A note about the L-19, which was used in-country, but not for missions
north of the DMZ: The L-19 is/was similar to the Cessna 180, except that
the 180 sits four and the L-19 is narrowed down to two seats, fore and
aft. With the windows closed, it is easy to look beneath the aircraft
without banking. The O-2/337 was really not designed for this. I had to
bank to see what was under me. Near the Ho Chi Minh Trail, and other hot
spots, I kept the nose moving. Never do the same thing for more that a
second or so. It took about three seconds for the $HIT to get to my
altitude. If the bad guys looked at my speed and direction and figured out
where I was going to be in three seconds, I made sure I wasn't there...

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