Part 2b
Trip to Ft Rucker
and lights at 10,000
About the end of the summer, we were beginning to feel like we might make a
good unit. Pilots were flying; we were doing some missions for artillery
support at Fort Sill for the school. With the local training and sling
loads of artillery, cross-country missions to salvage supplies for Viet Nam, we
were becoming proficient. And a little cocky.
The Army was trying to decide if the English Version of the DECCA navigation
system would work on Army aircraft particularly helicopters. The system was a
navigation system for shipping. It used two buoys and a special map to
navigate from point A to B. Because the ocean has no hills and valleys,
the map is flat and uneventful. When it is drawn for land, it becomes
very distorted. The aircraft may know where it is by the map, but the
pilot doesn't.
To test the system and educate some pilots, we sent three aircraft to Fort
Rucker Alabama for "training". Three Chinooks to Fort Rucker
would be a high altitude flight (for helicopters) and one refueling at an Air
Force base in La. The trip to Rucker was uneventful. The school was
3 days long. We decided we probably wouldn't use the system. We
started home, with a leg up to Fort Benning, GA for some business the flight
leader, Major Jones, had arranged.
Leaving Fort Benning, we started home, along the basic route we had used to fly
east. Most of the flight was done at about 9 - 10,000 feet. The
view from that high is spectacular; it’s cool without air-conditioning, and
with the windows open, a very relaxing and easy flight. Until!
Somewhere over Mississippi, my Low Oil pressure light came on, or flickered.
The Low Oil pressure light in the Chinook tells the pilot that one of 5
pressured oil systems is low on oil or pressure. Once the light
illuminates, you use a switch to isolate each system until you find the low
one. All well and good, if, the system is low and stays low, allowing you
to get a reading and find which system. Mine did not! It just
flickered. Then again, and again, and again, never allowing time to find the
cause.
After a brief attempt to find the system, and failing, the only alternative is
get to the ground. In the early Chinooks, if the transmissions run dry,
or out of oil, they would turn for about 45 seconds, then freeze. The
transmission I thought was low on oil was the forward transmission that turns
the front rotor system. If it froze, we would become a 10,000-pound anvil
at 10,000 ft. above the ground. Not Good! From 10,000 foot, it is
impossible to make the ground in 45 seconds.
I immediately keyed the radio and announced, fairly excited, "we're going
down!" And then proceeded to do just that. A Chinook is a big
aircraft, 100 foot long. When we started down, I increased the airspeed
to about 140 kts or 145 MPH to increase the rate of descent. I lowered
the collective, taking the pitch out of the blades to let the aircraft descend
(normal procedure if done gently). The VSI or Vertical Speed Indicator
would normally indicate 500 to 1000 ft per minute rate of descent. On
those models it had a maximum rate of 4500 FPM marked on the dial.
At some point before landing, I checked the gauges. The VSI was pegged on
the backside, at what should have been 7,000 FPM, and the forward airspeed was
about 145 knots indicated, or about 160MPH. In other words, we were
diving for Mississippi like a rock. As luck would have it, there was an open
field, a large cow pasture ahead of us.
At some point, I think about 3 - 4000 ft above the ground, I pulled all the AC
had. Full power, and back on the cyclic to slow the airspeed. We
still had the blades turning, so the transmission was turning. We had
exceeded the 45 seconds allowed, but not by much!
With full power applied, the aircraft did all it could to respond and slow
down. When we hit the ground, I checked the instruments, the airspeed was
still 100 Knots indicated and the VSI was showing 3000 FPM rate of descent.
The aircraft bounced about 50 foot back into the air and headed for the
trees at the edge of the field. When it settled and finally stopped, we
were about 100 foot from the tree line, and the rotors were still turning.
We promptly shut everything off as quickly as possible.
The crew chief went through all the transmissions; all the oil and fluid levels
were checked and rechecked. All electrical lines were checked and checked
again. Nothing was found out of the normal.
We finally recranked the engines, flew to the refueling point, refueled and
then back to Fort Sill. Nothing was ever found to be wrong with the
system, and as far as I know, the flashing light never happened again.
Commo supply / O
Club Eagle
As we progressed through the final weeks of training and began to realize that
this was indeed an Army unit, well trained and organized, we began to feel a
little above the rest! The Flight School logo at Wolters and Rucker was
"Above the Best". We began to take it to heart.
Paul Cuda, the commo officer decided to be sure we had the necessary parts for
communications we should stock more than the Army allowed. Somehow he managed
to get a key to the consolidated supply house at Fort Sill. With a truck
he requested from me, he took a couple of his men and raided the post supply.
I'm not sure all he took, but I do know we were never short on parts or radios
while at Fort Sill, and my truck was back in the motor pool the next morning.
Paul would just smile and nod when asked! The CO never had a clue!
With the Commo radio, the tug from the Air force and the items we had stolen
and traded for with depots, etc., we were pretty well stocked, or getting
there.
The Main Officers Club at Fort Sill was fairly "Reserved" in those
days. Colonels and Generals were frequent users and any officer below LTC
was "tolerated" if quiet and respectful. And for the privilege
of being "tolerated" you were allowed to pay 8 - 12.00 a month,
depending on your rank.
For a bunch of drafted, rowdy, Warrants, fresh to the Army, going to war,
thinking they were Very Hot Pilots, old and reserve was something to be snipped
at.
In the basement of the main officer club at Fort sill, there was a
"bar", casual atmosphere. Behind the bar was a huge 3 - 4 ft
eagle.
One Saturday night it disappeared. Sunday morning, or the next morning,
the CO, Major Adamcik got a call from the Post Commander's office. It
seems the Eagle for the Officer's Club was gone, and the last in the bar,
except the bartender was two of our Warrant Officers.
The Eagle was returned that day and no action was taken. All of the
unit members were unwelcome at the club if we could be identified as being
aviators. It is fair to say that the other aviators assigned to Fort Sill
as permanent party was also not welcome, although they had nothing to do with
the Eagle.
FTX
As we neared the shipping date, final tests were given the unit. In
September or October we were moved to the "field" and set up
operations for a 3-day field test. This would be days of missions assigned, set
up camp, convoys, maintenance, etc., to see if we could actually operate in the
field or combat zone. This was funny in that the combat zone we went to
had buildings, hangers, offices, and airfields. We didn't "
operate" in the field at any time. As a unit anyway.
As the motor officer, I had to move the convoy and unit equipment, which I did.
I mis-read the orders and thought the 25 mile drive was to be at a max
speed of 45 MPH when it should have been a 45 MPH Average! We were late,
and the slow speed damages trucks, or so I found. We finally arrived with
the equipment and set up the camp.
After returning from the field, we began packing all the equipment for shipment
to Viet Nam. Vehicles were serviced, inspected and driven to the railhead
at Fort Sill for shipment to Houston and the cargo ship. Once the unit
was packed and shipped we would move the aircraft to Sharp Army Depot in
California for shipment to Viet Nam.
Flight to Calif
/ 37 Flt Violations
The unit was to move the aircraft to California for shipment to Viet Nam. We would fly all the AC to California, leave
a maintenance team to get them ready, while we returned to Fort Sill,
vacations, Christmas, then 30 days later we would fly to Viet Nam by Air Force
Cargo planes out of Oklahoma City.
Of the 16 Aircraft we needed to ferry to California, 1 was sent early, and the
last 15 would be flown out the next day. The date of the main departure,
we were assigned aircraft to pilots and crews, and the 15 aircraft were broken
up into flights of 3 aircraft each, that would depart 15 minutes apart.
Supposedly this would allow the aircraft to arrive at airports and military
bases along the way at intervals that would allow normal infusion into the
airport traffic flow.
Departure was made, and we were enroute. What had started a beautiful day
at Fort Sill, grew foggy and nasty the farther west we flew. By the time
we arrived near Childress we were forced down to wait until the fog lifted.
At Childress I realized the airline ticket I needed to return to Fort Sill,
from California was laying on my dresser in the BOQ. I had no way home.
I immediately called the unit office at Fort Sill. Thank goodness we had
left personnel to man the phones and keep the office open. They went to
the BOQ and got the ticket, then called the airport airline office and had it
changed to be available at California when I arrived. Panic, but finally
a way home.
Our first overnight stop was to be El Paso, Texas. Stop, refuel, spend
the night, early morning departure and on to George Air Force base in Phoenix.
We arrived At El Paso about 4 - 5PM, parked, tied down, and left for the motel.
(Pre arranged before leaving Ft. Sill). We changed, departed for Juarez
for supper and party time.
Eating left a little to be desired. Grade A steaks in the US are
different from Grade A in Mexico. We did the restaurant thing, then clubs
up and down the strip. Some of the Warrants decided to get a
"cab" and go to the red-light district. 18 of us in a cab, and
off we go. Seems the district was two blocks over and we circled the
blocks 4 or 5 times before he stopped. Guess he figured we were blind and
couldn't see the same buildings go by 3 - 4 times.
We arrived and entered the first "house". Standing in the
lobby, some of the Jr. Warrants begin talking to the owner, or manager, as the
case may be. Pretty soon, he turns and starts to usher us to the door.
I'm not sure what the warrant asked for, however, I am sure that we were
probably the first ever to be thrown out of a Mexican whore house, before ever
getting past the lobby.
My night was ended. I could see jail on the horizon with this crowd so I
walked the two blocks back to the main street, then a cab back to the motel.
When we left the next morning, we accounted for every member of the unit except
one. He was in jail in Mexico.
We departed El Paso the next morning about 8 AM. The aircraft had been
equipped with internal fuel pods before leaving Fort Sill. This allowed
another 1200 gallons of fuel in addition to the 1200 we carried in the regular
side tanks of the aircraft. The pods inside would feed the engines, and
then when dry the main tanks would be used. At each fuel stop we topped
the aircraft off with JP4 jet fuel. El Paso had been such a stop.
About 1 hour into the flight, 6000 ft and 75 miles west of El Paso, one
aircraft announces that it is going down. We all wait, anxious to know
what is going on.
Luck was with the crew. It seems a 4 inch fuel hose from the internal
pods had came loose from the tank and dumped 600 gallons of jet fuel inside the
aircraft. The crew compartment was flooded and the crew was standing in
the fuel 3- 4 inches deep inside the aircraft. At the time almost all
the crews smoked, and smoking was common on board the aircraft. That
morning pilot and co-pilot were both smoking. They managed to throw the
cigarettes out before a fire started.
They landed the aircraft (we think inside Mexico) drained the fuel from the
inside, shut off the pods, or isolated them so they would not leak any more,
and joined the rest of the flight westward.
We arrived at Phoenix at George AFB to refuel and spend the night. By the
time we arrived, the 15-minute separation between flights was gone. We
were in most cases, a flight of 10 - 15 aircraft. As we arrived and
entered the traffic pattern, the tower had a jet on long final for landing
also. We were first in line to land but were asked to "expedite"
our approaches to be clear for the jet. The jet is doing 200 MPH plus,
and we are 100 or less. It was a mad scramble for the last couple of
helicopters to hit the runway; however, because we were helicopters, once we
got near the runway, and on final approach, we could move over to the grass and
let the jet have the paved strip. All in all, safe, but a lot of aircraft
trying to use the field at the same time. It was a panic for the Air
Force because they were not used to helicopters at all, much less 15 at a time.
We departed Phoenix the next morning with out incident. We were happy to
leave to be sure. The wind was blowing hard that night. Somewhere
up wind was a slaughterhouse for cows. The odor was strong enough we
might have been sitting outside the main building. A very unpleasant
smell.
We left the next morning, and spent the third night in Bakersfield, California.
The last day was to be an easy flight into Stockton, California. Leave
the aircraft, cab to the airport at San Francisco, and home to Oklahoma. Departure
from Bakersfield was normal. As we flew north and west we again ran into
the fog California is noted for! By Stockton, we could hardly see the
land below us. Thicker, thicker, until we were following railroad tracks
and roads.
Major Kaiser, the unit Executive officer was leading a flight of 5 aircraft
ahead of our flight. Thoroughly lost over the city, he lands his flight
of aircraft in an empty field, runs across the highway to a filling station
(gas station) ask directions, reboards the aircraft and leads us to the
military depot. By the time he is airborne again, the rest of the flights
have caught up to him and we just follow him to the depot.
By the time we are all landed and shut down. The 15 aircraft flying
across Stockton, California have amassed 37 flight violations with FAA.
In the end, they were violations against military aircraft, on a military
mission and thus could not be applied to our civilian tickets. Otherwise
none of us would have ever flown again!
We had managed to survive the flight. We turned the aircraft over to the
maintenance department, boarded cabs and set out for the SF airport. Boarded,
and enroute home.
Arrival at Fort Sill seemed to be our last approach on an airplane, ever! The plane was approaching the ground at an
alarming rate and sideways. This might have been OK in a helicopter where you
could stop and hover, however in a commercial airplane it was definitely not
good! Many of us unstrapped our seatbelts, preparing to leave the
aircraft as soon as it quit crashing!
Results were, the wheels were turned and the airplane landed directly down the
centerline of the runway.
Vacation before
Viet Nam Cruise / back by 28th of DEC
Once back on the ground in Lawton, we relax a bit and spent two weeks doing
almost nothing. The week before Christmas I left to go to Florida to
spend Christmas with Janet. We took a cruise to the Bahamas for 3 days,
then Christmas, and then I returned to Fort Sill on the 28th for departure on
the 31st for Viet Nam.
We were going to the tropics so all the winter gear was turned into supply, or
sent home. Cotton fatigues were the order of the day. 31 DEC 1968
was about 10 degrees at Lawton when we boarded the buss for Oklahoma City.
We left Lawton at midnight, and freezing. Arrival at Oklahoma City,
Tinker Air Force Base for loading on C 141s to Viet Nam wasn't any warmer.
But, we were finally enroute. 3 large cargo C-141s rigged for
passengers, 85,000 lb. of equipment and 600 personnel.
We made our first refueling stop in Fairbanks, Alaska. 3 AM local time,
30 below zero, and we leave the airplane for a little wooden building in the
center of the field. All passengers had to deplane before it could be
refueled. The only thing not white on the field was a moose standing on
the edge. We spent 3 hours on the ground, then back inside the aircraft
for take off and Viet Nam. It took 3 hours for the ice to melt inside the
plane once we left the field.
Our next stop was 12 Midnight, 31 December 1968, as we touched down in Da Nang,
Viet Nam. We off loaded the C-141s and onto a flight of Chinooks from A
and B companies of the 159th Assault Support Helicopter Battalion (ASH) we were
to be assigned to. Our sister companies moved us from Da Nang to Phu Bai
and dropped us at the airfield we would know as home for the next year.
New Years Eve and Welcome to Viet Nam.
We were Home! As we approached the strip for landing at Phu Bai, the
entire perimeter was ablaze with gunfire. Troops were celebrating the New
Year with tracers and bullets. We managed to land without any holes in
the aircraft.