Bush Flying, pt 3 - Beaver 11.jpg (1/1)

Stormin' Norman wrote in
:

On Wed, 23 Jan 2019 07:39:48 -0600, Mitchell Holman
wrote:

De Havilland made some very impressive aircraft. Thanks for posting.



"Anything you can close the door on"
was the byword for what a Beaver could
carry..........

In article , Mitchell Holman
says...

Stormin' Norman wrote in
:

On Wed, 23 Jan 2019 07:39:48 -0600, Mitchell Holman
wrote:

De Havilland made some very impressive aircraft. Thanks for posting.



"Anything you can close the door on"
was the byword for what a Beaver could
carry..........




My aviation company in VNam had three of them in addition to helicopters. I
wound up about as far south as you can go in SVietnam and at midnight had to fly
one back to Saigon...the site was unsecure so we couldn't stay overnight. The
pilot was fixed wing qualified but outranked me...a first lieutenant...he gave
me the controls to fly as soon as we were airborne while he went to sleep!

As there was no electricity in those days the only visible lights on the horizon
were the city of Saigon in the far distance...had to fly on instruments almost
the entire flight...easier to do than in a helicopter.

Flew unto an island, landing it on a open field...you can't lock the doors so we
took what we could while visiting some of our personnel...what was left in the
U-6 was stolen! Found out later the Vietnamese name of the island translated to
"Island of Thieves"

On another flight, the prop seal broke while in flight causing oil to splatter
all over the windscreen...since we couldn't very well, the pilot had to land
while sticking his head out the side window to see where he was landing as he
was bringing it in.

....but great plane...reliable radial engine...will go anywhere...carry just
about anything...forgiving to fly but loud!



*

Miloch wrote in
:

In article , Mitchell
Holman says...

Stormin' Norman wrote in
m:

On Wed, 23 Jan 2019 07:39:48 -0600, Mitchell Holman
wrote:

De Havilland made some very impressive aircraft. Thanks for
posting.



"Anything you can close the door on"
was the byword for what a Beaver could
carry..........




My aviation company in VNam had three of them in addition to
helicopters. I wound up about as far south as you can go in SVietnam
and at midnight had to fly one back to Saigon...the site was unsecure
so we couldn't stay overnight. The pilot was fixed wing qualified but
outranked me...a first lieutenant...he gave me the controls to fly as
soon as we were airborne while he went to sleep!

As there was no electricity in those days the only visible lights on
the horizon were the city of Saigon in the far distance...had to fly
on instruments almost the entire flight...easier to do than in a
helicopter.

Flew unto an island, landing it on a open field...you can't lock the
doors so we took what we could while visiting some of our
personnel...what was left in the U-6 was stolen! Found out later the
Vietnamese name of the island translated to "Island of Thieves"

On another flight, the prop seal broke while in flight causing oil to
splatter all over the windscreen...since we couldn't very well, the
pilot had to land while sticking his head out the side window to see
where he was landing as he was bringing it in.


If Lindergh could land with no
forward view, well..........



...but great plane...reliable radial engine...will go anywhere...carry
just about anything...forgiving to fly but loud!


The one I flew in Texas was of
the "check the gas and fill the oil"
variety.

In article , Mitchell Holman
says...

Miloch wrote in
:

In article , Mitchell
Holman says...

Stormin' Norman wrote in
:

On Wed, 23 Jan 2019 07:39:48 -0600, Mitchell Holman
wrote:

De Havilland made some very impressive aircraft. Thanks for
posting.



"Anything you can close the door on"
was the byword for what a Beaver could
carry..........




My aviation company in VNam had three of them in addition to
helicopters. I wound up about as far south as you can go in SVietnam
and at midnight had to fly one back to Saigon...the site was unsecure
so we couldn't stay overnight. The pilot was fixed wing qualified but
outranked me...a first lieutenant...he gave me the controls to fly as
soon as we were airborne while he went to sleep!

As there was no electricity in those days the only visible lights on
the horizon were the city of Saigon in the far distance...had to fly
on instruments almost the entire flight...easier to do than in a
helicopter.

Flew unto an island, landing it on a open field...you can't lock the
doors so we took what we could while visiting some of our
personnel...what was left in the U-6 was stolen! Found out later the
Vietnamese name of the island translated to "Island of Thieves"

On another flight, the prop seal broke while in flight causing oil to
splatter all over the windscreen...since we couldn't very well, the
pilot had to land while sticking his head out the side window to see
where he was landing as he was bringing it in.


If Lindergh could land with no
forward view, well..........



...but great plane...reliable radial engine...will go anywhere...carry
just about anything...forgiving to fly but loud!


The one I flew in Texas was of
the "check the gas and fill the oil"
variety.


One of the U-6 pilots in my unit got a mission at 5PM...was so ****ed off about
the late afternoon mission, he forgot to pull the gust locks off the elevator
and stalled out during take-off...pan-caked it and the damage was high enough
for it to be considered a "major accident"...it was his second accident in the
same aircraft...worse part for me was that I was the unit's "Aviation Safety
Officer"...one of my many many extra duties.

There was a small fire with the pilot injured...never heard from him after that
one.




*

In article , Mitchell Holman
says...

Miloch wrote in
:

In article , Mitchell
Holman says...

Stormin' Norman wrote in
:

On Wed, 23 Jan 2019 07:39:48 -0600, Mitchell Holman
wrote:

De Havilland made some very impressive aircraft. Thanks for
posting.



"Anything you can close the door on"
was the byword for what a Beaver could
carry..........




My aviation company in VNam had three of them in addition to
helicopters. I wound up about as far south as you can go in SVietnam
and at midnight had to fly one back to Saigon...the site was unsecure
so we couldn't stay overnight. The pilot was fixed wing qualified but
outranked me...a first lieutenant...he gave me the controls to fly as
soon as we were airborne while he went to sleep!

As there was no electricity in those days the only visible lights on
the horizon were the city of Saigon in the far distance...had to fly
on instruments almost the entire flight...easier to do than in a
helicopter.

Flew unto an island, landing it on a open field...you can't lock the
doors so we took what we could while visiting some of our
personnel...what was left in the U-6 was stolen! Found out later the
Vietnamese name of the island translated to "Island of Thieves"

On another flight, the prop seal broke while in flight causing oil to
splatter all over the windscreen...since we couldn't very well, the
pilot had to land while sticking his head out the side window to see
where he was landing as he was bringing it in.


If Lindergh could land with no
forward view, well..........



...but great plane...reliable radial engine...will go anywhere...carry
just about anything...forgiving to fly but loud!


Plain and simple....



*