Army Aviation Digest - Jun 1966

8/12/2019 Army Aviation Digest - Jun 1966

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UNITE

DIRECTOR OF ARMY AVIATION, ACSFORDEPARTMENT OF THE ARMYBrig Gen Robert R Williams

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COMMANDANT, U S. ARMY AVIATION SCHOOLMaj Gen John J. Tolson, III

ASST COMDT, U. S. ARMY AVIATION SCHOOLCol George W . Putnam, Jr.

EDITORIAL STAFFCapt Frank A. Mariano, Editor in ChiefRicha rd K. Tierney, Ed itorWilliam H. SmithDiana G. Williams

GRAPHIC ART SUPPORTHarold G. l innHarry A. PickelDorothy L CrowleyAngela A . Akin

USABAAR EDUCATION AND LITERATURE DIVPierce l. WigginWilliam E CarterTed KontosCha r les Mabius

RMY VI TION1GESJJUNE 1966 VOLUME 12Instrument Flight Examiner Course

Maj Frank H. BloomMid-Air Mid-AirCapt Robert E Weathersby, Jr.Case of the Charted HeartCorrosion Is an Ugly WordHuey L BrannonSurvival Once Over LightlyCapt Richard L MillsConcept of Support, Capt Carl E DunnARCs of CommunicationsLt Donald F. Matson, Jr.

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Ride A Slick Ship, CWO Sidney C. CowanGlider Delivery of Supplies 22William H. SmithWould You Believe Four FingersCapt Donald J. MasciaThere Was No Postcrash FireMaj Robert W NewtonThe Numbers Racket,Pierce WigginCrash SenseReader SurveyPrevention in Time,Col Warren R. Williams, Jr.Army Aviation Milestones

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Inside BacBack Cove

The miSSIOn of the U. S. ARMY AV IAT IO N DIG EST is to provide in formation \ an op erationfunctional nature co ncerni ng safety and ai rcraft accident p revention, training, main tenance, operaresearch a nd development avia t ion medicine. and other related data.T he DIGE T is an official Depa rt ment of the Army periodical published mon thly under th e supervof the Commandant, U. S. Army Aviation School. Views expressed herein a re no t necessarily thosDepa rtment of the Army or the U. . Army Avia t ion School. Photos are U. S. Army unless othespecified . 1a terial may be reprinted provided credi t is given t o the DIGEST and to the anthor, uotherwise indicated.Articles, photos, a nd items of int e res t on Ar my Avia t ion are invited. Direct communication s aui ed to: Edi tor.inChie f U.s. Army Aviation Digest Fort Rucker Alabama.Use of fun ds for p r inting this pu b lic a t ion has been approved by Head qua rt ers, Depar tme nt oArmy, 29 December 1964.Active Army un i ts receive dis t ribu t ion un de r th e pi npoi nt di str ibu t ion sys tem as outlined in AR 320 larch 62, and DA Ci rcula r 31057, 4 March > . Comple te DA Fo rm 124 and se nd di rec tly toAG P ub lica t ions Cent e r 2800 Eastern Boulevard Bal t imore, Md . 21220. For any cha nge in d istribre qu i rements, merely initiat e a r evise d DA Form 124 .

at io na l G ua rd an d Army Reserve u n its s ubmi t re quiremen ts th rough thei r s ta te ad j utants genera lU. S. A rmy Co rps co mm anders respect ively.Fo r th ose not el igible for official di tribu t io n or who de irc pe rsonal cop ies o f th e DIGE ST, paidscriptions, 4.50 do mestic and 5.50 overseas are ava ilab le from th e Su pe r in te nde nt of Doc ume nt s UGovernment Printing Office, Washington D. C., 20402.


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Instrument Flight Examinerourse

SO YOU'RE GOING to IFEC,you poor slob.Similar cracks are almost alwaysreceived by the qualified and fortunate personnel who have beenselected for the Instrument FlightExaminer Course.

Prerequisites are necessaril yhigh for the course, consideringless than 10 percent of ArmyAviators hold the coveted MOS1984 and that they are responsiblefor the instrument flight proficiency for which the Army is knownand respected. Before commentslike the one used above get themdown, they should reexaminetheir qualifications. A current airplane instrumen t card held for two years orone year providing 10 hours ofactual instruments have beenflown as instructor pilot or pilotduring the past 12 months. A minimum of 1000 hoursmilitary pilot time with 500 hoursas first pilot or IP in fixed wingaircraft. At least 100 hours of hoodor weather time as first pilot orIP, of which 10 must have beenin weather in the last two years.Five of these 10 hours must havebeen in fixed wing aircraft. A certificate of proficiencyby an examiner who has beenJUNE 1966

delegated the authority to determine if an aviator is qualified tobe awarded or retain an instrument card. (This is sometimes thehardest t obtain since each examiner stakes h,is reputation oneach prospective examiner's success or failure in completion ofthe course.)Regardless, preparation mustbecome the order of the day. Thefu ture examiner has already beenthoroughly checked for ability,knowledge and motivation. Se-lected students should begin tprepare themselves at the earliestpossible time by getting currentin the type aircraft used, practicing instrument procedures, and byburning a little midnight oil onsome of the regulations and manuals associated with the course.

Many of the major teachingpoints may be found in the following:

TM 1-225DOD FlipAirman's Information Manual(Sec. II, ATC Procedures)TM 11-2557-27TM 1-300AR 95-1, 2 3 32, 63FAR 91, 97The course is necessarily of thepressure type due to its duration

ajor Frank H Bloom

and scope; however, the majorityof the pressure felt by students isusually self-induced. Difficultiesexperienced during training ofthis nature usually stem from oneor more of the pitfalls of thecourse. A close look at these couldhelp prevent the student's fallinginto his own trap:

Loss of confidence-He wouldnot have been selected if he didnot possess the potential.

Canning a problem -Schoolsolutions cannot substitute forgood judgment in advanced instrument work, and an examinermust be prepared to make thebest of a poor flight condition.

Second guessing instructors-Fly each situation using y ursolution. f it is safe and legal, itis satisfactory.

There is no substitution forpreparation for this course; however, a few will always fail to receive their diploma. Consideringthe type of work for which theywere training, no stigma shouldbe attached to failure, nor shouldit reflect on an instrument pilot'Sability as an Army Aviator.

So forget the caustic remarkswhen orders are received and prepare for one of the most informative courses in your career t:

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MID-AIR


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MID-AIR

I N THE LIGHT OF several recent fatal mid-air collisions inArmy Aviation, I feel that the following is a timely article. t is applicable to all Army Aviators participating in formation flightparticularly in tactical rotary wingaviation companies, where unitintegrity and surprise in mass airmobile operations are of utmostimportance.

As an Army rotary wing aviatorwhile assigned to such a unit, Iwas involved in a mid-air collisionbetween two loaded UH-ls duringa tactical airmobile demonstration. Miraculously, no one was injured out of the 14 personnel directly involved and only slightdamage was suffered by the twoaircraft. t is not my intent to discredit any commanders, aviatorsaviation units, nor unit SOPs.

Almost everyone during his lifetime has experienced fear or sheerpanic at one time or another whileperforming routine day-to-day activities. For example, if you aredriving along an icy highway at asafe reasonable speed allowingJUNE 1966

Captain obert E Weathersby Jr.

for road condItions, you couldpossibly encounter a skid whicheveryone will agree is an uncontrollable condition. In this casefear could be experienced beforeyou hit another vehicle or leavethe road. This same sort of fearcan be experienced by the highdiver who slips off a diving boardhigh above the pool s water level.In times like these only quickthinking, good planning, andsound judgment can prevent tragedy.

This sort of thing happened tome during the summer of 1962.was a young lieutenant and unitinstructor pilot assigned to anaviation company participating ina demonstration involving botharmed and troop carrying helicopters. The troop carriers werein two flights of 5 aircraft eacheach flight to be three lines of fiveaircraft abreast in a sort of boxformation. I was number threeaircraft in the first line.

This particular demonstrationhad been rehearsed several timesand had been performed wi th a

high degree of preCIsIOn exactness timing and professionalism.Each aviator, flight and unit involved knew the correct frequencies formations, and procedures.

Ground control at our field posi tion gave the signal to start engines and in short order all Hueysin our flight were running up onthe ground. The signal to lift offwas received and we all took offin a beautiful formation. Unitesprit back at our home stationas well as during the precedingweeks of these tests had beenbased on our can-do attitude, ourhigh level of training, and ourskill at precision formation flying.

In fact the few people whomentioned it led us to believe thatour unit integrity and performance was the envy of other aviators involved. We had also beentold by other aviators that oneday we were going to have aCapt Weathersby is an instrumentcheck pilot with the Tactical In-strument Division Contract))Dept of R W Training) Ft Ruck-er Ala

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Careful s ver Th e un i t s aviators fly skillfully, but over-con fiden e brings anear tragedy

mid-air collision due to flying tooclose. We couldn't believe this,beca use we were too good foranything of that sort. As we skimmed along the trees in formation,we were as careful as ever and noone realized just how near tragedywas.I was looking 90 to my right,lining up number two aircraftwith the leader, maintaining position in a line, and assuming thatnumbers four and five were doingthe same. At the time, I was justthinking how precise the formation looked, and thinking that wewere looking better today for theactual demonstration than we hadlooked during any of the rehears-als.

Just about this time, I simultaneously heard a terrific crashfrom behind and felt a sickeninglurch in the aircraft. I knew whathad happened. In fact, there wasno doubt in my mind what hadhappened. I had been involved in

a mid-air collision I felt that Ihad experienced a phenomenonfrom which I the crewchief in thecopilot's seat, and the five infantrymen in the troop seats werecertain to be killed or at best suffer serious in uries. This was along split second, in which Ihad plenty of time to think . Thevery thought of this seemed to bein front of me in big flashing neonletters, Mid-Air, Mid-Air, MidAirlEveryone has heard of mid-aircollisions in both fixed and rotarywing ailrcraft. in either case, it isa most serious situation, thethought of which brings shivers tomost of us. To me, both then andnow, this is to be considered anon urvivable situation.

In the spli t second of the crash,I actually had time to realize allthis. I accepted the fact that ifthere had ever been a time in mylife, particularly since I had beenin aviation, this was a time for

quick thinking, positive thinkingand positive action. Now don't geme wrong at this point. I was really scared-for the first time in mylife. I'm not patting myself onthe back for my corrective actionbut training in the form of quickthinking in times of emergencyseemed to payoff. Further, I feethat the following events were bythe grace of God, and strictly theinstinct of survival on my partUntil this time, I had never experienced an inflight emergencyof any sort- not even a precautionary landing in my 800 oddhours of flying, about 500 of whichwere in DH-l type aircraft.

At the time of the crash, theaircraft eemed to yaw violentlyto the left and right. I immediately assumed that I had experiencedantitorque failure, thinking I hadpo sibly lost my tail rotor, taiboom and all, since the sound othe crash came from behind. Therehad been nothing in front of meand I had been the correct distance from the man on my right1 counteracted the yaw to the righwith a decrease of collective pitchOnly then, did I realize thatstill had full anti torque controlLuckily, we were just approaching an open area and I was ablto descend and decelerate. Althis time, I had been experiencina severe lateral vibration and felthat along with everything elseI'd probably lost about half oboth main rotor blades.

Little did I realize it then, buI was probably in danger of being hit again, this time by one othe aircraft from the two lines behind me, since each aviator excepthe man on the right in each linwas looking to his right. Howeveras I began my descent I maderadio call, Leader, this is 027correction 652. I've been hit frombehind and I'm going down.tried so very hard to make thatransmission sound calm, cool, andcollected, but 1 guess I was a littl

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hisparticular demonstration had been rehearsed severaltimes and performed with a high degree of precisionexactness timing and professionalism. Each aviator flightand unit knew the correct frequencies formations andprocedures.too busy in the cockpit and tooscared. I had flown 027 for thepast several days, and now, of alltimes, I forgot my call sign.I have always admired, envied,and tried to be like the individualwho, no matter how rough thegoing gets or how shook-up heis, can sound calm and makeothers around them feel relaxed,even though those around himrealize that they are in a bad situation. I had heard a few radiotransmissions from inflight emergencies before, and professionalpilots always seemed calm in describing their plights. Therefore,to me calmness seemed to be thething to do at the time.My crewchief was one of thosepeople. The troops in the back ofthe aircraft were quite excited, ascould be expected. So the crewchief yelled at them, Stay seatedand shut up; the pilot knows whathe is doing. Even this helped tobuild my confidence.As I descended below the levelof the rest of the flight, I sawthe two lines behind me pass overhead. My descent was actually adescending deceleration. I don'tknow why, but at the time I feltthat if I increased any collectivepitch, I could lose transmission,main rotor head and all, due tothe out-of-balance effect of themain rotor system. (Later, a techrep told me that if I had been ata much higher altitude, this outof-balance effect could have weakened part of the aircraft structureand allowed the loss of the entiremain rotor system.)I decelerated in a shallow approach during my descent to theJUNE 966

ground, attempting to reach zeroground peed and the ground atthe same time, without fallingt.hrough, so would not have toincrease collective pitch at all.This worked fine, but I was landing downslope on a sandy trail.After touchdown, I skidded aboutone skid length. The toes of theskids dug into the sand, and, ridiculously enough at the time, I wasworried abou t spreading the frontcross tubes and breaking a chinbubble. As it happened, the onlydamage suffered was that involvedin the initial mid-air contact. Ihad lost about two inches of theleading edge of one main rotorblade at the tip, and the tip weightof that same blade. The otherblade wasn't even touched. At anyrate, however, we were all glad tobe on the ground in one pieceand uninjured.The other aircraft involved hadbeen number four, the aircraft onmy immediate left. He had madecontact with me somewhere in theleft rear quarter of my main rotordisc, with the toe of his l ft skidand the l ft portion of his frontcross tube. He continued the flightto a more suitable landing areaand landed with no further damage.

Although I don't think thatanyone can say exactly what happened, it seems that somethingcaused the number four man tolook to his left after a slight turnby the flight in that direction.Number five seemed to be closingon him and number four, beingboxed in, had no choice otherthan t climb. By this time, unknowingly, number four had

closed on me. During his climbhis skid and cross tube contactedmy main rotor system. This wasdefinitely too close for comfort.I don't think anyone can saywho was at fault in this accident.I feel that the actions taken afterthe collision were correct andproper, particularly since we hadonly a split second for planning.After thinking about it and discussing it with much more experienced aviators, I find that Iwould do the same things againand all with whom I have discussed this agree, al though no onewants to go out and try it.

From this near tragedy, I learnedseveral things. The most important to me include first, never flyformation any closer than experience, skill, and conditions allow;second, in any flight, never use aformation that will box in anySit Down Shut U p -T h e crewchief spositive response settles the passengersand builds the pilot S confidence


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Let the reader be the judge as to what rules o goodformation flying were violated in this mid air collis ionaircraft. Always give every air-craft a clear side so in case ofemergency (including engine failure and servo failure), he willhave a clear side to turn to. Ineven t he has to slow down hewon t be hit from behind. Third,for precision demonstrative typeformation flying maintain a highlevel of unit training and maintain a professional attitude. Finally use two personnel for division of attention. This is to saythat the individual flying mustnever take his eyes off the leader.The second individual monitorsinstruments inside the aircraft.Understand all unit SO Ps and instructions concerning all the facetsof close formation flying. The Alternative This could have happened . . .

Mid-ajr collisions can happenin the best of units, with the best or this . . .training possible. However 1 willlet th e reader be the judge as towhat rule or rules of good formation flying were violated in thiscase.

Any mid-air collision is seriou-they can also be permanent. Here are some final points tokeep in mind:Practice good eye hygiene at alltimes; avoid infections injury,and irritations to the eye.Use authorized sunglasses forproper filtering of light.

Maintain optimum physicalhealth, including adequate nutrition.Maintain a visual lookout at alltimes when visibility permits.

Do not operate in .reduced visibility except under positive control.

Know and use standard formation procedures and signals.

Keep alertUSAF Flight Safety Officers Kit

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or this .

to YOU

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As far as we have been able to determine, the problem discussed has not oc-curred in Army Aviation experience. Of course, it could very easily occur at anytime , as long as pilots continue to practice self-medication. As soon as the rightman takes the wrong pill, we will have a case of our own. -Flight Surgeon

THE CASE OF THECHARTED HEART

Reprinted fromTHE MATS FLYERDecember 965

HE SMILING FACE of ourfriendly flight surgeon welcomed us as we reached the endof the corridor and peered in tohis office. Since this had not beenone of those annual invitations toa highly personal inspection, wehad greeted his telephoned comeon-over with interest.

As we sank into a comfortablechair, he began a tate of mysteryand excitement. t all started, hesaid, with a pilot undergoing hisannual physical. And it turnedout that a man s worst enemyJUNE 1966 7


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can be a lot closer to home thanthe Viet Congo

Pilot Alfa, as we'll call ourquasi-hero, rested comfortably onthe crinkly paper-covered examining table. Beside him a machinerecorded the signals picked upfrom the many cold electrodestaped to various parts of his anatomy. When the electrocardiogramsession was completed, Pilot Alfawas released to await the word ofthe lab tests.

Eventually the EKG tracingsreached the desk of a professionalchartreader at the School of Aerospace Medicine, who achieved adegree of excitement. The poorchap must have been having aheart attack while reclining onthe table An unusual circumstance, to say the least.

Pilot Alfa received a quick request to revisit his fly doc, and wasgiven further examinations. Nodefinite heart problem could beidentified. But, something waswrong, and unless it could be pinpointed, the Air Force might losethe services of one each pilot.

The next step, since the localmedicos were unable to come upwith a precise answer, was to forward the equally concerned PilotAlfa to the School of AerospaceMedicine. Down there, the talented specialists began a meticulous evaluation and came upwith: no answer. But they kepttrying, and during one of themany interviews the followingconversation took place.By the way, Pilot Alfa, are you

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taking any medications?Oh, nothing special, Doc. The

usual APCs now and then, butthat's about all.

Sure there's nothing else?Well, now that I think of it, Itook a couple of pills my wife rec

ommended. But they didn't seemto do anything.Do you happen to have anyof them with you?I probably do, somewhere inmy bag.

In due time the pills were produced and given careful scrutiny.They were sort of ordinary looking tabletsr except they were atrifle bigger than the size normally used. And they contained atrifle more of a secret ingredientthan is normally prescribed. Infact, they held three times theamount of what appeared to be acommon drug for relieving heartfailure.

At last the key had been found,and the problem quickly openedup. Was Mrs. Alfa a cardiac patient? No, the pills had been prescribed by an osteopath to aidM rs Alfa in losing weight. Itseems that one of the side effectsof this drug (besides affecting theimpulse signal to the heart muscles, changing the heart rhythm,causing mental depression, andblurring vision) is nausea. Obviously, a continuous sick feelingwill put a crimp in the old appetite, and if you don't eat, you'regoing to lose weight. So went therationale for the basic prescription. Why the huge dose is anybody's guess.

Thus, the mystery was finallysolved and Pilot AHa's apparently sick ticker received a clean billof health. All was quiet for a fewweeks.Then Pilot Gamma checked infor a physical and went throughthe chilly electrode EKG bit with

out any obvious problem. Butwhen his tracings reached theSAM cardiologist, they too causedsome raised eye brows. A phonecall back to the home stationbrought this to the attention ofthe local cardiologist, who talkedit over with the flight surgeon.Obviously they needed to see PilotGamma again.

Recent experience coming tothe fore, the doctor asked PilotGamma if he had been taking anynon-Air Force medications. P. G.replied in the affirmative, andthen expressed great surprise atthe doctor's statement that hemight be enjoying a self-inducedheart attack.

Pushing the pills angle a bitfurther, the doc asked Gamma tobring in the nonprescribed itemsfor a checkou

When Pilot Gamma walkedthrough the door the next daywith a cardboard box full of pills,the doc sighed and shook his head.Then he began an inventory, andthis is what he found: Pill I -The same triple doseheart stimul nt mentioned above.By itself a potential killer. Pill 2-A diuretic which causesthe body to give off water rapidly.In addition, it causes light sensitivity, lethargy , thirst (obviously),

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Find out what the flight surgeon says about do it yourselfget well kicksnausea, headache and weakness.Intensive use causes loss of chlorides and potassium, a conditionwhich is extremely hazardous inpatients taking a heart stimulant. Pills 3 and 4-Readily identified as not being too serious ineffect, but not needed by this man Pills 5 6 and 7-Unidentifiedand unknown to the hospital staff;submitted to the Food and DrugAdministration for full chemicalanalysis.

That's right, Pilot Gamma hadbeen taking seven different non-prescribed pills.At this point in his discourse,our Hydoc friend showed us a vialcontaining some of the contentsof the box. We saw black pillsand green pills, purple pills andolive pills. We saw one huge whitetablet similar to those given to ailing cattle by veterinarians.Some pills were round, somesquare, some coated, some plain.One was stamped with the shapeof the Gateway-to-the-West archfamiliar to all who have driventhrough St. Louis. In all, PilotGamma had brought in enoughvarieties to stock a beginning labin pharmacy. And not one of themhad been a USAF prescription.

And so we move to case three,Pilot Beta. He was stretched outon the familiar table while themachine beside him made its fa-miliar rhythmic squigglings. Indue time he was dressed and onhis way home. Then the tracingsreached the desk of the local heartspecialist, who was most surprised. Unless he was mistaken,here was a myocardial infarct recorded for posterity. He immediately passed his findings to theHight surgeon.

This time our medical friendwas ready. He promptly calledPilot Beta at home and, after theJUNE 1966

Medical Conference Flight surgeons spend endless hours determining the correctmedic tion for p rticul r illness

usual pleasantries, asked him tocome for a visit as soon as possible, preferably that afternoon.When the time was agreed upon,the doctor added: By the way,bring in those reducing pillsyou've been taking.

The 30 seconds of silence toldthe Hydoc he'd hi t pay dirt. WhenP.B. regrouped, he said he'd bringthem along.

He turned up with three kindsof medicine, one of them the sametriple-dose mystery drug. Theother two, while not prescribed,and probably of no value to him,at least weren't likely to finishhim off overnight. But the tripledose special was hard enough onhis circulatory system without anyextra help.AHa, Beta and Gamma-threeapparent cardiacs. The one com-

mon factor in all three cases wasthe outside source of dietarypills. One man needed a diet asbadly as Ichabod Crane. Theother two perhaps had valid girthcontrol problems. But all three,in their misguided dedication tokeep hacking the program throughpersonal diagnosis, had almostbeen able to ground themselvespermanently. One even came closeto under-grounding; another weekof taking both pills I and 2 wouldhave done it. Only one of thethree is back on flying status.

We will not give you a longbeating about the ears with ourmoral. You know what the flightsurgeon says about do-it-yourselfget-well kicks, and YOU knowwhy he's in business. For a professional crewman, that's enoughof a reminder.


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h rd look t sever l types of corrosion nd wh t you c ndo to h lt this inv der

ORROSIONS N U LY WOR

CORROSION IS an ugly word.Derived from the Latin cor-r s u s ~ meaning the act of gnaw-ing, or to be eaten away or con-sumed by deg.rees, the word hasan unpleasant but importantmeaning for the Army Aviator.Basically, corrosion is the tend-ency of a metal on exposure tothe atmosphere to return to itsnatural (or chemical) state. Sucha breakdown in chemical struc-ture can weaken an aircraft com-ponent to the point of failure.Reduction in structural strengthis gradual and is most dangerousin an area where it may remainhidden.

Corrosion deposits usually warnof corrosive attacks, but structuraldamage may be more difficult todetect. All metals will corrode.The type and condi tion of thiscorrosion will depend on the com-bination of environmental condi-tions and maintenance practices.

The best method for maintain-ing the airworthiness (and ap-pearance) of your aircraft jsthrough constant and thorough1

Huey L rannon

inspections, followed by necessarypreventive maintenance. Some ofthe methods used to detect struc-tural flaws in aircraft are radi-ography, fluoroscopy, magnafluxand ultrasonic and penetrant dye.

Correct preventive maintenancecan result only through an under-standing of the types and causesof corrosion. We may considercorrosion as being of two generaltypes: direct chemic l attack,

Beware Oxidation or tmospheric corrosion



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where posltlve anodic) andnegative cathodic) changes oc-cur at the same point, and elec-trochemical attack, where positiveand negative changes occur at adistance from each other. An example of the first type is the action of acid on metal; the second,the action that occurs when metalsof dissimilar types are wet withsalt water.

Both types of corrosion normally depend on moisture to providea conductive medium so that ionsand electrons may flow. A trulydry material will not normallyattack metal. Even moisture inthe air, however, is often sufficient to start the reaction. f wecould keep all metals enclosed inan airtight bag with all moistureremoved, we would probably never have a corrosion problem. Butwhen an aircraft, constructed ofmany metals, is exposed to itsnormal environment exhaust gasresidues, atmospheric moisture,waste water, salt water, spillage,gun blast deposits, etc. , all factors necessary for chemical orelectrochemical action are presentand the possibility of corrosive attack exists.Since some areas of aircraft aresubjected to more corrosive substances than others, necessary control measures vary accordingly.All corrosive attacks start on thesurface of the metal. f allowed toprogress, the corrosion will workinto the core of the material anddestroy the mechanical and physical properties of the metal. Sincecorrosion never originates in thecore, surface evidence of an attack is always present.For practical purposes, corrosive attack on airframe structuremay be classified under the following headings.

UNIFORM ETCHCORROSION

Uniform etch is caused by theapplication of chemicals, such asbattery acids or cleaning chemi-JUNE 1966

Undermined-Intergranular corrosion strikes deep

cals, to bare metal surfaces. fthese agents are allowed to remainon the metal, they can cause se-vere forms of corrosion. On a polished surface this type of corrosion is first seen as a general dulling of the surface. Continued reaction will cause the surface tobecome rough and possibly frostedin appearance. Prompt remedialaction is recommended to forestall serious damage. Acid-resistant paint applied to the affectedareas apd frequent and thoroughcleaning procedures and inspections will retard or minimize thiscorrosive action.

PITTINGThe most common effect of corrosion on aluminum and magnesium alloys in aircraft is pitting.

It is first noticed as a white orgrey powdery deposi t, similar todust, which blotches the surface.When the deposit is cleaned away,tiny pits or holes are observed inthe metal. Pitting may occur inany type of metal or alloy.

INTERGRANULARCORROSION

Intergranular corrosion is anattack on the grain boundaries ofa material. It is by far the mostdangerous because it may have se-verely weakened a structural member before any external evidenceis visible to the naked eye. ThisThe author was a lieutenant as-signed to the Dept ot Maint FtRuckery A La. when he wrote thisarticle


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face grains Df a metal by the fDrceDf expanding CDrrDsiDn prDductsDccurring at the grain bDundariesjust belDw the surface. It is a visible evidence Df intergranular corrDsiDn and is mDst Dften seen Dnextruded sectiDns where the grainthickness is usually less than inrDlled fDrms. In SDme cases faultyheat treatment can be clearly es-tablished as the cause.

LOCAL CELL CORROSIONLDcal cell cDrrDsiDn fDrms Dn

the surface Df a piece Df metalthat is unprDtected and expDsedto elements. t is the simplestfDrm Df cDrrDsiDn and the easiestto cDrrect Dr fDrestali. This typecDrrDsiDn can be prevented byplating metal spraying, Dr paint-ing the surface. f it is impDssibleto apply the prDtective cDating,preventive maintenance such aswashing with fresh water at regular intervals, will prevent thebuildup Df corrDsiDn depDsits.LDcal cell cDrrDsiDn may be described as galvanic cDrrDsiDn acting Dn a micrDscDpic scale. Attacktakes place irregularly at separate pDints Dn the surface andpenetrates intO the interiDr Df themetal. It is always prDvDked byIDcal cell actiDn, which is causedby an uneven Dxygen distributiDnDn the surface Df the metal.DepDsits Df SDDt and metallicdust will set up IDeal cells thatenhance the prDgress Df this fDrmf cDrrDsiDn. AccumulatiDns Df

dirt and SDDt Dn an aircraft willincrease cDrrDsiDn Df clad aluminum allDys in just Dne mDnth sexpDsure to atmDspheric conditiDns.

GALVANIC CELLCORROSION

Galvanic cDrrDsiDn is a fasterthan nDrmal cDrrDsiDn that takesplace when twO metals having different electrDchemical pDtentialsare in physical CDn tact and bDthare expDsed to an electrDlyte, suchas smDg, salt atmDsphere, andJUNE 1966

salt water. FDr example, aluminum and magnesium skin rivetedtDgether in an aircraft wing fDrma galvanic cDuple. When aluminum pieces are attached with steelbDlts Dr screws, galvanic cDrrDsiDncan Dccur in the presence Df mDis-ture between the aluminum andsteel. Galvanic CDrrDsiDn can usually be recDgnized by the presence Df a buildup Df cDrrDsiDnprDducts at the jDint between twOmetals. Preventive measures include painting and plating.

CONCENTRATION CELLCORROSION

CDncentratiDn cell cDrrDsiDn isa type Df metal destructiDn aSSD-cia ted with crevices, scale depDsits, Dr with any means by whichdifferences in sDlutiDn CDncentratiDn Dr cDmpDsitiDn are established Dver a metal surface. Thisis the type Df cDrrDsiDn thatcauses difficulty between flayingsurfaces Df similar metals and explains the necessity Df insulatingbetween lap jDints, althDugh themetals are Df the same allDY.

CREVICE CORROSIONCrevice cDrrDsiDn, anDther fDrmDf cDncentratiDn cell cDrrDsiDn, isfDund between flaying surfaces Df

similar metals, at lap and buttjDints, and at rivet heads.TwO devices help in avertingcrevice cDrrDsiDn: insulating themetals to prevent electrDlytic actiDn and filling with inert ma-terials.CORROSION CONTROL

The mDst impDrtant mainte-nance requirement is cleanliness.Aircraft shDuld be kept as cleanas DperatiDns will permit. ThefDllDwing measures are impDrtantto preventive maintenance.

PeriDdically clean the exteriDrDf the aircraft to remDve CDrrD-sive agents which are cDntinuallybeing depDsited Dn the metal surfaces, and to remDve any corrDsiDnprDducts already fDrmed. Use adetergent Dr emulsifiable cleaner,Dr a sDlvent-type cleaner that dDesnDt affect the paint. Use a sDftbristle brush to get intO tight

Thorough Check In Vietnam, or in a dry area, a sure preventative for corrosionis frequent inspection

13


16/52


17/52

No Catsup?Sorry about that

SURVIV L on e ov r li htlyaptain Richard L Mills

SURVIVAL TRAINING is like insurance; it'snever good until you need it. How convenientit would be i we could just skip our life insurancepremiums (and survival training) until, say, themonth before we die (or need it) . However, neitheris this generally the case nor are we given such extraordinary power of foresight.Besides, comparing survival training with lifeinsurance is misleading. Life insurance doesn'tguarantee that we will have a good chance of living longer; survival training does. Survival trainingis thereby a .real form of life insurance, and theodds are tha t we will be around to collect on thepolicy providing we engage in survival training.

Army Aviators are given their basic survival insurance policy when they attend the United StatesArmy Aviation School at Fort Rucker, Ala., wherethey spend 26 hours in the field with the Depart-ment of Tactics Survival Committee. This policy,as any other policy, will expire with time if stepsare not taken to update o r renew the premiums.

The Army Aviator must keep abreast of latestsurvival equipment, principles and techniquesthrough personal study and unit training. UnitJUNE 1966

traInIng officers should implement Army SubjectSchedule 1-13, Survival Following Bailout or CrashLanding. Their everyday training should projectthe unit aviator into a realistic survival situation,confronting him with psychological as well as physiological factors.

Survival principles and techniques are nothingmore than facts of life that have evolved throughexperience. Constant study of these principles andtechniques coupled with common sense and thewill to survive will generally bring an individualthrough a survival situation in a physical conditionadequate to cope with his environment.

Basic survival can be defined as those actions andsubsistence items required to satisfy our basic bodyneeds. Adding an enemy to the environment in acombat situation causes the individual to meetthese basic needs while on the move and still avoiddetection by that enemy. Hence, we have combatsurvival.Capt Mills s with the Survival Committee SpecialSubjects Branch Dept of Tactics Ft Rucker Ala.

5


18/52

Some American figh ting men become prisonersof war. In this environment an individual will befaced with proellring those items for nourishmentand personal hygiene under the gravest of conditions.

In the POW environment, you must rely uponimprovised and primitive methods to meet yourneeds. Medically, some treatments may seem shockingly and degradingly strange to you, but thesemethods grew out of a desperate need and persistent initiative. They have saved and will save lives.Dysentery, cold injury, pneumonia, malnutrition,hepatitus, heat conditions, faulty vision, racturesand sprains, beriberi, burns, lice, worms, snowblindness, and snake bi te are some of the thingsyou are likely to encounter.

These common ailments and their suggestedtreatment are listed in the box below.In addition to these common ailments and treatments if you do not know what else to do for anantiseptic, use hot water or a hot brick. They willhelp clean out a wound and stop infection.The least understood environment that the soldier may face is a nuclear battlefield. While wehave very little to go on in the way of experience,

IllnessDysentery

Cold In.lury

Pneumonia

Malnutrition

HepatitusHeart ConditionsFailing VisionFracturesand Sprains

16

TreatmentKeep patient on his feet and taking water.Boil bark from oak OT other trees untilstrong and black looking. Drink it Charold bones into charcoal and eat them.Grind bones into dust. Powder chalk andeat it. Or eat charcoal from burned wood.Prevent it. Keep exposed parts, particularlyyour feet, clean and dry. Frequently massage feet. Elevate feet if swelling is present. Put feet and hands against otherw ~ parts of body. Change footwearupon entering shelters. f frostbite doesoccur, do not massage wit snow Rapidwarming is required. Immerse in 1050 -1120 F water for 20 minutes.Don t lie down. Keep going. Rub thepatient with very warm (heated) hay tosteam the patient. Repeat four or fivetimes for about 5 minutes each. Wrappatient in several layers of dry blanketsor clothing and place him in a warm dryplace.Eat anything given you. Even cats. rats.snakes, dogs, maggots. Cook everythingfirst, if possible. f not, eat it anyway.Steal food i f necessary.Force-feed patient. Give him sugar if possible. Keep him from working.Preventative. Do not drink extremely coldwater, which may shock circulatory system.Supplement your diet with green plantsand other vitamin foods.Put bone back in alignment. splint it,wrap with soft material (not too tightly).Splint beyond joints above and below theinjury. Move people with back injuries

science has furnished us with information on bodyprotection requirements and how we may procurefood in radioactive surroundings. To be fully prepared for any emergency, we must research somewhat in the nuclear contingency during our training in survival. Since this subject is covered extensively in Army manuals, i t will not be discussedfurther here.Evaluation of your situation following an emergency will include consideration of hunger andthirst. Obviously, these two considerations will notbe of great concern if rescue is imminent. Youmust, howe,ver, take into account the possibilitythat early rescue may not occu.r. f you are to maintain your health and strength to effectively copewith problems of field living or even dealing withan enemy from inside a compound, you must provide yourself with food and water.

Water is more important and is required by thebody on a daily basis or dehydration will occur.f the body loses 10 percent of its body fluids, immobility and certain death will ensue. The easiest

method the downed aviator can use for determiningi f dehydration is taking place is to check the colorof his urine.Illness

BeriberiBurns

LiceIntestinal WormsSnow Blindness

Snake Bite

Teeth

Bone PainsAmnesiaBlack andBlue Bruises

Treatment'belly down only. Improvise splints andbraces, even for broken backs.Eat anything green; boiled (grass, leaves,weeds) when necessary.Boil tree bark and use as ointmen t. Cover .burned areas. Keep warm, give plenty offluid by mouth, cover bum with grease oroil if possible.Remove clothes. Pick off lice by hand. Boiland wash clothing.Take a couple of teaspoons of kerosene(preferred) or white gasoline.Prevent. Avoid direct exposure of eyes to

SUD. Cut slits in a card to see through.When blinded, stop exposure to light. Apply cold compresses to your eyes. Use eyeointment i f available. Stay in darkenedarea and blindness will pass in 8 hours.Be relatively inactive after bite. Applyconstricting band above the bite. Bandmust not be tight because it serves only torestrict Izmph flow When swelling begins,make ~ long cut over each fang mark indirection of muscle fiber (long axis). Cutsshould be through the skin only. DOOT mutilate yourself with wild ~ l a s h e sSuck out venom. Keep the wound cleanand free from infection. Apply cold compresses and bandage.Cleanse and exercise by chewing pieces of

wood Pull teeth when necessary with wireor similar material.Keep moving, particularly limbs involved.Seems to disappear with improved diet.~ w potato slices will ease pain frombeatings but should not be placed on openwounds.



19/52

Hunger can make you irrational In a survival situation thebig question is where do find food and how do I make itpalatable?

A clear water color, or lack of color in this in-stance, indicates more water is being taken into thebody than is required for its physiological func-tions. So, if water is not abundant, this is the timeto cut down on your intake of liquids. A straw yel-low color indicates a normal balance between waterintake, body functions, and dehydration. A darkorange color indicates that dehydration is takingplace and water intake must be increased. f wateris not available at this time, keep body exertion ata minimum. Dehydration in its late or terminalstages is evidenced by extremely dark urine withtraces of blood. Immediate medical attention isrequired at this stage or death is almost certain.Since medical assistance generally won't be avail-able under the circumstances, we can see the em-phatic requirement for prevention rather than cureof dehydration. We must be constantly alert forsigns of our body losing its fluids through dehy-dration not only in hot climates but in cold as well.Lack of food is not immediately critical in asurvival situation if the individual's body is strongat the time of the emergency. Extremely cold en-vironments would be an exception to this becauseenergy is required to maintain body temperature.While our bodies physiologically do not require adaily intake of food, it is important to search for,procure, and prepare any nourishment we can find.

The big question now presents itself. Where doI find this food to satisfy the hunger pangs, andwhat do I do with it to make it palatable?First, consider all edibles that require a minimumamount of exertion to procure. Plants or fruits ofplan s insects, and oth& lower forms of animal lifethat are slow moving are all excellent sources ofnutrition. Once these other than normal dietfoods get past the thought processes, they oftentaste quite good.Some precautions are in order, however, to makesome of these .foods completely safe for human con-sumption. Hopping insects such as grasshoppersand locusts should have the large bony or spinyhind legs removed. The legs will stick in a man'sthroat and cause serious disorders that cannot becorrected in a survival situation. While most in-sects offer a wealth of nutritional value, they mustbe discounted in a radioactive area as their ecto-skeletons will cause radiation sickness if consumedby man.JUNE 1966

Wormy or maggot infested meat may be cookedand eaten. The worms and maggots contain thesame nutritional value as the meat they are foundin. Cooking, needless to say, is definitely in order.Stewing or boiling of foodstuffs will kill thegerms and parasites that are harmful to man. Sinceman roams all the land masses of this earth, allsurface bodies of fresh water must be consideredto be contaminated with germs or parasites. Anyfish swimming in this water and any animal drink-ing it must also be considered a potential hazard.As such they must be cooked before consumption.Since man does not inhabit the waters of the oceanto any appreciable degree, most animals, plants andfishes found in salt water may be eaten raw.Methods of catching larger animals are limitedonly by the training and ingenuity of the individ-ual. Boy Scout manuals, Army, Navy and Air Forcemanuals are all sources of woodlore that may comein handy in an emergency.Snake S t eak Hun ge pains may be severe but take timeto prepare your meal

17


20/52

This is one individual s idea 0/how an aerial artillery unitmight be configured and em -ployed. Inasmuch as there is aDepartment of the Army ap-proved development programfor an aerial artillery syst e .m=,=======it is pointed out that this article should not create theidea that the presented thoughtsrepresent the goals 0/ thedevelopment program.

oncept o SupportD AWN gently probes at thesky with vermilion fingersas I walk across the runway to theawaiting fire direction ship. Uncertainty plucks at my innerthoughts as the early morningdew soaks my flight sui t from theknees down. Tall grass along theedge of the airstrip offers littleresistance to my energetic pace.I shiver slightly and wonder if thechill is due to predawn coolnessor in anticipation of the impending engagement.

Lieutenant Bealson's greetingcomes as a reduced whisper.Good morning, Captain BaronI

Everything is ready to go."Morning, Phil Is the major

here yet?""Yes sir. He checked all theships and is ove.r at the commandship now."

Well you might know itt I'vestepped in it again. No matterhow I try I can't stay ahead ofthe major. As his executive officer

should have been here to reportto him when he arrived."18

aptain arl E Dunn

Phil, have each ship commander check his traversing and elevating mechanisms before takeoff andensure that the Chinooks areloaded with extra ammo. I'm going to the command ship to seethe major."Yes sir," replies LieutenantBealson as he immediately turnsand double times toward the darksilhouettes of the waiting UH-Is.I step up my already acceleratedpace toward the command ship.I can't help but feel a minuteamount of reluctance at seeingthe major now, since I wasn't ontime this morning. The majorisn't one to tolerate laxity in hissubordinates. I learned that lessonwell when I first reported to FortSill, Okla., six months ago.

Then my orders to the con troversial I08th Aerial Artillery Bat-

Capt Dunn is with the ArtilleryCommittee) Special SubiectsBranch Dept of Tactics Ft Ruck.-er Ala.

tery were somewhat of a surpriseto me. The concept of transporting artillery pieces with the UH-Iwas not a new one. In fact, I hadon many occasions carried 105sas a sling load. However, this wassomething else again.The major had seemed to be agenial sort of guy when I reportedto him that first day. A few moments of talking with him clarified the fact that he was deadserious about his role as CO ofthe 108th. I can remember hiswords well as I learned the roleof this new unit: Captain, the108th has the potential of becoming a focal point of revolutionin a quagmire of negative thinking."

The enemy we will be deployed to face is an elusive one.. Finding him is a big problem ina land of rice paddies, jungles,and canals. Normal modes oftransportation are almost useless.Once he is found, he cannot beheld in position long enough forour forces to close with and fight



21/52

him. One momen t he will be therein as much as regimental strengthand then he will vanish, leavingbehind only a few snipe.rs to harass and torment his pursuers.Our forces have the means torapidly converge upon the enemyonce he is found. The 108th willprovide the firepower needed tofix that enemy and assist in hisdestruction."

The major tu.rned in his swivelchair and picked up a pointerleaning in a corner. With thepointer he touched an organization chart hanging on the wall.He started to explain the organization of the 108th. A note ofpride in his voice was obvious.

"We have seven modified UH-Isand one LOH assigned. Not onlyare these utility helicopterschanged as far as the undercarriage is concerned bu t their powerplants are much more powerfulthan the engines employed withthe UH-ID. The UH-Is can traverse 360 around their verticalaxis while on the ground. This isaccomplished by using a base-ringand race sys tern similar to tha tused on a self-propelled artillerypiece or a tank. Each aircraft isprovided with hydraulic jack padsso that it can be leveled uponslopes up to 10."

The major arose and replacedthe pointer in its corner. He tooka pipe from his pocket and beganto chew on the end as he walkedback and forth across the room.l could see that he was filled withabundant nervous energy.

"Each UH-I has been armedwith 4.5" rockets. These rocketsare extremely accurate when usedin a direct or indirect mode. Theyare stabilized along their trajectory by a gyro tha t minimizestheir dispersion probable error.The projectiles are mounted ina pod that automatically feedsthem to an adjacent launchingtube. Pod and tube are made offiberglass and thus very light. AJUNE 1966

pod and tube is mounted on eachside of the aircraft and contains21 rounds in each pod. We candeliver, if we have to, the equivalent firepower of a 105 mmhowitzer battalion One of theaircraft has a field artillery digitalautomatic computer on board.That aircraft has been designatedthe fire direction ship. You willoperate from that ship."I asked him, "Sir, how will the108th be tactically employed?"

He answered in his brisk,clipped tone. "Our normal support mission is to provide closeand continuous fire support foran airmobile assault. The batteryis flown to a position 3,000 to5,000 meters from the objectivearea. We deliver indirect fires onthe objective f,rom that position.

"We are not limited to the support of just airmobile assaults. Wecan provide artillery support forany type of operation. Our typeunit is particularly effective asgeneral support artillery. We canbe rapidly moved from positionto position so that our fires canbe used where they are mostneeded at any given time."Since I have mentioned displacement I would like to expandthat point. Until the 108th wasorganized, airmobile artillery wassling loaded into an area and thenleft high and dry without theirprime movers. We no longer havethis problem. The 108th can beout of a position as quickly as wecan start the aircraft."I heard those words six monthsago. It seems only yesterday.

Just ahead is the major's co m-mand ship.

His tall frame is utI i nedagainst the soft, red glow emanating from the cockpit of the LOH.Intently studying an acetate covered battle map, he answers mygreeting with nothing more thana guttural grunt and a nod of hishead."At ease, Ray As you know,the battalion will lift off in onezero minutes. Area alpha has beenselected as the primary firing position. If this position proves untenable, I will select one of threealternates as per my instructions.'Ve will rendezvous with the battalion at ACP number I and goto area alpha from there. Do youhave any questions?"

"No questions, sir ""Good Man your ship and I llsee you at alpha."As I race toward my ship, I cansee the black shapes of the battal

ion painted against the orangesun rising above the steamingjungle. A quick glance at mywatch confirms that they are exactly on time. everything goesas planned, we should be in position and have prelanding fires onthe objective two minutes beforethe arrival of the battalion. Uponthe direction of the airmobilecommander these fires will belifted and placed upon routes ofwithdrawal and any targets ofopportunity that might presentthemselves.

The battery is already "firedup" and in position for takeoff.Phil has the fire direction ship'sdoor open for me and is ready togo. As I buckle myself in thethought uppermost in my mind is,Will this concept of support work?


22/52

AR Lieutenant Donald F Matson Jr[ of l:olllillunicationA LL OF US have diligentlystudied our ABCs, but theattention given to our ARCs isgenerally a different story. Airborne .Radio .communicationsprovide the aviator with a lifelineto Mother Earth, and lack of communications provides the aviatorwith an excellent chance to usehis survival, escape and evasiontraining.The ARCs of communicationsmean different things to differentpeople. Take the case of PeteyPilot, who advocatedAbuse, Recklessness, and Confusion. Petey justwan ted to know how to turn onthe bloomin radio, and radioprocedure was just another ruleto be broken. All other information was reserved for the flagwavers.Petey s first assignment was avisit to Congland, where most ofthe aircraft in the unit becamesubject to the first portion of hismisconcept ions, Abuse. Peteyknew that any parts that had fallen off the aircraft should benoted in the -13. However, heoverlooked the crushing landingswhich were hard enough to breakthe tubes in the radios. This sometimes caused the next pilot a littleexcitement.Lt Matson s with the Communi-cations Branch, SPecial SubjectsDivision, Dept of Tactics, Ft Ruck-er, Ala.20

Number Plea8e? A VR - pilot makes an approach to a landing zone under theguidance of a communications manPetey could never understand

that first item in his checklist, allswitches off. Little did he realizetha t the surge of current producedwhen the aircraft is fired up isenough to make a man's hairstand on end. And it could turnthose erect locks gray when yougo IFR and your radios have beenrendered useless by that first electrical charge.

All in all, Petey s attitude was

less than desirable and did littleto instill a sense of responsibilityin maintenance personnel. Ourradios will perform their missionif they are proper y main tainedand operated in the prescribedmanner. Bent radio mounts, weaktransmitters which are not writtenup, improperly maintained sets,and lack of operating knowledgedo little to enhance the probability of communicating when thegoing gets tough.



23/52

Petey's first chance at Recklessness and Confusion was CombatMission Number 1 During themission briefing he was handed aconfusing booklet labeled SOl(signal operation instructions).t contained some crazy tables

called brevity codes, authentication tables, map coordinate codes,along with more frequencies andcall signs than Petey thought wasnecessary.

During the mission, the uni twas to change frequencies at thecommand Goldmine to providerelatively secure communicationsduring the crucial phase. After departing the last ACP (air controlpoint), the word Goldminecame blaring into Petey's headset.Hmm, something I must havemissed in the briefing. By thetime Petey recovered from histhoughts, there was no one left totalk to.

From the ACP to the RP, ourhero tried and tried to raise hiscomrades on the old frequencywhile the Cong were obtaining aperfect DF on each of his futileefforts. Enemy intelligence wasplotting the results of the DFsand translating the informationinto the unit's probable destination, which was relayed to theCong Welcoming Service via tomtoms.' Petey could have just aseasily handed them a copy of hisflight plan.

To Petey's surprise, everyoneseemed to split apart at the RP-something else he must havemissed at the briefing. Uponreaching the LZs, the unit encountered a maze of arrows, smallarms fire, and a few effective blastsfrom a couple of borrowed quadfifties. Suppressive fire and rescueoperations proved inadequate,

Note - The enemy's unsophisticatedcommunications network seems quite ef fective and requires little maintenance.Possibly discipline and training are theiranswer.JUNE 1966

and the few remaining aircraftregrouped at the return IP tobegin the laborious journey home.Back at the airfield the toweroperators were counting the returning aircraft as they staggeredin (shades of Twelve O'ClockHigh) when Petey's call sign washeard over the speaker. Lattowel, this is Lattail13, estimatingyoula position at foula-five, authentication of foxtlot-mike isLomeo, Lomeo. Tower operatorslaughed at Petey's high humorimitating the enemy of all things.They were in the habit of accepting self-authentication to savetime, and did not bother to markdown the used authentications toprevent reuse by the enemy. Thiswar isn't that sophisticated.

When a target appeared on thescope, everyone assumed it wasPetey coming home. No consideration was given to the fact that itwas moving a little too rapidly.An airplane broke over the fieldand a neat line of tracers formeda lighted pathway through therows of parked aircraft, terminating with a resounding boom inthe barracks. Thus was the commencement of air warfare by theenemy and the conclusion of

Petey's unit, except for-youguessed itlWhat had happened to ourhero? He had not been able tofind his way from the RP to theLZ and he was out stumbling

around when the airfield was victimized. Navigation was not oneof Petey's high points. When hehad studied FM homing hethought D meant derelict and Umeant uninformed. But all in allPetey had survived when no oneelse had.

Our hero was looking for a newhome, and he had expectations ofsloughing off that Mickey Mousecommunications garbage in hisnew unit , too. However, Petey raninto a commander whose ARCswere Aggressiveness, Responsibility , and C.onfidence.The commander had established an Aggressive training program and absorbed communications training into every operation. He realized that communications can only provide commandcontrol when talk is kept to aminimum and response is instantaneous. (A condition of overtalkis a hindrance to command control, not an asset.)SO P was developed to cover a ll

Barooom -A 1"esounding boom rocks the barracks as the enemy commences airwar thanks to Petey


24/52

Aggression responsibility and confidence the answer toAirborne Radio Communicationsrecurring operations, and a codeword was assigned to each opera-tion. Each man was briefed on hisresponsibilities and was expectedto follow them to the letter. Whencommunications were necessary,good communications techniquekept the messages clear and con-cise. Visual signals were usedwhenever possible and elicitedimmediate response from the dis-ciplined unit.

The commander ensured thatall new men, such as Petey, wereproperly indoctrinated to theways of the unit. The communications officer carefully briefed thenew men on signal operations andthe SOl and SSI (standing signalinstructions). Emphasis wasplaced on the unit's authentication system and map coordinatecode. Self-authentication was otto be used with voice communica-tions. The new men were commu-nications experts in a short while.

Maintenance and avionics brief-ings were held to ensure that theaircraft and radios were writtenup properly, and the men weretold to ensure that no discrepan-cies were over ooked.

Each new aviator was assignedto an old hand who explained allfacets of the unit's operation. The

unit SOP was covered detailand the new aviator found Oll twhy the commander used visualcommunications and brevity codesso extensively. The commanderwanted the unit to sound as muchlike a tactical unit as possible,realizing that clear context mes-sages would hand the enemy tac-tical information and any trans-mission that marked the unit asArmy Aviation would steal theelement of surprise.Aviators in the unit met theirResponsibilities head on. Theirunit would succeed only if theyfunctioned properly. Each manknew that the success of the mis-sion and the welfare of the per-sonnel rested, in part, on hisshoulders and every man met thechallenge. The aviators interestin the condition of their aircraftand radios instilled further re-sponsibility in the crewchiefs andmechanics; they knew that thesuccess of the mission and thelives of the aviators depended ontheir work.A genuine team was developedwithin the unit, a team whichhad Confidence in the commander, Confidence in the team, andConfidence in the equipment theywere using.

Even Petey was swept away withthe new methods he was learning.The communications complexitythat Petey had anticipated turnedinto simplicity. He was astoundeda t the response a single word overa radio could produce. The com-mander's ARCs became Petey sbywords; he was part of the team.Petey s story will never happen(we hopeI-remember when theCong captured a radio and di-rected RVN airs trikes onto afriendly battalion?) , but the storyof Petey s new unit should be happening in every unit in the Army.Instead of a mental block thesize of the Berlin Wall occurringevery time the word communications is spoken, simplicity anddependability should come tomind.

New and better equipment sbeing introduced to assist thecommander. Training programsto ensure proper operator proce-dure and communications proce-dure should be established andcommunications should become apart of all mission planning. Oncethe procedures are recognized asbeneficial to the entire unit, asense of pride and responsibilitywill develop and success will fol-low.

Any Questions?-The commander makes sure newsmen arethoroughly familiar with the authentication system and Let 8 Gol-Thorough preparation ensures that no discrepan-cies are overlooked The payoff is a smooth operation_ap coordinate code


25/52


26/52

has become famous all over theworld.Wha t is the slick to the men

who fly her?In Vietnam the word slickmeans unarmed. She was born in

Fort Worth, Texas, as a UH-IBhelicopter, lovingly called theHuey. As the war required thatsome of the H ueys be armed withrockets and automatic weapons,it also required the unarmedHuey. Her job: to carry a load.

To the pilot she is a graceful,forgiving, overloaded, underpow-ered, ugly brown lady. She is lovedand pampered like a mistress.Like all women, she must be han-dled by a man. Her pilot and co-pilot seats have been armor pIa tedto assist in maintaining this con-trol. Her doors, upholstery andheadliner have been removed toallow more payload. Now strippedfor battle, .she demands attention.

Twen ty slicks have been as-signed as five flights, four each.Aircraft commanders have briefedtheir crews on the operation.

Today we will be Yellow Four.As Yellow is taking the lead ele-ments into the LZ (landing zone) ,the gunner automatically beginsa double check of his weapon.The pilot sets the mission fre-quency on the slick's radios as thecrewchief, already tired fromgrooming her most of the night,takes another look at the bigT53 turbine engine.

Troop pickup zone, called Fal-con, is located 10 miles south ofPlei Me. LZ X-Ray is our des-tination. This area is infestedwith a hard core Viet Cong regi-ment. Our cargo of deadly in-fantry must land exactly 15 sec-onds after the lifting of friendlyartillery. Flight route and timinghave been memorized by the flightcommanders. All is ready.

The roar and sight of 20 slicksin heavy left echelon is beautifulto witness from the ground. Butfrom the cockpit this sight will4

Wings Of Mercy-Troops carry wounded to a UH-J for evacuation to a fieldhos/Jital where highly trained medical personnel take over

make your heart stir. The slicksfly slowly but proudly. She hadwonderful control reaction andwill hang in as smooth as a rosepetal. Her blades will pop backin anger i you try to overcontrolher. Sensitive but determined, shedeserves her place in the sky.

Loading at Falcon is accom-plished in a matter of seconds.Each ship load has been given acolor and number correspondingwith the flight's position. Thefaces of the infan try reflect, wi th-out a doubt, that they knowCharlie is waiting.The pilot sits waiting in the

dim light of the cockpit, his eyesfollowing the second hand on theinstrument panel clock. YellowFlight, bring 'em up to operating.rpm the voice from the radioorders. The command is relayed,in order, to the remainder of theflights. Twenty engines spring tolife, ready to lift the cargo intothe sky.Suddenly, your mind begins torecall the last assault, and the onebefore that-when the Old Man'screwchief got it in the neck- thenight mission that Captain Burnsfrom Charlie Company had hisleft arm split open as a round

tore the door apart-the sunnymorning that aircraft 781 had herwhole rear end shot up-bloodrunning freely on the floor ofCaptain Miller's ship on a day, itseemed, the world was red.

It has been said that an avia-tor's bad luck is another aviator'smeat. What did he do when thatmoment came? Can we now learnfrom his mistakes? What will I dowhen my moment comes? Will Ifail my crew? These questions .rideday and night with aviators theworld over. Now, over here inthis hot stinking jungle, some-thing more has been added: Ifwe survive the crash, can we livein the Viet Cong infested terrain?

The slicks move heavily to-wards the LZ; skids slap at tree-tops as pilots maneuver to stayclose to their wing man. All eyessearch the ground for a sign ofCharlie. This speed and treetoplevel flying are our only defenseon short flights. The gun ships(armed Hueys) fly overhead,waiting for the first sign of enemyfire. As Charlie has learned to fearCWO Cowan is with o A 229thAssault Helicopter Battalion, 1stCavalry Division Airmobi le).



27/52

After the artillery lifted, the old Inan's voice came on theradio: Pick your spot and good luck.these awkward looking birds, withtheir rockets and machinegunshanging out, so have the men whofly the slicks learned to love them.Artillery has lifted. The oldman comes on the radio, Pickyour own spot and good luck.Yellow One went into a flareas his tail boom cleared the lastrow of trees around the LZ. Inturn, like dominoes, all of theslicks pointed to the sky.Fifty feet above the ground allhell broke loose. Deafening soundsof an automatic weapon filled thecockpit. Our radio came alivewith the voices of pilots reportingfire. Yellow Four shuddered andyawed hard to the iI ight. She hadbeen hit bad. A high pitchedvoice came through the radioheadset-Lieutenant Baker hadbeen hit in the head.Yellow Two had unloaded hertroops and started leaving theground when she fell hard againsta tree, her main rotor bladesnapped like a match stick. ThreeGIs fell on the skids of the OldMan's ship. For them the battlewas over. One wounded man washauled aboard as the major re-ceived word that White Flightwas on final.

J

In The Attac k -UH.ls pour into a landing zone with fresh t1 OOPS in an operationagmnst the Vtet GongLet's get the hell out of herecame an unknown voice over theairways. Crewmembers from Yel-low Two were onboard Yellow

Three and we were on our wayhome. Pungent fuel odor filledthe aircraft. We reported to theflight leader that Yellow Four hadreceived unknown damage andwas losing fuel. The Old Mandecided to land at Falcon andmake a damage check of all air-craft.Yellow Four had made her lastlanding for quite awhile. Her

stabilizer control rod had beenbadly damaged and the fuel cellwas punctured. She had takenseven rounds and remained in theair.The large multiengine Chinookhovered over Yellow Four as shewas prepaJ ed for the trip home.I will never forget how proud shelooked, hanging beneath the flatbelly of big brother Chinook, asif she knew she had given herbest.

Anotht;T D a y T h e mission no sooner ends than a maintenance specialist beginsprepanng the Huey for the next day s action

The major smiled as he re-ported that the LZ was secure.Our mission had been successful.N ow more troops and suppliescould be delivered with littledanger.

JUNE 1966

Now that the sun had disap-peared behind the tangled treesthe operations tent had cooleddown some. Flight crews now shedtheir flak jackets and flight gear,sat around retelling stories of to-day's mission to the eager ears ofthose who had missed this one.Yet all eyes stole secret glances atthe hand of the operations officeras his grease pencil filled in namesfor tomorrow's mission.

25


28/52

GLIDERDELIVERY

OFSUPPLIES

William H mith

I MAGINE A situation where acombat unit, deep in enemyterritory, needs supplies badly andevery method of delivery availableto the Army is impossible to use.You can t make delivery by landbecause the terrain is bad orenemy troops are too strong. Youcan t come in by air because it sa dark night or there s heavyclo1 ld cover. You can t even dropthe supplies by parachute becauseyou don t know the exact location of the friendly troops, or theenemy would shoot you down asyou passed overhead.

How would you make delivery?f you say that delivering thesupplies is impossible, you are

probably right-for the momentat least. But soon you may havea simple device for use in suchdifficul t delivery cases.

It s called a Precision DropGlider (PDG) , developed by theRyan Aeronau t ical Company.Ryan has been working on this

concept for a long time and nowfeels ready to go into production.They have been given a contractfor six PDGs expected to be delivered in June or July of thisyear.

These first six gliders will beused for testing. 1 they do whatthe Army wants, Ryan will make25 more. These will be used formilitary potential testing andsome may be turned over to combat units for troop tests.Precision Drop Gliders haveflexible delta wings. These wingsare made of plastic coated material attached to a keel and leading edge member to form an arrow or V-shaped kite-like surface.Wings fold into a compact package similar to a parachute packand are attached to a cargo container. After being launched froman aircraft the glider wing automatically unfolds itself, homes inon a ground transmitter andguides itself in.

Gliders being built under thiscontract will be able to carry acargo of from 300 to 500 pounds.They can be dropped from a helicopter or airplane at speeds up to150 knots (lAS) at altitudes from500 feet to 30,000 feet.

Command control and guidancesystem for the PDG is the radioreceiver 242R 1001 and transmitter PN 542T 1001. That part ofthe guidance system housed in theglider has enough battery powerto operate for 45 minutes.Gliders will be self-controlleduntil within 200 feet of theground station. At this point anoperator takes over and guides itin the rest of the way. For thispurpose, the operator uses a control that attaches to a standardPRC. When the control unit isnot attached the PRC can be usedin its normal manner.Precision Drop Gliders need tobe very simple, inexpensive, andrugged. According to the contract

6 U. S. ARMY AVIATION DIGEST


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a reliability factor of 80-90 percent will be accepted but 100 percent s desired.Simple construction precludeslong or complicated proceduresfor getting the equipment readyto operate. Parts will be interchangeable. Those costing lessthan 25 will be simply thrownaway when they break instead of

Gliders can be dropped from helicoptersor airplanes at speeds up to 150 knots

JUNE ]966

trying to repair them All components will be removable withtools in the organizational mechanic's toolbox.

TOE maintenance personnelwill handle repairs on PDGs.Maintenance personnel will require skill levels similar to thatof parachute riggers and electronic repairmen

fter being dropped from an aircraftthe gliders wings unfold

Equipment must be able to operate in climates anywhere in theworld. For this reason the manu-facturer tested its prototypes inforeign countries. They weredamp heat tested in Thailand anddry heat tested in Iran On oneoccasion in Thailand they wereused to deliver rice to an isolatedvillage.

Gliders of this type can carry up to 500pounds of cargo


30/52

A series of events that happened in Vietnamhave made a difference in the home life of thisaviator-TODAY HE IS AN OUTCAST.

WOULDYOUBELIEVE FINGERS?BEFORE MY depar ture toVietnam my life was happyand complete. Solidarity was thekeyword in my family.

Now, after my return from themildew country, I live a very

desolate existence. My wife-bylaws alone-won't speak to me;she serves all my meals in thespare bedroom on the desk. Mytwo daughters ignore me like Ihave the plague; close relativesdon't telephone or write anymore;and my neighbors have built highfences around their yards.

Allow me to give you the complete details and then you judgei my actions are justifiable.

For 10 months in Vietnam Iflew the Otter-low, slow and re-28

Captain Donald J. Mascialiable. An IP for 7 months witha flawless record I was the hallmark of the company. A normalcheckout day consisted of innumerable landings and takeoffs withaviators with varying degrees ofproficiency. My precision instruction even with the weakest student, was like or compared tI've heard, a space age solid statetuner.Whenever I departed from theroutine of checkouts I flew withOrville-we made an impeccableteam. Rumors about our adroitness and expediency spread likewildfire.

Otter operations was constantlyanswering queries about ourflights and manifests. The troops

loved to fly with us and normallythronged about the aircraft priorto our departure, hoping therewas an extra seat.

We were performers in the skyAl though not a word was spokeneach move was a smooth, coordinated, preplanned action. Passengers awed by the virtuosos inaction, strained in their seats trying to view the gesticulations taking place in the cockpit.

The infamous day happenedlike this: our mission was to return to Nha Trang after RON

Capt Mascia s with the Com-mand and Logistics Branch Depof Tactics Ft Rucker, Ala.U. S ARMY AVIATION DIGEST


31/52

Although a word wasn t spoken, eachmove was a smooth, coordinated,preplanned action. Then it happenedin cultural Saigon. Departing operations we observed a largecrowd gathering around our aircraft. Upon reaching the aircraftwe modestly waved and smiled tothe cheering fans.Sparko - the crewchief-loadedthe passengers as we made our ingress into 707. Sparko s signal ofthumbs-up indicated he had completed the perfunctory preflightand our fuel load was full, full,full.I adjusted the ,right seat. Orville snickered and, making (lquick mental computation, gaveme the signal, i.e., 4 fingers-400pounds over gross weight. Nosweatl We enjoyed conveying additional personnel, and increasingour cargo made the charts lookbetter.

Orville chuckled and gave thePratt Whitney a few quickprimes, hit the switch, and instantly she coughed into action.1 put my visor down-the signal

JUNE 1966

to Orville that we were cleared totaxi, runway 24. Orvi lle s quickmag check at the yellow line toldme the runup was complete. Ipumped down climb flaps. Orvilleknew we were cleared for takeoff.Takeoff was rather lengthy thatday, about 2,800 feet, but finallyOld Reliable reluctantly becameairborne. I adjusted the prop;Orville winced and reduced power; I retracted flaps. Orville wascleared for a right break.The awed passengers realizedthat with any other crew theywould still be on the ramp. Eventhough Orville had not donnedhis crash helmet, everything wasperfect-without a word-withoutthe slightest murmur.

I adjusted the flap selector. Orville grinned and leveled at 3,000feet. A smile from Orville, and Ihad the controls with prop reduced to 1800 rpm. Orville reduced power to 28 inches.Approaching Nha Trang I putmy foot on the ignition analyzerand Orville graciously acceptedcontrol of the aircraft. B.reakingthe silence for the first time sincetakeoff, I called for an ADF approach. I reached for the J pp,held up 4 fingers, and Orvilleunderstood we were cleared foran instrument ADF approachestimated ceiling 400 feet.

We hit the beacon, I coughed;Orville turned to a heading of070, reduced power and smiled;1 had the controls and adjustedprop to 2000 rpm. I raised myvisor and Orville had the con troIs,turning to a heading of 250. Orville smiled, I had con trol of theaircraft. The ADF needle swung- the signal-Orville again had theaircraft. Reporting beacon in-

bound, a revised weather reportindicated ceiling was now 100 feetbelow minimums. No problem. inthe event we didn t break out at300 feet (minimums were 400feet) we would proceed east for2 minutes and let down over theSou th China Sea.

I adjusted the carb heat andOrville applied 30 inches-missedapproach. Orville smiled andagain I had the aircraft with power reduced. The field was in sight.

Orville winked; I turned base,reduced power, set climb flaps,and moved the flap selector to the

29


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Checklists now adorn objects which require ,nore thanone step but they just don t understandup position for expeditious retraction of flaps upon touchdown.

Orville donned his crash helmet-the last signal-and made hisfirst oral sound of the flight. Mydu ties were finished and I removed my headgear.I turned and waved to the passengers. They loved i t-anotherflawless performance.

The entire flight was without aword to the pilot-without achecklist-without wasted effort.All Orville had to do was plopthe beast down on the overrunand make the first taxiway.

Suddenly, without a signal, Orville pumped the flap handle. Westarted to fall like 8,220 pounds.Orville applied power. The powerful Pratt Whitney Waspcoughed and was silent. The rightgear hit a small mound and theempennage swung violently tothe left. Taking two barbed wirefences, posts and all, was no ob-

stacle to the Otter. We finallyground to a halt after flippingover.I.nstantly, the crowd was there.They couldn't believe their eyes:the two perfectionists were in thecockpit. Within minutes the company commander was hanging onthe curled prop, crying like ababy. The executive officer stoodlike a piece of marble, lookingincredulously at the twisted airframe.The accident board's voluminous report concluded that Orville, in an attempt to land short,started to put down land flaps butwith the flap selector in the upposi tion, the aircraft flaps retracted and the aircraft went intoa stall configuration. The Waspcoughed and remained silent because the rear tank was empty.The fuel pressure warning lightwas inoperative and not found inthe preflight. No checklist-no pre-

flight-over max gross. I was suremy flying days were over.

Since that irreparable time Ihave made the metamorphosisfrom a second rate aviator to afirst class checklist-using aviator.Some even say I have a tendencyto be loquacious in the cockpit.

At home I have acted accordingly: I have attached checkliststo the stove, bicycle, tricycle, carand other sundry objects whichrequire more than one step. Dailymy family is chastised for not using the required checklists. Theyjust don't understand

But I still continue to rant,rave, yell and holler, Use yourchecklists " I've warned them all:if they don't use their checklists,I'll spank them from the beginning of their exterior check to theend of their after-operation check.So am I wrong when I holler,scream and yell, Use your checklist"?

9, 10, You re Out arbed wi -e fences, posts, and the like proved no match for the rampaging Otter, but finally theOle Gal lurched up and over onto her back. It was all Ve for her, but not for me

30 U. S ARMY AVIATION DIGEST


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TERWAS NOP STCR SHFIRE

there are number of waysof preventing poslcrashfires but the most promisingand the most practical h sbeen that of fuelcontainment

JUNE 1966

Maior Robert W Newton

N w THAT OH-13G H and S helicoptershave been modified with the new crash resistant fuel cells it will be of interest especially toyou who fly OH-13s to see i these tanks are doingany good. Have they eliminated or reduced postcrash fires? Can similar techniques be applied toother aircraft?USABAAR studies on accidents involving postcrash fires in helicopters identified the OH-13Gand H as having a higher rate of postcrash firesthan other helicopters. A typical example of thetype of accident that occurred is an OH-13H accident that happened 3 years ago. A pilot hoveredhis OH-13H across an open field to pick up an observer. He set the helicopter down on a narrow dirtroad with the left skid positioned on a slight riseor bank and the right skid on the road. The bankwas 8 inches higher than the road. Mast bumpingoccurred just before the right skid touched theground. As the pilot attempted to level the helicopter and come to a hover it moved backwardthe right skid dug into the ground and the helicopter rolled ove.r on its right side. It immediatelyburst into flames.

The observer escaped but could not get closeenough to assist the pilot. In a few seconds the pilotexited through the bubble which was enveloped inflames. He sustained second and third degree burnson his face hands arms and back.

Numerous other similar accidents occurred in thepast. USABAAR conducted a series of three crashtests on OH-13s at Fort Rucker in January 1964.One of the helicopters was equipped with standardsaddle tanks one with wrapped tanks and onewith a completely new tank made of a materialsimilar to that used to wrap the tanks. These testssimulated as close as possible the accident describedabove-a rollover type of accident in which neithervertical nor horizontal forces were present. The results of these tests and the recommended action tobe taken appeared in an article in the April 1964issue of the DIGEST.

These tests showed that the fires were caused bythe swash plate making contact with the fuel tankswhile the helicopter was turning over and the rotorswere striking the ground. As the tanks were rippedopen the fuel was atomized by the strong air currents and an ignition source was contacted by the

3


34/52

NO POSTCd SH FIRE

tests showedth t the fires werec used by thesw sh pl te m kingcont ct with thefuel t nks

atomized fuel. In the case of the test with standardsaddle tanks, this was an exhaust stack. A very largeinstantaneous fire resulted. USABAAR recommended that all OH-13 aircraft equipped withsaddle tanks be modified wi th ei ther the wrappedtank or what we called the nonmetallic tank. Inthe USABAAR tests, only the helicopter with thestandard tanks had a fire.

There are a number of ways of preventing postcrash fires-fuel jelling, breakaway tanks, fuel emulsion. But the most promising and the most practicalmethod has been fuel containment-find a goodplace to put the fuel cells and then make sure nofuel spillage occurs during an impact survivableaccident. In the case of the OH-13, location of thefuel cells was poor, but couldn't be changed. Thesolution was to find an economical way to containthe fuel without adding a lot of weight.

Two Bell Helicopter engineers, George Rodriguez and Les Spencer, hit upon the idea of wrapping a standard tank with four layers of continuousweave nylon cloth that has been impregnated witha polysulfide rubber binder. It was found that withsuch a wrapping, the tanks were extremely difficultto puncture. Try it on a salvaged tank someday.

Another concept was to make a completely newtank from the nylon material. This tank had abladder installed and was called the nonmetallictank. These tanks had the disadvantage of requiring extensive and time consuming tests in order tocertify them against existing FAA and Mil Specrequirements.32

Photo shows th helicopter after it bu rned

In May 1964, AVCOM decided to modify all OH- 3Shelicopters with a larger fuel cell and to includewrapping the tanks as recommended by USABAAR.These modification kits were obtained on an expedited basis for the S models because the tests wererun by what was then the II th Air Assault Division.The new tanks were installed during Septemberand October 1964. On 25 October an OH-13Sequipped with the new tanks crashed. The wrapped tanks prevented a postcrash fire.The H 13S was part of a recon team preparingto depart on a mission and the pilot was at a 3-foothover, waiting for his team leader to depart. Afterthe team leader departed, the pilot made a rightpedal turn. The right skid hit a terrace and thehelicopter started to roll over to the right. Thepilot applied left cyclic and, as he states, The nextthing I knew, the aircraft had settled to the ground,the main rotor had stopped, and the top of thebubble was in my observer s hands. The pilotturned off the engine, which was still running, andexited the aircraft with the observer.By early 1965 all OH-13S models had been retrofitted with the crash resistant tanks, or had thetanks incorporated in production. Incidentally, allof the TH-13Ts were produced with the wrappedtanks. Bell Helicopter also decided to start wrapping all production commercial models of the OH-13. The S model has not experienced a single postcrash fire in an impact survivable accident sincebeing modified with the wrapped tank. During thissame time period, the G and H models experienced

U. S. ARMY AVIATION DIGEST


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a number of postcrash fires that could have beenpreven ted had they been modified.The modification program for the G and Hmodels should be completed by the fall of 1966.The problems involved in modifying these modelswere more complex than the S model. Since largertanks had to be included in the S kits new tankswere bought. These were wrapped by the manu-facturer. For G and H models the modificationincluded only the wrapping of existing tanks. Theproblem was how to wrap tanks that were installedon operational aircraft without disrupting theirflying program. A joint effort between USABAARAVCOM AADMAC and those units with the air-lUNE 1966

Photo shows the aircraft after theaccident. Note that both drag strutsto the main blades are broken indicat-ing that the main blades struck theground very hard

Photo of left fuel cell shows damageto cell caused y swash plate as itrotated into fuel cell when the mainrotors struck the ground Note that thefire shield has two large rips. If thefuel cell had not been wrapped similarrips would have been made in thefuel cell. As it was the cell onlyreceived a large number f dents mostof which can be seen in the fire shield

craft resul ted in a very quick and novel modification program. Arrangements were made to fly kitsto each unit with OH-13 helicopters on a prear-ranged schedule. The wrapped tanks were left withthe unit and the old tanks picked up and flownback to AADMAC for wrapping. The Army hadabout 100 s

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Army Aviation Digest - Jun 1966

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