What did you see in the back of a hanger in SE Asia?

[hanoijane]

A fairly unimportant but interesting part of my life revolves around attempting to locate long-forgotten military airframes lurking in the dark recesses of ancient hangers in SE Asia. Thailand is a no-go area for me but Laos, Cambodia and Viet Nam aren't.

I wonder if any of your correspondents on their 'travels' in this region many years ago came across any such relics? Yes, things have changed in the interim, but my Vietnamese bothers and sisters can be surprisingly lax as regards moving things (and the Laotians are so bloody lazy they wouldn't move stuff even if it was resting on their foot...).. If the building still exists, chances are the airframe will still be there too. So if you were annoyed by an old Bearcat taking up valuable hanger space as you struggled to service your Hueys back in '69, please point out where this happened and I'll have someone check it out. Thanks!

Mods; if this is wrong section for this topic, please redirect as you see fit.

[Wwyvern]

In 1995, whilst looking for suitable landing strips to support oil exploration in what used to be called Irian Jaya in the far east of Indonesia, we say and photographed the remains of Japanese Zero and other fighter aircraft. They had been abandoned at the end of WWII. They were on either Babo or Meyado airstrips.

Best of luck!!

[Faithless]

Not SE Asia But up North, lots of "Old" Nimrods on an airfield not doing much!:sad:

[sablatnic]

Old as in "Nimrods with Kestrels"?

[SkyHawk-N]

How about ten+ Spads? (http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=en&geocode=&q=Bien+hoa,+vietnam&sll=37.996163,-95.712891&sspn=25.129561,72.333984&ie=UTF8&hq=&hnear=Bien+Hoa,+Dong+Nai,+Vietnam&ll=10.968257,106.826296&spn=0.002444,0.007306&t=h&z=18)

Do I get a finders fee?

[Jimlad1]

You are the individual from DE&S responsible for sorting our next generation aircraft procurement, and I claim my £10 :E

[TorqueOfTheDevil]

back of a hanger


A dodgy suit?

I'll get my coat.

Pun intended.

I'll get my coat.

Sorry :oh:

[hanoijane]

Wwyvern: New Guinea? Beyond my remit I'm afraid, but interesting nevertheless. The next time I'm in the region I'll certainly take a peek. Any pics you'd care to share?

Faithless: Well, we can't all make wise purchasing decisions. Better luck next time :).

SkyHawk-N: No, no finders fee, we knew they were there :) But you see what I mean about never moving stuff? As far as I'm aware, they've sat there since you fellows left. We can't bear to throw things away, but we can't find anything useful to do with them either. Make us a (very good) offer and you can have them back.

Jimlad1: Skyraiders. You need Skyraiders. About 10 plus assorted spares.

[West Coast]

How 'bout Africa?

Plenty of (at least at the time) of Migs and other air force type of kit scattered around the Mogidishu airport.

[Agaricus bisporus]

West coast, all long gone my friend, not that they were much use after they'd been buldozed into the dunes. I wonder if the allegedly new boxed Avon is still acting as a beehive on the apron at Hargeisa? I think I can just see it on Google Earth. The Sukhoi and MiG have gone from there too.

[NutLoose]

There was an article in flypast or Aeroplane mag a few years ago showing a load of spads, a couple or providers etc if memory serves me correctly, it also showed rows of unopened radial engines on some dockside, they popped the lid on one and it was corroded, they popped it on another and there was a hiss as the seal broke and it was mint, they said there was a row of them and they were I believe spad ones.

Here you go,

Boeing CH-47A Chinook helicopters left behind in Vietnam. (http://www.chinook-helicopter.com/news/Derelict_Vietnam_Chinooks/Left_Behind.html)

http://www.chinook-helicopter.com/news/Derelict_Vietnam_Chinooks/Derilict_Vietnam_CH-47A_9.jpg

http://www.chinook-helicopter.com/news/Derelict_Vietnam_Chinooks/Derilict_Vietnam_CH-47A_10.jpg


http://www.chinook-helicopter.com/news/Derelict_Vietnam_Chinooks/Derilict_Vietnam_CH-47A_14.jpg

[thorpey]

Are the C 130's ex USAF as well?

[fallmonk]

Bit off gaffa tape and a lick of paint and we could solve the helicopter shortage over in Afganistan with they ex American chins ;-)

[hanoijane]

Nutloose: Those pictures were taken at Tan Son Nhat and you'll find most of those airframes are still there, just off to the west of the apron for the domestic flights. There is even more interesting stuff inside the nearby hangers, but I know nothing of that...:) I think you'll find your Chinook airframe has been patched up and moved to the War Crimes Museum in downtown Sai Gon; that was the plan anyway.

And, tsk tsk, the rest of you aren't reading and understanding. Either that, or I'm writing poorly. I'm fully aware of where we've left 70's era airframes, I'm not fully aware of what YOU may have left or have seen. There are persistent rumours of ex-French-era airframes in near flying condition being around (in the South, obviously) when our American brothers left, but we don't know where and when, which is why I'm asking for your assistance.

[BarbiesBoyfriend]

Hanoijane

I was at Tan Son Nhut on 15-7-09 and 26-7-09

Hercs:

004 GZN 56-532
003 SG (55-005)
005 (56-476)
(002) (56-519)
+ 1 more. still unknown. I guess 2 have been scrapped?

C-119
(53-7850)

CH-47

I saw two, I expect 66-19082 and the other unid one

AN24/26
259, 252, 248, 269, 251 (flew), 261, 279 + another 3 or 4, (one marked 'Vietnam Airlines)

Thee was a Yak-18 (?) in a hangar near the C-130s

Still trying to find out two more AN-26 parked beside the old AC-47 out on the airfield.

Mi-8

7836, 7477, 7848,7847,7850

UH-1

Four as we taxiied in ,in shelters, maybe 7906, 7908, 7616+ some more.

Fill any gaps??:) (or can you fill any of my gaps?!)

[NutLoose]

Bit off gaffa tape and a lick of paint and we could solve the helicopter shortage over in Afganistan with they ex American chins ;-)

I believe Boeing looked at them but they were to far gone believe it or not

In approximately 1996, 66-19082 was rediscovered resting at Tan Son Nhut Air Base, near Saigon, in Vietnam. A Boeing team conducted an evaluation of the airframe, along with another unidentified CH-47A, for possible inclusion into a rebuild program, but found the aircraft too far corroded to be useful. As of 1996, the last known location of 66-19082 was at Tan Son Nhut Air Base, near Saigon, Vietnam. Aircraft status: Not flyable.

Boeing CH-47A Chinook 66-19082. (http://www.chinook-helicopter.com/history/aircraft/A_Models/66-19082/66-19082.html)

[SASless]

When I read the thread title.....I assumed someone had come across some piccies of CHUKS in his hidey hole as he hid from his First Sgt!


I have seen two Chinooks on display in Vietnam....one at Khe Sanh and the other at the Military Museum in Saigon. The one in Saigon is one of a kind....as it's rotor blades are all on wrong way to! I'll post a photo when I get the time (and energy). The one at Khe Sanh looked mostly intact but both were in very sad shape.

Interesting note is my Chinook unit transferred all sixteen of our aircraft to the Vietnamese then was restocked with older aircraft.

I had departed the scene to nurse a few bottles of Demerol while all that took place.

[SkyHawk-N]

HanoiJane, are you are aluding to Corsairs and Bearcats from the 1950s? If so, do you really believe that some will have survived in the south of the country without discovery during the US campaign? Would be quite a story if it were true.

[Fareastdriver]

Be even more of a story if they found some of the Japanese aircraft the French used in Indo China.

[twoteapots]

I think I saw an ex RAF HS Andover at Lumbumbashi DRC in Feb. It was parked up along with various other (old) aircraft, some of which had not flown for sometime.:ok:

[Geezers of Nazareth]

HJ,

there is an enthusiasts book available in the UK called 'World Military Out of Service' (WMOOS); this lists all the known warbirds that are displayed around the world (listed by country). It also includes gate-guards, museums, and dumped and derelict aircraft.

For Laos it lists Savvanakhet, Vientiane (2 entries) and Xieng Khouang.
For Vietnam it lists 22 locations - too many to list here. But since you mentioned Bearcats, there is one displayed near the airport at Ho Chi Minh City.
Cambodia has just 2 locations listed - Pnhom Penh and Siem Reap.

The book is not the 'final word' on the subject, as things move around all the time; some are moved away for refurb, and then replaced, some move away and never return, and others still appear literally from nowhere! I am sure that there are still aircraft out there waiting to be discovered, or fully identified.





PS. Why is Thailand such a 'no-go' area for you? I'm intrigued!

[hanoijane]

Well, without going into things in too much detail, yes we're fairly convinced there are some 50's era survivors around somewhere in VN. If you understand the Vietnamese, you'll also a) understand they know these things will have value and, the longer they remain 'undiscovered' the more valuable they become and b) it's surprisingly easy to keep things quite here. If we had an airbase or location where they were last seen, we'd know which unit was there around the Fall. And then we can start asking hard questions. Simple.

BarbiesBoyfriend: No, you were at Tan Son NHAT. We won, so our spelling please :). If you were there as a tourist you're quite observant. Yes, there are quite a few gaps, but I'll leave it to you to return and fill them in. We need your tourist dollars.

SASless and others: American airframes - both rotary and fixed wing - deteriorate surprisingly quickly in our climate. I've seen the internals of most American airframes (though never a 105... what happened to those, did they disintegrate into a million pieces on impact?) on disassembly and, compared with Russian equipment stored in much the same way i.e. outdoors with no maintenance, corrosion is rampant. I wonder why? Grades of metal or something? The one exception is the F-5. It seems incredibly well built and hardly corrodes. Northrop, the Yankee Mig.

Geezers of Nazareth: Now that's interesting. I have never seen a Bearcat in VN, far less one around Tan Son Nhat (Nhut). Was this in the 60's? Where precisely? Photos?

And my tales of the Thais and Thailand would fill a book. Not a very interesting book though...

Thanks all.

[Saint Jack]

Not quite in South East Asia, but if you ever find yourself in Mumbai (Bombay) get over to Juhu Aerodrome and on the south side, near the Bombay Flying Club's premises, you'll see a decrepit hangar with a collapsed roof. Inside that hangar is an abandoned aircraft looking reasonably complete and unaffected by the roof collapse, also nearby (outside) is a similar aircraft in a extremely poor condition. Both aircraft look like Beech 18's, but there's something about them that suggests they may be another similar-looking type

[jonwilly]

"Why is Thailand such a 'no-go' area for you? I'm intrigued!"
Well thats two of us intriged.

I do remember a few years ago when the wreckage of a P38 Lightning was found in the Jungle up narf.
All refereance's 'Vanished' folowing week for the Local Mob was said to be involved and if you live here you know who they are.
john :)

[eagle 86]

HJ,
There certainly was a blue Bearcat at or near TSN 68-69.
GAGS
E86

[West Coast]

West coast, all long gone my friend

What a shame. My first encounter with them in 93 still had the bang seats active.

[Geezers of Nazareth]

HJ,

re: F8F Bearcat at HCM ...
Geezers of Nazareth: Now that's interesting. I have never seen a Bearcat in VN, far less one around Tan Son Nhat (Nhut). Was this in the 60's? Where precisely? Photos?


I was assisting the author of the book I mentioned by looking at various countries on Google Earth. I was hoping to find a few unlisted aircraft (found a few, but only one in VN; lots in Russia though!) and then let him know the lat/long of what I found.
In Google Earth I have it set-up so that it shows a small blue dot where somebody has posted a picture of something/anything at a particular location (known as 'Panoramio' pictures). Whilst looking around HCM I found a few pics of a Bearcat at N 10.803900 E 106.663100.

[hanoijane]

Jesus, I lived on Cuu Long - about 400m to the NE of that location - for about one year.

That is, indeed, one Bearcat. Not the one I'm searching for but it may do. I shall visit tomorrow am and check it out. Trust me, NO-ONE here seems to know it exsits.

If you were in Sai Gon I may have kissed you... lucky escape :)

[BarbiesBoyfriend]

Hanoi

yup, just a tourist. Got a look round at DAD too and a friendly local, 'Kanehoshi', took me around Sai Gon on his bike.

Shame the MiGs at DAD seem to have gone.

Do you even know the ID of the fifth Herc at Tan Son Nhat?;)

[hanoijane]

BarbiesBoyfriend: A+ for your spelling :). Some old airframes remain around what was the helicopter base at Da Nang, but that area is very heavily polluted with chemicals left by our American brothers, so much so that I wouldn't care to go near it. I bet you went to Hoi An too didn't you? That place is the pits. Jeeze, if you want to visit interesting places in VN you should just ask...

Sorry, old transport planes aren't my thing, and I have no idea of the identification of any of the Hercules airframes at Tan Son Nhat. If you like I could find out, though we still need your tourist dollars.

jonwilly: You mean 'up north' as in near Laos? Thailand is a complete mess, crazies in both the north and south. That's what you get for being an American puppet state - your craziness doesn't spread, it just grows bigger in situ. It's the domino effect in reverse. I love irony.

[BarbiesBoyfriend]

Hanoijane

We'd love to come back and see your Country again. It was lovely and the best thing about it was the Vietnamese! We left a lot of dollars with you last time and if we ever get another chance we'll do it again.

Correct about Hoi An, although my family loved it.

I'd love you to find out the serials of the old transports, if you don't mind. The record is incomplete.

Apart from the missing herc, there's the AN-24s and the identity of the civ coloured DC-3 out on the airfield. I take it the other C-47 which was near the hercs, has gone?

[jonwilly]

hanoijane
It was reported in Chiang Mai Mail about 4-5 years ago that the remains of a P38 had been found in CM province, not Chiang Rai which borders Laos.
Much talk at the time of publishing then nothing.
Don't think that local Army or Navy had an interest.
It's well know that some collectors will pay big money by local standards so I will suggest they who are said to run the local maffia where hot on the trail.

john

[pohm1]

There's wreckage of a Huey in a shed on the Mount Pleasant Airfield in the Falklands that always had my curiousity pricked.

Not anywhere Vietnam though.......I'll get my coat.

P1

[herkman]

My records show the following aircraft were at last report at TSN

All are completely un airworthy I suppose one day will be cut up.

As two on my records do not appear on your list, I will endevour to find out there fate.

One of course could be the fifth one you have no serial.

55-0001
56-0482

As the VNAF only operated the C130A makes it a bit easier.

There were some more that the VNAF destroyed in 1975 to stop them being used
this list I could produce if you have interest.

Regards

Col

[Geezers of Nazareth]

Herkman/HJ,

from the aforementioned book (WMOOS), it has the following to say about the C130s at TSN ...

s/n also marked type remarks
001 KAI G73 C-130A camo, ex 55-0001
(002) C-130A camo, ex 56-0519
(003) SG C-130A ex 55-0005
820 HKI 38 C-130A ex 55-0013
? C-130A ex 56-0476
a total of 7 C-13s were stored between Jan '04 and Nov '06, it is entirely possible that this is all that has ever been present. Two others were read as 128/HKC ex 56-???? and one marked '4260'; candidates will be:
004 GZN C-130A camo, ex 56-0532
016 C-130A
(482) C-130A camo, ex 56-0482

Hope this helps ...

(sorry about the mess above, can't get it to display columns properly!)

[grizzled]

HJ..

Are you interested in anything in Indonesia?

If so, there is a lot of stuff still hidden away in that vast group of islands and old airstrips...

grizz

[BarbiesBoyfriend]

Geezers.

There's only 5 now, so I guess two have been scrapped.

One of the 5 is '005' ex 56-476



004 GZN is also still extant at TSN

[herkman]

They are all slick A models.

55-0001
55-0005
55-0013
56-0476
56-0482
56-0519
56-0532

That list is accurate up to Feb 2006

My understanding is only five are there now.

Seeing if I can find the fate of the other two.

Regards

Col

[OBie101]

re the decrepit MiG-21s in the Pochentong hangers in '93, they were flying in mid-late '92, whenever the CPAF could "find" avtur for them - which the UN conveniently stored in the tanks of the Mi-8s that we tried to use to support UNTAC's mandate! All's fair, eh ...

[haroldk]

Hi,


I was wondering if you had any photos or information of the CH-47A Chinook used in service with the VPAF after April 1975.


Thanks, Harold

[Saintsman]

So as this is a revived thread, was anything found hiding away?

[TEEEJ]

Harold,

VPAF CH-47 image at following link.

Widely User Aircraft In Different Markings (http://forum.keypublishing.com/showthread.php?37312-Widely-User-Aircraft-In-Different-Markings&p=569720#post569720)

[haroldk]

Hi TEEJ,


I have seen this photo. Never the less many thanks for posting a response. I was hoping for a clear colour photo from the side. Or even an accurate illustration.


Any persons on this forum living in Vietnam with details with information would be greatly appreciated.


Cheers, Harold

[Dan Winterland]

Pochentong MiG21s - I'm pretty sure they're still there, along with lots of other ex-soviet relics. A Mil Mi 8 still flies now and again. I'm there next week. I'll see if I can get a picture.

[ImageGear]

Still here on Google Earth in 2013 at: 11°32'51.21"N 104°51'4.80"E


Imagegear

[NutLoose]

Hanoi Jane


Thai scrapyard (http://forum.keypublishing.com/showthread.php?129047-Thai-scrapyard)