OH-6 Loach in New Zealand?

[davelochead]

I need contact details for the owner please..

ask no questions...

[Dave Homewood]

Do you mean Phil Hooker of Bay Flight, Tauranga? He has a Sioux too. Is that the chopper you mean?

[davelochead]

painted as a vietman AirCav cayuse/ Loach?.. if so, that is the one

[Dave Homewood]

I haven't seen it but Phil definately told me in November that he was getting a Hughes 500 painted as a Vietnam era combat chopper, so it must be him. It was in the paintshop at the time. He has the MASH Sioux too. Look that up on the CAA ZK register and you'll find his details.

[Dave Homewood]

Try this
www.bayofplentynz.com/Mount_Maunganui/Kiwi_Kopters_ov=2690_.html

[turboNZ]

Hmmm,...I'm seeing a picture of a UH-1C with quad 60's and an AH-1 Hueycobra there.
What a display that would be with the Loach !!!!

[Dave Homewood]

Well Phil told me the next on his list of acquisitions is an Iroquois which will be in Vietnam colours. His company also has a full M*A*S*H* camp set up at Tauranga Airport with tents, vehicles and stone gardens etc. apparently. He takes trips in the Sioux from there.

[beagle]

Face down on the side litters ??

[Dave Homewood]

I've flown in the litter of a Sioux. There's not a lot of view, but that was face-up. Mind you it was an exciting ride - we were testing a new harness that I'd co-designed with big Simon Williamson. The CFS pilots were trying to see if they could make me fall out of the litter. Thankfully the harness held ok.

[beagle]

was it just around the insides of the airfield or did you go further afield.
I have flown a Sioux from akaroa back to wigram before

[corsair67]

I remember spending my lunch breaks at school watching the Siouxs just about coming to a deadstop in mid-air during turns into wind in Nor-Westers or Southerlies in Christchurch.

Mind you, in that kind of weather the CT-4s struggled at times too.

[Dave Homewood]

My flight was just around the airfield and in tight turning circles around the back of the field.

I recall biking down to the Publications Library one afternoon, and on the way back getting hit by a southerly that suddenly appeared, and stopped the bike dead! The wind in that plce could be mad somedays.

[turboNZ]

Were there any Kiwi pilots that flew helo scouts in 'Nam ?
I knew they were in OV-10's and O-2's

[Dave Homewood]

I believe some of our RNZAF pilots flew Sioux with the RAAF in Vietnam - as well as Iroquois.

[RobinK]

As far as I know, no RNZAF pilot flew Sioux (LOH=Light Observation Helicopter, hence "Loach") in Vietnam. But seven NZ Army helicopter pilots did fly the Sioux with No 161 Reconnaissance Flight of the Australian Army Aviation Regiment, based at Nui Dat for the most part, but also at Bien Hoa and Vung Tau earlier on. Generic callsign "Possum"; more here: www.161recceflt.org.au/

Two of the seven NZ Army pilots were decorated (DFC); two (that I know of) were shot down. (Early on, at least two of the NZ Army pilots flew Iroquois with the US Army in Vietnam, but this displeased the NZ authorities of the day and the practice was halted).

Just for the record, sixteen RNZAF pilots served in combat in Viet Nam with No 9 Sqn RAAF (now disbanded), flying Iroquois UH-1H. Five were decorated (DFC); two were Mentioned in Dispatches. A seventeenth was killed in a flying accident during work-up training in Australia. Generic callsigns "Albatross" (for the troop carriers, or "slicks"), and "Bushranger" for the gunships.

Fourteen RNZAF plots flew as FACs, variously in the Cessna O-2 ("Oscar Deuce") and the OV-10 Bronco. One received the American DFC; one was Mentioned in Dispatches. Generic callsign "Jade".

(The OH-6 Cayuse LOH, incidentally, was occasionally known by the nickname "Sperm Germ". Look at its shape in side elevation.)

[Dave Homewood]

Thanks Robin. My mistake, I had forgotten they were Army pilots in the Sioux and not RNZAF.

No.s 40 and 41 Squadron also operated in support of the NZ troops in the conflict - but did they ever fly into any dangerous zones at all? Or was their area of operation well out of any combat areas? I was told by one of the RNZAF Museum staff that their Bristol Freighter has a bullet hole in the cockpit from Vietnam. Would that be true? Or is it more likely from the Malayan Confrontation?

[RobinK]

We're straying a bit from "Air Shows and Air Displays", but I guess that doesn't matter!

No doubt 40/41 were exposed to fire from time to time, but in most cases I doubt they'd even know. I'd never heard of any actually showing the evidence. But that doesn't mean it didn't happen; just that I hadn't heard of it.

It might be relevant to note that during the Viet Nam War and for many years thereafter - like about 30 - RNZAF policy was that neither 40 Sqn nor 41 Sqn qualified for the Vietnam Medal, the main Aust/NZ campaign medal. That changed in 2002, when the application of the Royal Warrant was re-interpreted to include those of 40/41 who "flew one or more operational sorties over South Vietnam or Vietnamese waters in support of operations between 29 May 1964 and 28 January 1973." If you're interested there's more information at medals.nzdf.mil.nz/info/medals-initiative.html#v6275. The change applied the same rule to them that had applied to those on the posted strength of Air units in the field - eg 9 Sqn RAAF. It was argued in 2002 that to exclude 40/41 was inconsistent, and that the official RNZAF interpretation of 30 years had been wrong; and so the extension was approved.

That URL also refers to the NZGSM 1992 with the new clasp Vietnam. Also in 2002, this clasp to an existing medal was insituted to cover all of those who had served in Viet Nam but who had not qualified for the above Vietnam Medal. One of the main reasons for this was to cover the activities of 41 Sqn in particular in the period after 1972 up to the final collapse (indeed the story of 41 Sqn and the final collapse has yet to be told), but it was extended to others as well. You'll note that those who qualified for the Vietnam Medal are ineligible for this one.

[Dave Homewood]

Thanks Robin. Interesting stuff.

I've often thought that No, 41 Sqn is almost neglected in history with No. 40 getting much of the credit for RNZAF transport - yet they performed the same tasks in WWII and 41 Sqn spent most of its career operating overseas on dangerous missions. A book on the squadron is overdue.