Bullhunter
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318th FIS Jet Shop 1975-78
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Post by Bullhunter on Jan 10, 2010 16:04:04 GMT 9
Last October we visited the Air & Space Museum near Dullas Airport.
I took this photo of my wife near the type of choppers she flew Med - Evac on in West Germany.
Anyone ever in VA this place is very worth checking out.
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Post by Gene on Jan 10, 2010 16:46:14 GMT 9
 my first chopper...1965 norton 750cc... photo 1971 :king :us_flag |
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Post by steve201 (deceased) on Jan 11, 2010 10:14:55 GMT 9
oh man...seeing these huey's reallllly brings back a crazy memory.... our sqdn shared the hanger with the sac's huey's and I was talking with a lt. that flew one...we were shooting the bull and he was giving me a nickel tour of the thing...I'd seen em alot there but never got to get close before...he invited me to fly with them..all I had to do was go into ops and sign up for a jafo flight...(just another f#cking observer)....they had me sign up on a roster and gave me a push time the next day of 1:30...it was an escort flight to a missile silo in grand forks No. Dak... well...back then being as young and stupid as I usually was..the next day,I went to the bowling alley for lunch...I mean...that was one of my favorite lunches..hotdogs..chips and a 7up....I know I was young and stupid but it never occured to me that lunch would be an issue...more on this later... well...1pm came around and I walked across the hanger to ops...signed in for the flight...walked out with the crew to preflight the helo...my job was to sit in back and look out the window....not hard you would think.....wellllllll???...not so....they gave me a headset...and binoculars to look for anything suspicious...after all..this was a nuke missile.... I climbed aboard after the pilot signed for the aircraft from the crew chief....and then engine start...rotors started turning....cleared from the tower...and away we went....boy was this cool!!!....I was in a huey!!!....whop whop whop...... we (hm...hovered?  ) over to the main taxi ramp then started picking up speed to leave the base.... remember me telling you that we were to provide air support for the missile crew going out to a silo??..well..we were on hold outside the base doing circles waiting for the commander to sign out the missile for transport to the silo....while we were on hold....doing circles...I started not feeling well.....to top it all off...I'd just got told that our pilot was fresh from Nam...so...I think he was a little crazy.....ok...I know he was crazy.... finally the missile was leaving the base and away we went..once the convoy of 2 security cop trucks....missile....missile maintenance crews....then another cop truck made their way down the roads(all back roads I might add)....the crazy pilot started in on doing gun runs from about 1500 ft down to 300 ft..then pulling up into a steep climb and then back again......after about a dozen of these attack runs my hotdogs, chips and 7up...along with my combat boot strings, wallet, and anything else you could think of all came up to revisit me.....2 bags full....I was good though...I screamed give me a barf bag quick!!!...got hit in the face with about 4 of em....filled 2.....was sick as a dog...I mean wanting to throw myself out the door sick and walk back to base!!!... the pilot realizing I'd lost everything twice over.... calmed his flying down and let me settle down....about 2 hrs later we are back at the base...I'm kissing the ground and to this day I still can't stand the smell of a 7up.......it took me over 10 yrs to eat a hot dog....chips are ok..but not in combination with hotdogs....... that's my story and I'm sticking with it...... but I still love helo's....100,000 parts all flying in the wrong directions... Steve |
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Bullhunter
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318th FIS Jet Shop 1975-78
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Post by Bullhunter on Jan 11, 2010 11:08:21 GMT 9
steve,,,,,, thats a cute story and you should enter it in the contest. Not to let Gene post a chopper all himself I submit my chopper: 1972 model 350 Honda.  :  : : |
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Post by steve201 (deceased) on Jan 11, 2010 12:13:48 GMT 9
what contest??
Steve
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Post by pat perry on Jan 11, 2010 12:18:02 GMT 9
Steve, Check out the Tall Tales thread. Pat P. |
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Post by steve201 (deceased) on Jan 11, 2010 12:37:00 GMT 9
well...seeing's how I've just read all the posts on this one..I'd be afraid of being in competition with Bull as a BS'r....  ...just kidding bull....I do feel it was an uncalled for attack... on another note....since I was stationed at Travis AFB...my ole roomy and myself had stayed in touch with each other..he moved to Las vegas to make his fortune only to die penny less....I moved all over the country after college to make a living and career...Larry always had plans of making a million bucks on crazy stuff....he ended up with throat cancer that didn't get treatment until it was too late.... he called me and finally asked me to come down to Vegas ....I took a flight down right after work one friday ....the wife said it was ok and that she would stay home..normally I'd take her with me... when I got to vegas...I found the rental car company and my hotel to check in..then gave larry a call...I picked him up and I was stunned...between the chemo and lack of food...he literally looked like death warmed over...just like someone pulled up a corpse from the ground and walked him around....Larry was always fit and had jet black hair....we'd been friends since the mid 70's....I'd held him when he was divorced and crying...took him to the airport when he won custody of his son from an unfit mother.....we'd been almost like brothers..... well...we went to a big casino and had a nice dinner...which he couldn't hardly eat from the radiation treatments in his throat... next day he wanted to show me some of vegas...here he is sick as a dog and wanting to take me out and show me the town...well...after some of vegas's sights, he took me to the hoover dam for a tour....of course I paid for everything and although it was a good tour...I really couldn't enjoy it much....so.....on the way back at this casino right outside the dam...they had Helo tours on a jet ranger....larry got all excited and said he wanted to make sure I got to see a good show....so..again I paid for the helo ride and asked to stick larry up on the left seat....which he got to do...man....seeing larry's face all lit up with a grin from ear to ear was worth every dime of it.....the helo drive took off and headed over the dam....I asked for a second spin for larry and then we came back to the helo pad at the casino....larry was all pumped up and smiling like crazy.....I slipped the pilot an extra 10 spot for it and we left... larry was rattling about the ride all the way back to my hotel where I dropped off some souveniers to take back... we then went out to see the belagio fountains and he really wanted to show me cesars palace....amazing place....after that and walking the strip for a bit...larry was getting really tired and I took him home....we said goodby and larrry told me thanks for coming brother....I almost lost it then and to this day well up from that comment.....he knew we'd never see each other again and true to his feelings...he died 3 weeks later...I was just going to call him that day when his family called me to notify me of the funeral....it was tough to get off work so...I missed the funeral ....but I lost a friend that week of over 30 yrs......... but that helo ride was the hilight of his life cuz it was special....2 guys that were bonded by the AF... Steve |
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Bullhunter
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318th FIS Jet Shop 1975-78
Currently: Offline
Posts: 7,445
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Joined: May 2005
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Post by Bullhunter on Jan 11, 2010 18:18:52 GMT 9
Steve,,,,Not a problem, we are all military mates in here and we can joke with one another. crap I've bee referred to as worse at times.  That is a very touching story. I'm truly sorry for the loss of your friend. I've lost my Dad, Mom, two Uncles, & a cousin. Plus a few friends along the way. We have a hand full of people in our church with cancer and you see it everywhere with people. The problem with getting older as we start loosing more and more people who are dear to us. I have my 57th birthday in about 2 weeks and I'm not really happy about putting another year behind me. :god_bless_usa to all. |
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Post by steve201 (deceased) on Jan 11, 2010 23:43:52 GMT 9
you mean I'm older'n you???....dang!!!...I'll be 58 in apr....we have GOT to meet up for a soda/beer
thanks....over the yrs I've lost both parents/grandparents/nephew/2 roomies and a bunch of friends from work.....I came close to dying myself from an auto immune disease 10 yrs ago....so...for me...every day is a gift....
life's short...enjoy the ride....
Steve
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Post by lugnuts55 on Jan 12, 2010 10:06:11 GMT 9
steve201, I loved the story about your ride in a Huey. I took a ride on one when I was at Minot.
My pilot must not have been in Vietnam because he didn't do any of the things you described. I did like the take-offs where he stood it up on it's nose and went parallel to the ground for a bit before lifting.
The mission was shuttling missile crews back and forth from base to silos and back. It was about three hours long and I enjoyed each minute. We even chased a herd of antelope across a field. Otherwise pretty uneventful. Still a good ride, though.
There was one disappointment, I would have been allowed to ride up front but they needed to check out another pilot so I got to ride with the missile crews. Rowdy bunch of guys. Probably from being stuck in that hole on the ground for as long as they had to be there.
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Post by Gene on Jan 12, 2010 11:48:38 GMT 9
steve,,,,,, thats a cute story and you should enter it in the contest. Not to let Gene post a chopper all himself I submit my chopper: 1972 model 350 Honda.  sweet machine  :us_flag |
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Post by steve201 (deceased) on Jan 12, 2010 12:16:41 GMT 9
Yeah...we had those trips too...but I got on the missile escort ride... like you..loved the take off also...the ride back to the ramp was fun....that's for another story...haha Steve steve201, I loved the story about your ride in a Huey. I took a ride on one when I was at Minot. My pilot must not have been in Vietnam because he didn't do any of the things you described. I did like the take-offs where he stood it up on it's nose and went parallel to the ground for a bit before lifting. The mission was shuttling missile crews back and forth from base to silos and back. It was about three hours long and I enjoyed each minute. We even chased a herd of antelope across a field. Otherwise pretty uneventful. Still a good ride, though. There was one disappointment, I would have been allowed to ride up front but they needed to check out another pilot so I got to ride with the missile crews. Rowdy bunch of guys. Probably from being stuck in that hole on the ground for as long as they had to be there. |
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) over to the main taxi ramp then started picking up speed to leave the base....
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