re: What Is Your Favorite Military Helicopter?

Coolest looking I think is the KA-52.


Besides that, I'd have to say the MH-47.

This is the AH-1G Cobra aircraft, the world’s first Attack Helicopter. I flew this aircraft in combat, over 1400hrs combat time, Cambodia and Vietnam. The reason this is my favorite aircraft is because it was the last “fly by the seat of your pants” Attach Helicopter aircraft, G Model. It was like a WWI aircraft, a bi-plane in the way it flew. Rockets were fired with as much art and skill as the engineering involved in the rockets, their fuel and motor designs. A pilot had to take in windage and related rocket drift as a result when firing the rockets. It took a lot of skill, in combat one has little time to pull all the relevant issues together, setup the aircraft, fire and hit the intended target - in a timely fashion.

Below are two of four configurations we used:





This is the Heavy Hog configuration, 76 rockets, 38 pair. Could carry a 10 lb. and 17 lb. war heads of varying types. Rocket motor burn out was 1200 meters, or 3900 feet. We took on 51 cal machine guns, usually 3 at a time that were setup in a triangle, one 51 would have tracers to get your attention purposely to lure you in, the other two 51’s would not have tracers and were harder to spot. Roll in on the one with tracers because you could see it, the others would open up on you and kill you dead, unless you knew how this all worked.

Kill range of a 51 cal machine gun was 5000 feet, rocket motor burn out on the our rockets was 3900 feet, we had to fly 1100 feet into their kill zone before we could fire our first pair of rockets, yep it was a mother fkr.



This configuration with a 20MM Cannon, Gatling gun design, allowed us to out gun the 51 cal and finally we could take them on "Head to Head", much better chance to survive when you can take them on directly. I would not be alive if it were not for this gun, saved my life and saved others lives at the same time.

The 20MM did not come on the scene till mid 1970, so we did not have it as a weapon till then.

The aircraft carried 770 rounds, with varying types of warheads on the rounds. The concussion when firing was so violent to the airframe when we fired it that the front seat pilot had to hold his door closed as it would open while the 20MM was fired in a gun run, and the instruments in the instrument panel would back out of their locations and required pushing back in with your left hand while firing the weapon with your right hand, also other warning light systems of the SAS system, 5 Warning lights as I recall, would unscrew and back out of their sockets.

So you are taking on maybe multiple 51’s, the front seat is holding his door closed with both hands, unable to use his front gun turret, the back seat is firing the 20MM and pushing instruments back into the instrument panel and screwing the SAS warning lights back into their sockets, so they will not fall to the floor of the aircraft and perhaps jam the pedals, all with the left hand, while flying the aircraft with his feet and right hand, firing the weapon as accurately as possible for a kill. Because somebody is about to die for sure, it is either you or them. A Gun Team, 2 Cobras, rarely got a second gun run on a 51 cal, without suffering aircraft damage to at least one of the Cobra's at minimum.

Light Horse - The Bastard Cav

Oh it had to have been no doubt
No other way to describe the Hindu Kush mountains in the winter time

It was unreal to me to even see some form of snow on some of the mountains in July

quote:

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Awesome description. Thanks for writing.

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You bet, she was awesome to fly, 180kts in a dive, 36" wide, not counting the Wing Stores that held the rocket pods

and

Thanks Buddy, there were a lot of us that answered the call, my combat units, D Trp 3/5 Cavalry and C 3/17th Air Cavalry is in its 24th yearly reunion, we are like family, truly.

Light Horse - The Bastard Cav

Boeing–Sikorsky RAH-66 Comanche

Shithook. Accept no substitutes.

The camera frame rate is synched with the main rotor rotational speed giving the visual effect that the blades are stationary.

USCG HH-65 Dolphin, always loved the way those puppies sounded.