Fort Smith, Three Trips To Nowhere

I found myself acting as crew chief on a helicopter that wasn't even ours. It was 'borrowed' from the Marine Corps along with a couple of pilots who found themselves stranded when their unit was broken up by internal strife. They didn't like to talk about what happened so I didn't ask. The army had upgraded to UH-60 Blackhawks but kept hundreds of old Huey UH-1s in a residual fleet. Most of them have long since been destroyed but we still had about 20 at Fort Smith. Unlike the army, the Marines still liked the old style Huey and had ordered an upgraded version called the Venom. Like I said, we had two of them along with five pilots. They only needed one pilot but we flew with two since a spare could come in handy.

The Venom was a big improvement on the old UH-1. It had more powerful engines and could carry a lot more, farther and faster. Ours had been fitted with extra fuel tanks, a rocket pod on one side, as well as the latest and greatest avionics. Each side gunner sat behind a fifty caliber machine gun giving us 240 degrees of fire and fun. I had been run through a helicopter mechanic course the year before but it was a rush job. Still, I knew more than most and with qualified people in short supply, I was needed. The two pilots, Pearce and Boyer were good guys but I had met the other side gunner just the day before we really got started. The first time we flew together was a hot summer day with zero humidity and the thermometer reading 102. What fun we had.