SteelTigerFAQ

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A note about the L-19, which was used in-country, but not for missions
north of the DMZ: The L-19 is/was similar to the Cessna 180, except that
the 180 sits four and the L-19 is narrowed down to two seats, fore and
aft. With the windows closed, it is easy to look beneath the aircraft
without banking. The O-2/337 was really not designed for this. I had to
bank to see what was under me. Near the Ho Chi Minh Trail, and other hot
spots, I kept the nose moving. Never do the same thing for more that a
second or so. It took about three seconds for the $HIT to get to my
altitude. If the bad guys looked at my speed and direction and figured out
where I was going to be in three seconds, I made sure I wasn't there...

[Orval Fairbairn[_2_]]

In article >,
wrote:

> A note about the L-19, which was used in-country, but not for missions
> north of the DMZ: The L-19 is/was similar to the Cessna 180, except that
> the 180 sits four and the L-19 is narrowed down to two seats, fore and
> aft. With the windows closed, it is easy to look beneath the aircraft
> without banking. The O-2/337 was really not designed for this. I had to
> bank to see what was under me. Near the Ho Chi Minh Trail, and other hot
> spots, I kept the nose moving. Never do the same thing for more that a
> second or so. It took about three seconds for the $HIT to get to my
> altitude. If the bad guys looked at my speed and direction and figured out
> where I was going to be in three seconds, I made sure I wasn't there...
>
> begin 644 O2-2.jpg
> [Image]

A friend of mine here used to trim so that he was always in a skid, to
throw the NV gunners off. They would lead in the direction his nose was
pointing, not the actual flight path.

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Orval Fairbairn > wrote:
: In article >,
: wrote:

: >

[Orval Fairbairn[_2_]]

In article >,
wrote:

> Orval Fairbairn > wrote:
> : In article >,
> : wrote:
>
> : > begin 644 O2-2.jpg
> : > [Image]
>
> : A friend of mine here used to trim so that he was always in a skid, to
> : throw the NV gunners off. They would lead in the direction his nose was
> : pointing, not the actual flight path.
>
> Arf Arf Arf! Never thought of that. For the L-19/O-1 that would work
> pretty good. At 1500 feet the bad guys just get a glimse of you through
> the trees. I worked at 6,000' so I was mostly a moving dot. And I have
> smelled the sulpher in the tracers when they we close in front of me.
>
> Another picture of the Pushmepullyou, this time a proctologist's delight.
> begin 644 O2-3.jpg
> [Image]

The friend is Dick Cuneen; Did you also happen to know Keith Phillips?

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Orval Fairbairn > wrote:

: The friend is Dick Cuneen; Did you also happen to know Keith Phillips?

No, sorry, none of the names ring a bell. I was at NKP most of 1968, left
in January of 1969.
Bill