taken in Dawn, from Philly to Monroeville, as it is essentially a cross state trip.

The trip is definitely less than 293 miles, because that's the shortest driving distance. The helicopter was a Bell JetRanger, which has a maximum speed of 139 mph and a range of 430 miles. If they started with a full tank, they shouldn't have had to refuel.

[MaximusIncredulous]

The trip is definitely less than 293 miles, because that's the shortest driving distance. The helicopter was a Bell JetRanger, which has a maximum speed of 139 mph and a range of 430 miles. If they started with a full tank, they shouldn't have had to refuel.

Unless they didn't fly in a straight line. It took them about a day to reach Monroeville so they must've been flying some sort of zig-zag pattern.

[sandrock74]

The trip is definitely less than 293 miles, because that's the shortest driving distance. The helicopter was a Bell JetRanger, which has a maximum speed of 139 mph and a range of 430 miles. If they started with a full tank, they shouldn't have had to refuel.

Perfect answer! Thanks! This is pretty much what I was wondering about. I didn't think it should take a day to a day and a half to fly across state. I didn't know about the fuel supply, but the distance seemed like it shouldn't be so great.

[MikePizzoff]

It should have not taken them as long as it did, by any means. You can drive a CAR (with traffic) across the whole state in one day; flying a helicopter from Philly to Monroeville should have only taken them like 3-4 hours, in my non-expert opinion.

[Zombie Snack]

I used to drive my 18 wheeler all the way across PA 4 times a week straight across I-80 from Illinois to NY 2 times a week..it only took about 5 to 6 hours going up and down those hills in a big truck, that was 335 miles give or take a few.

[Wyldwraith]

Hmm,
I don't think it was a matter of direct straight-line flight from point A to B. The zigzag mentioned earlier was obviously them searching for a viable hideout from the air, which would have consumed more fuel than if they'd flown straight to Monroeville. They were lucky to find enough fuel to refuel, because I imagine aviation fuels would dry up FAST as the rich and famous bolted via private jets and helicopters.

Also, we see them just walk up and get into the traffic chopper sitting on the helipad, so there's no reason to believe the gas tank was anywhere near full. Traffic reporting involves a great deal of hovering/minor course corrections, which burn up more fuel than straight-line high speed flight in the same way that idling in traffic burns up far more gas than driving down the highway at 70mph.

Good question though. Always interested in the logistics behind plot events.

[MikePizzoff]

Also, we see them just walk up and get into the traffic chopper sitting on the helipad, so there's no reason to believe the gas tank was anywhere near full.

Actually, while Flyboy was inside the post, talking to the dispatcher, Fran was outside fueling the helicopter.

[darth los]

So that means they refueld atleast twice. Once there and once at the airport.

However, it's not clear just how much fuel they were able to obtain at each stop so we can't assume that at any point the chopper was fully fueled.

:cool:

[bassman]

However, it's not clear just how much fuel they were able to obtain at each stop so we can't assume that at any point the chopper was fully fueled.


I would say that if they were ever able to completely fill up, it would have been at the dock. We're not told how much fuel is at the dock, but I believe someone(Roger?) says that there is only a small amount in the tanks at the airport.

[darth los]

I would say that if they were ever able to completely fill up, it would have been at the dock. We're not told how much fuel is at the dock, but I believe someone(Roger?) says that there is only a small amount in the tanks at the airport.

I believe at the airport they said something to the effect of the pumps were dry because all the rich folk fueled up and high tailed it out of there.

However, when Roger found some he said, "I got some here". Although, you are correct in stating that some implies not a full tank's worth, imo.

Now at the end Fran is more definitive when Peter asks "how much fuel do we have" and Fran replies "not much".

:cool:

[Trin]

Now at the end Fran is more definitive when Peter asks "how much fuel do we have" and Fran replies "not much".
When the correct answer was, "Just enough to fly to that Fiddler's Green place we heard about and buy a place in that skyscraper using all our money we just took from that bank. And when the place finally gets overrun we can take over because we're the only ones who know how to secure a building from zombies."

Which leads to the never revealed final 10 minutes of Land where Peter is in one of the penthouse apartments taking off his bling and putting back on his SWAT outfit while Fran arms herself to defend her and her 3 year old son from their position behind the fake wall that keeps their penthouse separate from the rest of the Green.

"You might hear shooting, but it's okay. Just stay here. I don't want anyone to even know this penthouse exists."

And the final scene where Peter is clearing out the zombie infested skyscraper only to run into a zombiefied Roger. Which sparks a huge controversy over how Roger could possibly be in Land when he was clearly (though not on screen) shot in the head in Dawn. And the forum will be split between people who assume that Peter never really had the guts to do it versus the people who believe GAR just didn't think too hard about continuity.

[SRP76]

When the correct answer was, "Just enough to fly to that Fiddler's Green place we heard about and buy a place in that skyscraper using all our money we just took from that bank. And when the place finally gets overrun we can take over because we're the only ones who know how to secure a building from zombies."



Thread hijack warning!!

That makes me wonder about just what would happen there. Kaufman and his cronies are rich, but Peter and Stephen robbed a fucking BANK! There's a good chance that (if they had actually thought to bag it all up and take it with them, which they didn't) Peter and Fran would have arrived with more money than the geeks trying to close off the Green.

Kaufman may have wound up taking out Peter's garbage.

[sandrock74]

Kaufman may have wound up taking out Peter's garbage.

Now that I would love to see!

[krakenslayer]

Same goes for (Survival spoiler) Sarge,Tomboy and The Boy after the end of Survival, sailing off into the dawn on a ferry carrying a Securicor truck full of money.