Bushranger,
Perhaps you forgot what a "staggered trail" formation looks like?
Those nice pretty Vee's (Vic's to some" were not used often...and then usually only in Vee's of three not five's.
Just how do you keep a Huey gunship out of sound range...and achieve timely response?
With approximatley 7,000 helicopters in South Vietnam at the peak of the War...it was said a Huey could be heard from border to sea, DMZ to Ca Mau at any time of the day or night.
Landing on an unprepped LZ with bad guys in position was a very bad choice....much worse than a fully prepped (Air, Arty, Gun Ship, Smoke Ship, and Lift Birds door guns) even if brush fires and the stench of cordite permeated the area. Least ways the Gomers were ducking and weaving while all the boom-bang was falling around their heads.