This is some fine flying. Had to share.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=4&v=fZ-mhmpHXic

By the way, my house was buzzed at twice treetop level by three CAF Chinooks in formation, about a month ago. Lucky me -- I was working in the yard that day. Very, very cool. And you wouldn't believe how fast and quiet these big birds are compared to the Huey variants.

Neat footage. I have been informed by helo pilots who just touched down part of the ship that while we were loading the victim, etc. they were still actively flying the ship - this in post op critiques.

There are a lot of people walking round today who wouldn't if it were not for the expertise of those pilots....

Yes he is essentially holding a hover. I think this pilot or crew has experience flying in Afghanistan. That technique is more common there, and necessary in certain areas. Watch those rotor blades!

Back when I was active in SAR, the birds and their pilots got seasoned in Vietnam. They commented that they appreciated the challenges of SAR in crazy terrain - their day to day ops involved routine deliveries to missile silos around Tucson.

That technique is known as a "toe-in" - though I had never seen it performed with a Chinook - and its use is very common with putting down and picking field crews in Alaska and western Canada. Be gentle when you're tossing your pack into the ship...

Well actually, the pilot is backing in to the mountain, so I suppose it might technically be called a "butt in"?

What is especially interesting in this case is that the pilot is facing the other way, and therefore he/she must be very dependent instructions from a crew member at the rear of the ship to get the aircraft into position while keeping the rotor clear of the mountain. One advantage of backing in with the Chinook is that the tail rotor is higher than the front rotor, which gives some extra clearance.

"Toe ins" and other variations such as a "one skid" are indeed used from time to time to put field crews into spots in rugged terrain. And yes, one climbs in/out of the ship very gently, especially with smaller, less powerful helicopters!

Even at less than full power, the downdraft from a Chinook is impressively frigid. I learned this on Denali years ago when we disassembled the Advanced Base at 14,000 feet and loaded it and our shivering bodies into the bird. But it was mind boggling to land in sunny Talkeetna in a few minutes after weeks on the glacier.

It is comforting to know that such pilots and crews are out there and willing to do such things.