The Making of a Falcon
New York, NY: Vantage Press, Inc., 1995. First Edition [Stated], First Printing [Stated]. Hardcover. [4], xi, [3], 232, [6] pages. Includes Preface, Author's Note, and Foreword. Fed up with school, seventeen-year-old Dominic Fino joined the U.S. Army two days after graduating from high school on June 3, 1968. He found himself being routed from North Carolina to Alabama to Georgia, everywhere but Vietnam, which is where he really wanted to be. So when his request for transfer was denied, he took the unusual step of writing then-president Lyndon Johnson. His order to ship out to Vietnam followed shortly after. Once overseas, Dominic found himself assigned to the 335th Assault Helicopter Company, but it was not until he made the grade as one of the elite Falcons flying combat missions that Dominic at last realized his dream. The author's experiences cover the period from June 1968 through April 1970. The author decided to publish this story after helping to coordinate the first Falcon reunion in 1993, the first time the group had been together since leaving Vietnam, in an attempt to help others understand better what Vietnam was like for a gunship platoon. "A" Company of the 82nd Aviation Battalion (82nd Airborne Division) deployed to Vietnam in April 1965 in support of the 173rd Airborne Brigade. In September 1966, A Company was decommissioned and recommissioned as the 335th Aviation Company (months later redesignated the 335th Assault Helicopter Company). The 335th AHC was returned stateside and decommissioned in November 1971.
An attack helicopter is an armed helicopter with the primary role of an attack aircraft, with the capability of engaging targets on the ground, such as enemy infantry and armored fighting vehicles. Due to their heavy armament they are sometimes called helicopter gunships.
Weapons used on attack helicopters can include autocannons, machine guns, rockets, and guided anti-tank missiles such as the Hellfire. Many attack helicopters are also capable of carrying air-to-air missiles, though mostly for purposes of self-defense. Today's attack helicopter has two main roles: first, to provide direct and accurate close air support for ground troops, and second, the anti-tank role to destroy enemy armor concentrations. Attack helicopters are also used to supplement lighter helicopters in the armed scout role. In combat, an attack helicopter is projected to destroy around 17 times its own production cost before it is destroyed.
In the mid-1960s, the U.S. Army concluded that a purpose-built attack helicopter with more speed and firepower than current armed helicopters was required in the face of increasingly intense ground fire (often using heavy machine guns and anti-tank rockets) from Viet Cong and NVA troops. Based on this realization, and with the growing involvement in Vietnam, the U.S. Army developed the requirements for a dedicated attack helicopter, the Advanced Aerial Fire Support System (AAFSS). The aircraft design selected for this program in 1965, was Lockheed's AH-56 Cheyenne.
As the Army began its acquisition of a dedicated attack helicopter, it sought options to improve performance over the continued use of improvised interim aircraft (such as the UH-1B/C). In late 1965, a panel of high-level officers was selected to evaluate several prototype versions of armed and attack helicopters to determine which provided the most significant increase in capability to the UH-1B. The three highest-ranked aircraft, the Sikorsky S-61, Kaman H-2 "Tomahawk", and the Bell AH-1 Cobra, were selected to compete in flight trials conducted by the Army's Aviation Test Activity. Upon completion of the flight evaluations, the Test Activity recommended Bell's Huey Cobra to be an interim armed helicopter until the Cheyenne was fielded. On 13 April 1966, the U.S. Army awarded Bell Helicopter Company a production contract for 110 AH-1G Cobras.[9] The Cobra had a tandem cockpit seating arrangement (vs UH-1 side-by-side) to make the aircraft a smaller frontal target, increased armor protection, and greater speed.
In 1967, the first AH-1Gs were deployed to Vietnam, around the same time that the Cheyenne successfully completed its first flight and initial flight evaluations. And while the Cheyenne program suffered setbacks over the next few years due to technical problems, the Cobra was establishing itself as an effective aerial weapons platform, despite its performance shortcomings compared to the AH-56[9] and design issues of its own. By 1972, when the Cheyenne program was eventually canceled to make way for the Advanced Attack Helicopter (AAH), the interim AH-1 "Snake" had built a solid reputation as an attack helicopter. In June 1972 the USMC began deploying AH-1J SeaCobra Attack Helicopters for combat operations in South Vietnam. Condition: Very good / Very good.
Keywords: Vietnam War, Combat Missions, 335th Assault Helicopter Company, Helicopter Gunships, Induction Center, U.S. Army, Night Missions
ISBN: 0533111900
[Book #79467]
Price: $45.00