| The following text is exclusive to this site. [4] The prototypes were delivered to the U.S. Army at Fort Rucker, Alabama, where they competed against the other ten prototype aircraft produced by Bell and Fairchild-Hiller. Table of Contents 1. 2 Stinger AAM. During 1966, the OH-6 entered service with the U.S. Army, it promptly arrived into active combat in the Vietnam War. They were operated by a number of military organizations, including the Japanese Army, Navy and Coast Guard. The Boeing CH-47 Chinook is a tandem rotor chopper that was developed by Vetrol and built by Boeing Vertol. Kiowas, largely relegated to low-threat cargo and liaison missions in Vietnam, were after the war tasked to spot targets from afar and guide Cobras (and later, Boeing AH-64 Apaches) to good firing spots. Your Privacy Rights The Sea Stallion is a variant of the Jolly Green Giant, but its used only for sea transport. The armed OH-6s from Fort Rucker joined the training program in the fall of 1980.[30]. Heavy Attack Helicopters 2. All written content, illustrations, and photography are unique to this website (unless where indicated) and not for reuse/reproduction in any form. Light Observation Helicopter (LOH) program, The US Air Force Panicked When Its Top-Secret Stealth Fighter Crashed Into the California Wilderness. Although most combat aircraft in Vietnam aimed for altitudes and speeds that helped them avoid anti-aircraft weapons, U.S. Army crews flying Hughes OH-6A Cayuse helicopters flew low and drew fireto set up the shots for the Bell AH-1G Cobras circling above. 605th transportation Company (Direct Support): Nov . I had a wingman shot down, pilot John Shafer says. It was pretty hairy, and we got the hell out of there. But Boucher got a rush from the missions, and stayed six months beyond what was required of a draftee. Observation Helicopters 4. Overtop of the fuselage was the OH-6s single engine, attached to a four-blade main rotor assembly. These would be used to replace its fleet of Bell H-13 Sioux, a compact first generation rotorcraft. So I engaged the enemy, but didnt make it out of that one. Tough Mission LOACH Chopper Vietnam - YouTube 0:00 / 5:15 Intro Tough Mission LOACH Chopper Vietnam Chopperguy 15.4K subscribers Subscribe 1.1K 53K views 1 year ago We fly with Low Level. Jim Kanes Vietnam tour abruptly ended one day in February 1971. The Hughes OH-6A Cayuse was quite effective when teamed with the AH-1G Cobra attack helicopter as part of what were known as Pink Teams, combining the OH-6A Loach (white team) with a AH-1G Cobra atacke helicopter (red team). Despite its strong offensive abilities, the SH-2 Seasprite was mostly used for rescuing downed friendly aircrews instead of direct combat. Helicopter took 2 hits from: We were so close to the elephant grass that wed blow the grass apart to see if anyone was hiding in there, observer Bob Moses says. 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. The enemy was moving toward us when a [command and control] ship picked us up. It was the same for Jim. Stanley Hiller complained to the U.S. Army that Hughes had used unethical procedures; therefore, the Army opened the contract for rebidding by all parties. Unlike previous aircraft, the Tarhe was extremely successful during the Vietnam War. Each could be equipped with any number of armaments, including grenade launchers, 7.62 mm miniguns, Hydra 70 mm unguided rockets, and TOW and Hellfire anti-tank guided missiles. Vietnam following a morning mission with the 11th Special Forces (SF) at Long Than North, South Vietnam. Instead of disbanding Task Force 158, the military opted to turn it into the 160th Aviation Battalion. But the Hueys proved too slow to do the job properly, and the need to replace both scouts and protectors was immediately evident. On a few occasions, the OH-23 was also used for medical evacuation purposes, but this was rarely the case. While its light aluminum skin could be easily penetrated by small arms fire, it also crumpled and absorbed energy in a crash while the rugged structure protected key systems and its crew; even though the OH-6 was relatively difficult to shoot down, its occupants would often survive forced landings that would have likely been fatal onboard other rotorcraft. Pilot sold separately. The Hughes OH-6 Cayuse (nicknamed "Loach", after the requirement acronym LOHLight Observation Helicopter) is a single-engine light helicopter with a four-bladed main rotor used for personnel transport, escort and attack missions, and observation. Kane recalls, The vibrations were so harsh I had to return to base camp at Khe Sanh, seven miles from the Laotian border. The Loach-derived MD-500 and other civilian variants still roll off the assembly lines at MD Helicopters, Inc., while Boeing produces an upgraded variant, the AH-6 Little Bird, for military forces (including an autonomous drone version). The LOH program opened the floor to several companies to come up with their own designs. Joint Services Incident Damage Report. This story is a selection from the September issue of Air & Space magazine, Donald Porter The Loach also had its own gunner in the rear and could carry everything from 7.62mm miniguns to 70mm rockets and anti-tank missiles. Following the Second World War, significant advancements were made in the field of rotary-wing flight. Improved versions were issued through the war and included pockets on the chest and back in which large additional plates could be inserted. [27] During June 1972, they were deployed to a secret base in southern Laos (PS-44), where one of the helicopters was heavily damaged during a training mission late in the summer. Though Cobra pilots were trained Stateside, most Loach pilots didnt take control of OH-6s until arriving in Vietnam. contact us here and we will remove the The Mil Mi-1 was a Soviet-made light utility chopper with three or four seats. To hunt for encampments, bunkers, or other signs of the enemy, commanders would deploy a flight of one scouting Loach and one supporting Cobra, called Pink Teams. Unit: 173 ABN It was used for transporting personnel, escorting other aircraft and naval vessels, attacking enemy units, and acting as an observation post. It served in Granada and Panama during the 1980s, as well as in the . This was a Combat incident. Pilots called this helicopter as the Loach. When the Loach debuted in 1966, it broke records for speed, endurance, and rate of climb, all important attributes for a scout helicopter. In Vietnam, These Helicopter Scouts Saw Combat Up Close Cobras and Loaches, two vastly different aircraft, relied on each other to fight the enemy. You were right in the enemys face with a helicopter and had to know what you were doing, recalls warrant officer Clyde Romero of his 1,100 hours flying scout missions over South Vietnam in 1971. s/n 66-07841. [8][9], A total of 387 OH-6/Hughes 369s were produced under license in Japan by the Japanese aerospace company Kawasaki Heavy Industries. [17] On 26 March 1966, Jack Schwiebold set the closed circuit distance record in a YOH-6A at Edwards Air Force Base, California, flying without landing for 1,739.96mi (2,800.20km). You had a couple of flights in the Huey, then you rode front seat in a Cobra, scout pilot Allan Krausz recounts. During 1967, following price escalations for the OH-6, the U.S. Army reopened the programme to bids for as many as 2,700 additional airframes beyond the 1,300 OH-6s already contracted. We got hit by incendiary .51-caliber rounds, and the phosphorus ignited the Cobras hydraulic fluid. History. Development included test and training flights in Culver City, California (Hughes Airport) and at Area 51 in 1971. The Hughes 369 was redesignated the OH-6A "Cayuse" by the U.S. Army. Advertising Notice It never flew again. I had another lead that went through 150 feet of trees, and they survived., Shafer himself had brushes with disaster, and his luck nearly ran out on a mission west of Dak To, near the border with Laos. Disclaimer Photographs Following a contentious selection process that included allegations of industrial espionage and political favoritism, the first Hughes OH-6A observation helicopters arrived in Vietnam in December 1967. [8][9] It was reported that Howard Hughes had directed his company to submit a bid at a price beneath the actual production cost of the helicopter in order to secure this order. Please direct all other inquiries to militaryfactory AT gmail.com. Several Kawasaki-built Loach helicopters were also flown by civilian customers for a variety of reasons, including emergency medical services, law enforcement tasks and for work in the agricultural sector. Once enemy positions opened fire at the Cayuse, they were destroyed by the mighty firepower of escorting Cobras. For most of the war, there was no formal Army training to prepare scout pilots and observers. Both Loach and Cobra have been in production, on and off, in one form or another ever since. The OH-6 was developed in response to the United States Army issuing Technical Specification 153 in 1960 to replace its Bell H-13 Sioux fleet. While in Target Area this helicopter was Attacking at 0060 feet and 010 knots. Flight Hours in Vietnam: 1,318 The OH-6 Cayuse was developed from specifications issued by the U.S. Army in 1960 for a light observation helicopter (LOH), and the familiar Loach nickname was derived from the acronym. You were killed, shot down, or got scared and quit. The Mojave is a large heavy-lift helicopter that was deployed in the Vietnam War in 1965 to assist in recovery of downed US aircraft, but it proved ineffective. The "loach" was the LOH (Light Observation Helicopter) or OH-6A. Other Army pilots, most of whom flew Cobras or Hueys, thought of Loach pilots as a little offbeat. In photo #2 you can see the nice graphics. 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 hunter-killer tactic worked well for a few years, but by the time the United States left Vietnam, it was obsolete, says Mills. . The AH-6 Little Bird Gun, a light attack helicopter, has been tested and proven in combat. 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. The Little Birds weaponry is a far cry from the M60 machine gun carried aboard a Loach in Vietnam: AH-6s can carry miniguns, rocket pods, grenade launchers, Hellfire missiles, and air-to-air Stinger missiles. The observers and gunners had even less experience. In August 1967, the AH-1G Cobra arrived in Vietnam. Served in Vietnam War during 1968 and 1970-1972 [14][15], During 1966, the OH-1 entered service with the U.S. Army. Some units were modified during the war with machine guns to act as gunships. A total of five prototypes were built, all of which were powered by a single Allison T63-A-5A turboshaft engine, capable of producing 252shp (188kW). Loach and Cobra were in constant radio communication, and because of the intensity of hunter-killer missions, it wasnt long before pairs in each type knew each other well enough to anticipate the others moves. The OH-6A Cayuse was quite effective when teamed with the AH-1G Cobra attack helicopter as part of what were known as Pink Teams. The Seasprite was an anti-submarine and anti-surface helicopter that had over-the-horizon targeting facilities. In 1966 it entered military service with the US Army. After around 10 hours at the controls of a Loach, the pilots were deemed worthy of flying in combat. He shares memories of his service and reflects on what the war meant to. Cobras generally attacked with rockets, preferred for long-range accuracy, switching to the less-accurate chin-mounted machine gun and grenade launcher only if they were far enough away from friendly troops or if the rocketsAH-1s could carry as many as 76 rocketsran out. The Cayuse could absorb an extensive amount of small arms fire and still bring the crew home safely. Loach crews regularly walked away from crashes that would doom others. Scout crews argued that the Kiowa was nowhere near as nimble as the Cayuse, but scouting flights were changing. Systems damaged were: FUEL SYS Books/Magazines Can include a combination of the following across two fuselage wingstubs (though some weapons operated from cabin doors): (Not all ordnance types may be represented in the showcase above), Hardpoint Mountings: 2 (if wingstub equipped). Another such gunner was 19-year-old Joel Boucher, drafted and sent to Vietnam from 1967 to 1969. The AH-1J SeaCobra was used later in the later stages of the Vietnam war. 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. Even trampled grass was a clue; it meant that enemy troops had passed through the area within eight hours, the time it took for grass to dry upright. I have come home with blood on my windshield. The Cobra is a single-engine attack helicopter produced by Bell Helicopter as a primary attack helicopter in the Vietnam War for aerial assaults or as air cavalry. As well, its tough frame made it safer than other helicopters during crashes, as its aluminum skin absorbed the energy and the structure protected the crew. On March 3, 2023, at a White House ceremony, retired Army Colonel Paris Davis received the Medal of Honor. The US Army subsequently reopened the LOH program to engineering companies, offering a new contract for 2,700 additional airframes. We flew down along the Ho Chi Minh Trail, he says of the supply route that wound through Vietnam and neighboring Laos and Cambodia. https://warandlifediscussions.weebly.com/Any veteran who served in any combat zone in any capacity is invited to contact Preston Jones: pjones@jbu.edu / (479) 524-7488 The OH-6A made its first flight in 1963. [13][3] Beginning in 2001, the JGSDF OH-6s were supplemented by the indigenously-developed Kawasaki OH-1, a more advanced observation helicopter. 79th Transportation Company: Jun 70 Jul 70 If you happen upon this text anywhere else on the internet or in print, please let us know at MilitaryFactory AT gmail DOT com so that we may take appropriate action against the offender / offending site and continue to protect this original work. 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. Onboard UH1 Huey helicopter (SN 66-163-56) was Aircraft Commander, WO William H. Seaborn Jr., myself as . One of the most dangerous helicopter assignments was a tiny scout helicopter known as the Loach. Officially designated the OH-6 Cayuse, these things were made of thin plexiglass and metal but were expected to fly low over the jungles and grass, looking for enemy forces hiding in the foliage. The task force, which had been designated as Task Force 158, was soon formed into the 160th Aviation Battalion. OA-6A 'Loach' Scout platoon. (7.62MM) The 1-245th AVN BN enlisted were sent to the Mississippi Army National Guard's Army Aviation Support Facility (AASF) at Gulfport, Mississippi, for two weeks of qualification training in the aircraft. Graphics are very well done, the whole model is very well done. The Loach helicopter was pitted against what was then known as the Bell Model 206. The Sea Stallion is a line of heavy-lift transport helicopters. Front left side view of the Hughes OH-6 Cayuse helicopter; color, Right side view of the Hughes OH-6 Loach in flight; color. A recontoured nose allowed for greater leg and head room. Helicopter took 1 hits from: 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). This was a Combat incident. 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. The Piasecki H-21 Workhorse was the fourth line of tandem rotor helicopters developed by Piasecki Helicopters. They chose the OH-6A scout helicopter to fill that role, and it became known as the Little Bird compared to the other aircraft in the task force, the MH-60 and the MH-47. MD-500E/MD-500MG/Defender II: Had a more elongated nose for streamlining, and an optional 4x blade tail rotor for reduced acoustic signatures. The Gyrodyne company built the Gyrodyne QH-50 DASH (Drone Anti-Submarine Helicopter) to combat submarines from a distance. 2 TOW missile pods (2 each) (He later transferred to the Air Force and flew F-4 Phantoms, and eventually became an airline captain.) I was flying wing and just dropped into the AO [Area of Operations]. To this day I am closer to those guys I flew with in Vietnam than my own brothers, says Mills. 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 used to look for and find the VC/NVA troops in Vietnam. The OH-6D was an improved version with more advanced electronics and heavier armament. It gained impetus with the advent of the Vietnam War, and was aided by advances in helicopter technology, specifically the development of the turboshaft engine. It was used prolifically because of its unique hovering abilities. A shaft ran to the tail and powered the two-blade rotor at the back. Moore served as an Army OH-6A Loach scout in IV Corps, South Vietnam, 1968-1969: Fort Apache, Vihn Long Province. When the opposing forces exposed themselves, the crew would call upon an accompanying Bell AH-1 Cobra to attack. The small-arms protection aircrewmen armor that was introduced in 1966 was a vest with pockets containing composite laminated plates commonly called chicken plates. Unit: DIR SUP / TRAN [26], During 1972, a pair of heavily modified OH-6As were utilized by the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) via Air America for a covert wire-tapping mission. Can a Helicopter Fly to the Top of Mount Everest. The SeaCobra was a twin-engine attack helicopter that was developed from the single-engine AH-1 Cobra helicopter. AH/MH-6J: US Army Special Operations variant derived from the MD-530MG. As of 2021, these records still stand. Required fields are marked *. In some areas, Purple Teamsone Loach and two Cobraswere also common, as were other variations.) These choppers were modified for combat rescue missions and had self-sealing fuel tanks, rescue hoist, and in-flight refueling abilities. It was mostly used to transport troops and cargo during the Vietnam war. The guidance systems on newer attack helicoptersoften working with or even controlling the cameras of reconnaissance droneshave relegated to history the hunter role in the hunter-killer missions. Adopted after. In one particular clandestine incident in 1972, known as the Vinh wiretap, a pair of OH-6As were heavily modified and used by the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) via Air America was used to infiltrate Vietnamese high level communications, providing valuable intelligence.