New use for the Chinook?
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Not a lot different to what the 'Chooks were doing for our Land Clearing team fuel resupply, in SVN, in the late 1960's!!
The only difference then, was - we had to pump out of the fuel bladders after they dropped them off! The 'Chooks had no intention of hanging around, to take a VC RPG up the arse!
The only difference then, was - we had to pump out of the fuel bladders after they dropped them off! The 'Chooks had no intention of hanging around, to take a VC RPG up the arse!
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Imagine using a C-17 to do this. It happened!
C-17's were used to transport an entire USMC LAV brigade into an unpaved austere field in Afghanistan. C-17's were then used to fill the all ground bladder tanks and fuel trucks of the brigade. A C-17 would land with near full tanks, off load fuel, take off, refuel from an orbiting KC-10 tanker, land, and offload fuel. This was repeated three or four times till the C-17 crew reached their crew duty day limit, at which point the C-17 left and another C-17 arrived and repeated the process (with the KC-10s also repeating the process) and so on so on until the Marines had a fuel dump full of fuel, plus all their vehicles and fuel trucks full of fuel. Helluva way to tanker fuel.
C-17's were used to transport an entire USMC LAV brigade into an unpaved austere field in Afghanistan. C-17's were then used to fill the all ground bladder tanks and fuel trucks of the brigade. A C-17 would land with near full tanks, off load fuel, take off, refuel from an orbiting KC-10 tanker, land, and offload fuel. This was repeated three or four times till the C-17 crew reached their crew duty day limit, at which point the C-17 left and another C-17 arrived and repeated the process (with the KC-10s also repeating the process) and so on so on until the Marines had a fuel dump full of fuel, plus all their vehicles and fuel trucks full of fuel. Helluva way to tanker fuel.
Or you could just drop the APFC bollox by parachute out of the back of your Hercules / Transal / C-17 / A400....... You get the idea. Although I'll admit that the first time I did it the bollox and parachute parted company in mid air and converted itself into a 4000lb bomb.
Chinooks in SVN 1966
Further to the photo of a Chinook bringing in fuel drums to a DZ in South Vietnam, I have one I took on departure from Vung Tau on 31 March 1966, as seen from the flight deck of a C130 A of No 36 Squadron.
This photo shows Chinooks just off the end of the psp runway, fuel drums lined up to the left as you look at it, and Iroquois in the foreground.
We had arrived overhead some two hours earlier but were told to orbit whilst US Marine Chinooks airlifted marines onto the runway. They then boarded a whole fleet of Iroquois helicopters that then lifted them over the airfield perimeter and straight into a fire fight. Only once things had died down a bit were we allowed in to land. It was whilst orbiting that I took my first photo looking down onto the airfield: this shows the Iroquois lined up on the runway and Caribou from the RAAF detachment on the adjacent pan.
This photo shows Chinooks just off the end of the psp runway, fuel drums lined up to the left as you look at it, and Iroquois in the foreground.
We had arrived overhead some two hours earlier but were told to orbit whilst US Marine Chinooks airlifted marines onto the runway. They then boarded a whole fleet of Iroquois helicopters that then lifted them over the airfield perimeter and straight into a fire fight. Only once things had died down a bit were we allowed in to land. It was whilst orbiting that I took my first photo looking down onto the airfield: this shows the Iroquois lined up on the runway and Caribou from the RAAF detachment on the adjacent pan.
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We had arrived overhead some two hours earlier but were told to orbit whilst US Marine Chinooks airlifted marines onto the runway.
