by
hawk3370
f100zardoz,
YES all of the above.
If you will bear with me I will regurgitate a couple events. Will probably bore you to tears but here goes:
Weather:
I had some maintenance done on my aircraft and went out on a test flight to check it out. My co-pilot was a very experienced CWO3 and between the two of us we had over 3500 hours flight time. In those days most helicopter pilots had Tactical Instrument Tickets only which gave you just enough knowledge to get yourself killed if you flew into weather.
During the monsoon season we had a squall line of rain come through every day around 10 AM and again at 3 PM almost like clockwork and it lasted about two hours. One of these squall lines had just passed through when we took off. After confirming that the repairs were fine we decided to go out and check out the A-Shau Valley, we hadn't been out there for a couple weeks. We made a couple passes up the valley looking for targets of opportunity and finding nothing to waste our ammo on we decided to return to Phu Bai.
When we climbed out of the valley we saw a solid wall of rain coming our way. We flew into it and found zero visibility. Not wanting to attempt a ADF or GCA at Phu Bai we turned around back into the valley and proceeded to follow the river that runs from the valley to the coast. The rain was so thick that you couldn't see more than about 50 meters ahead so we hovered down the river with both canopys open, my co-pilot watching the left side of the river bank and I the right. We were moving at about 25 knots, 5 feet above the river. At one point we rounded a bend in the river and on my side of the river bank I noticed a bunch of tents made from ponchos and a couple soldiers moving around. One of them was about 100 feet away and stood there staring dircetly at me. We startled him as much as he scared the heck out of me. My co-pilot keyed up the intercom and said "were those NVA", I replied "YEP". We were gone down the river before they could react so we got away with that one. We made it all the way down the river to the coast then followed the coast back up to Phu Bai. To this day I hate intrument flight and avoid it whenever possible.
Bored yet? Well hang in there its not over yet.
Under Fire:
We were supporting Special Forces out of the CCN Launch Site at Marble Mountan just south of Da Nang. I was in command of a light fire team of AH-1G Cobras. We had inserted the team into a valley about 20 miles inside Laos earlier that day and were standing by at Marble Mountain in the event they got into trouble. Their mission was to watch the road that ran through the valley which was suppose to be a major infiltration route.
We were awakened abut 2 AM and informed that the team had been compromised and needed fire support. I knew the team leader from my enlisted service with 10th SFG, and knew him to be very calm under stress and would have not requested us unless he was in real trouble. As soon as we reached altitude I contacted him and asked the situation. I could hear a heavy volumn of small arms fire in the background and he only said two things. He said "Winchester" and then a word that sent chills up my spine, "Prairie Fire", he repeated this three times then the radio went dead. Winchester was the code word for we are out of ammo and Prairie Fire was the code word for we are about to be over run.
We arrived over the valley and I could see no tracers or signs of a fire fight. I attempted to contact the team with negative results. I contacted base and they instructed us to return refuel and prepare to return at first light. I instructed my wing man to head back and that I was going to make a run down the valley floor to see if I could see a strobe or some sign of the team. I would then catch up with him and become his wingman. He rogered and I saw him head towards base as I decended into the valley. I put my lights on flast bright so I didn't make such a good target, being on flash meant that they only came on about every 15 seconds and then immediately went out, and started my run up the valley about a 100 feet over the road. When we approached the last known position of the team the tree line on both sides of the valley erupted in muzzel flashes and tracers. I initiated an steep climb in an attempt to get above the range of the small arms fire. I could hear the bullets hitting the aircraft, but I had no caution lights on so I figured we were going to be ok. As I approached 2000 feet I thought to myself thank god we will be out of range and a few feet. At that time a round came up through the floor of the aircraft and hit me in the chin, the round lodging under my tongue. That knocked the crap out of me, but we were still climbing and things were looking better. I asked my co-pilot if he was alright and he replied that he had been hit in the arm. We were out of small arms range and I could see the lights of Da Nang on the horizon. I told him we would head straight for the hospital. It was at that time there was a large explosion about 200 meters to our front and second later I detected another flash to my left rear. I knew immediately that we had been bracketed by a 37mm AA Gun and before I could react the third round that I knew was coming exploded outside the left side of the aircraft. It blew out my canopy and shredded most of my instrument panel. A large chunk of shapnel hit the side of my seat and another hit me on the side of the helmet splitting my helmet open and knocking the visor off. Smaller pieces of shapnel hit my leg and left arm. I dove the aircraft doing S turns to get out of his sight and proceeded on our heading to Da Nang.
When I thought we were clear of the AA Gun I climbed back to altitude and attempted to call my wing man and inform him of our situation. Negative results on VHF, FM, or UHF. the explosion had taken out our radios so we could not talk outside the aircraft. But we were still flying or so I thought and it looked like we would make it to the hospital. The wind coming through the missing canopy was keeping me awake but I really felt like heck. We had a terrific 1 to1 lateral vibration (like when your washing machine is out of balance) A few minutes later my nav lights flashed and to my surprise I saw a tree go by, I thought I was still at 2000 feet but with no instruments and being pitch black I really had no reference. I instinctively pulled the nose up and pulled full pitch, the vibration practically threw me out of the aircraft and within seconds we impacted into a rice paddy. We hit hard, I mean really hard driving my seat into the floor and shearing the transmission from the engine which caused the engine to take off reaching extremely high RPMs. Fearing it was going to explode I reach down and cut off the main fuel killing the engine. I still was afraid of fire and pulled myself over the edge of the aircraft and dropped into the rice paddy. I immediately begin to burn especially in my wounds. I then realized that I was floating in a hundred gallons of JP-4 Jet Fuel that had flooded the rice paddy when we impacted and the fuel cell burst. I tried to stand up but couldn't, didn't know it at the time but my back was fractured in two places. I pulled myself over the rice paddy dyke into clear water. I stuck my flight glove into my open wound under my chin then realized the glove was also soaked in JP-4 so out it cam. I couldn't help my co-pilot who was in extreme pain and still setting in the front seat, due to the broken back. I was going into shock and couldn't remember how to use my URC-10 emergency radio. I finally pulled the antenna which turns it on and I attempted to put out a May Day. After several tries I had a reply from some airforce pilot who asked me where we were, I couldn't remember where I was and I just said "somewhere in Vietnam" they thought I was messing around and told me to stay off the radio. I thought this is great down in a rice paddy can't talk to anyone were going to die. We laid out there for about an hour until it started getting light and a CAV Loach flew by saw the wreckage and landed. They called for a Med-Evac and within 30 min were in the hospital at Da Nang. My co-pilot was shipped out to Japan later that day paralyzed from the waist down. I laid around the hospital for two weeks and then returned to Phu Bai where I was grounded for about a month before being cleared to fly. I flew one more mission and then came home. I found out later that what brought us down was a piece of shapnel cut a pitch change link which eventually broke in half causing me to have full pitch in one blade and flat pitch in the other, thats what was causing the 1 to 1 lateral vibration
Attached is a picture of that magnificant aircraft that took such a beating and still brought us back. Notice the slash in the side of the aircraft and up to the armor panel on the side of my seat from a large piece of shapnel, probably the same piece that took out my helmet.
Re: Vietnam APH-4 Flight Helmet
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I hope you don't get tired of us. This is great!
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