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6 5 LZ English 3 With LuRay at the controls, we depart An Khe at 1600 hours. Turning east, we begin a steady climb to 3000 feet. This is the first time I have really seen the country and it is beautiful. It is a notably fine summer afternoon. Today’s visibility is unlimited , and the pale blue sky is dotted with puffy white clouds drifting at the 5000-foot level. To the north, I can see a mountain range that is lightly cloaked in gray smoke. I estimate the tallest peaks at somewhere around 6000 feet. There is a strong resemblance to the Smoky Mountain range in northern Georgia. Below us is the Central Highlands. Almost treeless and very flat, it soon gives way to thick elephant grass, then to jungle the farther east we fly. The grass below surges in the gentle breezes and looks very much like ocean waves. The clouds overhead cast their shadows on the grass and move across the plateau unmolested by obstacles or the war. It is a memorably fine summer afternoon. LuRay makes the grass seem slightly less attractive when he warns that at places it is probably 5 or 6 feet deep. His warning is well taken—a pilot who is attempting to land or, in an emergency, autorotate his helicopter, will not be able to tell exactly where the grass stops and the ground begins. Therefore, he will have difficulty knowing exactly when to pull the last bit of pitch to cushion the landing. LuRay mentions several recent crashes that resulted in casualties because the pilot had a hard landing. Ahead of us the grassland seems to stop at a small mountain range 6 6 TO THE LIMIT whose peaks average about 1500 feet. LuRay points dead ahead to a gap that extends nearly to the floor of the plateau. This is called the An Khe pass, and through it Highway 19 snakes its way westward to An Khe. This dirt road is the only path linking the seaport of Qui Nhon to the upper Central Highlands. “Mister Johnson, at times—in fact more often than not—the An Khe pass will be the only open air area that you can fly through when traveling from An Khe to LZ English,” LuRay announces unexpectedly . “Throughout most of the winter and spring months, the clouds will remain low enough to cover those peaks on both sides of the pass. There are two basic problems with trying to navigate the pass in bad weather. One: ol’ Charlie knows you’re coming, and since your altitude is usually eight hundred feet, you are well within their range to blow your butt to ‘kingdom come.’ Two: you must bear in mind that since this is the only path for east or west traffic from An Khe, it will be very busy with other aircraft of all types. We’ve had a few midair collisions here and near misses by the dozens. So keep your head out of your ass and on a swivel. Look out for the other guy at all times. In order to get to English, you have to fly through the pass, then turn north up Highway 1. Once clear of the pass, the ground below will drop off rapidly to sea level and it’s pretty safe territory to fly in.” “Captain LuRay, why can’t you go direct to English on a clear day like today?” I ask, drawing a straight line on the map in my lap from An Khe to the town of Bong Son, on the outskirts of LZ English. “All this territory here”—he places his finger on the deep green colored area—”is triple-canopy tropical jungle. Some of it will go as high as three hundred feet from the floor below it. If you happened to have an engine failure over there, there is a high probability that you’d never be found even if some other guy saw exactly where you went in. That’s also Charlie country! If the fall through the jungle canopy doesn’t kill you, Charlie will!” As we reach our 3000-foot altitude, we go through the An Khe pass. Just as LuRay said, the earth below drops rapidly out from underneath us. It is like leaping over a cliff. There are sharp curves on Highway 1, which snakes down the backside of the pass and repeatedly disappears out of sight into the jungle, only to reappear...

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