loach helicopter vietnamloach helicopter vietnam

[8][9], A total of 387 OH-6/Hughes 369s were produced under license in Japan by the Japanese aerospace company Kawasaki Heavy Industries. Unknown as to mission impact. Army units this aircraft deployed with in Vietnam: In contrast, of the nearly 1,100 Cobras delivered to the Army, 300 were lost. In the event of a crash the tailboom and engine separate from the egg-like cabin, improving the survival chances of the crew and passengers. A shaft ran to the tail and powered the two-blade rotor at the back. Click on the hotlinks for more information. Reportedly, Hughes had consulted at the last moment with Real, who recommended a bid of $53,550. The aircraft, dubbed 500P (penetrator) by Hughes, began as an ARPA project, codenamed "Mainstreet", in 1968. 1:00 Jan. 6 will mark 50 years since former Newburgh resident Dave Middleton was shot down in Vietnam while piloting a Loach helicopter on a mission to which he wasn't originally assigned.. The CH-34 Choctaw was developed by Sikorsky Aircraft for transport purposes to carry personnel and deliver supplies. The Little Birds weaponry is a far cry from the M60 machine gun carried aboard a Loach in Vietnam: AH-6s can carry miniguns, rocket pods, grenade launchers, Hellfire missiles, and air-to-air Stinger missiles. Scout pilots were a different breed of cat, says Cobra pilot Jim Kane, who likens his former colleagues to the airborne equivalent of the Tunnel Rats, soldiers who crawled head-first into Viet Cong-built tunnels without any idea what awaited them there. They chose the OH-6A scout helicopter to fill that role, and it became known as the Little Bird compared to the other aircraft in the task force, the MH-60 and the MH-47. The CH-53 Tarhe was another heavy-lift helicopter designed to transport and recover downed aircraft. In 1966 it entered military service with the US Army. Unit: 173 ABN We were so close to the elephant grass that wed blow the grass apart to see if anyone was hiding in there, observer Bob Moses says. I could tell how old a footprint was by how it looked. Hughes's price was $19,860 per airframe, without the engine, while Hiller's price was $29,415 per airframe, also without the engine. Nate Shaffer and Bruce Campbell at their assigned positions. In one particular clandestine incident in 1972, known as the Vinh wiretap, a pair of OH-6As were heavily modified and used by the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) via Air America was used to infiltrate Vietnamese high level communications, providing valuable intelligence. The Cayuse was organic to division, brigade, and battalion size units. Warrant officer John Shafer was 21 when he arrived on October 16, 1970, to fly Loaches. Several Kawasaki-built Loach helicopters were also flown by civilian customers for a variety of reasons, including emergency medical services, law enforcement tasks and for work in the agricultural sector. A rescue operation for the crew of a downed Loach helicopter doesn't quite go as planned and the rescuers become victims themselves. MD-530MG/Defender: Has a mast-mounted sight, and incorporated upgrades of all previous variants. [2] The pilot was provisioned with excellent external visibility via its large plexiglass windscreen, while its four-bladed fully-articulated main rotor meant it was considerably more agile than the preceding H-13 Sioux. I was just out of flight school when I went to Vietnam. He flew Loaches for the next 11 months, and today is an accountant in Seattle. Vietnam Helicopters Museum - OH-6A "Cayuse" Helicopter s/n 66-07841 Table of Contents 1. Advertising Notice The Marine Corp used it for the sea-based interdiction of the Ho Chi Minh Trail in 1972. Served in Vietnam War during 1968 through 1970. The helicopter made a Forced Landing. On top of this, Fairchild Hiller lodged a formal complaint over Hughes Tool Companys deceitful tactics to earn the original contract. The AH-1 is sometimes affectionately referred to as the Huey Cobra or The Snake. [2] Originally designated as the YHO-6A according to the Army's designation system, the aircraft was redesignated as the YOH-6A in 1962 when the Department of Defense created a joint designation system for all aircraft. Shortly thereafter, the aircraft were returned to the U.S., where they were dismantled and converted back to a standard configuration; they continued to be operated as such for a time. Loach and Cobra crews lived together, and schedulers generally paired the teams with the partners they requested, though given the high turnover rate, that wasnt always possible. Accordingly, this tactic had resulted in substantial losses being incurred on the contract with the U.S. Army; the company had allegedly anticipated that an extended production cycle would eventually make the rotorcraft financially viable. Jim Kanes Vietnam tour abruptly ended one day in February 1971. [28][29], The pilots selected to fly the OH-6A helicopters came from the 229th Attack Helicopter Battalion and were sent to the Mississippi Army National Guard's Army Aviation Support Facility (AASF) at Gulfport, Mississippi, for two weeks of qualification training in the rotorcraft. Helicopter took 2 hits from: 2 M260 2.75-in Hydra 70 rocket pods (7 or 12 each) These would be used to replace its fleet of Bell H-13 Sioux, a compact first generation rotorcraft. Cobra Gunship, Huey and Loach OH-6 Members of C Troop, 1st Squadron, 9th Cavalry dedicated an OH-6 Loach Scout helicopter flown by their unit during the Vietnam War The killer role persists. AH/MH-6J: US Army Special Operations variant derived from the MD-530MG. The helicopter was hit in the Left Side The OH-6 was largely removed from active U.S. Army service in favor of the Kiowa, but modified versions of the helicopter flew with the 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment as the MH-6C Little Bird as late as 2008. I tried to move the stuck controls and prayed for a place to set down. It took all of Kanes strength to pull out of a steep dive, and they crash-landed with a horrific thud. During the Vietnam War Era, different types of helicopters were crucial for providing support for ground forces, scouting locations, and deploying or retrieving soldiers. I got shot down on my 22nd birthday, March 27, 1971. Hughes 500M: Military export version of OH-6 in mid-1970s with upgraded 278-shp Allison 250-C18 turboshaft engine, "V" tail. Stepping away from her academic career, Samantha previously worked as a Heritage Researcher and now writes content for multiple sites covering an array of historical topics. The North Vietnamese deployed hundreds of the missiles, and from then on, both hunter and killer tried to stay well hidden. Vietnam War helicopter pilots bring stories and aircraft to Kansas In support of the Helicopter Flight Mechanics syllabus, the USNTPS operates surplus Army OH-6B Helicopters which were refurbished by the Army National Guard, Gulfport, Mississippi in 1991. The mission training consisted of loading onto C-130 Hercules transport aircraft which would then transport them to forward staging areas over routes as long as 1,000 nautical miles (1,900km). We thought they were ARVNs [Army of the Republic of Vietnam] until they started running. . The Hughes 369 was redesignated the OH-6A "Cayuse" by the U.S. Army. The Cayuse was publicly introduced in 1966 and set several records, including record for endurance, speed and rate of climb. Furthermore, a number of civilian customers also flew Kawasaki-built OH-6s for a variety of missions, including emergency medical services (EMS), law enforcement, and agricultural work. It never flew again. Hughes developed the Model 369 as a prototype for the U.S. Army in the early 1960s. Four troop-carrying Hueys (called a Blue Team) often sat idle somewhere nearby, ready to insert troops if the Pink Team discovered an interesting targetor were shot down and needed rescuing. [2] This shaping, combined with the provision of internal bulkheads, has been attributed as giving the rotorcraft its uncommonly strong crashworthiness properties. The Hughes OH-6 "Cayuse" (popularly recognized as the "Loach") was a revolutionary light helicopter mount primarily in service with the United States Army and saw combat service during the Vietnam War (1955-1975). The US military primarily used the OH-6 for observational and reconnaissance purposes. The AH-6 Little Bird Gun, a light attack helicopter, has been tested and proven in combat. Kane and Casher were pulled aboard and returned to Khe Sanh, but the Huey barely made it back; slicing trees had left its blades shredded, and the tail section had almost separated. which many are taken will be available from our shop to City of Walnut Creek Special Recreation Museum Tour October 26, 2019, United Airlines Family Day Fly-in October 13, 2019, Napa County Airport Day September 7, 2019, Virginia Rose II Cobra transferred to Vietnam Helicopters Museum August 14, 2019, Memorial Day 2019 Ceremonies at Oak Hill Memorial Park & Cemetery. It could accomplish missions that bigger, slower and louder helicopters couldnt do. The OH-6 helicopters served in huge numbers and were used for light observation and utility roles. The "loach" was the LOH (Light Observation Helicopter) or OH-6A. [22] Its straightforward design made it easier to maintain than most other helicopters, while its relatively compact 26-foot main rotor made it easier to use tight landing zones. Setting 23 world records for speed, distance, and altitude, the Hughes Tool Company OH-6 entered service in September of 1966. The Gyrodyne QH-50 was mostly designed to be used on ships that werent large enough to carry a full-sized helicopter. History. Fortunate son intensifies : r/memes - reddit It was the same for Jim. See Also: How Much Does a Huey Helicopter Cost? It had no hydraulic system and its electrical setup was used primarily to start up the enginesimple even by 1960s standards, which for practical purposes meant it was easier to maintain and harder to shoot down than other helicopters. Systems damaged were: COMM SYS, STRUCTURE, INSTRUMENTS, PERSONNEL One of the most dangerous helicopter assignments was a tiny scout helicopter known as the Loach. Officially designated the OH-6 Cayuse, these things were made of thin plexiglass and metal but were expected to fly low over the jungles and grass, looking for enemy forces hiding in the foliage. In addition, an M60D 7.62mm machine gun could be mounted in the front port (left) or rear starboard (right) door openings. Boucher quickly discovered that life as a qualified crewman was extremely dangerous. Information on U.S. Army helicopter OH-6A tail number 67-16304 This teamwork was actively encouraged by Army officials, and led to the development of so-called "hunter-killer" tactics that sought to flush out and eliminate hostile ground targets. The small "egg-shaped" design and simplified rotorhead incorporated four rotor blades of constant chord, made of bonded light alloy. The Seasprite was an anti-submarine and anti-surface helicopter that had over-the-horizon targeting facilities. What was a loach helicopter? - Quora This story is a selection from the September issue of Air & Space magazine, Donald Porter We got into another aircraft and went back out. During the Vietnam War the OH-6 helicopters served in huge numbers and were used for light observation and utility roles. Joint Services Incident Damage Report. Furthermore, the helicopter was also developed into a civilian helicopter, the Model 500, which was still in production into the twenty-first century under MD Helicopters as the MD 500. When the opposing forces exposed themselves, the crew would call upon an accompanying Bell AH-1 Cobra to attack. The prototype first flew in early 1963, and production began two years later. President As we navigate rapidly evolving military culture and Like any deployed troops, Russian soldiers make calls Sign up for our newsletter and receive the mighty updates! Vietnam Helicopters Museum - OH-6A "Cayuse" Helicopter s/n 67-16304 The LOH program opened the floor to several companies to come up with their own designs. Small Arms/Automatic Weapons; Gun launched non-explosive ballistic projectiles less than 20 mm in size. AH-1G Huey Cobra 'Snake' . Vietnam War helicopter pilots bring stories and aircraft to Topeka 2023 Smithsonian Magazine When the opposing forces exposed themselves, the crew would call upon an accompanying Bell AH-1 Cobra to attack. These rotorcraft were operated by several different organisations, the majority of which were based in Japan. Although many were still teenagers, their survival depended on well-honed instincts and razor-sharp reflexes, along with plenty of luck. Your Privacy Rights We were about ready to call in tactical air support to blow up the wrecked ship when another Cobra took a lot of fire. Hughes, without informing Real, raised the bid by $3,000, and thus lost the contract to Bell. FAQ | In 1966 it entered military service with the US Army. [18] Subsequently, on 6 April 1966, Robert Ferry set the long distance world record for helicopters by flying from Culver City, California, with over a ton of fuel to Ormond Beach, Florida, covering a total of 1,923.08 nm (2,213.04mi, 3,561.55km) in 15 hours, and near the finish at up to 24,000 feet (7,300m) altitude. South Vietnam Terms and Conditions, Safety Standards Acknowledgement and Consent (SSAC) During May 1965, the U.S. Army awarded the production contract to Hughes. Cookie Policy The type was born from the US Army Light Observation Helicopter (LOH) program (which provided its "Loach" nickname) and ultimately proved an excellent helicopter system seeing only limited service in the inventories of several American allies worldwide. He shares memories of his service and reflects on what the war meant to him then and what it means to him now. This. I could see a cigarette butt still burning. The OH-6A helicopters used for transporting personnel became the MH-6 aircraft of the Light Assault Company and the armed OH-6As became the AH-6 aircraft of the Light Attack Company. Queer John was famous not just for crashing, but for keeping the crew safe while it did so. In Vietnam, These Helicopter Scouts Saw Combat Up Close Cobras and Loaches, two vastly different aircraft, relied on each other to fight the enemy. [8][9] It was reported that Howard Hughes had directed his company to submit a bid at a price beneath the actual production cost of the helicopter in order to secure this order. [22], Following the April 1980 failure of Operation Eagle Claw (the attempted rescue of American hostages in Tehran), it was determined that the military lacked aircraft and crews who were trained and prepared to perform special operations missions. s/n 66-07841. Mills, who served two tours in Loaches and one in Cobras, was shot down 16 timesall but once in OH-6s. Another such gunner was 19-year-old Joel Boucher, drafted and sent to Vietnam from 1967 to 1969. The hunter-killer tactic worked well for a few years, but by the time the United States left Vietnam, it was obsolete, says Mills. Operation Honey Badger was canceled after the hostages were released on 20 January 1981, and for a short while, it looked as if the task force would be disbanded and the personnel returned to their former units. The Vietnam War saw the extensive use of helicopters, though were mostly by the United States military. He shares memories of his service and reflects on what the war meant to. The helicopter was designed around their earlier model 269/300 making use of monocoque steel tube construction techniques, allowing a strong and compact fuselage. It was pretty hairy, and we got the hell out of there. But Boucher got a rush from the missions, and stayed six months beyond what was required of a draftee. 79th Transportation Company: Jun 70 Jul 70 [27], During the early 1970s, Soviet-supplied SA-7 Grail shoulder-launched anti-aircraft missiles emerged amongst North Vietnamese troops; one hit could down a Loach, potentially dealing fatal damage before its crew were aware that they were under fire. He recalls: 360 degrees around you was enemy territory, and the ability to work with American and [South Vietnamese] units on the ground really required aviation to be able to look eye to eye to tell the good guys from the bad guys. Loach-Cobra pairings were sent out more and more frequently, until their main role was to gather general intelligence rather than prepare landing zones. purchase. a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization EIN 45-4703737We Fly for Our Veterans!. While they were circling the wreckage, enemy rounds hit their ship. Light Observation Helicopter - Wikipedia The pilots dubbed the new helicopter Loach, a word created by pronunciation of the acronym of the program that spawned the aircraft, LOH (light observation helicopter). OH-6A Cayuse / AH-6J Little Bird - Military Aircraft In the end, Hughes lost its contract to Bell, who was deemed to have the superior design. https://warandlifediscussions.weebly.com/Any veteran who served in any combat zone in any capacity is invited to contact Preston Jones: pjones@jbu.edu / (479) 524-7488 In 1961, twelve companies submitted proposals to meet U.S.Army requirements for a four-seat turbine-powered light observation helicopter (LOH). Overtop of the fuselage was the OH-6s single engine, attached to a four-blade main rotor assembly. Despite having been designed for anti-submarine combat, the Gyrodyne QH-50 was mostly used for conducting reconnaissance of enemy vessels in the Vietnam war, instead of actual combat. [17] On 26 March 1966, Jack Schwiebold set the closed circuit distance record in a YOH-6A at Edwards Air Force Base, California, flying without landing for 1,739.96mi (2,800.20km). article/image or apply full credit information. Units in Vietnam began sending UH-1Bs outfitted with rocket pods and machine guns to circle over the scouts at around 600 feet and attack anything that might interfere with the imminent troop landing. Its four-bladed full-articulated main rotor made it particularly agile, and it was suitable for personnel transport, escort and attack missions, and observation. Can include a combination of the following across two fuselage wingstubs (though some weapons operated from cabin doors): (Not all ordnance types may be represented in the showcase above), Hardpoint Mountings: 2 (if wingstub equipped). Two of these designs, those submitted by Fairchild-Hiller and Bell, were selected as finalists by the Army-Navy design competition board. Loach and Cobra were in constant radio communication, and because of the intensity of hunter-killer missions, it wasnt long before pairs in each type knew each other well enough to anticipate the others moves. Note: The above text is EXCLUSIVE to the site www.MilitaryFactory.com. EH-6B, a previous version of the Little Bird, was used for command, control and radio relay. How a Vietnam War Helicopter Pilot Captured a POW With His Civil War Moore served as an Army OH-6A Loach scout in IV Corps, South Vietnam, 1968-1969: Fort Apache, Vihn Long Province. The Hughes OH-6A Cayuse was quite effective when teamed with the AH-1G Cobra attack helicopter as part of what were known as Pink Teams, combining the OH-6A Loach (white team) with a AH-1G Cobra atacke helicopter (red team). Graphics are very well done, the whole model is very well done. The OH-6A could be armed with the M27 armament subsystem, the port (left) side mounting M134 six-barrel 7.62mm minigun or a 40mm grenade launcher on the XM8 armament subsystem. Army headquarters developed doctrine by building on what worked in the field, rather than the other way around, and each unit in-country did things slightly differently. Following the lead, we got peppered with rounds. The Loach had a bad vibration, but he made it about half a mile before he had to land. Original source(s) and document(s) from which the incident was created or updated: Survivability/Vulnerability Information Analysis Center Helicopter database. Onboard UH1 Huey helicopter (SN 66-163-56) was Aircraft Commander, WO William H. Seaborn Jr., myself as . The first Loach arrived in Vietnam in 1966, and a total of 1,434 of the primary . The Army requested 714 helicopters in May 1965, a number that was later increased to 1,300. For most of the war, there was no formal Army training to prepare scout pilots and observers. It is the product of many hours of research and work made possible with the help of contributors, veterans, insiders, and topic specialists. Observation Helicopters Hughes OH-6 Cayuse (Loach) The Hughes OH-6 Cayuse is a light helicopter with a single engine and a four-bladed main rotor. It was used prolifically because of its unique hovering abilities. In terms of its basic configuration, the Model 369 had an atypical teardrop-shaped fuselage, a feature that led to personnel sometimes referring to it as the "flying egg". Your email address will not be published. Search and Rescue Helicopters 5. Pilots called this helicopter as the Loach. The Hughes OH-6 Cayuse is a single-engine light helicopter that was designed and produced by the American aerospace company Hughes Helicopters. On 27 February 1963, the first prototype conducted its maiden flight. Casualties = 01 WIA . Unfortunately, the weight of the armament kept the little bird from taking off. . The Light Observation Helicopter ( LOH) program was a United States Army program to evaluate, develop and field a light scout helicopter to replace the Army's aging Bell OH-13 Sioux. It served in Granada and Panama during the 1980s, as well as in the . The light observation helicopter OH-6 Cayuse, or Loach (based on the LOH acronym), was a Vietnam-era helicopter designed with speed and maneuverability in mind. Headquarters, 173rd Airborne Brigade: Jan 70 May 70 You were killed, shot down, or got scared and quit. The NVA [North Vietnamese army] was everywhere. Some of them were able to tell how large a force was and how recently it had passed. Also: LNOF, 90119, JSIDR (Lindenmuth Old Format Data Base. The Loach also had its own gunner in the rear and could carry everything from 7.62mm miniguns to 70mm rockets and anti-tank missiles. Vietnams mountainous terrain stressed the underpowered, obsolete helicopters to their limits: They could neither fly fast enough to escape enemy fire nor carry enough armament to pose a meaningful threat. s/n 67-16304 To counter the US, the Vietnamese employed their helicopter fleets of mostly Soviet-made aircraft. The Army officially adopted the Bell OH-58 Kiowa in 1969. Under enemy fire this nimble machine had to fly low to the ground, just above the jungle canopy. The US Naval Test Pilot School (USNTPS) trains and graduates qualified engineering test pilots, flight test officers, and flight test engineers to conduct test and evaluation (T & E) at the Naval Air Warfare Center-Aircraft Division (NAWC-AD) Patuxent River Maryland and other activities. Light Observation Helicopter (LOH) program, The US Air Force Panicked When Its Top-Secret Stealth Fighter Crashed Into the California Wilderness. (He later transferred to the Air Force and flew F-4 Phantoms, and eventually became an airline captain.) Required fields are marked *. Initially fielded in Vietnam in early 1968, the Hughes OH-6A was used for command and control, observation, target acquisition, and reconnaissance. If you happen upon this text anywhere else on the internet or in print, please let us know at MilitaryFactory AT gmail DOT com so that we may take appropriate action against the offender / offending site and continue to protect this original work. I had another lead that went through 150 feet of trees, and they survived., Shafer himself had brushes with disaster, and his luck nearly ran out on a mission west of Dak To, near the border with Laos. An Army article written after Johns seventh crash credited it with surviving 61 hits from enemy fire and seven crashes without losing a single crew member. All Rights Reserved. As of 2021, these records still stand. They were famous for being shot down or crashing in combat. The 'Loach' was one of the riskiest helicopter assignments in Vietnam The Army initially ordered 1,438 Hughes Model 369s, designated by the Army as the OH-6A Cayuse helicopters. The Loach's main role was reconnaisance and observation. An author of aviation books, his latest is Howards Whirlybirds. The Boeing (McDonnell Douglas) (formerly Hughes model 369A) OH-6A was designed for use as a military scout during the Vietnam war to meet the US Army's need for an extremely maneuverable light observation helicopter. The Hughes OH-6 Cayuse was a revolutionary rotorcraft operated during the Vietnam War. It can cruise at speeds of 150 mph. They could also use grenades and on occasion even homebuilt explosives; more aggressive units mounted forward-firing miniguns. Pilot sold separately. The Cayuse could absorb an extensive amount of small arms fire and still bring the crew home safely. During the testing phase, it became clear the Bell prototype was underpowered, so it was dropped. [10][self-published source][11], Due to price escalations for both the OH-6 and spare components, the U.S. Army opted to reopen bids for the programme in 1967. The Sea Stallion is a variant of the Jolly Green Giant, but its used only for sea transport. [24][25] As to indicate the position of concealed enemy ground forces, the observer in the OH-6 would mark the spot using a smoke grenade, assisting other units in effectively firing upon them. Both the Pilot and Observer/Gunner positions were equipped with carbon fiber side panels and seats. The U.S. Marine Corps still flies AH-1 SuperCobras as its main attack helicopter, with the latest versionthe AH-1Z Viper so upgraded and modernized that a Vietnam-era pilot might be hard-pressed to recognize it. OA-6A 'Loach' Scout platoon. During the Vietnam War, it was exclusively used by North Vietnam for reconnaissance and VIP transport. Its cockpit teems with electronics and sensors, and its stub wings are heavy with heat-seeking Sidewinder air-to-air missiles, laser-guided Hellfires, rockets (like those used in Vietnam), and even fuel-filled drop tanks. During 1964, the U.S. Department of Defense issued a memorandum directing that all U.S. Army fixed-wing aircraft be transferred to the U.S. Air Force, while the U.S. Army transitioned to solely operating rotor-wing aircraft. It was a joy to fly. Kane, who today sells securities in Richmond, Virginia, flew AH-1s in Vietnam from 1968 to 1971. The OH-6D was an improved version with more advanced electronics and heavier armament. In August 1967, the AH-1G Cobra arrived in Vietnam. Unlike previous aircraft, the Tarhe was extremely successful during the Vietnam War. The Loach could be terrifying since it was often used with the AH-1 Cobra in hunter-killer missions, where the Loach would go out and find the enemy positions and the Cobra would go in for the kill with rocket, grenade, and minigun fire.