Chickenhawk and other good 'helicopters in action' books
 

Anybody know of any other good books(H) out there for those of us stuck on fixed wing??

"Flight for Life" by Marie Bartlett Maher is a hyped up true account of Heli-EMS in the states. "Sea Wolves" by Daniel E. Kelly about Huey pilots who flew Seals in Nam. If you want good fiction, James Clavell's "Whirlwind" is losely based on Bristow trying to get their helicopters out of Iran when the Shaw left in 1979, awesome read! Dale Brown, ex-Air Force writes pilot books, "Hammerheads" is based on tilt-rotors. Tom Clancy always has a little heli action too.
Non-fiction Canadian Heli-bush-flying can be found in Peter Corley Smith's "Ten Thousand Hours" and "Helicopters:The British Columbia Story".
Good luck.

ChickenHawk bye I forget who is a very readable book with accurate and simple explanations of Helicopter operations and aerodynamics.

Chickenhawk
 

Has anyone read Robert Mason's sequel to Chickenhawk, 'Chickenhawk: Back in the World'?
Is it a patch on the original?
I don't want to spoil a good thing by reading a bad follow-up.

Thanks for that Mr Natural, I knew nothing of it until your post but I'll buy it tomorrow. I base that decision on the quality of the original book, and of a sci-fi novel he wrote called 'Weapon' - intelligent, pacy, thought-provoking and very entertaining.

I tried to get a copy of it about 6 months ago from regular bookshops, and then amazon.com, without success. The story I was given was that it is no longer being published and has not been for some time. If you do manage to get your hand on a copy somehow, I would be interested in your thoughts on it.

Cheers

Hilico: You're a braver man than I.
I bought a copy of Chickenhawk for a friend last week and saw it in the 'by the same author' section.
And now I'm having the same problem as Huey - out of stock wherever you go. Anyone know of a source?

Never read the sequel, the original is a fantastic account, and as a participant in the Great Two-Way Rifle Range, I thought it was as accurate as hell.

Try www.abe.com, my search got dozens of copies for sale, as low as $5.

Nick Lappos: Engineer; polymath; bibliophile; web wizard... thanks for the link. I found two copies of the sequel, regrettably far away from the five-dollar end of the stall.
Hilico: You can have it when I've read it. Send me a PM with address. Might be a while... 36 days for delivery.
Hueywsh: If you still haven't found one, I'll pass it on to you in turn. We'll start a pprune lending library.
PS: Apart from Weapon, there's also mention of a work of fiction by the same author called 'Solo'.

T'aint, I don't know if you are aware but Chickenhawk himself has a website, www.robertcmason.com. There is some pretty good stuff on there, and you can buy the book from there as well.

Library sounds like a good idea!

Cheers

Solo
 

Mr Natural, I wouldn't bother about the above - Solo is the name of the protagonist in Weapon.

There was a film called Solo, based on the latter book, which is a pity because it was pretty much unfilmable without changing huge areas. Anyway, I reckon they released Weapon as Solo to tie in with the film.

Now if only they'd filmed Chickenhawk.

Can I also go on the waiting list for a read?
Got an uncle trying an old 'out-of-print' shop down South, will let you know if he's successful!

EESDL: Okay, you're in the library queue. Send me a PM with your address. You too if you're in, Huey.
Tell you what - everyone sign the flyleaf before returning the book.

Anyone read Snake Pilot by Randy Zahn ? It is another book about Cobra flying in Vietnam.

The first was great, but I never finished the sequel. It was about drugs, marital problems, and other problems he faced after returning form Nam. I don't doubt it being true, but after reading the first many times, the second was a dissappointment.

I would love to see Chickenhawk made into a movie. Maybe someone will take the chance. I think it could be better than Blackhawk Down.
BarryB.

Another fantastic book for the pprune library..if anyone can get hold of it, is: Chuck Yeager's biography. Having read and re-read Chickenhawk, I would readily recommend the Chuck Yeager book too.
Any other steely hands on aiviation books out there ?

Chickenhawk?

Personally I thought it was a "little careless" in a few areas that must have required some spice. Friend who did two laps with 1st Air Cav in a slick agreed. Each to their own.

John, please give us an example of "a little careless". I always thought the poetry of the book was enhanced by its grittily factual background. (I'm not saying this out of annoyance or contempt - us low-low-low time people need to know.)

'Careless' - well not so sure about that...but remember it is just a story! Like every other Huey pilot we read Chickenhawk over and over, called it "our SOPs"....and stupidly even tried to emulate some of the "techniques". It may not be careless but it does give the wrong impression.

I dont doubt that some of the techniques, events did in fact happen (which is scarier still) - and now that I too have flown in combat, it is easy to find new ways to scare yourself and new tricks that nearly get you killed before your 25th birthday.

1. Using right pedal to decrease the TR power and allow you to get of a pad carrying more troops only works a little bit! At some point you need to straighten it up, using left pedal and the 'spike' in power can cause all sorts of grief. In the tropics at a high DA you will lose a bunch of height or over torque. The day tried it I was on a hill top - thankfully.

2. Doing an auto, picking it up and spinning it around is insane. Been there, done it, only got 180deg and ran out of TR authority. As per #1 the pedal required to stop the rotation...well, it didnt! (Tried it the other way too....could only get 90degs) Your chance of rolling it over is very high.

3. Overlapping rotors in formation. Tried it, can be done...crazy, stupid stuff. Ten seconds....more than enough stupidity - dont do it.

4. Getting hit by a bullet...does not sound like "tick, tick"...it makes a god awful bang and makes you very uphappy indeed!

:O Now before some old and bold people here rip my head off....the above is tongue-in-cheek! I have the deepest respect for rotorheads everywhere, esp the Vietnam Viets. I fly over Da Nang almost everyday and I look at the hills and forests with awe...and wonder about Chickenhawk, those who fought, those who died. I have a great friend who flew 2 tours there...and I think about him 30yrs ago.

One thing we forget is that many of the things/techniques we know today came from that war. My word of advice though is to remember it is a story...a damn good one...please "dont not try this at home".

2500+hrs in the Huey....wouldnt trade them for the world!! :E

Quite agree on the 'little careless front' but what does one expect from a low-time pilot thrown into the chaos of SE Asia?
Flying techniques and seemingly foolish exploits may have come about from the fact that the author was flying in a war zone! You stayed together, despite the fact that landing on a hot LZ could be deemed as foolish, because that was the way the tactics were meant to work - mutual support - techniques so widely used today.
No one is suggesting that the author is of the award-winning stuff....he joined as a grunt remember (tongue in cheek there folks)

I'm keen to read the book that the comparison of such 'carelessness' stems from though, should be a great read!

From my point of view, Chickenhawk is a great read, not because of the tales of 'daring-do' but the struggle of the author coming to terms with the fact that there were so many dickheads that were meant to be on his side! Something that I'm sure many of can relate too. Yep, it helps to be familiar with the vehicle for this guy's story but the extra bo77acks that he has to put up with from within HQ/establishment is typical.....a soothing feeling that it happens everywhere. They may get their tax-breaks but atleast they still have to cope with the mouthy, trumpet-blowing arse-holes that you just know would cock-up the very same situations that they seem all to well to blather on about!!

I couldn't hear the sound of bullets, just saw the puffs of smoke.