RWS 46 – Chickenhawk with Robert Mason

The Vietnam war has been called the helicopter war. They were used as troop carriers, gunships, medevac, heavy lift, observation and aerial trucks. Chickenhawk author Robert Mason shares some of his memories of flying the Huey in this episode. They fundamentally changed the way that war was fought. Probably nothing is more iconic from that …

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The post RWS 46 – Chickenhawk with Robert Mason appeared first on The Rotary Wing Show Podcast.

The Vietnam war has been called the helicopter war. They were used as troop carriers, gunships, medevac, heavy lift, observation and aerial trucks. Chickenhawk author Robert Mason shares some of his memories of flying the Huey in this episode.

They fundamentally changed the way that war was fought. Probably nothing is more iconic from that period than the Bell UH-1 Huey. The Huey was the first turbine helicopter to enter production for the US military and brought a significant boost to capabilities over existing machines.

The first flight of the UH-1 was back in 1956 – October this year(2016) will mark 60 years of Huey models flying. So someone is going to have to organise a big party for that one!

If there is one book that people associate with helicopters in Vietnam and especially the Huey then it would most likely be ChickenHawk by Robert Mason. In fact it is probably one of the most recommended books on helicopters in general. If you look around the web wherever someone has asked for helicopter book recommendations then there is a high chance that Chickenhawk is mentioned.

A typical flight formation on the way back from an assault. Photo Credit: R.Mason

[Tweet “The helicopter bible – Chickenhawk by Robert Mason”]

It has 471 reviews just on Amazon with 85% of those being 5 star. And obviously amazon is a fairly recent invention given the book was published in 1983.

The author Bob Mason deployed to Vietnam with 1st Cavalry Division and their 450 Hueys at the opening of the Vietnam war.

In Chickenhawk he covers his helicopter training and his 12 month tour of Vietnam as a ‘slick’ pilot on Hueys where he flew over 1,000 air assault missions.

A big thanks to show listener Lee Rilea for prodding me for a long time now to track Bob down.

It is my very great honor to be able to introduce you to Bob Mason and to find out a bit more about his experiences.

[Tweet “22yrs old, aircraft captain of a Huey in Vietnam, flying into hot LZs and saved a bunch of people”]

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In this week’s episode:

01:05 Vietnam the helicopter war and the Huey

03:50 Chickenhawk book reviews

05:35 Bob Mason interview

07:30 First time saw a helicopter hovering when doing fixed wing flying

10:30 Humans predestined to fly – no logical survival basis

11:45 Training helicopters – Hiller 12C, H-19

14:10 Vertol H-21 ‘Banana’ 21 seats but would never be able to carry that many

15:10 Hueys in 1st Cav Division

17:50 Never see that many helicopters flying again

18:30 A typical air mobile mission

22:31 30-45 min flights to get to assault locations

24:00 Chest protection wasn’t available for first months

25:20 Formation stories – lead ship had lost radio comms

28:05 9 SQN RAAF

28:35 Missed approach formation lead

31:10 Taking out a IVSI gauge with a pistol

32:25 Huey blades vs tree branches

34:15 Bullet holes

36:30 Jinking around to dodge bullets

38:00 Flying rate of effort and hours in a day

40:33 Casualty rates – WW2 vs Vietnam

43:30 Night flying – formation via cockpit lights, 4 ship formations, no moon

47:20 Overloaded departure with low RRPM downhill

49:10 CBS news clip – medevac of CBS president

50:20 Tail rotor impact on landing in dust cloud

55:10 Battle of Ia Drang

56:20 Advice with regards PSTD and dealing with stress reactions

59:35 TH-55A trainer and tuck under in autorotation crashes

1:02:30 Medals DFC

1:03:40 Getting back into a Huey after 47 years

1:12:15 Video of Jerry Towler talk to historical association

1:13:00 Reviews on iTune – thank you!

1:13:35 Episode Sponsors trainmorepilots.com

Links from this week’s episode:

Robert Mason’s Website

Helicopter loss numbers – Vietnam Helicopter Pilots Association

Chickenhawk Book on Amazon

To have your copy of Chickenhawk signed:

“To mail me a copy to sign, send a book with a prepaid return shipper envelope, to:

Robert Mason

P.O. Box 1517

High Springs, FL 32655”

[Tweet “For a bigger mission we might take 80 – 100 helicopters”]

Bong Son Valley, February 1966. Preacher Yellow flight is on final during an air assault in the valley. It’s exciting when you know you’re going to be landing where that smoke is. This was taken from the left cockpit seat of Yellow Two. Photo Credit: R.Mason

A forward base somewhere in the middle of no where. We’ve just dropped off a load of everyone’s favorite treat, good old C-rations. Photo Credit: R.Mason

Yankee Air Museum Historic Presentation Night Presents Jerry Towler

Bob Mason flying the Mosquito XET 2008

[Tweet “I can’t walk past a helicopter without acknowledging them – they are kind of magical.”]

Be part of the conversation on this interview by leaving a comment below. Let others know what you think of the book Chickenhawk.

The post RWS 46 – Chickenhawk with Robert Mason appeared first on The Rotary Wing Show Podcast.