Postcards from the Bleeding Edge: Illusions and the RH-53D

Tuesday, December 21, 2004

Illusions and the RH-53D

I knew I had conciously blocked out a lot of stuff while I tried to write an uplifting tale in Uncle Bill's Helicopter, but not how much, until today.

I knew I'd got the wrong helicopter in the first version of the story. I knew I'd kind of mentally substituted for the CH-53D variant afterwards...

I didn't know the details of the most famous mission they went on, until today: Operation Eagle Claw - the failed mission to rescue Iranian hostages in 1980.

A representative of a film company just contacted me in the hope of finding some RH-53Ds still flying and I've emailed around looking for anyone that might know something. Any blog readers know anything? I'd still like to fly in one, one day.

But by now the thing is an example of how flawed my approach to life has been and now the analogy of UBH grows more tarnished, as Josh is back in rehab. My own "operation eagle claw", as it were.

What's the risk, Colonel Beckwith?"

"Oh, about 99.9 percent."

"What's the probability of success?"

"Zero."

"Well, we can't do it."

"You're right, Boss."

"I've got to buy time from the JCS."

It wasn't the helicopter's fault...

The helicopter pilots were told to fly at or below 200 feet to avoid radar. This limitation caused them to run into a haboob, or dust storm, that they could not fly over without breaking the 200 foot limit. Two helicopters lost sight of the task force and landed, out of action. Another had landed earlier when a warning light had come on. Their crew had been picked up but the aircraft that had stopped to retrieve them was now 20 minutes behind the rest of the formation.

Battling dust storms and heavy winds, the RH-53's continued to make their way to Desert One. After recieving word that the EC-130's and fuel had arrived, the two aircraft that had landed earlier started up again and resumed their flight to the rendevous. But then another helicopter had a malfunction and the pilot and Marine commander decided to turn back, halfway to the site.

It was the situation that FUBAR.

In finally making peace with one of the true stories behind the helicopter , and in all of my attempts to find one... I just found one in a museum, in a place I'd never would have thought of looking. In southern NJ.

¶ 6:47 PM

Comments:

The CH-53 is still the main heavy helicopter of Israeli Air Force.

http://www.iaf.org.il/Templates/Aircraft/Aircraft.IN.aspx?lang=HE&lobbyID=69&folderID=82&docfolderID=208&docID=18301¤tPageNumber=2

# posted by

Hanan Cohen : 1:04 AM

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