I REMEMBER
Short summation of several stories about taking some hits and having to make an unscheduled landing but making it back to Cu Chi under our own power. No Pipesmoke ride for us!
I recall taking rounds on three different occasions where we went down to see what part of the ship was hit.
First Incident
We took a round one day and the pilot said he had a vibration in his foot pedals. We landed and I checked the tail boom. Sure enough we took one through the tail rotor drive shaft about in the middle between two drive shaft support brackets. It was a clean shot just off center causing it to be out of balance. I thought it would get us home and it did. Easy fix! Replaced a section of drive shaft.
Second Incident
On another day/mission the pilot said he was losing pedal control after taking a hit. He got it down OK and I started looking for holes. I found one on the right side. I opened the cowling and saw where it went. One of the hydraulic reservoirs had a hole in it. By now it had leaked to the hole. I cleaned up what I could and used duct tape to cover the hole, then filled it fluid to the top. (I had lots of backup in the tail boom storage shelf.) Closed up everything and told the pilot what the problem was and said go home fast. We did and fixed it. I was up and flying next day!
Third Incident
On another day/mission we got into a fire fight supporting someone in trouble. Well, it wasn’t long till we got hit, losing some rotor RPM and in big trouble. The engine got hit and it sounded like a poorly maintained Model A engine. It was popping, cracking and back firing. The correct term for this was “Compressor Stall!” We landed and within minutes Armored Cavalry was protecting us as I removed cowling to see what had got hit. It took awhile but I found a hole in the forward part of the engine. We were losing some compression in the engine but I thought the hole was forward enough that we could get her home. It was going to be a noisy ride – and it was – but we made it home. This one was not an easy fix. The ship was close to the time of a PE inspection so we moved it up and during the PE I got a brand new engine. NEW! T53-l9a. It was like a new ship and I was a happy camper!!
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