Experts...

You say he was a pilot! That explains a lot! You needed to talk to the Crew Chief! Don't get me wrong! I had a lot of good pilots, some great pilots, and once in a while one like you talked to! Most of the time the bench seats across the trasmission front wall were either folded up or taken out leaving just seats in the "wells" for the gunner and crew cheif. It was easier for the grunts to get in and out with their packs. They couldn't sit on the seats anyway with all their gear. Also the jump doors(small ones behind the pilots) were usually taken off and strapped to the front of the transmission wall or left behind at the base. Sounds like you dealt with your "expert" in the easiest manner. You can never "argue" with an "expert"! Oh, stateside we did arrange our seats like the one you saw mainly when giving rides to ROTC students so everyone would have a "good seat"! Other wise it was the "normal" configuration. You can check out my Vietnam Unit's Web Page at http://www.americal.org/174/

Remember: an ex-spurt is a drip that is all dried up.


Maybe the manual is wrong...



Yeah, that's it...

FITTER

Fitter,
I like it! That manual must be a misprint, huh?

Mel,
Thanks for the link! Great website!
I really appreciate what you guys did over there, but when I think about all you had to go through, I'm kinda glad I wasn't born until 1967...

Scott,

Ahh, 1967, the year before I graduated High School! Barely remember it! You never know what "life" has in store for you. You just do the the "right" thing(usually the hardest) and do the best you can and it will all work out in the long run. Thanks for your sentiments.

Amen, Friend.

Hi Scott, Mel, & FITTER,

In Feb 2000, when I went to Ft. Eustis to paint the Combat Artwork on the "Easy Money" restoration, there was a young Captain down at the main mess hall, who was a Chinook IP, rolled his eyes and laughed at me when I told him about the Gunship Chinooks. I stood there and listened intently as he assured me there was never such an aircraft built, and how he would know if there had been. "It's an old wives tale", he said; "Something someone made up in hollywood!", and shook his head as he turned away.

I ask him if he knew where the Northrop/Grumman hangar was out on Felker, and said he needed to come over there after lunch and straighten some of those people out then, because darn near everyone in there is talking about a pure gunship Chinook.

One of the original Guns A Go-Go Pilots, Dick Stoessner (Ret O6), lives in Newport News, and just so happened, he'd come over to see how the artwork was coming on his old Warbird.... we were standing there talking as Captain Wonderful made his entrance! hehehe Well, suffice it to say, that young Captain wasn't talking the same smack as he was earlier..... in fact, he was standing almost at a trembling state of Attention while this 37 year Veteran, who flew R-4's in WWII, YH-13A's in Korea, and ACH-47's in Vietnam, re-educated him!! (oh yeah, and having "Easy Money" sitting there right before his eyes didn't hurt either!)

That Captain was so broken apart when he left, he looked like two lieutenants!!!


Some days, it's just good to be alive!!!
Frank

Frank,

Great story! Wish I could have been there! That's a rare occurance to see someone actually have to "eat crow"! I should know better by now but had to put some "crow" in my Gumbo about the 12 .50 cals on a P-38 mentioned by "Jeeves". I had actually said there must be some confusion, and didn't say "no way"! After a little research I found the picture and caption.

Mel,

I'm convinced now, that most of the events surrounding the restoration of that old helicopter, along with the re-organization of former Unit Members, was an act of Providence! There was a lot of tall tales and wanna-be's floating around when we all got back together, along with those modern day Aviation types (Capt Wonderful), who weren't even aware of their own linage, but all those disappeared once the REAL people organized.

You're right about not committing to a definite NO, or YES, until you're armed with hard evidence... don't you wish everyone could learn that lesson?

Nice getting to talk with you tonight, Sir.
Frank

I've learned one thing in the military. Never take a pilot's word for anything. They mean well, but they just don't understand aircraft.

Semper Fi
Chris

You're right Chris, they don't. Now take the Flight Engineers and Crew Chiefs, they're the real final authorities; they took care of the Aircraft, and the pilots were privledged to get to come on board!


Buzz had more stick time in the Chinook than most of the pilots he crewed for.

Frank

Frank,

Come on now! Sir! I'm an old Crew Chief! Enlisted! Oh, I forgot about the old part! I guess I am a Sir now. Bummer!

Thanks for sharing and posting the pictures! Fred would be proud of you!

QUOTE: Mel wrote: Come on now! Sir! I'm an old Crew Chief! Enlisted!

Sorry Mel,

Too many years in uniform! Old habits die hard, you know, that kind of thing. It is more a sign of respect when I say it now... besides, there's been a LOT more enlisted people who gained my respect through their selfless actions... actions that many with the Brass on their colar (many, not all) were not willing to do.

The CE position, for example; you flew in the aircraft all day and into the night, dodging bullets and getting beat around by the wind from sitting in the open door.... then when you got back to base, you fellows were the ones who stayed up until the wee hours (and sometimes ALL night) making sure the Ship was ready for it's next mission! Very few of the Hot Dogs (you know who I'm talking about) would/could keep up a pace like that. My hat's off to the CE's & FE's, Sir!

Frank

Thanks Frank!

It's a privilege to make your acquaintance over the internet. Maybe we will get the chance to meet in person someday. Up Left! Sir!

I was informed one day by an older ex-NASA employee about what an "expert" was. I was feeling a bit big headed on a job I just finished and he came up to me to offer a compliment. I told him I would be an expert at model-making in no time. Without missing a beat, he replied, "Definition of an expert.....X being an unknown quantity, and spurt... just a drip under pressure." I never forgot and pass this on to others when the time calls for it!

Regards, Dan