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“The last thing you want is to get caught in the downward rotor wash of an aircraft in front or alongside you. That’ll cause you to use a lot more power to take off, and you’ll be struggling on a warm day to get back in the formation, with everyone behind you cussing you out. And that can happen on takeoff or once you’re in formation and we’re getting buffeted by updrafts and downdrafts.”
All twelve aircraft were in the air when, off in the distance, the earth erupted in small dirty explosions.
“We’re six minutes out now as the artillery will shoot from H minus six to H minus two. At H minus two, the gunships will roll in when they see a white smoke round hit the LZ, and at H minus one, we will commence firing. Got it?”
“Understood.” I was about to enter into my first combat assault. My pucker factor was now really sucking my shorts up my ass. I didn’t feel scared but anxious in anticipation of what was coming. This was nothing like flight school, but I felt confident in what I was about to do. We continued to move towards the impacting artillery, and at H minus two, a white phosphorous round hit the LZ.
“Tubes clear,” Lou said, “which means the artillery isn’t shooting any more. There go the Cobras.” Four AH-1G Cobra gunships from Second of the Twentieth Aerial Rocket Artillery Battalion, call sign “Blue Max” and carrying the “Blue Max” emblem on the side of their aircraft, moved out ahead of us in a dive and started firing 2.75-inch rockets from their tubes. Each aircraft carried forty-eight rockets and was laying them into the tree line. On one pass, those aircraft would expend all their rockets.
“H minus one. Gunners open u
p.” And Bennett and Brown went to town firing their guns into the tree line. More Cobra gunships from our own Delta Company, call sign “El Lobo,” who normally escorted us, were adding to the destruction. Lou was steady on the controls, watching the aircraft in front, as well as Chalk Five off to the left front, and the small trees and bushes in the LZ, careful not to hit one with the tail rotor. I was sitting there trying to absorb it all.
“Yellow One coming out.” Oh hell, we were on the ground maybe three seconds and this aircraft was empty. As the aircraft lifted up in order, Lou asked, “Any questions?”
“No. It gets a bit intense for those two minutes, doesn’t it?” I responded.
“You’ll get used to it pretty quick. Okay, you want to take it?” It wasn’t so much a question as a statement. Lou was in need of a cigarette.
“I have the aircraft,” I said as I settled into concentrating on Chalk Five and maintaining position off him.
As the day was getting warmer, some turbulence was felt, with updrafts and downdrafts that started a seesaw motion in the entire flight as each respective aircraft hit an updraft or a downdraft. Yellow One might be rising one hundred feet in an updraft and yet Chalk Four might be dropping one hundred feet in a downdraft. This ripple effect through the entire flight was making it increasingly difficult for me to maintain that one-rotor-blade staggered formation off Chalk Five. Then the inevitable happened. Chalk Five was in an updraft, I was in a downdraft and slipped into the downward rotor wash of Chalk Five, or so I thought. In order to maintain formation, I was pulling a lot more power to get back in formation, so much so that I was on the edge of forty percent N1, which was a red line. Exceeding it could over-torque the aircraft. I was struggling and Lou just sat there.
“I got it,” he finally said. I was crushed. Sliding the aircraft to the right, he took us out of the rotor wash and brought us back up into the formation, although the flight was still experiencing the updrafts and downdrafts. Next he slid the aircraft back to one-rotor-blade distance but took up a position slightly above Chalk Five so I was looking to my left and down slightly at the roof of Chalk Five.
“When in formation, make the other guy work for it. You should position yourself to be slightly above him so that you’re looking literally into his cockpit. Then you won’t get caught in his rotor wash and have to use too much power. A proper formation should have each succeeding aircraft slight above the aircraft in front of it. At night, we fly trail, and you’re going to want to line up the tail rotor hub of the aircraft in front of you with the exhaust housing of that aircraft. That’ll keep you above him and out of his rotor wash. Okay, we’re back in position, now take it.”
“I have the aircraft,” I said, thinking this was going to be a long day. We were turning to final and the grunts were positioned to receive us as they had done on the first lift. I wasn’t about to attempt to get nose to nose with the ground guide but selected an appropriate touchdown point a few feet back from him. I think he was disappointed that I didn’t nose him.
The crew cleared us, sounding off as I was about a foot up and settling down. Clearing the ground by the crew was important. Landing on a log would bend the skid of the aircraft, and landing on a stump could penetrate a fuel cell. Hitting a small sapling with the tail rotor would do damage ranging from a damaged blade to losing the entire tail rotor system, which would cause a serious and possibly explosive accident. In addition to watching below the aircraft, they were also watching the main rotor for possible tree strikes, which again could just damage the rotor blade or rip off the entire rotor head. The crew chief and door gunner were two more important sets of eyes. As the grunts piled on, Lou went over the takeoff with me again. Once everyone was on, the crew gave me a verbal thumbs-up, and as Lou had told me, I started pulling in power just to get us light on the skids as Chalk Five was still loading. I watched Chalk Three lift off, followed by Chalk Four, and saw Chalk Five getting light on his skids as I pulled in power and broke ground just enough not to get caught in the rotor wash that was already coming off Chalk Four in front of me. As Chalk Five moved forward, so did I, and I remained slightly above him.
Lou said, “Slide to the right a bit to stay out of Four’s rotor wash. That’s it, good. Okay, now get back into position again slightly above Five. See how being slightly above Five keeps you above Four’s rotor wash? Chalk Four’s rotor wash is the one you have to worry about, not Chalk Five. Rotor wash goes down and behind the aircraft, not much of a factor off to the side.”
Damn, I was concentrating on Chalk Five’s rotor wash and should have been looking at Chalk Four’s as he was the aircraft in front of me. Talk about feeling stupid. Lou could see I was a bit upset at myself.
“Don’t beat yourself up. They don’t teach that in flight school because they have you two rotor blades apart, and at that distance rotor wash is seldom a factor. Here we can’t afford the luxury of two rotor blades apart.”
Yellow One was turning onto his final approach. Unlike the initial insertion, there was no artillery fire or attack helicopters rolling hot as the LZ was secured by the infantry that we’d inserted on the first lift. What was different was, while we were picking up the second lift, CH-47s had brought in a small bulldozer in two pieces, and it was now pushing dirt to create a berm for the firebase perimeter. In addition, a backhoe was digging a hole for the two CONEX containers that would constitute the TOC when the firebase was finished. What had been a peaceful meadow in the middle of the jungle was now a beehive of construction activity.
Picking my touchdown point while maintaining formation, I was cleared by the crew. Even before I touched the ground, the grunts, who at this point were standing on the skids, started jumping off. This time I was on the ground maybe two seconds and Yellow One was already lifting off with everyone else in hot pursuit. As we were coming up, Lou took the controls.
“Lou, may I have one of your cigarettes?” I asked.
“I thought you didn’t smoke,” he said while handing me his lighter. I already had the pack in my hand.
“I don’t.” I inhaled, wishing it was a cold beer instead. Lou took us in for the next and last turn on this mission, and as before, the troops were waiting. All were grunts, but some were mortar men with their equipment, and it appeared that all these grunts had some heavier equipment than just a pack and rifle. Ammo and C-rations were being tossed on the aircraft too. Again the crew cleared us for takeoff, and Lou took us out. As we came back to the LZ, construction of the firebase was still underway, but in our absence, a battery of five 105 mm howitzers had been added to the firebase and was receiving ammo from a sling under a CH-47. Although it was only 1000 hours, this firebase would be operational by sundown.
“Flight, this is Yellow One. Heading to Bien Hoa for refuel. Aircraft commanders, meet me when done for mission briefs on extraction.”
“Yellow One, you are arty clear to Bien Hoa,” Chalk Two responded.
“Roger, Two.”
“Yellow One, Chalk Three, over.”
“Yellow One, Bien Hoa Tower says you are cleared to land if we stay on the north side.”
“Roger, Three.”
