Researching Air America Helicopters and Aircraft used in Vietnam .

I'm still plugging away on the Air America builds .

The top of the canopy on the C-123 Provider sits above the top of the fuselage slightly , so there has been a few sessions of puttying and sanding to get everything to blend in . I did get bogged down for most of this past week on trying to scratch-build a nose radar radome for the Coast Guard C-123 , I glued , puttied and sanded and then cut off the first two try's of a nose radar and now have settled on a third attempt .

I also put together another UH-1D , got some UH-1F's [204] underway as well

I really like the picture Sharkbait posted a while back of the 'AA' work shops , so I was thinking of adding some helicopter builds that will appear as being repaired/refurbished ;

So everything is going along okay , all be a little slower than I like but I'm getting closer to finally getting into the spraybooth . The C-46 , C-47 and Pilatus Porter are ready to mask , I'm busting to get paint on something , hopfully soon .

Happy New Year everyone and thank's for looking .

                                             John .

Thank's for the kind words Ray and Pawel ; Very much appreciated .

The C-123 Provider is a Mach 2 kit , they require a fair bit of work to get together but if your willing enough , you can get them built . I'm building two of them at the same time along with the other AA builds , the other provider is a HC-123B USCG version . I'm on my third attempt  to scratch build a nose radome for the Coast Guard version , It looks better than the first two I did but I'm still not happy with the nose radar . I was thinking of buying Amodels 1/144 USCG C-123 kit to get a better idea of what the nose should look like , so I may have to put the Coast Guard build aside for a couple of weeks until the other kit arrives in the mail . The Coast Guard decals were custom made for me and I only have one set , so it's probably better if I wait and see what's in the 1/144 kit and maybe make another attempt on a nose radar for my 1/72 C-123 Provider .

For the Pilatus Porter kit , It's made by a local manufacture here in my neck of the woods ;

If you go back to page 2 , I posted a couple of pic's of the Highplanes AU-23 Pilatus Porter .

Highplanes do two or three versions of the Pilatus Porter along with a large number of other kits , you can look them up on the net , I'm not sure if its www.highplanes.com.au or www.highplanesmodels.com.au

Sadly my computer crashed this morning , so my brother has allowed me a few minutes on his ;

I have already lost a lot of pic's , some even got wiped from some CD disc's I was backing WIP pic's onto , I don't know how that happened but it's really upset me , especially if I can't somehow retrieve any of them .

I guess I'll have more time for modelling now , not having a computer easily available .

                               John .

John,

maybe I didn't read this thread careful enough, but what kit is that C-123? And the Turbo Porter? I'd definitely like to build those aircraft some day, I even have most of them stashed... You're doing a great job, keep 'em comin' and have a nice day

Paweł

John,

  Wow, you are a building machine.  Those birds are all looking great, but I definitely want o see the helos!

    Ray

I'm still working on the Air America aircraft ;

I'm about ready to add the cockpit canopies to the C-123B , C-46 , C-47 and Pilatus Porter . There has been lot's of puttying and sanding on the C-123 and C-46 Commando , it has taken me a lot longer than I thought but I guess I have been fussing over the Provider a fair bit ;

Once the canopies are on , I'll start masking to get ready for spraying . For a silver metal finish I'll be using Tamiya's AS-12 silver in the rattle can.

I found a pic on the net of the interior cabin seating in the C-7 Caribou , It's taken me a few days to figure out on how to add some to the inside of my Caribou ; I came up with 8 seat bases from Italeri's UH-1D Huey kits , with four down each side and I attached some tamiya masking tape cut into thin strips onto some 1mm plastic rod to use as the seat backs ;

I'll spray the rest of the seats and backs red and then add some silver to the frame .

I was hoping to have at least one build finshed by Christmas but it's now looking like early in the New Year , I'm enjoying the builds despite the amount of work involved in getting most of them together and I'm still looking forward to the Helicopter builds . I picked up another of Italeri's UH-1D Huey's and a Bell 204 kits , along with a Trumperter CH-47A Chinook kit . They should be fun to start in the New Year as well .

If all goes well , I may start to get some paint on at least a couple of aircraft sometime this coming week , that will make me happy and will certainly feel like I'm finally getting somewhere with the builds .

Thank's for looking and following my slow progress .

                                           John .

Since everything is going well with the current builds , I decided to break out the Hobbycraft Air America C-7 Caribou ;

I've cut open the rear loading ramp and cut some sheet plastic for a cargo floor ;

I also made a shroud for the instrument panel .

I'll airbrush the interior pieces next , like the C-123 Provider , I really like the look of the Caribou .

                                   John .

The Air America C-123B Provider is coming along well now , I've also made a start on the Air America Pilatus Porter and C-46D Commando ;

The engine pods fit snuggly under the wings on the C-123B but I was thinking of spraying the pods seperatly and the underside of the wing silver first and then glue the engine pods on .

I also made some more pallets for the "Fuel Bladders'' (sinkers) ;

The pallets I built first , I thought looked a little too big for 1/72 scale , so I checked around the internet for the average size of a woodern pallet used in America and the size was about 48" x 40" ; in 1/72 scale this was close to 16mm x 14mm . I made 8 , one for each fuel bladder , I sprayed them light brown .

The High Planes Air America Pilatus Porter went together well , I just had to trim the cabin floor a little for the fuselage halves to close up tightly ;

Williams Bros C-46D Commando goes toghether okay , the fuselage halves fit nicely together however the wings were a bit of a struggle to get fitted ;

Ther are some gaps along the wing front edge which will need filling but the engine nacelle's fit okay , I also cut the cowl flaps open slightly .

So everthing is progressing nicely and I'm looking forward to getting these three birds into the spray booth shortly and then back to the Air America helo's

                       John .

It's good to see the Air America stuff going again.  Those C-123s look like quite a chore, but it is a neat plane.  

I'm about ready to glue the wings , tail planes and tail on ; I will probably still need a little putty around the fuselage join but everything is going quite well ; except  I forgot about some nose weight and according to the instructions the C-123 needs about 60 gramms .

Another minor issue is the front landing gear strut is too long , so I had to cut the strut in half and file down and then re-join with a pin to help hold each section together ...

To overcome the missing nose weight problem , I made some pallets from plastic strip and found some fishing sinkers that look a little like fuel bladders , so with a few coats of medium gray for the sinkers and some brown on the pallets , I'll place them inside the cargo area of the C-123 to balance her out ...

                                          John .

I'm still going with the Air America C-123 Provider ;

I found some pilots for the cockpit and a crew chief for the open front fuselage door ...

There was quite a lot of filing and test fitting to get the fuselage halves to fit reasonably well ;

I've dry fitted and clamped the two halves together for a check all round , there's a few small gaps here and there , so I'll rely on some gap filling super glue and tamiya putty for the fuselage join , I think this is about as good as I can get it before glueing the two halves together ...

I've dry fitted the wings and tail planes and the engine pods , so hopfully once the fuselage is together everything will go a lot quicker .

                                        John .

I'm still filing and dry fitting the main landing gear and boxing , I needed to file about 2.5mm on the underside of the fuselage wheel well to get the strut and wheel to fit ;

This ment I had to add some 2.5mm plastic strip to the edge of the main wheel boxing ;

She's coming along , all be it slowly , but I'm getting there ...

                                              John .

There's been no further progress on the Air America Helicopter builds , instead  I've been concentration on getting the Air America C-123B Provider together ;

It's been a double effort as I'm also doing a USCG HC-123B at the same time .

There's lot's of fit issue's with everything , the cockpit floor sits to high when I fitted the floor tabs into the slots of the cockpit rear wall ;

The edge of the cockpit floor covered part of the front fuselage windows and the cockpit instrument panel would fit either ;

I cut the tabs from the rear floor and puttied the slots in the rear wall and this will help in getting the cockpit to fit better ;

The main landing gear wheel boxing require's a bit of work to fit properly and I needed to keep dry fitting the landing gear struts and wheels to make sure everything lines up nicely as part of the wheel appears to fit inside the wheel well ;

I really like the look of the C-123 Provider but it certainly takes a huge effort trying to get one together , I'm starting to wonder why I didn't finish the helicopters first but I thought I would do the hardest build first and the then coast onto the helicopter builds ; I'll keep going and hopfully by the weekend I'll have the fuselage together and things should go a lot easier from there .

                           John .

I've decided to continue with the Air America builds starting today , so I cleared the workbench of my other on-going builds and I'll focus on finishing the AA birds I have already started .

My pilatus Porter has the same markings as in the pic below ;

Most of the photo's in my 'Wings of Air America' book seem to show the Porter without the cockpit doors , here's another pic ;

Hopfully I'll post some pic's of completed Aircraft and Helo's shortly ...

                                                     John .

Well ; Sadly and quite embarrassingly , after more than 12 months , I'm still yet to complete a single Aircraft or Helicopter in use with "Air America".

I did build and airbrush two Bell 204B's but I wasn't happy with the acrylic silver on both Helo's and they ended up in the spares box !

Here's where I am currently at...

The shrink wrap is still on the DHC-4 Caribou and the C-47 along with a H-34 with a resin S-58T nose , under that are the incomplete Air America Builds .

Here's a close up of the UH-1D, almost ready for masking ; Only completed some preliminary interior airbrushing on a 204 Huey ; The S-58T is ready to remask for a few more coats of white and then the blue fuselage stripes for a official Air America S-58T ...

It's interesting about the porter having cockpit doors . I wasn't going to worry about adding the clear windows but after reading what you said Mike , I might just add them after all . The UH-34D is about half way along .

Only a little work on the C-46 completed , I have started two of these beasts one as a Air America bird and the other for the Korean War era ; I've cut both fuselage doors open , the windows are ready to glue in next.

I'm really happy with the start on the Mach 2 C-123B Provider , although it's been quite a bit of work cleaning up the parts after I cut [sawed] them from the sprue ....

I've cut open the crew entry door and the rear loading ramp , I also cut the wing flaps to pose them in the drop position . I'll spray the interior fuselage halves silver with Tamiya's Bare Metal Silver rattle can spray next , I'll also use the Tamiya rattle cans for the silver finish on the outside of all the Transport Aircraft .

That's all I have done so far , It's quite sad I haven't finished anything as yet

I just need to roll up my sleeve's and get stuck-in ; Maybe by the end of November I may have some finished builds ???

                                      John .

Be interesting to see if you are making progress now.

However not all turboprop aircraft shut down withe prop blades in feather.  I don't recall what the Astazou engines did (it's been a few years since I saw them but looking at pics on the net I'd guess make one with the prop blades in a flat position so I don't think they were free turbines), Garrett engines go to the "start locks" a flat pitch position that supposedly lessens the drag when you start them.  Garretts are not "free turbines" like the PT6 and PT118's.  A free turbine does not have a direct mechanical linkage between the prop and the engine so you can turn the prop and not turn the rest of the engine, of course you are turning the gear box and the turbine that drives the gear box that drives the prop.  A Garrett is not a free turbine and when you turn the prop you turn all the turning parts of the engine.  That means the starter is turning more engine and it requires more starter and more juice.  Battery power (if you are not doing external power starts the preferred method for most turbines that I have flown)  becomes critical and AA frequently did not shut the engine down at remote sites.  I've only flown the PT6 in multi engine aircraft but I've never flow a single engine aircraft with auto feather.  Not sure I'd like it.

Thinking back Air America and CASI (Continental Air Services) both flew the different types of Porters, I seem to recall Astazou (I recall comments by pilots back then, they didn't like them since they tended to hot start), Garretts and PT6s.   The Garretts and the PT6s were better liked.  All had very distinctive noses.  I don't recall ever having a really bad hot start with a PT6, Garretts you had to be a bit more careful when starting.  However when going into reverse the Garrett gives you more reverse quicker (in my opinion).  Bird and Sons may have also flown Turbo-Porters but I can not swear to it.  Bird and Sons went to mostly rotary winged after a bit but did do some fixed wing stuff early on in Laos. Bird and Sons did have at least one piston Porter but I don't recall seeing it.  Might have crashed before I got there ('65 to '71).

I also don't recall riding in a Porter with no cockpit doors on.  Might have happened but I rode them enough that I feel safe in saying that it was not routine.

CASI had some Herks but for some reason USAID would not give them a contract with a guarantee on hours per month so they went back.  As you might guess the cost of moving stuff was a lot less with the Herks.  Thought it was stupid that they could not get them to give them the guarantee, could have moved bigger stuff and at a cheaper per ton cost.  They were not in military markings.

 I found these two pic's on the web , of a covert helicopter used in Vietnam .

It doesn't seem that it would too difficult to extend the exhaust on an Italeri OH-6A Cayuse , however there are two additional pods on the fuselage sides ; Are these fuel tanks ???

                                         John .

AAMniece wrote:

Greetings Down Under, H5-3. Hmmm, someone's going to busy for quite some time methinks. A little bird (yeah, okay...a rather large one) gave me a poke about your thread and thought I'd add some visual refs in case you need more for authenticity. Perhaps you've already been to these sites, but I'll add them anyway "just in case."  Air America's Image Library (From AAM personnel and documentarians; most in black and white, but some in color.) Air America Aircraft More AAM aircraft (Great tune, too...which leads me to the next link...) The Quiet One (Got a 500 in those boxes?) Best of luck in your replication endeavors. Keep it real!

Hi AAMniece ;

I am most grateful for you posting those links , The Air America Image Library site was terrific . There are so many amazing images and facts , I've added the links to "my favourites" on the computer for future referrence . I really like the photo from Air America Image Library , in image gallery 6 , [http://air-america.org/Imagelibrary/ImageGallery6.shtml]  of all the Air America Huey's that were brought back to Subic Bay after the evacuation of Saigon , I tried to count them and there is probably at 35+ AA Huey's lined up. [Great Photo]

There is a photo of a Mi-4 Hound [hhtp://air-america.org/Imagelibrary/ImageGallery10.shtml] at the Ban Hin Heup peace talks ; I have a Hobbyboss's Mi-4 in my stash and along with a Revell CH-54 Skycrane I'll add these two birds to the project .

As far as a Hughes 500 ; sadly there difficult to find in 1/72 scale . Tamiya has one [TA 60709] AH-6 Night Fox but there out of production at the moment .

Thank's again for help , the web sites you posted are really great .

                                 Kind regards... John .

Greetings Down Under, H5-3. Hmmm, someone's going to busy for quite some time methinks. A little bird (yeah, okay...a rather large one) gave me a poke about your thread and thought I'd add some visual refs in case you need more for authenticity. Perhaps you've already been to these sites, but I'll add them anyway "just in case." 

Air America's Image Library

(From AAM personnel and documentarians; most in black and white, but some in color.)

Air America Aircraft

More AAM aircraft

(Great tune, too...which leads me to the next link...)

The Quiet One

(Got a 500 in those boxes?)

Best of luck in your replication endeavors. Keep it real!

Hi Gino ,

That sure is one nice Pilatus Porter you built

There's lots to like about your build , especially the diplay dioramma she is sitting on .

The cockpit seats with added seat belts , the drop tanks and jerry cans really make the porter look good . I'll be adding those to my build as well .

Thank's for posting the pic's , I copied them into the computer for reference , if mine can look as good as yours I'll be happy .

                                               John .

I built the same model of the PC-6 Pilatus Porter that you have.  I did it for a buddy who still flies them in USAF Spec Ops.  They haven't really changed over the years.  It can come out really nicely. 

Here is mine.

Good luck w/yours.

grandadjohn wrote:

I am pretty sure the B-26's operated over Loas

Hi grandadjohn ,

The Dallas Library web site does have a topic on the Douglas B-26's and on page 7 there is a photo of a gloss black CIA B-26B from April 1961 . Also on page 14 , it mentions two gloss black B-26's parked near the entrance to the Air America ramp at Udorn 1967 ; It also say's there are no markings except for red tail markings .

So I'm not sure if the B-26K kit I have was one Air America pilots flew , perhaps I may need to consider buying the other Italeri kit #1274 , A-26A/B invader ???

                                              John .

sharkbait wrote:

You will find that nearly all turbo prop aircraft have the props in the "feathered" position when on the ground.  Most if not all PT-6 powered fixed wing have an "Outo feather" function that moves the prop to the "feather" position with the prop aligned into the airflow to reduce drag in the event of an engine failure. They shut down in this position.   We all remember the WW2 movies of the crew of the bomber having to "feather"the flak or fighter damaged prop. I'll try to get the interior shots asap "I also noticed that the end plates on the horizontal stabiliser are much bigger in your pic's than what is in the kit review from modeling madness " be aware that this is a much later model so what you have may be more accurate for AA daze.   This may help http://www.utdallas.edu/library/collections/speccoll/Leeker/index3.html   Cheers Sharkbait

 Sharkbait thank's for link to the Dallas Library web site , There is lot's of interesting facts to read on all the CIA "Air America" aircraft .

I really like this pic of a pilatus Porter from page 26

A very interesting Helicopter and Aircraft combo

Also reading through some more of my AA book I came across another pic of an interesting aircraft .

Obvisiously this paticular B-26 has been heavily modified as the caption say's ; However it got me thinking about the B-26 aircraft and I remembered that I have an Italeri 1/72 B-26K kit in my stash that had CIA markings .

The decal instructions say the B-26K was operated by the F.A. Congolaise - CIA unit , Congo 1966 . Other decal options are for the standard SEA camouflage , USAF aircraft of the 609th S.O.S. Nakom Phanom , Thailand 1969 .

I wonder if they ever operated over Loas .

                                  John .

Aaronw wrote:

That Porter doesn't look too bad, about like the AModel kits I have. I am sure it will take some work but it should look good when you get done with it.   What did you end up doing for the 204, rotor and engine cowling from a UH-1D kit?

 Aaronw , I'm using the main rotors from a Revell UH-1D kit and the engine cowling from Italeri's UH-1B kit .

Actually , I bought a few Revell UH-1D kits to use some of their parts on other Huey builds ;

Revell's main rotors are for Air America Huey 204 builds and USAF UH-1F Builds ,

The stretches and single rear facing cabin seats from the revell kit will go into four Italeri "Flat Iron" birds ,

Revell's cockpit seats are for the Hobbyboss UH-1B RAN Aussie Huey and a early USMC UH-1E ,

Revell's twin guns [XM-6] I was going to use on an UH-1B U.S Army trainner , there's a pic on page 13 in squadron's Huey Gunship book .

So there is lots of parts swapping going on , all be that some of the Revell Huey kits were bought to use just as doner kits but I did build one Revell Huey , I'm trying to make her up as a nighthawk/Firefly Huey with 50.cal guns and spot lights but I'm struggling with the light arrangement .

Anyway I found another Pilatus Porter review on Hyperscale , the modeler mentions about adding a internal roof piece to the cabin section to hide the join when the two fuselage halves are joined together as well as a rear bulkhead piece . The article also mentions about making the sliding cabin/cargo doos from clear sheet plastic , the vacuform plastic is a little on the thin side . I'll use the vacuform windscreen but make windows and doors from some clear sheet I have .

                                       John .

That Porter doesn't look too bad, about like the AModel kits I have. I am sure it will take some work but it should look good when you get done with it.

What did you end up doing for the 204, rotor and engine cowling from a UH-1D kit?

The Porter photos are a Malaysian Police aircraft circa 2009.

 Just for configuration reference.

 Anyone remember "Arizona Helicopters?"

Oops - "Men in Black" at the door! LOL 

I don't remember Continental having those markings back then.

The top color was white, the top band I think was dark blue or brown with gold bands below.

 You will find that nearly all turbo prop aircraft have the props in the "feathered" position when on the ground.

 Most if not all PT-6 powered fixed wing have an "Outo feather" function that moves the prop to the "feather" position with the prop aligned into the airflow to reduce drag in the event of an engine failure. They shut down in this position.

We all remember the WW2 movies of the crew of the bomber having to "feather"the flak or fighter damaged prop.

I'll try to get the interior shots asap

"I also noticed that the end plates on the horizontal stabiliser are much bigger in your pic's than what is in the kit review from modeling madness " be aware that this is a much later model so what you have may be more accurate for AA daze.

This may help

http://www.utdallas.edu/library/collections/speccoll/Leeker/index3.html

Cheers

Sharkbait 

Thank's for posting those great pic's Sharkbait ;

I can see quite clearly how the propeller blades are positioned ,that is , the angle of pitch [I think that's what it's called] . I also noticed that the end plates on the horizontal stabiliser are much bigger in your pic's than what is in the kit review from modeling madness .

I do like the look of the drop tanks fitted to the aircraft , I have a few different size tanks in my spare's box , it would great if I could find a pic of an AA bird with them fitted on .

I really appreciate you sharing those great pic's ;

                     Thank's again...

                                               John