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Armed with guns, Hellfire missiles, and 2.75-inch FFAR, it provides armed helicopter support to both ground and air special operations. The helicopter was designed around their earlier model 269/300 making use of monocoque steel tube construction techniques, allowing a strong and compact fuselage. During the Vietnam War the OH-6 helicopters served in huge numbers and were used for light observation and utility roles. The Sea Stallion is a line of heavy-lift transport helicopters. Hughes Tool Company, Aircraft Division - USA, (View other Aviaton-Related Manufacturers), Dominican Republic; Denmark; Japan; Spain; Taiwan; United States, (OPERATORS list includes past, present, and future operators when applicable), Intelligence-Surveillance-Reconnaissance (ISR), Scout, X-Plane (Developmental, Prototype, Technology Demonstrator), (Showcased structural values pertain to the base Hughes OH-6 Cayuse (Loach) production variant), RANGES (MPH) Subsonic: <614mph | Transonic: 614-921 | Supersonic: 921-3836 | Hypersonic: 3836-7673 | Hi-Hypersonic: 7673-19180 | Reentry: >19030, (Showcased performance specifications pertain to the. The-21C was extensively used by the US Army to transport troops and supplies. [22], It became common for OH-6s to operate in teams with other rotorcraft, particularly the Bell AH-1 Cobra attack helicopter. The U.S. Marine Corps still flies AH-1 SuperCobras as its main attack helicopter, with the latest versionthe AH-1Z Viper so upgraded and modernized that a Vietnam-era pilot might be hard-pressed to recognize it. President As we navigate rapidly evolving military culture and Like any deployed troops, Russian soldiers make calls Sign up for our newsletter and receive the mighty updates! In January 1968 PFC Richard Toops went on to Infantry OCS at Ft. Benning, Ga. graduating in September 1968. [22] Its straightforward design made it easier to maintain than most other helicopters, while its relatively compact 26-foot main rotor made it easier to use tight landing zones. and Images on this page are gathered from various sources. [22] The remaining H-13s were promptly withdrawn in favour of the OH-6s. The Bell OH-58 Kiowa was an entire line of military helicopters with a single engine and a single rotor. Cookie Settings, pilot. I went up in a Loach with an M60 machine gun to get used to firing the weapon. It had a distinct teardrop-shaped fuselage, which made it instantly recognizable, and a cockpit for two crew members, along with two removable seats in the passenger cabin. Units in Vietnam began sending UH-1Bs outfitted with rocket pods and machine guns to circle over the scouts at around 600 feet and attack anything that might interfere with the imminent troop landing. The Cayuse . Loach and Cobra crews lived together, and schedulers generally paired the teams with the partners they requested, though given the high turnover rate, that wasnt always possible. The "OH-6C" was the creation of the Maintenance Section of The Real Cav, B Troop 7/17th Air Cavalry Squadron, which was stationed near Pleiku in early 1972. It was mostly used as a transport chopper, but it could also deliver supplies to troops. Army headquarters developed doctrine by building on what worked in the field, rather than the other way around, and each unit in-country did things slightly differently. Army units this aircraft deployed with in Vietnam: The type was born from the US Army Light Observation Helicopter (LOH) program (which provided its "Loach" nickname) and ultimately proved an excellent helicopter system seeing only limited service in the inventories of several American allies worldwide. The Cayuse had a single articulated four-bladed main rotor, a metal two-bladed tail rotor, and a V-shaped tail. At peak production, during the Vietnam War, as many as 100 OH-6As were built a month. When the Loach debuted in 1966, it broke records for speed, endurance, and rate of climb, all important attributes for a scout helicopter. Some units were modified during the war with machine guns to act as gunships. An inventive Bell Helicopter engineer was already at work on the worlds first attack helicopter, and Bells decision to keep the project hidden until complete let the model slip into service as a Huey derivative (see The Birth of the Cobra, Aug. 2017). We were combat trackers, says Mills. As of 2021, these records still stand. I spent more time with them., Kids Start Forgetting Early Childhood Around Age 7, Archaeologists Discover Wooden Spikes Described by Julius Caesar, Artificial Sweetener Tied to Risk of Heart Attack and Stroke, Study Finds, 5,000-Year-Old Tavern With Food Still Inside Discovered in Iraq, The Surprisingly Scientific Roots of Monkey Bars. Worthy, the OH-6 Loach and two other air scout helicopter pilots, all decorated, were in Topeka on Saturday night for an event at Forbes Field Airport designed to increase interest and. The Cayuse (white) was used alongside the AH-1 Cobra (red) attack helicopters, forming (pink) hunter killer teams. The Cayuse was organic to division, brigade, and battalion size units. This simple design made maintenance easy, while the choppers 26-foot rotor made it much easier to maneuver in tight landing zones. The Hughes OH-6 Cayuse was a revolutionary rotorcraft operated during the Vietnam War. Reportedly, 964 out of the 1,422 OH-6As produced for the U.S. Army were destroyed in Vietnam alone. The Model 369 had a distinctive teardrop-shaped fuselage that had strong crashworthiness properties and provided excellent external visibility. Its like a street cop going into a bad neighborhood. Here are the 24 helicopters used in Vietnam. Two (2) Crew: one Pilot, one Observer/Doorgunner. The Sikorsky S-61R is a twin-engine transport and search helicopter. The Loach's main role was reconnaisance and observation. I was used to getting up close and personal with the enemy.. Some crews argued that the Kiowa was nowhere near as nimble as the OH-6, however, the transition proceeded while scouting doctrine was changed to emphasis operations from greater distances. The small-arms protection aircrewmen armor that was introduced in 1966 was a vest with pockets containing composite laminated plates commonly called chicken plates. Cobras rolled in and blew the downed aircraft uptaking with it about 15 bad guys standing around it.. [19][20][21], In December 1967, the first OH-6As arrived in Vietnam. Other Army pilots, most of whom flew Cobras or Hueys, thought of Loach pilots as a little offbeat. It had to do with the timbre of your voicehow you talked to other guys on the radio, says Romero, who arrived in Vietnam in 1970, initially as a Huey co-pilot. We got hit by incendiary .51-caliber rounds, and the phosphorus ignited the Cobras hydraulic fluid. Joint Services Incident Damage Report. 605th transportation Company (Direct Support): Nov . I tried to move the stuck controls and prayed for a place to set down. It took all of Kanes strength to pull out of a steep dive, and they crash-landed with a horrific thud. As a separate part of the project, armed OH-6As were being developed at Fort Rucker, Alabama. Furthermore, a number of civilian customers also flew Kawasaki-built OH-6s for a variety of missions, including emergency medical services (EMS), law enforcement, and agricultural work. After around 10 hours at the controls of a Loach, the pilots were deemed worthy of flying in combat. [14][15], During 1966, the OH-1 entered service with the U.S. Army. The OH-6 was also exported as the Model 500 Defender. OA-6A 'Loach' Scout platoon. Towards the end of the conflict, the replacement of the OH-6 by the Bell OH-58 Kiowa was imminent across nearly all US Army units. His three tours to Vietnam included death-defying scouting missions piloting his Hughes OH-6 light observation helicopter (or Loach) as well as gunship runs inside his AH-1 Cobra attack helicopter.. Cozzalio was also involved in nine aircraft mishaps; he was shot down six times and suffered three hard landings. Cobras, nicknamed Snakes, flew circles 1,500 feet above the scouts, waiting to pounce on whatever the Loach found. In order to reduce their acoustic signature, the helicopters (N351X and N352X) received a four-blade 'scissors' style tail rotor (later incorporated into the Hughes-designed AH-64 Apache), a fifth rotor blade and reshaped rotor tips, a modified exhaust system, and various other performance boosting modifications. During the testing phase, it became clear the Bell prototype was underpowered, so it was dropped. Read the harrowing story of what happened on that tragic mission. To remedy this shortcoming, the Army began developing a special aviation task force to prepare for the next attempt to rescue the hostages: Operation Honey Badger. Disclaimer Photographs In addition, an M60D 7.62mm machine gun could be mounted in the front port (left) or rear starboard (right) door openings. A little gory but thats how close we were. As the Loach flew among the trees, the rear-seat pilot in the Snake circling above kept a close eye on the little scout and the front-seat gunner jotted down whatever the Loach observers radioed. We operated from fixed bases that were islands, if you will, of allied control, says Hugh Mills, who flew both Loaches and Cobras in Vietnam from 1968 to 1972, and went on to fly helicopters for the Kansas City Police Department. By Richard Toops. While Loachs were vulnerable to enemy fire, they were famous for surviving crashes like John did. Upon encountering enemy fire, Loaches were to leave immediately, dropping smoke grenades to mark the target so that within seconds, the Cobra could roll in. But the Vietnam War was unlike any previous American conflict; there were few real definable frontlines, and combatants needed to know what was happening all around them, all the time. This was a Combat incident. From the rear cockpit, the pilot fired rockets from launchers fixed to the stub wings on either side; the copilot in the front operated a chin turret that held a minigun and grenade launcher. Due to its unique shape, the Loach was given the nickname . I followed footsteps. During the course of the competition, the Bell submission, the YOH-4, was eliminated as being underpowered (it was powered by the 250shp (186kW) T63-A-5). Headquarters, 173rd Airborne Brigade: Jan 70 May 70 Over time, the effectiveness of this pairing was such that enemies would often decide against firing on the relatively vulnerable OH-1 in fear of the response that would be unleased by the AH-1. In 1961, twelve companies submitted proposals to meet U.S.Army requirements for a four-seat turbine-powered light observation helicopter (LOH). The Aircraft Division of Hughes Tool Company came up with the Model 369, which became one of three finalists, alongside designs from Bell Helicopter Company and Fairchild Hiller. Adopted after. Kane and Casher were pulled aboard and returned to Khe Sanh, but the Huey barely made it back; slicing trees had left its blades shredded, and the tail section had almost separated. They underwent two weeks of qualification training and an additional two weeks of mission training. [18] Subsequently, on 6 April 1966, Robert Ferry set the long distance world record for helicopters by flying from Culver City, California, with over a ton of fuel to Ormond Beach, Florida, covering a total of 1,923.08 nm (2,213.04mi, 3,561.55km) in 15 hours, and near the finish at up to 24,000 feet (7,300m) altitude. During 1960, the United States Army issued Technical Specification 153 for a Light Observation Helicopter (LOH) capable of fulfilling various roles on the battlefield, including personnel transport, escort, casualty evacuation, observation, and attack missions. Pilots called this helicopter as the Loach. contact us here and we will remove the I was just out of flight school when I went to Vietnam. He flew Loaches for the next 11 months, and today is an accountant in Seattle. Adopted after the company behind its design deceived the US Army, the Loach helicopter, as it was better known, fast became the primary chopper flown in Vietnam. They were employed in hunter-killer tactics, wherein they flew low over the jungle as bait to draw enemy fire. It was used for transporting personnel, escorting other aircraft and naval vessels, attacking enemy units, and acting as an observation post. Information on U.S. Army helicopter OH-6A tail number 67-16304 [12] Accordingly, during 1968, Hughes submitted a bid to build a further 2,700 airframes. Despite its strong offensive abilities, the SH-2 Seasprite was mostly used for rescuing downed friendly aircrews instead of direct combat. Jim was unconscious when I helped pull him out of the burning aircraft.. The Model 369, with its Allison T63-A-5A series turboshaft engine, took its first flight on February 27, 1963, under the military designation YOH-6A. In August 1967, the AH-1G Cobra arrived in Vietnam. (7.62MM) I got shot down on my 22nd birthday, March 27, 1971. Once enemy positions opened fire at the Cayuse, they were destroyed by the mighty firepower of escorting Cobras. But the Army decided that it would be more prudent to keep the unit in order to be prepared for future contingencies. Provision for packaged armament on port side, including an XM-27 7.62mm (0.300in) machine-gun with 2,000 - 4,000 rounds of ammunition; or an XM-75 grenade launcher, Aircraft of comparable role, configuration, and era, 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment and Task Force 160, List of military aircraft of the United States, Hearings on military posture and H.R. Initially fielded in Vietnam in early 1968, the Hughes OH-6A was used for command and control, observation, target acquisition, and reconnaissance. Unlike previous aircraft, the Tarhe was extremely successful during the Vietnam War. The CH-53 Tarhe was another heavy-lift helicopter designed to transport and recover downed aircraft. On the night of 56 December 1972, the remaining helicopter deployed a wiretap near Vinh, Vietnam; useful information provided from this wiretap was acted on by the United States on several occasions, such as during the Linebacker II campaign and Paris Peace Talks. I have come home with blood on my windshield. Cobras and Loaches, two vastly different aircraft, relied on each other to fight the enemy. In terms of its basic configuration, the Model 369 had an atypical teardrop-shaped fuselage, a feature that led to personnel sometimes referring to it as the "flying egg". The Hughes OH-6A Cayuse, was designed for use as a Light Observation Helicopter (LOH) nicknamed LOACH, military scout during the Vietnam war to meet the U.S. Armys need for an extremely maneuverable observation helicopter. OH-6A/Cayuse: Developed initially by the Hughes Aircraft company (later McDonnell Douglas Helicopter Company) in the mid-1960s for the US Army. 2023 Smithsonian Magazine Multi-Mission Helicopters 6.