US Army medical evacuation helicopter landing on ramp at Phu Cat, Vietnam - 1972. I think the aircraft is a variety of a Bell Huey. Not sure how much protection was guaranteed from enemy fire by the white paint job and red crosses. Doors on chopper are open with two crewmembers watching for arrival of some patients. I had an experience to be on a white DC-9 medivac jet with red crosses ... nicknamed the Nightengale it was equipped with medical gear, and configured to accommodate hospital stretchers.
The Good, the Bad, the Ugly … got to see a huge range of places given the variety of flying tactical airlift. Here our C-130 crew had a fortunate “good deal” trip to Jakarta, Indonesian to include some moments of relaxation and fun. Pictured is part of the crew (Captain Ed, Flight Engineer Tony, and Loadmaster Jim) sitting in courtyard of hotel we stayed at for a few days. Tropical plants, rock garden, thatched canopy sitting area, and a cooler of cold beer … not too shabby. You can see we all decided to buy local headgear … black velvet Nehru-like caps. A funny follow up: after a few beers someone leaned up against the large center post supporting the thatched canopy … it must have been rotten at ground level, and over it went. Fortunately the beer did not get damaged. What even happened to that hat?
Failed to label this slide, but believe it is at hot and steamy Ubon??? Airbase in Eastern most part of Thailand – 1972. Ubon was just west of Laos, and just north of Cambodia, and was home to F-4 Phantom Fighter Squadrons flying missions into Laos, Cambodia, and Vietnam. Pictured is row of Phantoms parked in revetments … I believe these are USAF F-4C models that were extensively used in Vietnam War along with newer F-4D versions. These aircraft could max out at over 50K pounds, and could approach 1,500 mph. Their pilots had many MIG kills to their credit.
Two deadheads in back of C-130 – 1972. Deadhead was term used for a crewmember hitching a ride, and not part of the crew flying the plane. The guy on left was a flight surgeon, and the other was my friend Dave who was a navigator on another crew. You could always tell crewmembers as they constantly were using their hands to illustrate different positions of aircraft in flight. I suspect this was not a deadhead flight to Vietnam from our R&R duty station at CCK Airbase, Taiwan … those flights were always packed full with deadheads and heaps of cargo on pallets, and there was always competition to find a comfortable spot in back of the C-130 for the very long flight. Best option was to find a spot to lay down on top of some soft cargo … some would even string up a hammock on occasion.
Crooked and blurred, not one of my highest quality photos, but this shows one helicopter giving another a lift at the end of a cable. I think it might be a Bell UH-1 Huey and a CH-47 twin rotor Chinook? Reminds me a bit of movie Apocalypse Now where the Naval River Boat was carried into the river mouth by one of Major Kilgore’s rotary aircraft. This was at Phu Cat, Vietnam – 1972.
This aerial slide that I scanned simply had “near Saigon - 1972” written on it … made me wonder exactly where. Given the distinctive meandering ox-bow river formations, I figured I could easily locate the place on current maps. Probably butchered these names, but it looks like photo taken south of Bien Hoa, looking to the South where the Song Dong Nai and Hha Be Rivers meet. Interesting that the current 2011 Google Satellite map shows that the river island in this 40 year-old photo has been breached at the narrow point … splitting it in two. Having some geology background this is a natural occurrence for meandering rivers. Off to the southwest would have been Saigon. I assume our C-130 was about to turn right (to the west) for a final approach into Tan Son Nhut Airbase, Saigon.
Although beautiful to look at from the C-130, these bad boy thunderheads were nothing to flirt with as they ruled the skies. Thunderstorms very quickly could form under the hot unstable air especially in the afternoon over Vietnam. They could top out at over 50,000 feet, well above our cruising altitudes. Dodging these weather systems was a must … even flying close in the clear air under the expanding thunderstorm anvils lurking above could place the aircraft in severe turbulence and even hail. “Sucker hole” was a term used by pilots to describe small tempting clear-air spaces between thunderstorm cells that could quickly disappear once you entered into them. Plenty of sick bags were needed on such days if we were hauling green passengers even when keeping a healthy 20 mile distance rom the clouds.
