MovieChat Forums > Red Dawn (1984) Discussion > Would the RPG bring down the copter?

Would the RPG bring down the copter?


When Robert hit the Hind with the RPG, is that the amount of damage to be expected or would it normally bring it down? It did have to fly off and another took its place, but later we see it fly away looking to be in good shape.

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It's possible that a shaped charge like an RPG could simply blow out the other side with minimal damage to the helicopter itself, but I'd wager the pilots would be deaf, at the least.

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It's possible that a shaped charge like an RPG could simply blow out the other side with minimal damage to the helicopter itself, but I'd wager the pilots would be deaf, at the least.


I can't speak for Russian-made equipment, but having been both a US Air Force Weapons Systems Officer and a US Army Armor officer, I can say that both USAF flight helmets and US Army tank crew helmets have very tight-fitting padded radio/intercom earphones. These are well sufficient for protecting the wearer's hearing from jet engine noise and the blast of a tank main gun, the latter of which is much louder than a grenade detonation.

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It could have survived where he hit it. He should have aimed at the tail rotors or main rotors. No matter how tough the bird is, the rotors are the weakest parts.

Oderint Dum Metuant

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That was what I was thinking...hit the tail rotor. Sort of like 'Black Hawk Down'.

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Who said he didn't? The rpg-7 isn't known as the most accurate weapon.

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exactly
you'd have virtually no chance of bullseye the tail rotor

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We learned in Rambo 2 that a RPG like this should destroy a copter. This was a goof

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I'd call it a plothole

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In this movie or in Rambo 2?

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This one , pretty sure an RPG would waste a heli , ala Rambo 2

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Thats what I thought. I have Rambo 2 on par with Commando as having no plot holes, goofs or inconsistencies

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well I wouldnt have liked to have been sat in the back of that Huey , where the POWs were , when he launched that bazooka thing at the Hind

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I never sat behind someone firing a RPG inside a helicopter, so I don't know what it would feel like. Good thing Rambo didn't make the same mistake the woman did in Commando when she first fired her RPG

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yes. in black hawk down (true story) the skinnies shoot down sophisticate american helicopter by aim rpg at tail rotors of black hawk and shoot them down.

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You also saw the chopper fill with smoke. Not being able to see much and not knowing what damage you took would probably make it advisable to do a controlled landing in short order.

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It happened to American helicopters in Vietnam.

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