The New Hotness

A power transmission line (probably 115 or 138 kV) runs along the Casper Creek (f.k.a. Casperkill) and through the Vassar campus beyond our back yard, which accounted for a loud roar one morning:

The pilot hovered above each pylon long enough for the inspector seated in the open door to do whatever needed doing:

A casual image search suggests it’s an MD520N (N = NOTAR = “No Tail Rotor”) helicopter. Although the NOTAR back end produces much less noise than an exposed rotor, it was plenty loud enough a few hundred feet away.

Folks who know more than I do about helicopters pointed out the tail rotor I didn’t see. Here’s a tight crop from another image with the rotor in plain view:

Just another day at the office …