TH-55A kit released from AMP

[Drifterdon]

Just saw this over on the Bay.   AMP has released the TH-55A in 1/32 scale.   Hughes TH-55A Osage, American light helicopter (Model kit) 1/32 AMP 32001 | eBay

[Rob Mignard]

It’s been out for several months. Typical AMP. It’s kind of a melange of TH-55A and Hughes 300C.

 

Mig

[BWDenver]

A couple of shots from the birds i flew at Ft Wolters in 1973.  Some were all orange, some had white panels on the nose.

 

windscreen meatal strips were silver.  If you got the bird over about 70 Kts, the wind screen tended to cave in...

 

Bryan

[Rob Mignard]

Bryan, I hadn’t seen the white cowlings before. When I went through Fort Wolters in 1968 they were overall orange with a few older birds with white tail booms (which were called “white pegs”). Thanks` for posting the photos.

 

Mig

[BWDenver]

Not a problem.  I started at Wolters in early March 1973 and headed out to Rucker in Mid July.  Pinned on my bar at Moter Rucker on Dec 4th 1973.  We were prohibited from flying with a camera, but just about everyone had a pocket camera.   

 

Shot from our "all day cross country" up to Ardmore OK. 

 

On one solo flight I decided to go to 6000', so I started climbing.  At around 4500' I looked down to see a B-52 pass under me at around 3,000'.  I decided I really didn't want to go for the flight altitude record!

 

 

 

Still have my Wolters lighter.

And the -10 supplement.

 

Retired in Jan 2005.

 

Cheers!

 

Bryan Wilburn

[JohnEB]

BWDenver...Since you were there...

 

What was the color...sometimes it looks orange, sometimes red?

 

Maybe red that faded to orange in the Texas sun?

 

Were they the same color as the TH-13Ts...which were instrument trainers correct?

Were they (TH-13T or any  13) also occasionally used as primary trainers?

Also, any H-23s still around or were they all in the Guard by then?

Edited March 22 by JohnEB
Add info

[BWDenver]

Hey John, yeah I was, in 1973.

 

The TH-55A was essentially "International Orange", used on both Army and Navy birds.  It was a gloss finish, FS 12197.

 

One of the problems with colors, especially Reds & Oranges is the slide film of choice used in the 70's was Kodachrome.  Which had a warm bias.  Some of the shots I have of TA-4J's looks distinctly red, but it's really orange.  Ektachrome was a 'cooler" film that had a slight blue bias. 

 

In 1973 the TH-13's had gone by the wayside, and the H-23's were also no longer used at least at Wolters.  The primary trainer was the TH-55A at Wolters.  Primary was 100 hrs. in the 55 fighting the recip engine with an overspeed govern that kicked in at the most inopportune times.

 

When we got to Ft Rucker we spent 50 hrs flying UH-1B instrument trainers, OD with Interantional Orange door panels.  Once you got out of Instrument phase you could by your bars as graduation was a certainty, unless you really F-ED up.

 

After Instruments we spent 50 hrs transition into the UH-1H and learning tactics. low level nav and formation work.  And lots of Autos.

 

In the overall shot you can see a bird at the "Mother Rucker" Museum.  the tail rotor blade is red, as is the warning arrow.  The rest of the bird is Interantional Orange.  The Kodachrome slide film I used imparts a slightly warmer tone.

 

In the shot of the Hook you can see the Orange has recorded as a distinct red, but it's really FS 12197, International orange.  Shot was taken in 91 when I transitioned into the Ch-47D.

 

 

 

Tail rotor blades and warning arrow Insignia Red, FS 11136.  Orange-Yellow  tail boom warning panel, FS 13538.  Other markings in black.

Single engine "Roll On" landing, slowing through aerobraking.  

Procedural trainer, to say the cockpit was simple is an understatement... 

One VHF radio that you had to kick sometimes to get it to work...

Cockpit a mix of Light Gull Grey and Dark Gull grey, and Lt Grey on the canopy frames.

 

 

Edited March 22 by BWDenver

[JohnEB]

Thanks..the museum shot showing the orange/red difference is helpful. Nce TH-13 in the background. I did my civil training in a surplus H-13E. With that you were always checking the rotor tach since it didn't have a governor. However, with its broad blades autos were easy.

 

100 hours in primary seems generous, not unwarranted, just more than I'd expect the Army to give.

 

Edited March 22 by JohnEB

[BWDenver]

4 hours ago, JohnEB said:

100 hours in primary seems generous, not unwarranted, just more than I'd expect the Army to give.

 

I think the time is reduced now.  1973 was the tail end of Viet Nam, they wanted us to know at least the basics. 

 

Minimum for a Private Pilot's License was 40 Hrs.  But almost no one makes it in 40 unless you can do what my dad did and live at the airport.  The West Pointers came in the summer and Fam Class, and walked away with the Hrs for a Private.

 

In reality when we got out of Flight School you had the basics, and leaned the finer points at the Unit.  The last week I was on Active Duty I had just over 2000Hrs.  I went to the GATO Office at Stapelton in Denver and took the Military Comp Test.  After a 50 questions I walked out with a Commercial Rotorcraft and Instrument ticket, and went to work in the mountains doing exploration flying.

[Rob Mignard]

When I was at Fort Wolters (June -November 1968) we still had OH-13’s, OH-23’s, and TH-55’s. I flew TH-55’s (no overspeed governors!)The TH-55’s were overall International Orange (not Dayglo). The 13’s and 23’s were a mixture of colors; overall orange, a mixture of OD and orange, or a mixture of OD and Dayglo orange. I flew TH-13T’s at Fort Rucker in late 68 and early 69. They were all international orange with blue tinted canopies. Contact phase was flown in A and B model Hueys. Most were glossy OD with dayglo orange panels. All later training was in D and H model Hueys in the later flat OD with international orange panels with the exception of gunship training in B model gunships which were in various shades of OD and orange.

 

Mig

[BWDenver]

They surplused all the H-13's and H-23 by the time I got to Rucker, Jul 73.  We only had UH-1B/H Models.  Some C Model gunships.  I flew out of Hanchey.

 

We flew the UH-1B as an instrument trainer, with an Aux tank behind the jump seat.  Don't think it was crash worthy...  The big grey thing in the back of the cabin.

 

First tour was Ft Hood and the C\227th 1Cav, then 218th RC Crash Rescue flying Firebirds, and finally two years with 3\507 Dustoff when the disbanded the 218th.

 

 

One if these days I'm going to finish the RC UH-1H I started...

 

Edited March 23 by BWDenver

[Rob Mignard]

At Fort Rucker, I flew out of Shell, Hanchey, Knox, and Lowe.  Here's what I flew on my first tour with the 92nd Assault Helicopter Company:

 

 

[BWDenver]

Great shots!

 

[YF65_CH53E]

As a rotor head myself....I absolutely love the pictures taken of your birds and the rotors are running....rolled to ground idle.....hop out snap the pic hop back in.

Fly away no one is the wiser. 

 

I will dig up a picture of my CH-53E on cruise in 1994.  We were in the Palau Island chain and had just done a memorial to the battle of Peleliu, as we were embarked on the USS Peleliu LHA-5 at the time.  Anyways, we found a little uninhabitated island and as a two ship we landed on it.  My pilot had a really nice Nikon so we took some pics.  The other bird landed on the other side of a grove of trees.  We popped up and circled back on them........their bird was at ground idle, SV-2's, flight helmets, etc all hanging from the refueling probe while they were swimming in the little cove they landed by.  Totally hilarious.  Got to love helo bubbas.

 

Gunny Dan

[BWDenver]

Love to see the shots of the 53!

 

In 1981 they changed the rules around getting out of a running helo on the Army.  Drop it to flight Idle, and lock the controls.  

 

I was in Guernsey WY supporting some NG troops.  Our Supply Officer lands at a TOC and gets out of his running OH-58A.  A half our later he comes back and can't understand why I crawled down his throat.

 

Not that I never got out of a running bird for a good shot...

 

Edited March 26 by BWDenver

[Rob Mignard]

Getting Gas at Ninh Hoa, 1969. We typically never shut down until the day was over. Sometimes 10-12 hours!

 

 

[Tank]

11 hours ago, Rob Mignard said:

Getting Gas at Ninh Hoa, 1969. We typically never shut down until the day was over. Sometimes 10-12 hours!

 

 

Nice photo. Can you explain more about the pad, general size and material? Looks like a fire extinguisher and half a barrel are at each. 

Edited March 26 by Tank

[BWDenver]

1 hour ago, Tank said:

Nice photo. Can you explain more about the pad, general size and material? Looks like a fire extinguisher and have a barrel are at each. 

Humous question….

 

I flew UH-1H’s for about 1500 hrs, I went into Fast Gas, ie Hot Refueling multiple times.  We had a HOTPOL point just to the North of Hood AAF, Ft Hood Tx.  But in all the times I landed on a HOTPOL pad, I never measured the thing.   I doubt Rob did either...

 

According to my -10 the skid on the UH-1D/H was around 8’ 6.6”, so you can work out the DIM’s on the concrete pad with a little measuring.  Once or twice I landed on PSP pads in the field.  But field HOTPOL points were grass with a grounding steak.

 

In Iraq we would Hot Refuel at Tallil Air Base and again at "Dog patch" to the SW of Baghdad.  Tallil was just a dirt patch, Dog Patch was a fabric mat on the sand.

 

This might be interesting to modelers, this is an AH-1G 67-15735 at LZ Phantom, the western area on the Ft hood Cantonment area.  The hills in the background are the southern border of the Ft Hood Impact Range.  At Hood AAF when I was in the 227th we also had PSP pads located just to the east of the control tower.  The 2ND AD parked their birds on concrete taxi ways on the norther part of the airfield.  This bird is a 7/17th AH-1G in HQ MASTER MERDC camo, I just finished a flight in the front seat.  The skids are roughly 10' in length.  Camo pattern is the "Winter Verdant", Forest Green, Field Drab, Sand and black.  Circa 1975.  

 

 

[Tank]

In Rob’s photo cannot tell the size like generically 15x15 or 20x20 and if it’s wood or concrete pad. It looks an interesting base idea for a Huey model. 
 

LZ Phantom looks like a 20x20 pad approximately. 
 

I don’t recall what am-2 matting pad sizes were. The matting experience I had was Aliso Canyon which mainly for Harries in a funky shape/design, red beach was vtol strip and the helo ramp at 29 palms. The FARP sites were all dirt as I recall in SoCal in the mid/late 90’s.

[BWDenver]

23 minutes ago, Tank said:

In Rob’s photo cannot tell the size like generically 15x15 or 20x20 and if it’s wood or concrete pad. It looks an interesting base idea for a Huey model. 
 

LZ Phantom looks like a 20x20 pad approximately. 
 

I don’t recall what am-2 matting pad sizes were. The matting experience I had was Aliso Canyon which mainly for Harries in a funky shape/design, red beach was vtol strip and the helo ramp at 29 palms. The FARP sites were all dirt as I recall in SoCal in the mid/late 90’s.

The planks used in LZ Phantom were not the standard "PSP", but solid planks with 4 ridges each.  Based on higher resolution shots I have, the Pads were made up of joining 13 segments together on the for and aft "long axis", and I think two planks wide with a bit of overlap.  

 

While I flew helos, I was never particularly interested in building models of helos...

[Rob Mignard]

Tank, the pad was concrete, a real treat! Usually we fueled out of blivits lying on the ground. Ninh Hoa was the base for the 48th Assault Helicopter Company, hence the nice pads. I believe they were 15 x 15 feet. The barrel is used as a receptacle for the fuel nozzle and the fire extinguisher was also inside the barrel. No grounding wire, the skids took care of that (jungle rules). The black takeoff surface to the right of the helicopter is dirt covered with “penaprime, used to keep the dirt and dust down during helicopter operations. It was just sprayed on and wasn’t meant as a runway-type surface.

 

Rob

[Tank]

Thanks Rob for the information.

[Rob Mignard]

Tank, I forgot to add that there was a large black (very worn) “H” centered on the pad aligned with the takeoff lane.

 

Rob

[Tank]

GTG Rob. 👍