Khe Sanh
Join Date: Nov 2002
Location: On the edge of reality.
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I remember sitting rotors running at Bardufoss waiting for fuel when the Italian came in. 2000' descend, looking good, not going to make it so bring the nose up, actually it's looking OK - nose back down Mama Mia not going to make it SMACK! Luckily all the crew were well enough to take the inevitable abuse in Happy Hour.
Join Date: Jan 2001
Location: Wellington, New Zealand
Age: 84
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I've seen RNZAF Hercs do it at a display....still frightens the crap out of me to see such a large aircraft pointing down at such a relatvely low altitude, then it all come right in the end!
Ratty,
Just that I remember being told that the digital engine/prop controls would not let you do the low power/fine-pitch props-as-airbrakes routine that is the essence of the Khe Sanh. There's generally not much call for a Khe Sanh in a Saab 2000, which is what the engine was designed for. That may have been fixed... but I have been on board both a K and a J for a tactical landing and I don't remember the latter being quite as energetic.
Just that I remember being told that the digital engine/prop controls would not let you do the low power/fine-pitch props-as-airbrakes routine that is the essence of the Khe Sanh. There's generally not much call for a Khe Sanh in a Saab 2000, which is what the engine was designed for. That may have been fixed... but I have been on board both a K and a J for a tactical landing and I don't remember the latter being quite as energetic.
...And if you get it wrong and are very lucky, you just blow tyres.
I was a bit luckier than that when a Khe Sanh went wrong. But it was about the closest I've come to be killed in an aeroplane!
I was a bit luckier than that when a Khe Sanh went wrong. But it was about the closest I've come to be killed in an aeroplane!
Join Date: Oct 1998
Location: Kalgoorlie, W.A. , Australia
Age: 86
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Interesting name but how come I saw people practicing something similar ten years earlier? Could it be they were learning from the French's little bit of trouble a couple of years earlier just up the road at Dien Bien Phu?
Possible, but unlikely. The aircraft used at Dien Bien Phu were C46s, C47s and C119s. All of these didn't have props that were capable of such drag to make such an approach possible. Althought the C46 was slightly better than most as it had an electric actuator controlling pitch.
The French lost a lot of aircraft there. Eventually, when the Viet Cong got close air drops were the only option. The French Air Force didn't have enough airlift capability, so the USA lent them C119s with pilots to fly them. There is a very good book by a pilot called Felix Smith (China Pilot, ISBN 1-56098-398-1) who flew the C119 at the battle. He was an American who flew for an airline called CAT (Civil Air Transport) which was formed after WW2 by Claire Chennault of Flying Tigers fame and was repudedly the most shot at airline in the world. It eventually became the CIA's own airline and Air America was formed out of it. A recommended read.
The French lost a lot of aircraft there. Eventually, when the Viet Cong got close air drops were the only option. The French Air Force didn't have enough airlift capability, so the USA lent them C119s with pilots to fly them. There is a very good book by a pilot called Felix Smith (China Pilot, ISBN 1-56098-398-1) who flew the C119 at the battle. He was an American who flew for an airline called CAT (Civil Air Transport) which was formed after WW2 by Claire Chennault of Flying Tigers fame and was repudedly the most shot at airline in the world. It eventually became the CIA's own airline and Air America was formed out of it. A recommended read.
