MILITARY HELICOPTERS

[fordson]

I can't imagine how that happened W/O a crash!

He and his crew were really lucky. I think he used all his nine lives on that one. The AI results called it a Hard Landing (?). The EI turned up no mechanical malfunction. Surprisingly, the aircraft belly pan wasn't all that badly damaged. Too bad for in-Theater repair, but good for Depot repair. I've got some old 35mm prints that I'll try to digitize and post.

 

[Drm50]

While in RVn I flew in helos all the time. Think I flew in them all
except Cobra & Crane. Most memorable flight was when I was
Greenie. Battalion pilot had to fly me out to a FB. He was not
happy to be pulled out of his poker game. Went to pad, he went
in commo shack, came out with clip board and did his checks.
We get in Ranger, he gives me little talk, fires up engine and
tells me to hold control handle right where it's at, don't mess
with anything and goes back in shack. Shack had big plexi- glass
window, I saw him walking around with a coke BSing the guys in
there. My arm was getting tired, I was scared to death I was going to drop control handle. Then he finally comes out and says
you dumb**** are you still holding that control? The stick I was
holding had nothing to do with it taking off in "idle mode" He had
me sweating bullets for 1/2 hour.

 

[Drm50]

Pic is Cobra flight line at LZ Crunch, I think, should have labeled
pics. I remember we were staging to go up the Anke Pass. The
Cobras were flying shotgun through the pass.

 

[Drm50]

I'm going to try pic one more time from above post.

 

[lonejacklarry]

My experience started as a 19 year old in 1967 on my senior trip to SE Asia. A year and ten months in mostly C model Hueys as a gunner. Several interesting times....to many to recount.

One thing that our AHC was adament about: There were no hard landings. They were called firm arrivals.

Later I trained as a helicopter pilot for a midwest police department and ended up with about 2,000 PIC and about that many in the other seat.

Actually, fixed wing A/C are dangerous and scary. I prefer helicopters.

 

[ParadiseRoad]

...then there is "ground resonance"...

[ame]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0FeXjhUEXlc[/ame]

 

[fordson]

UH-1N Missing Skids

As promised, here are two photos of the UH-1N that sheared its skids. The incident occurred on or about 25 Feb 1991. Photos were taken by the recovery crew so afterwards. Sorry for the poor quality of the photos.

Master Chief - Sorry for monopolizing your Post, but this has been a fun ride for me. -- Thank Fordson -- out.

 

[nvdwarrior]

Fordson, we used to call those "smiling Huey's" cause the skids were bent up into the helicopter....nice pics. Thanks

 

[nvdwarrior]

They do need an engine to fly!

Aug 8, 1988 yup 8-8-88 my favorite day in 27 years of flying Hueys. You do need all the engine parts to rotate in order to keep flying. Just ask the 5 poor Air Force air crewmembers who had to sit in the back thru all 270 degrees of the auto from 600 feet. Yahoo....hell of a ride. I am still smiling.

 

[CarrieC]

Any landing you can walk away from.

 

[fordson]

Aug 8, 1988 yup 8-8-88 my favorite day in 27 years of flying Hueys. You do need all the engine parts to rotate in order to keep flying. Just ask the 5 poor Air Force air crewmembers who had to sit in the back thru all 270 degrees of the auto from 600 feet. Yahoo....hell of a ride. I am still smiling.

Yup, the engine runs a lot smoother when all the turbine blades are there and rotating together.

 

[Road Rat]

My one and only ride in a helicopter (the big green one that looks like a banana) was back in the early 1960's.

I was assigned to the Pentagon in support of the ACS/I and was flagged to help man the "alternate Pentagon" if/when the need arose. I had to go up there once to check the place out and see what I would have to take with me if I ever had to go.

That was the absolutely nosiest thing I have ever been in. I tried to hear myself scream................not a chance......

Except for the noise it wasn't a bad ride . . . I made it back!!

 

[Tradewind36]

Any landing you can walk away from.

...........is a good landing. If you can use the aircraft again it was a great landing.

 

[Houlton]

Took off from Binh Thuy on a 46. Took 3 rounds probably from an AK. 2 did nothing but the 3rd went through the bubble and hit the Pilots foot. Let go of everything and wound in 12' of water.

 

[shouldazagged]

Call me a sentimental old fool, but I prefer an aircraft whose wings remain more or less in one position relative to the fuselage. But these have been some great stories.

 

[lonejacklarry]

... to sit in the back thru all 270 degrees of the auto from 600 feet.

I'm guessing you were a tad outside the envelope with that one.
You must have had a little forward air speed to pull it off.

As I recall, there is no danger of falling out (doors are for sissies) as one usually has a good grip on the canvas with one's butt on that type of maneuver. I think that one's ears and butts are connected because just as soon as you run out of noise, the butt grabs the canvas.

 

[CH47gunner]

Good stuff!
I absolutely loved to fly - with my eyes, I couldn't be a pilot so crew was the next best thing. Woulda loved to fly F4's tho.

My office for 10 1/2 months


213th ASHC (Blackcats) flight line @ Phu Loi

 

[Matchking Man]

I crewed CH-46's in the Marine Corps for 8 years. I loved missions that mattered and hated being stuck in the starboard D for hours punching circles in the sky on a 6 month cruise. Gun runs, TERF missions and flying low light NVGs kept you on your toes. Post phase, full card test flights were the only time things got scary other than Somalia before Blackhawk down happened.