Loach Driver

I've ordered decals from Paul Parkes in the UK in the past and they worked well. He might be able to assist you. https://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/forum/131-parkes682decals/ LD.

Thanks for that info, John. Always good to know the locations involved in these photos. LD.

Looks like a nice kit. Some flew in high-viz schemes. LD.

The early versions of the Seasprite are interesting and have plenty of colourful paint schemes. I like the look of this kit. LD.

In relation to the batwing antenna, it is difficult to say when it was first fitted to the EH-6B. I wonder when was it developed and first deployed? It wasn't fitted to any LBs in Grenada in 1983 and the first deployment where the batwing is visible is Op Prime Chance in 1987. And so it looks like the batwing was introduced in the period between 83 and 87. I think the large circular antenna on the tailboom of N1111U was a GPS antenna as opposed to a satellite radio but who knows. As for the rear door, it looks like shade and contrast in paint makes it look like there is a panel on the door. If the door had the National Guard badge painted on it, it was probably painted over. LD.

That looks like it might be a Hughes 500M-D TOW Defender, possibly destined for South Korea. Hughes used a few of them for test and promotional work before delivering them to South Korea. I can't read the reg number unfortunately. LD.

Thanks for sharing. It is an interesting video. LD.

Glad you like the photo. It looks like there is a wire running from the base of the SATCOM antenna mount into the rear of the doghouse. Maybe the extra access panel is to allow access to the wiring inside the doghouse and to allow it be fed through the cabin ceiling to the radio in the cockpit. I am not sure about the glazing over the rear door. It looks like it might be sun-damaged and full of tiny crazing lines that affects the windows on aircraft. I can't say for sure but it doesn't look like it is a replacement panel, just a worn-out window. Thanks for the information regarding the uniform. Nice to know it was around for a while after the abandoned Honey Badger mission. LD.

Looks good. Did you scratch build the satcom antenna behind the exhaust? LD.

Here is a podcast of a recent discussion on an Irish radio channel that examines the "Gothic Serpent" operation. The discussion includes a contribution from Dan Schilling who was on the ground on October 3rd. Nothing new for the most part with regard to aircraft but he does mention that four members of Seal Team 6 were added to the roster and that they were involved in the events of October 3rd and also "did other things". Some of the later part of this documentary wanders into a debate on U.S. foreign policy and other political stuff but it's worth a listen if you have a spare 50 minutes. https://www.newstalk.com/search/mogadishu LD.

Here are the final two photos, as promised. The first photo depicts 68-17358 and this is listed as being one of the EH-6Bs. It looks like it is being worked on here and has yet to be converted into an EH-6. It looks like it has the small antenna box fitted between the rear skid legs but no special ops gear has been added yet. The other interesting thing is that it looks like only one set of flight controls have been fitted, Maybe this was to leave the front left console area free for extra control boxes and switch panels associated with the additional radios that would have been fitted. The second photo features 68-17301 in what I believe is the full EH-6B configuration. This is the first photo I have seen of the mythical EH-6B and as has been said in the past, it isn’t actually all the spectacular! Still, it is a very elusive aircraft so it’s fascinating to finally see a photo of one. The SATCOM antenna is present on the forward tailboom, as described previously by GT and it looks like the antenna box is present on the rear belly. It also appears that a radio or radar altimeter is fitted to the belly, similar to the system fitted to the MH-6B and AH-6C. The paint finish is weathered a little and looks like it might be CARC green. No Blackhole IR Exhaust is fitted and I believe that these ships were fitted with the standard C-18 engine. The serial “17301” is visible on the doghouse in a non-standard font. It doesn’t look like UNITED STATES ARMY titles are present on the tailboom. I am not sure if the EH-6B was just developed for the “Honey Badger” mission, had it gone ahead or if they were retained for a few years afterwards until they were replaced by the EH-6E. I hope this is of interest. LD.

Having difficulty with this website when trying to post. Will post the last two pics later today or tomorrow. LD.

Next up is a pair of photos depicting "17168" being loaded into a C-130 Hercules. This looks like it might be a loading/unloading trial to see how best to get a Little Bird into and out of a transport aircraft in double-quick time (purely a guess on my part!). The location looks to be desert-like and certainly doesn't look like anywhere near Mississippi! Can anyone identify the airfield? There is an Army L-23 or U-21 (I think it's one or the other) in the background along with a civilian fixed-wing type so it doesn't appear to be a secret or overly secure airfield unless the civvy plane is a aircraft operated by a defense "contractor". Again, nothing too ground-breaking but if these photos do depict some of the activity that occurred during the planning for "Operation Honey Badger", they are of some historical significance. The photo that will be of most interest to Little Bird fans will be posted tomorrow. LD.

I have yet to receive the details on the copyright owner of these photos but I'll post them up for now and update them later. The photos come from Facebook. First two photos show what I believe is one of the MH-6Bs that Task Force 158 used in the run-up to the proposed "Operation Honey Badger". I think these photos date from 1980 and were taken at the AVCRAD in Mississippi. "17168" has appeared in previous photos of the early formation of TF158 on this forum. It seems to have some kind of electronics box-shaped fairing fitted under the belly just forward of the engine doors and a small shark fin antenna fitted to the fairing. It is clearly visible in that first pic. This I believe, is the "MH-6B" configuration, or at least a "B" prior to further equipment added. Two more photos will be posted tomorrow then the two most interesting photos will be added after that. Hopefully GT drops by and can assess what is going on in some of these photos. LD.

I have signed up to Flickr and the few photos are loaded. I am waiting for permission to post them along with details of the copyright holder. LD.