That's odd Danon,...When I was there in '66, we had the blue kind,up on a platform, connected by an accordian like thing. Legend has some people got airsick in the contraptions. The instructor was onthe floor at a desk that recorded the activity of the pilot.
That's the contraption I started in at Ft. Stewart booman, it kind of swayed a bit. The one's I used at Ma Rucker were just big boxes on the floor with instruments on a slanted panel with a straight backed chair in front of it. They had a LOT of students all of a sudden in those days.
Here's a funny, I thought about flying into all those busy airports after graduating until I read in a magazine that at that time Ft Rucker was the busiest airport in the whole USA. Didn't bother me after that.
One more, My hooch partner came back to the company one evening shaking his head. I asked why. He said he had flown to Saigon and upon approaching heard the tower person (the Vietnamese one) getting confused - then silence except for all the calls for landing instructions. Then the tower person came back and said "Everybody, Saigon airport area - Go Away. Come back 10 minutes" It seems the GI controller had gone to the bathroom at the BUSIEST airport in the world at the time. So, my friend said everybody just started landing on their own.
Late, as usual.....
Even though my title is 'Controller', I'm a simple bookkeeper. (Just don't ask me to figure out the tip at a restuarant.....)
Rae, I must say what a wonderful Signature you have for your posts. The heart whispering - lends itself some so very romantic thoughts. Great!!
I am facinated by something I heard once - paraphrasing -
'There, by the sea, between where the water meets the shore, is a place of magic'
Ah, let the imagination soar!!
Thanks, danon.
I love your paraphrase, by the way. I'm a romantic at heart......sue me!
You can't make that kind of stuff up Danon.
It is a lovely quote and true -- there is supposed to be shamanistic magic between the shore and the sea according to some of my Mexican friends, and according to Science, that's where life began, in that constant flooding and receding of water.
Danon -- Just read your post... you were at the Top of the World! Yay. I was there in the summer of... 1977. It was the year that two nurses from San Francisco were shot and killed at the duck-hunting grounds while camped in their tent. It was violent all summer, but that incident is what sent me home.
I don't remember the airline parts, I'm sorry. Maybe they were there!?! I remember the smell of the dead whale on the beach. I remember pickled muktuk and the menu which included whale steak at Browerville. I was stalked by wild dogs when I walked to Browerville one day and so my husband and friends made me learn how to shoot a pistol there. We found that I am a danger to myself and others with a pistol in my hand!
We were always going to go back to Barrow, but I think we won't.
I know. Don't let me near a gun. They just go off in my hand!
I be dogged, danon. I was at Rucker myself, twice. Once for L-19 & U-6 school (maintenance) and once for the OV-1 Mohawk.
Ok, Rae, you asked for it. I'm sueing for a million heart beats!!
You're right Booman, it is the stuff of the stars, our whispering souls searching for answers. The same stuff we are all made of.
Piffka, They could have sold those parts, at the time they were worth millions. It was pieces of the wreckage, the largest was the piece with the aircraft number on it from the vertical stabilizer. I'll bet you anything that you remember the "honey buckets" in the restrooms!!!! LOL With everything frozen year round there's NO sewer system. I still have my piece of baleen I picked up off the beach. You know the beach with all the icebergs floating by!!
roger, You flew Birddogs and Beavers?? Me too. I've a thousand hours in the Mohawk also. Now that - Mohawk - was one ugly bird, but flew like a WWII fighter plane. Fully aerobatic and powerful, I had one up to 42,000 ft (indicated) one day in Nam (just for the heck of it) It wouldn't go any higher, just sort of mushed along with a nose high attitude. Then I rolled her on her back, dropped her nose, popped my speed boards and about 5 mins later was dodging waves over the S. China Sea. Ah, those were the days.
Mr. K flew in Mohawks... he speaks of them fondly. Rode around with a great number of younger than he pilots from the South. Said only one mission lost it during his year in VN, which speaks well of the plane. I wish I could think of the name of the nearby city... Hue?
Oh yes, Hue. That is in what was to us I Corps. The Citadel or whats left of it is there.
I flew Mohawks in II Corps, the middle and mountainous region. Made for a lot of fun flying IR missions up valleys at 1500 ft while surrounded by 8000 ft mountains all in the dark of night. I think my fingerprints are still imbedded in the eyebrow panel where I was grasping it and leaning forward to see the 'mountain' ahead of me.
You can easily tell which person sitting at a bar is the Air Force pilot. He casually sits there looking around and downish. The Army pilot has a firm grasp on the bar with just his bloodshot eyeballs looking up over the rail.
danon, With your ability to describe the characteristics of air force and army pilots, you should write a movie script depicting both in combat situations. All the other stuff will be gravy!
c.i.
Did you have to wear the itchy flight suit? PFK talks about a terrible early flight where he had just been badly sunburned on a beach and then had to wear a nomar suit. A most uncomfortable ride.
The only plane from his company that crashed went straight into a mountain. I don't really remember if he was at Hue, but I remember that name. Beautiful and ancient ruins, right? He was trained for army reconniassance photo and radar (and ??) flights over the Ho Chi Minh trail in 1971. It got him started in photography.
Yeah, Piffka, I recall the Nomex(sp) suits, they were itchy. The ones I wore in the late '60's were the grey cotton kind and a lot more comfy. Not as good as the other for fires though.
Sounds like PFK was there all right. Photo, radar and IR (infrared) was most of what we did. We started some experiments with VERY low level IR while I was there. We would go and overfly a road that was to used to convoy our boys with IR. Early in the morning about 0300hrs you can "see" the mines very clearly. Saved a bunch of guys feathers.
You sure are bringing back a lot of memories. That's a good thing I guess as long as I don't dwell on friends who didn't make it back.
Thanks guys, there's lots more if anyone is interested.
Dan
Gee. Infrared is amazing. Why did it have to be low level? I wish that would still work for landmines. I'm thinking that showing up on the IR was due to the metal and they're now made out of plastic?
My fondest memories of Ft. Rucker, are in Dothan......party over here!
....
Hey Booman, yeah the parties were something else weren't they. The Officer's Club had door prizes and bingo prizes such as the likes of 35 ft cruisers and small aircraft in addition to all the automobiles It was a crazy time for all. I recall getting really high one night in '67, I think, but not sure that I sobered up about '75, or so. No big deal.
It was a crazy time, and the war was crazy too. I remember one evening returning from an early mission all tired and still pumped up. I walked into the O'Club with a fully loaded weapon, past four officers standing on their heads drinking flaming brandies upside down and I did not think anything was unusual. Went on up to the bar and ordered a bourbon.
Yeah, I was crazy too.
I'm sorry Piffka, I got all caught up in Boomans party and totally ignored your ques.
Well, it matters not the material, IR distinguishes temperatures. And each different material will retain heat at a different rate. Thats why IR is so good in the dark. We used to call it "Red Haze" but it really isn't red. I've flown over airfields and was able to tell the aircraft type and model hours after it had left the field just by the shadow it left on the pavement. In Alaska it was a piece of cake because of the extreme low temps. I ran a test one night with troops on the ground in the dark. Not only could I tell exactly where and how many there were but I could tell what weapon each troop was carrying. That's really good intell for the ground commanders.
The land mines are the same, different temps, but we flew low for a couple of reasons. It gave a much better image and location of the mines and it made it harder for the guys in black pj's to get a good aim. And that's the way it was.
