View Full Version : Thrillng Rides.
Reading Bru's latest reminds me of several interesting rides I have had. I would bet we could make this into an interesting thread. Has anyone out there been snatched up by a Sky Hook, aka Fulton Recovery System? I always wanted to but was never chosen. My ream set up a few extractions but "VIPs" seemed to get the ride.
Once we extracted a downed chopper pilot by hooking his seat up to the ropes. He donated the seat to us and you may spot it omongst the "patio furniture" in some of my web site pictures. :munchin
Roguish Lawyer
01-07-2005, 12:21
Excellent topic! :munchin
Jack Moroney (RIP)
01-07-2005, 15:35
Never rode one but almost got myself court-martialed over one. Never really understood why anyone had to practice something that you had to do right the first time and over which you had no control. When they removed your only chance to recover from an USAF screw up by taking away the reserve attached to the harness they really left you "dangling". We lost a good man during a Flintlock exercise just because of that.
Jack Moroney
For those of you who may not be familiar with the McGuire Rig, it was the precursor of the STABO rig. It was named for the man who developed it and I think he was in the Delta Project (CRS). It simply consisted of a loop of 2 inch webbing at the end of a rope and a wrist loop for "safety".To penetrate jungle it was attached to a ruck full of rocks or a sand bag.
We were at the top of a hill and surrounded by some PO'ed folks we had screwed over in the norning. There were no LZ's and our only option was to get out on "strings". The first slick made a serious attempt to cut his way through the canopy with his rotor blades. I never figured if some of our pilots were all balls or totally lacking in sense -- probably both. He finally had to drop the rigs. As he lifted us out I believe one leg became slightly longer than the other. I wasn't sure which was going to give first, my leg or a vine that had caught it. Luckily the vine finally snaped. To try to prevent uncontrolled spinning we were to grasp each other's harness. Being somewhat larger than my "Yards" I managed to grab a pair of legs.
I looked down and saw the bad guys all over the top of the hilll. We had gotten out just in the nick of time. We also took some fire which made the ride even more "exciting". The preferred procedure was to lift a team out and then set them down as soon as it was safe and get them into the choppers. For some reason they took us all of the way back to Kontum. After a few minutes the pain was gone. As they were setting us down I watched my feet touch the ground but felt nothing. I ended up on my backside and it was a while before I could walk unassisted.
It was a very scary and exciting ride but beat the $hit out of the alternative. We were snatched right out of the jaws of the tiger. :p
Ambush Master
01-07-2005, 18:28
While at One-Zero School at Camp Long Thanh, there was a leg S4 Captain who had been bugging the Instructors for months to let him go for a Stabo Ride. The day our Class got to go on a few rides, to learn how to safely use the rigs, our Instructors spied said Capt. with a rig and talking with the Helicopter Pilots. After we were through, and headed back to the classroom, the Instructors stopped us and said to wait a minute. After we heard the Choppers take off, we were called back to the heli-pad and there went the Captain straight up a few hundred feet. The chopper, with him in tow, then pitched over and sort of dove a little to gain translational lift. The Capt. was screaming his head off. He was then flown around the camp a few times and then the Instructors, laughing their asses off, said WATCH THIS !!! The chopper took him almost out of sight, to where the 25th ID "Waste Treatment Pond" was located, descended, then proceeded to DRAG THE CAPT THROUGH IT !!!! They brought him back, set him down to the side of the pad and cut the rope then left. !!! His Jungle Fatigue Pockets were BULGING !!! He was totally covered with extremely smelly waste.
Back in the classrooms we found out that the instructors had made a deal with the Pilot to give him the extra special ride. Before we graduated, said Captain had requested and was granted a transfer to a leg line unit.
Roguish Lawyer
01-07-2005, 18:33
While at One-Zero School at Camp Long Thanh, there was a leg S4 Captain who had been bugging the Instructors for months to let him go for a Stabo Ride. The day our Class got to go on a few rides, to learn how to safely use the rigs, our Instructors spied said Capt. with a rig and talking with the Helicopter Pilots. After we were through, and headed back to the classroom, the Instructors stopped us and said to wait a minute. After we heard the Choppers take off, we were called back to the heli-pad and there went the Captain straight up a few hundred feet. The chopper, with him in tow, then pitched over and sort of dove a little to gain translational lift. The Capt. was screaming his head off. He was then flown around the camp a few times and then the Instructors, laughing their asses off, said WATCH THIS !!! The chopper took him almost out of sight, to where the 25th ID "Waste Treatment Pond" was located, descended, then proceeded to DRAG THE CAPT THROUGH IT !!!! They brought him back, set him down to the side of the pad and cut the rope then left. !!! His Jungle Fatigue Pockets were BULGING !!! He was totally covered with extremely smelly waste.
Back in the classrooms we found out that the instructors had made a deal with the Pilot to give him the extra special ride. Before we graduated, said Captain had requested and was granted a transfer to a leg line unit.
LMAOROTF!!! Great story, AM!
LMAOROTF!!! Great story, AM!
Me too!!!
:D
The Reaper
01-07-2005, 19:37
But was he a good S-4?
TR
Ambush Master
01-07-2005, 19:58
But was he a good S-4?
TR
Negative !!! As I stated, he was a leg and he really threw his weight around with all of the NCO instructors. He was totally anti SF. I really could not believe that he had been there as long as he had, except for the fact that he was their "Chew Toy" and was the perpetual recipient of their collective mischievious attention !!!! :D
Goggles Pizano
01-07-2005, 20:39
BWAAAHHHAA! Priceless!
TerribleTobyt
02-09-2005, 23:03
While at One-Zero School at Camp Long Thanh, there was a leg S4 Captain who had been bugging the Instructors for months to let him go for a Stabo Ride. The day our Class got to go on a few rides, to learn how to safely use the rigs, our Instructors spied said Capt. with a rig and talking with the Helicopter Pilots. After we were through, and headed back to the classroom, the Instructors stopped us and said to wait a minute. After we heard the Choppers take off, we were called back to the heli-pad and there went the Captain straight up a few hundred feet. The chopper, with him in tow, then pitched over and sort of dove a little to gain translational lift. The Capt. was screaming his head off. He was then flown around the camp a few times and then the Instructors, laughing their asses off, said WATCH THIS !!! The chopper took him almost out of sight, to where the 25th ID "Waste Treatment Pond" was located, descended, then proceeded to DRAG THE CAPT THROUGH IT !!!! They brought him back, set him down to the side of the pad and cut the rope then left. !!! His Jungle Fatigue Pockets were BULGING !!! He was totally covered with extremely smelly waste.
Back in the classrooms we found out that the instructors had made a deal with the Pilot to give him the extra special ride. Before we graduated, said Captain had requested and was granted a transfer to a leg line unit.
We used to do the same thing at Mott Lake during Helicopter Ops. We'd take students up 100 ft to rapell out of the chopper, then they'd hook up into STABO rigs for a ride around the lake area. If the weather was ok, the pilots'd take the students for a dip in the lake.
Good times!!!!!!! :D
We were jumping into Montana during the winter of I think 1986. Due to the altitude and all the winter warfare equipment we were required to bundle our rucks and just jump LBE and weapons.
The plan was for the 130 to fly nap of the earth and about one minute out come up to jump altitude and then we were to jump.
The jump commands were given and the team was ready to go. The team leader was first to chase the bundle and I was last to make sure the light stayed at least "amber" until everybody got out. There was no second pass and anybody who failed to get out would be dropped on the alternate without their ruck. Nobody was going to carry two rucks off the Primary, I was going to make sure.
Anyway, we were all standing and the air crew opened the ramp. Cold as it was with the wind blowing around it was a grand sight to behold. It's something hard to describe. The darkened interior of the aircraft with the red glow of the jump lights. The line of jumpers holding their static lines up near the cable and swaying with the movement of the aircraft. The view out the back of the ranp was like sitting in a movie theatre watching the big screen as the landscape disappeared into the darkness behind the plane.
Just like people at a bus stop we were waiting for the green light.
All of a sudden the plane pulls sharply up. The aircrew are hanging onto the sides of the plane to keep their feet. It felt like 4 or 5 Gs and the whole team tumbled to the floor in a heap. We just started to untangle ourselves when the plane pushed the nose forward and we all came up off the floor with no help at all. I swear my toes were barely touching the deck. That only lasted a second or two and we quickly untangled ourselves and the safties started a re-check as we got the "One Minute".
The green light came on and we all jumped. One nice thing about being last is you get to see where everybody else is going. And everybody was headed for the bundle until the last 100 feet or so. We quickly assembled, ditched the air items and moved out.
After the mission we were told that the crew had been flying on goggles. They noticed a set of high power lines that were not on the map and pulled up to avoid them. Now do I believe them? I don't know. I was in the back. If they were screwing with us somebody or the bundle could have slipped out the back during the pull up. Oh, well.
Pete
Like Pete we were to bundle the rucks and jump with weapons only. Of course there was a hitch. At that time, 1966, Group was short radios on account of the Vietnam bui;ld-up. As a result it was required to jump the commo. Being the biggest and youngest on the team (not necessarily in that order) I "volunteered" to jump the commo gear in.
We packed two complete 109's w/ g43 into a PA&E container. I don't even care to guess the weight. To make it more interesting we jumped from a C-47. As I stood, the container rested on my feet. Somehow, they got me to the door and pushed me out right after the other bundles.
When I attempted to pull the safety pin to release the container, it was stuck. I tugged, twisted and pulled all of the way down. At the last minute (luckily) I realized I was trying to pull the reserve safety pin. I found the pin for the container and released it just as my feet hit the ground. The bundle landed on my feet then fell one way and I went the other. I don't even want to imagine the result if I hadn't released that container. I made a minor crater in the ground and my shoulder hurt for the entire problem. Someone had to throw the antenna into a tree for me.
The commo man or whoever carried the pads also carried a .45 with live ammo in Germany. The next morning I attempted to clear the pistol and couldn't. I took it to Eldon Cross the Wpns Ldr and after fiddling with it he said: "I'll be damned. You bent the damned thing!" I had hit hard enough to bend the slide of the ,45 on my hip.
Being young and resilient I laughed about it but a couple of the old timers said that a time would come when I feel each bad PLF I ever made. They were right.
We lost a good man during a Flintlock exercise just because of that.
Cliff Strickland, FL 1982...3rd Bn 10th SFGA...i was one of the guys that lost the lottery to get picked up...
NousDefionsDoc
05-15-2005, 16:18
I would have ridden the Fulton if asked, with a square as back up. I bet it's a helluva ride.
I would have ridden the Fulton if asked, with a square as back up. I bet it's a helluva ride.
i bet it is, too...but i think the back up was problematic to the AF...
zeroalpha
05-15-2005, 19:34
http://img107.exs.cx/img107/2874/extract1.jpg
http://img107.exs.cx/img107/8003/extract2.jpg
http://img107.exs.cx/img107/8525/extract3.jpg
We call it a 'teabag' :D
(Why arent the pics actualy showing up instead of just being links?)
Oh, Thanks to my buddy on here for mounting these for me. Cheers RH.
PeteyMcPete
06-01-2006, 05:12
Looks fun.
One of the best rides was in an Army Hughes 500 series bird, a recon mission, looking at tracks. They pulled it to a stop "quite" fast when we spotted a trail and I suddenly found myself almost head down, talking to my buddy beside me, now above me.
Chopper rides were rare as hen's teeth for us ruck folks.
If the weather was ok, the pilots'd take the students for a dip in the lake.
I got dunked during one ride in the 25th. Wasn't a waste pond, thank God. Actually we were dunked several times. I believe the pilots found special glee searching out all the available ponds in the AO.
Pretty much felt like a donut until my head got caught in the ropes and could not raise it above the water level. I thought this was a hell of a way to die. My only solace was thinking about all the paperwork the PL and pilots would have to fill out. :D Also, it was amazing how cold you could be when you're soaking wet and flying through the air at the end of those ropes even on a warm day.
x SF med
06-16-2006, 08:58
Best rides - nontac water jumps in the summer, and the attendant zodiac duty - hell of a way to spend a summer day - cruise the lake for pickups, then gear-up (shorts, t-shirts, sneakers, harness) fall out of a chopper, repeat until all available MC1-1Bs were wet, hang the canopies in the shed, and go back the next day for shakeout duty.... rare days
Soft Target
06-18-2006, 08:30
Cliff Strickland, FL 1982...3rd Bn 10th SFGA...i was one of the guys that lost the lottery to get picked up...
If memory serves, been failing lately, was that the incident that caused all live training Fulton ops to be stopped?
By the way, S-4's are people with feelings, too; even flash/tab-qualified ones.
P.S. I was at a State of Florida surplus property point in Marianna a few years ago and saw components of several actual Fulton rigs. I don't know what they they were doing there and not in a PDO yard.
Jack Moroney (RIP)
06-18-2006, 12:51
If memory serves, been failing lately, was that the incident that caused all live training Fulton ops to be stopped?
Yep. I tried to get the use of it modified to realistic scenarios in 80 and it almost resulted in a courts-martial!