nit-picky Vietnam War details

[Big Kahuna]

In a Vietnam flashback in the pilot episode Magnum is seen being extracted from a hot LZ by a Bell 206 JetRanger with Marine Corp markings flown by TC and with Rick providing a lame attempt at covering fire. The JetRanger helicopter popped up almost everywhere in TV shows of the 80s and despite actually being in service during the Vietnam war, it was never used in combat missions...as far as I can determine from lots and lots of online research.

Can anyone confirm this?

At a stretch, they could've shown a Sikorsky H-34 Choctaw as seen in Full Metal Jacket and used by the USMC until it was replaced by the iconic UH-1, which would've been the correct helicopter to use given the portrayed year. Budget restraints probably prevented this for the pilot episode at least, since a few episodes later in Thicker Than Blood (season 1, episode 12) the production department utilized a US Coast Guard C-130, a Sikorsky HH-52A and most impressively, a Bell AH-1 Cobra.

Also, in the same episode we hear Magnum mention that Joey Santino saved TC's life (which is why TC is helping him) by pulling him from the burning wreckage of a Cobra. And he definitely says "cobra".

So TC was a USMC Bell AH-1 Cobra combat pilot before...ferrying troops in and out of the jungle..?

Many thanks.

PS how the blazes do I put images in here?

[ConchRepublican]

PS how the blazes do I put images in here?

I can't help you with the chopper info but I can with the images.

I have found the easiest way is to upload the image you want to an online image hosting site (I use photobucket).

When creating a comment there are tabs at the top, one is Img. Click that and you'll see this: img][/img
Go to the hosting site, get the image you want to use and copy the "direct" URL and paste it between the two brackets.

img]http://i17.photobucket.com/albums/b61/P ... 185729.jpg[/img
Note: I left out the outer brackets both times so you'd see what it looks like

And Viola!

Hi guy!

[KENJI]

Hey Conch,
Your birthday t-shirt looks great!
I'm sure you will put a lot of miles on this one.

[ConchRepublican]

Hey Conch,
Your birthday t-shirt looks great!
I'm sure you will put a lot of miles on this one.

Thanks Kenji! Cycled through all of them already. KK44 will be busted out at the beach again this Sunday.

[Rands]

Big Kahuna:

I can give you some observations about OH-58s. I was a Combat Engineer, so my observations are just that, observations. The first time I was able to examine an OH-58 was in 1980 at Fort Lewis Washington. At the time, Ft. Lewis was home to the 9th Infantry Division (Motorized), known to most of the Army as the "Toys-R-Us" division, as they were a test bed division. They had equipment that was not Army standard, and was certainly geared for the "Low Intensity Conflict", rather than the "High Intensity Conflict", read that the Warsaw Pact fight.

This OH-58 was probably an Alpha or Bravo variant, but it was very well equipped with a 7.62 Mini-Gun hanging out the rear starboard side. This particular OH-58 was part of a hunter-killer team, or for use for aerial scout missions. When speaking to the operators of this aircraft, the two were split on the 7.62 Mini-Gun. The younger pilot certainly enjoyed the Mini-gun, while the elder pilot didn't want the weight of the air frame. For me, I was young, dumb, very impressionable, and I had been given the opportunity to have the Mini-Gun, I would have bolted it on myself.

I had on numerous occasions to see both the OH-6 Cayuse and the OH-58 Kiowa performing the same mission, on the same terrain, in the same weather, at the same time. Again, my observations from a tracked armored vehicle, was that the OH-6 could hover much longer, than the OH-58, with the OH-58 having to set down to cool their transmissions, while the OH-6 just kept hovering. Speaking to the pilots of both, they were in agreement that the OH-6 was the better aircraft in all respects. Years later, my division the 5th ID Mechanized was equipped with OH-58D's which were much better than the earlier variants. Of course, the 58D's had a different mission, marking Soviet vehicles for laser guided anti tank missiles, rather than looking for unconventional light infantry in the jungle.

I have flown in many helicopters, with the vast majority in UH-1s. I have flown in the Bell Jet Ranger, which is slightly different than the OH-58. I found the aircraft cramped, and at high elevation, and high temperatures, not as sure as the UH-1. I have flown in the Hughes 500, on an aerial tour on Kawaii. The operator offered an open door flight, which was the way I often flew on UH-1s. In my opinion, open doors is the only way to fly in tropical and good weather temperate climates. You can see so much more, and all of your senses get to enjoy the flight. Besides, I always enjoyed the "risk" factor of open doors.

I hope this helps in your research.

[Styles Bitchley]

Big Kahuna:

I can give you some observations about OH-58s. I was a Combat Engineer, so my observations are just that, observations. The first time I was able to examine an OH-58 was in 1980 at Fort Lewis Washington. At the time, Ft. Lewis was home to the 9th Infantry Division (Motorized), known to most of the Army as the "Toys-R-Us" division, as they were a test bed division. They had equipment that was not Army standard, and was certainly geared for the "Low Intensity Conflict", rather than the "High Intensity Conflict", read that the Warsaw Pact fight.

This OH-58 was probably an Alpha or Bravo variant, but it was very well equipped with a 7.62 Mini-Gun hanging out the rear starboard side. This particular OH-58 was part of a hunter-killer team, or for use for aerial scout missions. When speaking to the operators of this aircraft, the two were split on the 7.62 Mini-Gun. The younger pilot certainly enjoyed the Mini-gun, while the elder pilot didn't want the weight of the air frame. For me, I was young, dumb, very impressionable, and I had been given the opportunity to have the Mini-Gun, I would have bolted it on myself.

I had on numerous occasions to see both the OH-6 Cayuse and the OH-58 Kiowa performing the same mission, on the same terrain, in the same weather, at the same time. Again, my observations from a tracked armored vehicle, was that the OH-6 could hover much longer, than the OH-58, with the OH-58 having to set down to cool their transmissions, while the OH-6 just kept hovering. Speaking to the pilots of both, they were in agreement that the OH-6 was the better aircraft in all respects. Years later, my division the 5th ID Mechanized was equipped with OH-58D's which were much better than the earlier variants. Of course, the 58D's had a different mission, marking Soviet vehicles for laser guided anti tank missiles, rather than looking for unconventional light infantry in the jungle.

I have flown in many helicopters, with the vast majority in UH-1s. I have flown in the Bell Jet Ranger, which is slightly different than the OH-58. I found the aircraft cramped, and at high elevation, and high temperatures, not as sure as the UH-1. I have flown in the Hughes 500, on an aerial tour on Kawaii. The operator offered an open door flight, which was the way I often flew on UH-1s. In my opinion, open doors is the only way to fly in tropical and good weather temperate climates. You can see so much more, and all of your senses get to enjoy the flight. Besides, I always enjoyed the "risk" factor of open doors.

I hope this helps in your research.

What a great, detailed response! I love how well-informed so many of the forum members are on various topics.