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Amazing CH-53 picture, do not try this at home


TheGrayGhost
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Was looking through my dad's pictures today and found this image. This is a CH-53 piloted by Lt Brims and Lt Paulsen with the 21st S.O.S. in Thailand in 1975. The aircraft has a jammed front gear and the three brave ground crew members are attempting to dislodge it. From what I have been told, they were successful.

 

http://www.uflymike.com/media/personal/Jammedgear.jpg

 

x.jpg.2eef087636467635323c4c884d05d308.jpg

Moderators Note:  Restored original photo

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Yeow! At least they could have put something under the bird to keep the guys from getting complete flattened.... that is wild!

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Yeow! At least they could have put something under the bird to keep the guys from getting complete flattened.... that is wild!

 

I was thinking the same thing. Maybe the weight of the chopper would be too much for any small bracing?

 

Amazing picture!

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Yeow! At least they could have put something under the bird to keep the guys from getting complete flattened.... that is wild!

 

I would think that any object added to protect the ground crew would also add to the danger by potentially contacting the aircraft upsetting an already delicate balance or simply be tossed in the rotor wash.

 

Regardless, it took a lot of guts to step under the nose of this aircraft!

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Regardless, it took a lot of guts to step under the nose of this aircraft!

 

 

Definitely! And a skillful pilot too!

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First off, GREAT Photo

 

This doesn't happen all the time, but it still happens today and more than you would think.

 

All of the cases that I know about, the main (Aft) landing Gear are down and they cargo strap a mattress to a pile of pallets and land on the mattress.

 

Semper Fly

John

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Wow ! :o Where is the Safety Officer ? No contingency plan for this situation ? A couple of (well earned) Bronze Stars comes to mind.

 

 

W

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That should be in a book, hands down no question those fellas had some $@##s. Getting to see photos like this one is one reason why I love this place!

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Actually, we have hook-up teams all the time under our aircraft hooking sling loads and it looks just like this, even further under the aircraft, more to the middle. Once in a while, you will see one or all of the team go scampering out from under the aircraft, they sometimes loose their nerve and can't take it anymore.

What amazes me more than the guys being under the aircraft, is the fact that I don't see a static discharge probe. I'm surprised one of them isn't sitting on his butt trying to figure out what just happened.

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Here's what i see:

 

1. Ingenuity at work trying to rectify a problem

2. Extreme trust between ground and flight crew

3. Attitude of mission, unencumbered by BS regulations, supported by a sense of camaraderie

4. Very dangerous situation (possibly deadly) in war time, mission urgency, men willing to risk it all to make it happen

 

I have to say, someone had to grab their ba!!$ to make this happen, both in the AC and on the ground. I bet they were near the end of their fuel supply in a time urgent situation. Being it was an SOS, there was a high potential that they needed that helo fixed NOW so they could go back out to pick up a downed airman or something like that. One has to conclude they weren't messing around.

 

In today's environment, they would have been grounded for "pulling that stunt".

In my opinion, sometimes you have to do extreme things in extreme situation. I hope all involved at least got some sort of commendable mention.

 

Do you know what the story behind the photo is? Did the Flight Engineers/Gunners exit the AC to do the work? Judging by their flight suits and helmets, I would say they hopped out and went to work.

Was this prior to April '75 when most combat ops ended?

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Front what I understand, the front gear was jammed up. I believe none of the gears would come down because of this. I was able to confirm with my dad that the individuals were part of the flight crew, not ground crew as I stated earlier. He can't remember when exactly this was taken.

 

Hawk, that makes a lot of sense for attaching a load. Would love to see some pictures of this being done. Didn't even think about the static issue!

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The hover is not that difficult if the winds are calm and no hevy dust. The 53 also has a stabilization control which can almost hover by itself. Still the gear can be under hydraulic pressure so danger can come in several forms.

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During my working career, we deployed oil spill response equipment via chopper. Static IS an issue. Trust me. Not to mention being sand and gravel blasted.

 

 

W

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I know nothing about static lines,saying that ..left of the crew toward the rear of the bird it looks like a line and another if you look between the crew.

 

oops never mind.,runway seam and antenna shadow.

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  • 7 months later...
  • 7 months later...

This may be a dead thread, but I had to add this comment. True story: Last month, I went on a business trip to our engine vendor (I build high performance aerial target drones for the USAF, USN, and international customers). The company also makes APUs and turbines for helicopters, by the way. After the meetings and factory tour were done, we ended up in the boss's office. Hanging there on the wall of Mr. Poulson's office was this very picture! He gave me the whole rundown. Under the 53 are the Flight Engineer and the Door Gunner. They ended up having to let all the pressure out of the accumulator and deflate the tires before they could get the nose gear down. Wild!

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TheGrayGhost

Awesome video and another example of how our men and women put their lives on line every day just getting it done.

 

@XtremeAR - Small world isn't it! I'm glad to hear you got to meet Mr Poulsen, he is a great guy. I only had a chance to talk to him briefly once when he came to my dad's funeral. Wish I had been able to talk more.

 

Thank you for sharing your story and adding some more info to the picture.

 

For anyone interested in some neat info about these aircraft and the squadrons that used them, check out this website:

http://pavecave.com

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  • 7 years later...
smokeriderdon

I know this is a long dormant thread, so my apologies. My father was in the 21st for Frequent Wind and Eagle Pull as a flight mechanic. Do you have ANY idea who those crew members are??? My dad was more than crazy enough to jump off and do something like that if one of his birds was messed up. 

 

Thanks. 

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