We're the Military and Airpower Guys of Jonah Goldberg of National Review Online + a stray we found wandering around looking lost. All original material JHD, BHD, JR, WT, and KA 2003-2010 http://www.thedonovan.com/archives/2007/03/a_little_obscur.html Sat, 24 Mar 2012 15:42:14 Z Movable Type 4.12 en Copyright 2012 http://www.rssboard.org/rss-specification On 12 January 1969 four An-2 gunships from the VPAF 919th Transport Regiment attacked the USAF Phou Pha Thi ELINT station in northern Laos. The base also housed a TSQ-81 radar/TACAN used to guide the airstrikes against North Vietnam. The An-2s caused moderate damage by firing 57mm rockets and dropping 120mm mortar rounds but three of them were lost; one was shot down by an Air America Bell 204 while the two others collided in mid-air by trying to escape the pursuing helicopter! This An-2 was recovered by an USAF HH-53 to be displayed at Vientiane. When the Hmong... http://www.thedonovan.com/archives/2007/03/a_little_obscur.html http://www.thedonovan.com/archives/2007/03/a_little_obscur.html Sun, 18 Mar 2007 07:22:40 -0600 BTW, that kaffee klatch includes mostly ex-deputies, but most are also 'Nam vets. We have myself (B-52s), three chopper pilots, two Army and one USAF (was in Super Jolly Greens, and commanded one of the squadrons at the end of the war), one USAF maintenance XO, one Forward Ground Controller, one squid and one or two others who don't talk much about their war. Yes, there are usually war stories as well as cop stories. http://www.thedonovan.com/archives/2007/03/a_little_obscur.html#comment-58098 http://www.thedonovan.com/archives/2007/03/a_little_obscur.html#comment-58098 Tue, 20 Mar 2007 16:02:44 -0600 This is a true story, the story of "Lima-85". One of my good friends, a retired USAF L/Col who was a working controller as call sign "Dressy Lady" at a similar, and safer site at Nahkon Phanom (NKP, or "Naked Fanny") confirms that such an attack by the AN-2s did take place, and was repulsed exactly as depicted. I was a B-52D Arc Light navigator, and unbeknownst to me, Boyd controlled many of my missions in the Sky Spot mode. Most all of the B-52 missions in 'Nam and Laos were controlled this way. Boyd and I met later as deputy sheriffs in the same Oregon Sheriff's office! What a coincidence. I still have coffee with him every week. http://www.thedonovan.com/archives/2007/03/a_little_obscur.html#comment-58096 http://www.thedonovan.com/archives/2007/03/a_little_obscur.html#comment-58096 Tue, 20 Mar 2007 15:55:33 -0600 May she rest in peace. After changing planes at FLL, and while taxiing out on my final leg to SJU, I noticed a pack of emergency vehicles speeding down along the runway proper. After what it seemed like a loooong wait, the pilot stated on the intercom something akin to: "Sorry folks, for the delay, but we have a Cuban plane vectoring-in for freedom, blah - blah - blah". I craned my neck against my port-side window seat, and as if right on queue, this rackety-old mustard colored AN-2 glided by onto the runway. Sure enough, the following morning,El Nuevo Dia reported of a family's daring escape to freedom on that old barn stormer.]]> http://www.thedonovan.com/archives/2007/03/a_little_obscur.html#comment-58049 http://www.thedonovan.com/archives/2007/03/a_little_obscur.html#comment-58049 Mon, 19 Mar 2007 07:14:58 -0600 The last of the combat biplanes (other than the An-2) would have been Fairey Swordfish ("Stringbags") of the British RN. They were in production through 1944, with the last new models being introduced in 1943. The last operational squadron was disbanded in late May, 1945, and last training squadron in mid 1946. They did all right, what with wrecking the Italian fleet at Taranto, and slowing down the Bismarck before the Royal Navy sank it. They also flew antishipping missions from Malta. They ended up being used for U-boat patrol (sank 14), and outlived their successor, the Fairey Albacore, which was also a biplane. Tough old bird. http://www.thedonovan.com/archives/2007/03/a_little_obscur.html#comment-58045 http://www.thedonovan.com/archives/2007/03/a_little_obscur.html#comment-58045 Sun, 18 Mar 2007 20:49:35 -0600 We don't make a habit of shooting down jets -- the zoomies would stop buying us beers in the "O" Club. Remind me to tell you about the North Vietnamese MiG-17 pilot who went helicopter hunting west of Dong Ha and met a Charlie-model. Gotta love rockets with VT fuzes... http://www.thedonovan.com/archives/2007/03/a_little_obscur.html#comment-58041 http://www.thedonovan.com/archives/2007/03/a_little_obscur.html#comment-58041 Sun, 18 Mar 2007 18:11:01 -0600