Rattler One-Seven: A Vietnam Helicopter Pilot's War Story

Prologue—18 Days

P R O L O G U E — 1 8 D AY S Sitting here in the quiet solitude of my den, I find it hard to believe that the events that I am going to tell you about actually took place. When I reflect back upon them, they seem to be from another life, in another world, years ago. But they did happen, and I am thankful to be here today to tell about them. Flying Captain for American Airlines on both the Boeing 767 and the 757 is a great job. It was my dream that I spent a better part of my life to achieve, yet I find it unfulfilling and boring compared to the flying experiences of my past. Yes, I have had a few emergencies at American in my career. I had an engine blow up on a Super 80 going into Minneapolis. Luckily, we set her down safely with no injuries. But losing an engine on an airliner is mild compared to the excitement of my past. Where should I begin? It was late August of 1979. It had been a quick, short summer as summers are when you live in Minnesota. I was the Chief Pilot of an air cargo outfit called Crawford Aviation, Inc. Crawford Aviation ’s offices were located in Minneapolis, Minnesota, with our maintenance being performed at the Lake Elmo Airport. Our duties entailed flying freight for Airborne Airfreight. Our fleet consisted of Beech 18 tail dragger aircrafts. The Beech 18 was first flown in 1937, and when World War Two started, the military placed large orders for the 18 in several different versions. They were used in an assortment of duties ranging from bombardier training to gunner training. They were also used as a light transport and for navigational training, and the navy used them in a photographic role. They were built after the war up to the mid-1960s.1 1 We had the later models called the Super 18. They had twin radial Pratt & Whitney R-985 AN-14B engines. These engines were air cooled and put out 450 horsepower each. The maximum gross weight was 9,700 pounds. They had a wingspan of 49 feet 8 inches and a length of 35 feet 21/2 inches.2 My main duty as Chief Pilot for Crawford Aviation was to hire and train our new pilots. We based our aircraft at the different cities that we served. The first leg of the night was to fly freight from that city into Chicago O’Hare Airport. At O’Hare, the pilot would park at the cargo ramp and unload his freight. He would then refuel and load up the outbound freight, which would be flown out to the different cities for overnight delivery. I was in the process of checking out a new Beech 18 pilot by the name of Kevin Hoard. Kevin and I had grown up together, and I can never remember not knowing Kevin. We lived a block apart in a small 1. Chuck Gross standing in front of a Beech 18 at Janesville, Wisconsin. The Beech 18 was one of those aircraft in which you loved and hated to fly. (Author’s collection.) 2 P R O L O G U E — 1 8 D A Y S neighborhood in Golden Valley, Minnesota. When I returned from Vietnam, Kevin was one of my first friends that I took up flying with me. He was so intrigued by that flight that, after a few years, he decided to get his ratings and pursue a career in aviation. It was already past dark when Kevin and I arrived at the airplane. A check of the weather revealed a typical rainy, overcast night with rain showers scattered across the area. After completing our preflight checks, we taxied out and departed. We were flying along eastbound at an altitude of five thousand feet headed for O’Hare. I was in the right seat and Kevin was in the left. We were in the clouds flying by our instruments (which is called being in instrument meteorological conditions or IMC). We had been in the clouds since shortly after takeoff from Des Moines Airport and expected to stay in them till our descent into O’Hare. Kevin was still at the controls, piloting the plane. As I observed Kevin’s flying, I happened to notice that with his one...