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Post your favorite helicopter


SergeantMajorGray
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I was always intrigued as to how Huey crews coped! Their side doors always seemed to be slid right back...especially in VN's tropical climate. Surely stuff must've fallen out when they banked etc?!

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I would have to say that my favorite helicopter is (was) the CH-54A Tarhe (Skycrane). My Uncle was a damage assessment Officer in Vietnam. He would fly out and recover damaged aircraft and other equipment. He would fly the wrecks to Cam Rhan Bay, and the damaged equipment would be shipped stateside for either repair or scrapped. He was certified in all the Army fixed wing aircraft when the Army still had airplanes. He also flew the C-7 caribou and otter aircraft in Vietnam. He used to resupply Special Forces Montagnard bases with concrete and other supplies. He was a member of the "Grey Tigers"

 

Below are two links that show the type of aircraft he flew. He lives in Newport News, Virginia, not to far from Fort Eustis, home of the Army Transportation center, school and museum. What is very special to my family is that the CH54A Skycrane on display at the museum is the actual helicopter that my Uncle flew. At one time, the front of the helicopter had the Transportation Regimental Crest, and prior to that it was painted with the unit markings for the unit my Uncle was in. I beleive I have pictures of the Helicopter when it was at the front gate at Ft Eustis. It has since been moved to another location close to the transportation museum. The secon link is for the C-7/Otter association. It tells a pretty decent history of the C-7 caribou and when it was transferred to the Air Force. I will have to look up my Uncle's units. I can't recall which ones other than the Grey Tigers, that he was in.. Will also have to find my pictures of the CH54 at Ft Eustis that my Uncle flew..

 

Leigh

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Army_Transportation_Museum

 

 

http://www.otter-caribou.org/

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Cobrahistorian

Our AC isnt bad though. There is nothing like flying doors open on a hot day. It has actually been approved for us to remove the pilot and copilot doors but we havent tried it yet. I can just see our pilots dropping their Iphones, drink bottles, and knee boards out.

 

 

Have you guys gotten the modded birds that got the AC added back in, or are you dealing with overheated electronics too? I've heard other than that it's a lot of fun to fly.

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1BDEOH6.jpg

 

The OH-6A is my fav. Brought my father home alive from Vietnam and I think they are one robust little helicopter. The Army should have kept them around longer vs going over to OH-58A's in my opinion.

 

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I would be afraid of any that got the AC added back in. It is a very tight fit to begin with and as much as a maintenance nigtmare as it is (not in itself, but for doing other things you have to move a lot of ducting out of the way) I am content without it.

 

Even though it gets quite hot in NC and the fact that we keep them outside all the time, I cant think of any failures that we determined was due to heat.

 

We have decided the cause of most problems was them engineering intentional glitches in electronics and mechanical parts just to get us back for WWII. I mean it is a German aircraft with some Japanese parts.

 

I'm just sayin...

 

 

Off of the 72 for a second, there are some other good choices on here. I've personally worked on the civilian modded H-34 that uses turbine engines and also the MD-500 (OH-6). Both great aircraft and serious workhorses! The OH-58 was my baby and miss it lot. I know the UH-72 will not live as long as it did. That thing was tough. Before we turned ours in, we had 1970 models that never had any issues and have seen a couple aircraft reach 10000 hours.

 

Mike

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Interesting pic Cobra. Appropriate for today obviously. I've driven by the exit for that memorial off the PA Pike a number of times but never had the time to stop. I'll surely have to check that out next pass by. On a less serious note, I wish I had the Apache to fly across PA vs drive the PA Pike, I'm sick of that road.

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Mine

 

Hello Skir,

 

Do you fly the Mi-17? I thought I was the only "Big Ugly" qualified pilot around here.

 

Best regards.

 

Jim

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Cobrahistorian

Interesting pic Cobra. Appropriate for today obviously. I've driven by the exit for that memorial off the PA Pike a number of times but never had the time to stop. I'll surely have to check that out next pass by. On a less serious note, I wish I had the Apache to fly across PA vs drive the PA Pike, I'm sick of that road.

 

 

Yeah, flying the pike is a lot more fun than driving it! Especially when you can pick out all of the State Troopers in FLIR long before they can see you!

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Jon,

 

I forgot that EJ Holcomb wanted me to say "Hi" to you. He has come over to the dark side............utility. :lol:

 

Regards.

 

Jim

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Cobrahistorian

Jim,

 

Awesome, say hey for me. Amazing how two kids who went to one of the most artsy-fartsy colleges in NY ended up as Apache pilots... Go figure.

Jon

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The OH-58 was my baby and miss it lot. I know the UH-72 will not live as long as it did. That thing was tough. Before we turned ours in, we had 1970 models that never had any issues and have seen a couple aircraft reach 10000 hours.

 

Mike

 

My A/C was 71-20492 and hit 10K hours in 1994 (it spent time at Rucker as a trainer, we found orange paint under the OD). I got authorization to have a little plaque made with the date and flight crew that we glued to the dash. Last I knew, it belonged to the NC Dept of Game and Wildlife.

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I know my father-in-law's Chinook from Vietnam is still flying, now with the OR National Guard I think. He has told many stories some to include flying Bob Hope in it.

 

Mike

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