AH-6C, MH-6 photos from AH6C-SIP-PICS ARE BACK!

[Loach Driver]

Here is a photo found on Facebook of a late-service AH-6J with a little nose art. I think this piece of artwork has appeared in a few photos before.

LD.

[Loach Driver]

Maritime Little Birds.

I am currently reading "Shadow Warriors" by Tom Clancy and General Carl Stiner. The book covers some of the history of U.S. Special Forces. One of the missions discussed is the hijacking of the Achille Lauro liner. The 160th SOAR were deployed for this operation, sending what was then the Standard Alert Package (10 Blackhawks, 6 AH-6 and 4 MH-6 Little Birds). In the end, the Night Stalkers were not called into action but it appears the provisional plan was to carry out a boarding of the Achille Lauro at night using the 160th helicopters.

This mission got me wondering if the Achille Lauro MH-6s were fitted with floats given that it was going to be a maritime mission. It appears both the MH-6E and MH-6H were occasionally fitted with floats but not the AH-6. Only two photos of float-equipped MH-6s seem to have appeared thus far (an MH-6E in McDonnell Douglas Aircraft since 1920:Volume II and an MH-6H in "Loach").

This link below describes the Prime Chance/Praying Mantis mission from 1987 and it mentions the Little Birds used on this operation. While the AH-6s seem to have gotten all the limelight, two MH-6s were also deployed and it seems each Little Bird mission employed one FLIR-equipped MH-6 in the Command and Control/Target Acquisition role with two AH-6s in the attack role. My guess is that the versions of Little Birds used were MH-6Es and AH-6Fs. Again I would guess the MH-6s were float-equipped and might even have flown without the people-planks. An MH-6 with a FLIR and floats would make an interesting model.

http://www.defensemedianetwork.com/stories/ussocoms-first-test-of-fire-operations-prime-chance-and-praying-mantis/

Are there any photos out there of Prime Chance MH-6s, or AH-6s for that matter?

LD.

Edit: I found this photo in my files. I don't know what book it is from but it is hard to tell for sure exactly when and where this photo was taken. It looks like these are AH-6Fs and they don't appear to be fitted with floats.

Edited August 11, 2014 by Loach Driver

[AH6C-SIP]

Hi LD,

Can't vouch for any flotation gear in 1985. I'd never trained with any. Maybe later. Shown here was an exercise we did in Sept of 1981. Our mission, (along with "other" personnel) was to take down this cruise ship as it sailed from where it was in dry dock down the US coastline. This ship was 60 miles at sea, and we flew NVG's at 15 feet over the water the whole way. Not much time to deploy the floats at that altitude and airspeed.

BTW, we could not land on the shuffleboard deck as it had just been resurfaced. Made for an interesting approach with the planks full of folks.

Best regards, GT

[Floyd S. Werner, Jr.]

Here is a photo found on Facebook of a late-service AH-6J with a little nose art. I think this piece of artwork has appeared in a few photos before.

LD.

We have that nose art on the Night Stalker decal sheets

Floyd

[Loach Driver]

Hi GT. Thanks for that story on your ship-take-down training. Even with all the modern avionics and nav aids they have today, hitting a ship at sea at night is a tall order so doing that mission back in the eighties in a fairly basic small helicopter is mind-blowing. How did you drop off your customers when you reached the ship? Did you perch the Little Bird on a railing and get your guys to jump off or did you find a space on deck somewhere to land? I'd guess few liners and ships had any deck space big enough for a Little Bird.

One of the interesting statistics that came from Operation Earnest Will was the fact that the six H-6s deployed flew around 3,600 hours between them, all over water, with many hours on NVGs at night, with all maintenance taking place at sea. Remarkable reliability from the machines and great work from the ground and flight crews. No 160th airframe ended up in the drink either, unlike the TF118 Kiowas that followed them down to the Gulf.

Floyd, after I saw that photo, I pulled out the first Nightstalkers sheet and saw that you guys had the artwork on the sheet. I'm looking forward to the new sheet. Here is more nose-art on an AH-6J. I'm not sure if this photo was taken in Somalia in 1993 or is from the "Blackhawk Down" shoot in 2001. It looks like Somalia to me.

LD.

[Floyd S. Werner, Jr.]

Hi GT. Thanks for that story on your ship-take-down training. Even with all the modern avionics and nav aids they have today, hitting a ship at sea at night is a tall order so doing that mission back in the eighties in a fairly basic small helicopter is mind-blowing. How did you drop off your customers when you reached the ship? Did you perch the Little Bird on a railing and get your guys to jump off or did you find a space on deck somewhere to land? I'd guess few liners and ships had any deck space big enough for a Little Bird.

One of the interesting statistics that came from Operation Earnest Will was the fact that the six H-6s deployed flew around 3,600 hours between them, all over water, with many hours on NVGs at night, with all maintenance taking place at sea. Remarkable reliability from the machines and great work from the ground and flight crews. No 160th airframe ended up in the drink either, unlike the TF118 Kiowas that followed them down to the Gulf.

Floyd, after I saw that photo, I pulled out the first Nightstalkers sheet and saw that you guys had the artwork on the sheet. I'm looking forward to the new sheet. Here is more nose-art on an AH-6J. I'm not sure if this photo was taken in Somalia in 1993 or is from the "Blackhawk Down" shoot in 2001. It looks like Somalia to me.

LD.

Holy crap we were looking for some Somalia Little Birds to include. I can't quite make out what it says or is but damn this is sweet. Oh well maybe on another sheet as a special item.

Floyd

Edited August 15, 2014 by Floyd S. Werner, Jr.

[Loach Driver]

Hi Floyd. I only found that photo of "362" on the web in the last week so it would have missed your deadline for the new Nightstalkers sheet but, as you say, if a place can be found for it on another upcoming Werner Wings sheet, that'd be great. It is likely that this AH-6J had the unique IR-suppressed exhaust system fitted too.

LD.

[11bee]

Looks like that nose art may have been intentionally blurred. Too bad... I also just noted the empty FLIR mount. Don't recall seeing that on many AH-6J models (I could be wrong on this).

Good to see at least a few 160th "in action" pics starting to trickle out on the web.

[Loach Driver]

I am not sure that the artwork is blurred in the photo. It might be that the artwork is a decal as the area where it sits appears to have been cleaned up. It might also have been hand-painted or sprayed on using some kind of stencil. If you save the photo and zoom in on the artwork, it looks like the upper portion of the image might be the front of some kind of building. It looks to me like a building with a dome supported by pillars in the centre with rooms or offices on either side.

Looking at the centre strip of the artwork, it seems the image starts on the left with what might be a "9". The full serial for this ship is 90-25362 and I think a "5" is also visible in the middle of the strip so could it be that the centre part of the artwork is made up of the full serial number?

I can't decipher the lower portion of the artwork. That's my two cents and I could be completely wrong!

The only other Gothic Serpent Little Bird that I have seen that can be confirmed from photos is 81-23648, an MH-6J and it doesn't have any nose-art (and is featured on Floyd's decal sheet).

LD.

Edited August 18, 2014 by Loach Driver

[Chief Snake]

Without being able to see it in detail, the art work resembles someone's rendition of the Harley Davidson motorcycle company logo.

CM

Edited August 16, 2014 by Chief Snake

[Loach Driver]

I came across a few more Little Bird photos on the web today that are new to me so I thought I'd share them here. These first few photos feature an AH-6F on Range 29 at Fort Campbell sometime in the late eighties. I reckon the AH-6F in these photos is probably quite similar to the AH-6Fs that went to the Persian Gulf in 1987. The photos come from a contributor to the "Shadow spear" special ops forum called CrazyDave68. That forum is not too big on photos but these few were posted there.

I think this photo above features a C-30-engined H-6 also at Fort Campbell. I can't make out exactly what it is fitted with, a rocket pod or people-plank, possibly a people-plank.

Here is another AH-6F. I believe this is 81-23635. It looks like it might be a deployed aircraft. There are lots of interesting things in this photo, including an auxiliary fuel tank, comms box (?) up high between the two pilots, an interesting antenna over the rear door, a Texas flag on the side of the instrument console and what look like flash suppressors on the minigun barrels.

LD.

[rotorwash]

LD,

Great pics as usual. However, I must correct you in one regard. That ain't the Texas flag in that bird, That there is the Confederate Battle flag from the War of Northern Aggression! Great photo, by the way.

Ray

[Loach Driver]

Apologies about the confusion over the flags, Ray. I thought it was the same flag that we see occasionally in photos of the Kiowa in Iraq and A/stan. An interesting photo, nonetheless. I wouldn't have thought we'd still find good photos of the cockpit of mid-eighties Little Birds.

LD.

[rotorwash]

Apologies about the confusion over the flags, Ray. I thought it was the same flag that we see occasionally in photos of the Kiowa in Iraq and A/stan. An interesting photo, nonetheless. I wouldn't have thought we'd still find good photos of the cockpit of mid-eighties Little Birds.

LD.

LD,!

No worries. In case it wasn't obvious to a friend across the Pond, that was just some good ole Southern humor! It is the Confederate Battle flag though.

Ray

[11bee]

Great pics, thanks for posting. Maybe my eyes are failing but does the aft fuselage of the LB above look strange? Doesn't come to a tapered point like the other F's and yet it doesn't appear to have the standard exhaust outlet of later models.

[Loach Driver]

Good spot, John. It does have the Blackhole IR exhaust system but the cone that covers the standard exhaust opening does appear to be an odd shape. The rest of the airframe appears to be consistent with it being an AH-6F though. Maybe they trialled a slightly different-shaped cone.

I had always thought the AH-6G came on-line from around 1984 or there about's but it appears the AH-6Fs weren't converted into Gs until 1988 and after.

LD.

[11bee]

Good spot, John. It does have the Blackhole IR exhaust system but the cone that covers the standard exhaust opening does appear to be an odd shape. The rest of the airframe appears to be consistent with it being an AH-6F though. Maybe they trialled a slightly different-shaped cone.

I had always thought the AH-6G came on-line from around 1984 or there about's but it appears the AH-6Fs weren't converted into Gs until 1988 and after.

LD.

Are you sure this helo has the blackhole system? I can't tell from this picture.

Almost looks like the aircraft has some new "sugarscoop" fitted (in a different configuration than what was seen on those Gothic Serpent Littlebirds). This one appears to deflect the exhaust upwards.

[Loach Driver]

Are you sure this helo has the blackhole system? I can't tell from this picture.

Yea, I am 99% sure I can make out the shape of the Blackhole exhaust fairing. It is barely visible but I think it is there. The cone does look like it has the shape of some kind of "sugar scoop" exhaust but if it was an exhaust, it looks like it would be expelling exhaust up towards the underside of the tailboom and would simply heat that instead. As with all 160th stuff, it is often hard to tell what exactly is going on but I think this definitely has the Blackhole IR exhaust. As FM Whip will tell you and I, there is still so much Little Bird stuff we haven't seen yet and probably will never discover.

LD.

[AH6C-SIP]

Ah, good old Range 29. Still looks the same after all these years. Looks like they still get to shoot quite a bit. Can you all imagine having 100,000 rounds of mini, and 1000 rockets to shoot up in a couple days. That's 66 cans of 7.62 and 142 loads for the seven shot pods. We used to get tired of shooting. But the best action was at night when we would run a mission ending up at Range 29. Lead a/c would bump and fire a IR flare rocket and light up the target. Number two would come firing away and covering the lead a/c. What a time we had. We had the flash suppressors on our mini's from the very beginning. When you're sitting left seat, that gun will light up your world at night.

Best to all, GT

[11bee]

Yea, I am 99% sure I can make out the shape of the Blackhole exhaust fairing. It is barely visible but I think it is there. The cone does look like it has the shape of some kind of "sugar scoop" exhaust but if it was an exhaust, it looks like it would be expelling exhaust up towards the underside of the tailboom and would simply heat that instead. As with all 160th stuff, it is often hard to tell what exactly is going on but I think this definitely has the Blackhole IR exhaust. As FM Whip will tell you and I, there is still so much Little Bird stuff we haven't seen yet and probably will never discover.

LD.

All good points, we'll probably never know for sure (until another vet posts his old pics on Facebook). With regard to that hypothetical "sugar scoop", agreed that it would divert the exhaust up to the tailboom unless maybe the device was split to channel the exhaust to either side, where it would be cooled by air from the rotor. Makes for a good fantasy model build, that's for sure.

Wish Crazydave68 has invested in a better photo rig!

[Loach Driver]

Here is a link to the thread discussing Little Birds, motorcycles and the Low Rider platform.

(Added to create a link between these two threads).

http://www.arcforums.com/forums/air/index.php?showtopic=271290

This photo was found on a Russian website dealing with Delta Forces. I don't know the where or when for this image but it looks like an MH-6H carrying Delta Operators.

I am not sure if this photo has featured here before (I have a sneaking feeling it has but just in case....). Again it appears to be an MH-6H with Delta. It must be very cold, given the headgear the pilot is wearing under his helmet. The skids appear to have a new set of skid plates fitted. It also looks like the "coolie hat" aerodynamic fairing is not fitted to the rotorhead.

LD.

Edited August 23, 2014 by Loach Driver

[Sky Dancer]

As an aside,

Interesting set-up on the MP5's being carried by the operators in the second photo.

The S.A.S. used to mount a 3 D-cell Maglight on top of their MP5's - I believe there is a photo somewhere of it being used during Operation Nimrod, the storming of the Iranian Embassy in 1981. Back in late 2005/2006 or so the mount, and a similar one for carrying a 2 D-cell maglight under the forearm, came onto the deactivated weapon market in the U.K. Both of these set-up's were used until Surefire mounts were produced.

Used to work with a guy that swore he designed the mounted for these, right down to describing the problems they had with getting a crosshair design on the lens of the torch.....

This would have been in the early to mid 1980's, does the "Littlebird" configuration tie in with these dates??

[Loach Driver]

As an aside,

Interesting set-up on the MP5's being carried by the operators in the second photo.

This would have been in the early to mid 1980's, does the "Littlebird" configuration tie in with these dates??

Yea, I'd say this photo possibly dates from mid-to-late 1988 onwards.

LD.

[AH6C-SIP]

I am not sure that the artwork is blurred in the photo. It might be that the artwork is a decal as the area where it sits appears to have been cleaned up. It might also have been hand-painted or sprayed on using some kind of stencil. If you save the photo and zoom in on the artwork, it looks like the upper portion of the image might be the front of some kind of building. It looks to me like a building with a dome supported by pillars in the centre with rooms or offices on either side.

Looking at the centre strip of the artwork, it seems the image starts on the left with what might be a "9". The full serial for this ship is 90-25362 and I think a "5" is also visible in the middle of the strip so could it be that the centre part of the artwork is made up of the full serial number?

I can't decipher the lower portion of the artwork. That's my two cents and I could be completely wrong!

The only other Gothic Serpent Little Bird that I have seen that can be confirmed from photos is 81-23648, an MH-6J and it doesn't have any nose-art (and is featured on Floyd's decal sheet).

LD.

Hi LD, and all,

Just showed the picture of 362 to two of my friends here at work that flew it. 362 was a G model, as were the 3 series of the time. This picture was taken in Mogadishu circa '93.

Best to all, GT

[Floyd S. Werner, Jr.]

So is it a Harley Davidson symbol?

Floyd