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Chopper ride


cjohns
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I think I found my new sled....

 

Careful brother, if you get any of that on you, it doesn't come off without a stiff scrubbing down to the quick, just look at Jon :)

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Spathologist
That takes me back to the old -58 days, flying "unarmed and unafraid".

 

My -58C had Air-to-Air Stingers... :P

 

We just couldn't afford the missiles during the drawdown...

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Spathologist
Careful brother, if you get any of that on you, it doesn't come off without a stiff scrubbing down to the quick, just look at Jon :)

 

It's all good. My CCR-5 is Delta-32.

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My -58C had Air-to-Air Stingers... :P

 

We just couldn't afford the missiles during the drawdown...

 

I had a flat windshield -58C, you know, the ones where the rain would pool up and you had to fly out of trim to see where you were going. One of our ATAS -58s scored the first seagull kill on the east coast during missile live-firing. T'was a helluva shot, just a puff of feathers.

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Cobrahistorian
I had a flat windshield -58C, you know, the ones where the rain would pool up and you had to fly out of trim to see where you were going. One of our ATAS -58s scored the first seagull kill on the east coast during missile live-firing. T'was a helluva shot, just a puff of feathers.

 

I hear seagull flatulence has a heck of an IR signature ;) That had to be a hell of a sight, kinda like Randy Johnson vs. the pigeon....

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As I recall, a senior CW3 was selected to do the live-fire. He had a good tone on the decoy and just as he released the missile a seagull flew past and was instantly vaporized as the Stinger went through it. A one-in-a-million shot (much like the baseball vs pigeon). Somewhere I have video of our company commander emptying his Apache's 2.75" rocket pods into a berm 30 yards in front of the aircraft because he pulled the "fire" switch instead of the "laser rangefinder" switch. Good times...

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Cobrahistorian
As I recall, a senior CW3 was selected to do the live-fire. He had a good tone on the decoy and just as he released the missile a seagull flew past and was instantly vaporized as the Stinger went through it. A one-in-a-million shot (much like the baseball vs pigeon). Somewhere I have video of our company commander emptying his Apache's 2.75" rocket pods into a berm 30 yards in front of the aircraft because he pulled the "fire" switch instead of the "laser rangefinder" switch. Good times...

 

Left=Loud.

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and out in front!!! :w00t:

 

We were pretty sure our mission in actual combat would have been to mark the enemy target with our burning -58.

Although I'm a scout at heart, I'm not totally unfamiliar with the -64, that's me on the left a long time ago...

post-32676-1312552786.jpg

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Well, things haven't changed, what is laying on the ground in front of you is the basic load for an Apache in Iraq now, no Hellfires and I think half dozen rockets. Don't need that evil war stuff when there isn't a war anymore.

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Well, things haven't changed, what is laying on the ground in front of you is the basic load for an Apache in Iraq now, no Hellfires and I think half dozen rockets. Don't need that evil war stuff when there isn't a war anymore.

 

Wow, so basically it would be like flying an unarmed -58 again? Except with better avionics, climate control, and 2 engines of course. I do miss flying 'doors off' in the summer though, can't do that in an Apache.

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Wow, so basically it would be like flying an unarmed -58 again? Except with better avionics, climate control, and 2 engines of course. I do miss flying 'doors off' in the summer though, can't do that in an Apache.

 

 

Pretty much. They are not allowed to do much of anything anymore. They are really a waste of asset anymore, literally, overpaid observer pilots anymore.

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Pretty much. They are not allowed to do much of anything anymore. They are really a waste of asset anymore, literally, overpaid observer pilots anymore.

 

Back before they changed the TO&E for attack units we had guns, scouts, and a Hawk section. It was common in peacetime for the scouts and Hawks to get deployed on humanitarian missions while the -64s sat on the tarmac. I mean when enemy tanks are rolling in on you, nothing beats having a battalion of Apaches handy, but the rest of the time there isn't much for them to do.

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Spathologist
Well, things haven't changed, what is laying on the ground in front of you is the basic load for an Apache in Iraq now, no Hellfires and I think half dozen rockets.

:twothumbup:

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