Flight Crew Gear

Mr. Primm is correct in his about the number of crew members.  While in Iraq in 2003, (with a probable return trip in 2007) we had 2 pilots, 2 qualified flight engineers, & a gunner.  The gunner did not alway come from the avitation side of the company.  We had qualified aerial gunners in the POL (fuel handlers), flight ops, as well as the aircraft maint. sections.  The extra guy really came in handy when loading & unloading the aircraft. .

Chris Ish, still working on the beast 

adrake2 wrote:

First off, thanks for all the replies. Specifically, what I'm looking for is the modern gear a pilot or crew chief would carry with him during OEF or OIF and current gear as well.  I don't have any pictures of the back of the AirSave vest or of the pouches that come with the vest. Second, the 160th uses the SARVSO2 vest and refuses the Air Warrior system because it is not modular. I've got plenty of pictures of the HGU-56/P helmet and facial shield from the sticky from the figures section. Finally, does anyone know what the crew arrangement is on the CH-47D and the MH-47E? As much as I can tell, the MH-47E carries a seven man crew (2 pilots, a air mission commander, left and right door gunners, left and right ramp crew chiefs). My question is what are the job responsiblities of the individual crew members (like which ramp chief mans the M60 mounted on the ramp or who moniters the cargo if a humvee is carried internally)?

Don't know about now, but in the early 90s when I was with B/2/160th, the normal crew configuration for an MH-47D was four or five.: Pilot, Co Pilot, Flight Engineer, Crew Chief and a third crewmember.

On most training flights it was the same as the standard CH-47D - 4, Pilot, Copilot, Flight Engineer, and Crew Chief.  I am sure things have changed but I seriously doubt the number of crewmembers in the back has gotten above three(more than that gets confusing, especially when hauling upwards of 75 passengers, as we used to do when flying support for the 75th Inf out of Benning) but then I am often wrong and it has been eight years since I retired.

Jonathan Primm

Air Warrior is pretty well fielded now, at least among all the units I know of.  There are quite a few differences between what's in the pictures and how we actually wear it. Ours are woodland camouflage, but at least one of the units that just arrived in-country do have it in the new pattern.  I don't know how common it is, but some of us did a personal mod to sew the knife scabbard onto the right side of the vest rather than carry it on our leg.  The thigh holster is pretty good, but a lot of guys prefer their shoulder holsters.  Of course, none of us wear the flotation collar or the air bottle you see on the right rear.  That long pouch, below and behind the left armpit, is a 'three day' pouch for emergency rations, water, or whatever, but it's easily taken off.  Nor do we wear the strap dangling off his back.  It looks like he has something else fitting closely onto his back, but I have no idea what it is, because we don't have that, either.  I haven't seen any flight suits yet in the new camouflage pattern.  We're still wearing desert tan one-piece flight suits or those reviled ABDUs.  Not all the lift crew chiefs I've seen wear the face mask, but somebody in the lift community can tell you more about that.

It's hard to see in the photo, but underneath it all is probably the best-designed part of the gear, the flak vest.  It's close-fitting, with a SAPI plate like the ground body armor has, and it's pretty comfortable to wear.

Adrake2,

I hope these help.  The website below has multiple pictures of different pouches from the Airsave system.  Also, I included some pictures from another website of the Airsave front and back.

http://hsarmor.com/htm/Design.htm

Airsave vest front:

Airsave vest back:

Aaron,

On a D Model Chinook, you've got your 2 pilots, crew chief and ramp chief.  Your air mission commander, from what I've seen (and granted, I've been on about a dozen Chinook flights now, so my experience is limited to those flights) is one of your pilots, or if you're in a multi-ship formation, it may be a pilot from another bird controlling the formation.  SOAR birds most likely carry more gunners, but I think a crew of 7 is a bit much.  Probably 5, 2 flying it and three gunners (left, right and rear) doing double duty as crew chiefs, loadmaster, etc. 

If you give me a couple days I can get you shots of the back of my AIRSAVE vest.  I don't have any pouches on it right now, but can most likely get you shots of them too.  I'm traveling for the next 2 days and will be home on Sunday.

First off, thanks for all the replies.

Specifically, what I'm looking for is the modern gear a pilot or crew chief would carry with him during OEF or OIF and current gear as well.  I don't have any pictures of the back of the AirSave vest or of the pouches that come with the vest. Second, the 160th uses the SARVSO2 vest and refuses the Air Warrior system because it is not modular. I've got plenty of pictures of the HGU-56/P helmet and facial shield from the sticky from the figures section.

Finally, does anyone know what the crew arrangement is on the CH-47D and the MH-47E? As much as I can tell, the MH-47E carries a seven man crew (2 pilots, a air mission commander, left and right door gunners, left and right ramp crew chiefs). My question is what are the job responsiblities of the individual crew members (like which ramp chief mans the M60 mounted on the ramp or who moniters the cargo if a humvee is carried internally)?

If you read through this thread, it will give yo some more ideas on modern gear and some links as well.

http://www.finescale.com/FSM/CS/forums/375848/ShowPost.aspx

This is the two piece nomax flight suit, they were issued in the early 70's to all flight crews(some still wore the old one piece gray until replaced. We were also issued two nomex flight jackets in the same color(one light weight and one medium weight). Helmet(forget the number) had one visor, you had a choice of clear or tinted and could not change easily. Refeltive tape was also required and there is a strip running down the back of the helmet. They advised us to always wear the visor down to help protect the eyes in case of fire and to help protect the eyes in hostile enviorments to help stop fragments from hitting your eyes. Vested were also issued and were required to be worn in flight. Gloves(leather and nomex) and boots were also worn, jungle boots were not authorized for wear by flight crews, but were widely worn in Vietnam. Fatigues were authorized for wear if you did not have a flight suit but could not br starched as they burned better when they were

For cold weather we were issued a heavy(artic) weight flight suit and parka, nomex suit were required to be worn under the  artic weight suit in addition to wool long johns.

As a note, we never carried handguns stateside, only in combat zones. Some carried thier own personal handguns.

Do have to apolized for the picture quality but they are all I still have after all these years.

It depends on when and where.  In the Vietnam era, it was either a two piece nomex flight suit or a grey one piece jump suit which resembled mechanic's overalls.  The Nomex is light green, a shade or two paler than the standard green pants and shirt of that era.  In cooler climates, add the grey flight jacket or flightline parka with hood.

Vests are optional.  You're more likely to see a vest in a combat zone.  Aircrews in places like Germany rarely wore anything more than nomex, flight jacket, a flight helmet, and sometimes a .38 revolver in a shoulder holster.  In Vietnam, add a "chicken plate" armored flak vest, which was also used as a seat cushion.  The grey coveralls were most frequently seen on pilots, while enlisted crew members tended to wear the two piece nomex, but this was not a hard and fast rule.  Sometimes you might see a pistol belt with a canteen, especially on a flight medic.

Adrake,

Currently we're wearing the HGU-56 flight helmet, two-piece nomex ABDU/ADCU flight suit and the AIRSAVE survival vest.  You should be able to find some good images on google if you use those keywords.