Features
Having a blast
by Elan Head | Jun·2008
What do you get when you combine a UH-1H, a top of the line Minigun, 6000 rounds of ammunition and a shooting range full of junked cars? Way too much fun. Elan Head reports on Dillon Aero: defenders of freedom and destroyers of Corvettes.
The UH-1H is parked in the desert south-west of Phoenix, Arizona, when a cloud of black smoke materialises just over the ridge. The group loading ammo into the back of the helicopter takes a moment to evaluate this new development.
“What the hell?” someone says.
“Oh, we lit the car on fire.”
“I knew I hit something!”
Welcome to a day on the range with Dillon Aero: maker of the M134D Minigun, owner of one of the finest private helicopter fleets in the US, and quite possibly the coolest company in existence.
As supplier of extremely reliable weapon systems to militaries around the world, including the Australian Navy, Dillon Aero does serious business. But it has a lot of fun along the way.
If you weren’t introduced to its products in combat, you may know the company from YouTube: its shoot-’em-up music videos (starring its Huey and MD500F) are cult classics. Or maybe you’ve seen its products used to hilarious effect on the TV shows Top Gear, Monster Garage and Mythbusters. Or maybe you’ve heard of its Dillon Aero SUV: a GMC Yukon XL with a pop-up Minigun in the back. Or maybe you’ve seen this SUV – and a gorgeous, scantily clad woman – on the 2008 Dillon Aero wall calendar.
Yes, there is one word to describe Dillon Aero, and that word is ‘awesome’.