Kaman H-43

Author: Wayne Mutza
Publisher: Schiffer Military History
ISBN: 9780764305290
Category : Technology & Engineering
Languages : en
Pages : 0

Book Description
Having spent much of its quarter century of military service in the shadows of more glamorous aircraft, the tough, hard-working H-43 helicopter is brought to the forefront in this long overdue account. Recounting the personal experiences of aircrews, and with dramatic incidents and exclusive illustrations, Wayne Mutza brings to light the H-43's unique development and numerous accomplishments. The complete details of the helicopter's colorful past, which have long remained in obscurity, are presented for the first time in this fascinating volume. Coverage includes early U.S. Navy and Marine Corps Service, U.S. Air Force crash-rescue, combat in Southeast Asia, foreign use, commercial operators, and unusual variants and survivors. Whether pulling flyers from fiery crashes, rescuing airmen from enemy lairs in the jungles of Southeast Asia, aiding hurricane victims, or flying plane guard duty off carriers, the H-43 proved itself a most distinct and capable brand of helicopter.

The Longest Rescue

Author: Glenn Robins
Publisher: University Press of Kentucky
ISBN: 081314325X
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 296

Book Description
While serving as a crew chief aboard a U.S. Air Force Rescue helicopter, Airman First Class William A. Robinson was shot down and captured in Ha Tinh Province, North Vietnam, on September 20, 1965. After a brief stint at the "Hanoi Hilton," Robinson endured 2,703 days in multiple North Vietnamese prison camps, including the notorious Briarpatch and various compounds at Cu Loc, known by the inmates as the Zoo. No enlisted man in American military history has been held as a prisoner of war longer than Robinson. For seven and a half years, he faced daily privations and endured the full range of North Vietnam's torture program. In The Longest Rescue: The Life and Legacy of Vietnam POW William A. Robinson, Glenn Robins tells Robinson's story using an array of sources, including declassified U.S. military documents, translated Vietnamese documents, and interviews from the National Prisoner of War Museum. Unlike many other POW accounts, this comprehensive biography explores Robinson's life before and after his capture, particularly his estranged relationship with his father, enabling a better understanding of the difficult transition POWs face upon returning home and the toll exacted on their families. Robins's powerful narrative not only demonstrates how Robinson and his fellow prisoners embodied the dedication and sacrifice of America's enlisted men but also explores their place in history and memory.

Helicopters

Author: Stanley S. McGowen
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing USA
ISBN: 1851094733
Category : Technology & Engineering
Languages : en
Pages : 368

Book Description
First envisioned by Leonardo da Vinci and first deployed in World War II, the helicopter is now a universal icon of modern warfare, a key component of combat planning around the world, and one of the military's most versatile and effective tools. Helicopters: An Illustrated History of Their Impact covers the development of helicopters from a concept in Leonardo daVinci's mind to the first successful machines in the early 1900s to the latest tilt-rotor designs. Time and again, in a story of constant innovation, designers answered the concerns of military planners with more maneuverable, more capable rotorcraft. With expert analysis and specific details of every significant model ever used, Helicopters shows how these once denigrated machines became essential to a variety of missions (reconnaissance, transport, attack, support, evacuation, urban combat, quick strikes behind enemy lines, and more). In addition, the book looks at the impact of rotorcraft beyond the military, including their ever-widening role in emergency medical care, police work, traffic control, agriculture, news reporting, and more.

Under the Cover of Light

Author: Carole Engle Avriett
Publisher: NavPress
ISBN: 1496421604
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 304

Book Description
In 1965, Col. Thomas “Jerry” Curtis’s helicopter was shot down over North Vietnam. He was immediately captured and spent 71⁄2 years confined in a filthy 5′ x 7′ cell at the notorious Hanoi prison camp. Thousands of miles from home and unable to communicate with his wife and children, Jerry endured months of solitary confinement, suffocating heat, freezing cold, grueling physical and psychological torture, constant hunger, and unimaginable mental duress. And yet, time and again, the Light that darkness cannot overcome became his beacon of hope. Now, for the first time in print, Jerry shares the full story of his 2,703 days in captivity and what he learned about faith, hope, and the indomitable power of the human spirit.

Loach!

Author: Wayne Mutza
Publisher: Schiffer Pub Limited
ISBN: 9780764323430
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 144

Book Description
Don't be fooled by the small size of the H-6/Model 500 helicopter. In the scout role in Vietnam, OH-6As and their aircrew became legends for their high-risk work in the low-level environment. Wayne Mutza presents the small, dynamic helicopter's story in this well-written, superbly detailed, and lavishly illustrated volume. Much of the OH-6A's combat record in Vietnam is told in firsthand accounts. Mutza offers fascinating insight to the helicopter's controversial beginning, its development, and its service with the Army National Guard, the Army's flight demonstration team, worldwide operators, and law enforcement agencies. In addition, the reader is treated to an entire chapter devoted to the Little Birds of Special Operations. Also included are appendices with factual data, and more than sixty emblems. It's all here in this highly readable volume.

Unforgotten in the Gulf of Tonkin

Author: Eileen A. Bjorkman
Publisher: U of Nebraska Press
ISBN: 1640123652
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 253

Book Description
On November 18, 1965, U.S. Navy pilot Willie Sharp ejected from his F-8 fighter after being hit while positioned over a target in North Vietnam. With a cloud layer beneath him, he did not know if he was over land—where he would most certainly be captured or killed by the North Vietnamese—or over the Gulf of Tonkin. As he ejected, both navy and air force aircraft were already heading toward him to help. What followed was a dramatic rescue made by pilots and other airmen with little or no training or experience in combat search-and-rescue. Told by former military flight test engineer Eileen A. Bjorkman, this story includes nail-biting descriptions of air combat, flight, and rescue. Bjorkman places Sharp’s story in the larger context of the U.S. military’s bedrock credo—No Man Left Behind—and calls attention to the more than eighty thousand Americans still missing from conflicts since World War I. She also explores the devastating aftershocks of the Vietnam War as Sharp struggled with post-traumatic stress disorder. Woven into this gripping tale is the fascinating history of combat search-and-rescue missions that officially began in World War II. Combining the cockiness and camaraderie of Top Gun with the heroics of Sully, Unforgotten in the Gulf of Tonkin is a riveting tale of combat rescue and an unforgettable story about the U.S. military’s commitment to leave no man behind.

The Helicopter

Author: Patrick Allen
Publisher: Airlife Publishing
ISBN:
Category : Transportation
Languages : en
Pages : 156

Book Description
Told mainly through photographs from museums, manufacturers and private individuals, this book traces the development of the helicopter from its earliest stages to the present day.

The Illustrated History of Helicopters

Author: Michael Heatley
Publisher: Holiday House
ISBN: 9780671075279
Category : Transportation
Languages : en
Pages : 120

Book Description
A leading authority on mankind's most fascinating way to fly presents a fullyillustrated and exhausitve text on helicopters and their history.

Marines and Helicopters, 1946-1962

Author: Eugene W. Rawlins
Publisher: CreateSpace
ISBN: 9781500102852
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 122

Book Description
During the early stages of helicopter development, when helicopters were able to lift just slightly more than their own weight, the military services were eagerly seeking to obtain a variety of larger, more useful helicopters. The youthful helicopter industry expressed optimism, although at times unrealistic, in its ability to meet the military requirements. The development of the helicopter program within the Marine Corps was sparked by the foresight and imagination of the officers of the period. While early helicopters provided stepping stones for an orderly progression of the program, the slowness of the technical advances and the periods of financial austerity after World War II and Korea prevented the Marine Corps from developing the vertical envelopment concept as rapidly as desired. The program gained interest and momentum, however, as a result of the success of helicopters in Korea. As Lieutenant General Gerald C. Thomas stated: "Indeed, the helicopter gave clear evidence, from its first tactical employment, that a major advance in combat was at hand." This history, which traces the development of helicopters in the Marine Corps from 1946 to 1962, offers a tribute to the creative vision and planning of a handful of Marine officers who conceived of the vertical assault concept in amphibious operations at a time when suitable aircraft to make it work did not exist. The story of the subsequent struggle to procure and develop those aircraft, to refine a doctrine for their employment, and to familiarize the Marine Corps with their use is an interesting and vital part of modern Marine Corps history. The documentary basis for this monograph was primarily the official records of the Marine Corps and Navy Department, but considerable use was made of interviews and correspondence with key individuals involved in all phases of helicopter development.

Bell 47/H-13 Sioux Helicopter

Author: Wayne Mutza
Publisher: Schiffer Military History
ISBN: 9780764353765
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 112

Book Description
Famously pictured in the opening credits of the popular television series M.A.S.H., Bell's Model 47 helicopter was the first helicopter certified for civilian use in March 1946 and went on to serve a wide variety of military and civilian applications. With its signature bubble canopy, the Model 47, and particularly its H-13 Sioux military variant, served in both Korea and Vietnam. It became a stalwart in civilian aviation with a variety of uses: agricultural aerial sprayer, aerial firefighting, police work, aerial oil exploration, medevac, news coverage, and mail service. More than 5,600 Model 47s were built, many under license in Japan, Italy, and the United Kingdom. The type retains its popularity in the civilian market to this day.