mention anything about our previous flight together. I think we were both pretty embarrassed. I sure was. On the way to the AO, Boss showed me how to operate the starlight scope. He also pointed out the many flashes on the ground that indicated small arms fire.
The first order of business was to adjust the focus to the “infinity” position. The best way to do this was to point the scope at a distant bright light, such as a star or one of the many flares illuminating different parts of South Vietnam. Since the city of Hue, off to the north, was usually under flare illumination most of the night, it was easy to find a light source to focus on.
As we got to the AO, I started practicing looking at the trail with the starlight scope. It was amazing how well I could see features with the scope when everything just looked pitch black to the naked eye.
Suddenly, I saw one, then another, very bright light directly below the right side of the airplane. The lights appeared to be fairly stationary, but they were slowly moving apart.
“Hey, Boss, I've got two bright lights that are staying in the same place, but getting further apart.”
“Shit!” he shouted, “they're tracers!” as he violently banked the airplane to the left .
As soon as he raised the right wing, the tracers zipped by, close enough to touch. They made a slight popping sound as they went past us. And, through the open window, I smelled the distinctive odor of cordite. It reminded me of a fireworks display I had seen from close up when I was a kid, when the wind had blown the smell of the fireworks in my direction. Shortly after they missed us, the tracers exploded with a loud report.
“That was a 23 mike mike,” Boss commented. Mark our location on the chart, and we'll report it to Intel. There haven't been any reports of 23's in this area before.”
We looked around, and couldn't determine where the ground fire had come from. Boss wasn't satisfied to let it go.
“We need to get some air and see if this guy opens up again.”
He switched over to Moonbeam's frequency on VHF.
“Moonbeam, Covey 212.”
“Covey 212, go ahead.”
“Covey 212 in the area of Delta 51. I need air immediately. We have an active 23.”
“Roger, Covey 212, we're sending Magpie 11 flight over to you. Strike frequency Delta.”
“Roger. Thanks.”
Boss pulled his KAK wheel out of the leg pocket of his flight suit, and listened up on strike frequency.
“You need to go to the BX and get yourself one of these,” Boss remarked, as he held up a small rectangular flashlight. “It's a Sanyo Cadnica.”
“What's so special about it?”
“It's a very low illumination level, so it won't blind you or ruin your night vision. Also, you can use this switch” he held up the flashlight so I could see the sliding switch on the side, “to change from white to red light. You'll need the red light for most of the things we do, like using the KAK wheel, but you need the white light for reading contour lines on the map. Watch.”
He moved the sliding switch to turn on the red light, and held it over the map. The orange contour lines on the map totally disappeared. Then he slid the switch over to white light, and I could see the contour lines again. Yes, I definitely needed a Cadnica.
After a few minutes, we heard Magpie flight check in, and Boss had them authenticate. They sounded different from the fighters I'd heard previously.
“They're Aussies,” Boss explained. “The Magpies are B-57s out of Phan Rang. You're playing FAN tonight, so be sure to keep track of all of our information. Just like before. Start time, end time, target coordinates, ordnance, BDA, the works.”
“Got it.”
When Magpie flight was overhead, they couldn't see us.
“Not a problem,” Boss transmitted, “I'm going christmas tree now.”
With that, he turned on every light on our airplane: navigation lights, rotating beacon, and landing light.
“Okay, Covey, we have you in
The first order of business was to adjust the focus to the “infinity” position. The best way to do this was to point the scope at a distant bright light, such as a star or one of the many flares illuminating different parts of South Vietnam. Since the city of Hue, off to the north, was usually under flare illumination most of the night, it was easy to find a light source to focus on.
As we got to the AO, I started practicing looking at the trail with the starlight scope. It was amazing how well I could see features with the scope when everything just looked pitch black to the naked eye.
Suddenly, I saw one, then another, very bright light directly below the right side of the airplane. The lights appeared to be fairly stationary, but they were slowly moving apart.
“Hey, Boss, I've got two bright lights that are staying in the same place, but getting further apart.”
“Shit!” he shouted, “they're tracers!” as he violently banked the airplane to the left .
As soon as he raised the right wing, the tracers zipped by, close enough to touch. They made a slight popping sound as they went past us. And, through the open window, I smelled the distinctive odor of cordite. It reminded me of a fireworks display I had seen from close up when I was a kid, when the wind had blown the smell of the fireworks in my direction. Shortly after they missed us, the tracers exploded with a loud report.
“That was a 23 mike mike,” Boss commented. Mark our location on the chart, and we'll report it to Intel. There haven't been any reports of 23's in this area before.”
We looked around, and couldn't determine where the ground fire had come from. Boss wasn't satisfied to let it go.
“We need to get some air and see if this guy opens up again.”
He switched over to Moonbeam's frequency on VHF.
“Moonbeam, Covey 212.”
“Covey 212, go ahead.”
“Covey 212 in the area of Delta 51. I need air immediately. We have an active 23.”
“Roger, Covey 212, we're sending Magpie 11 flight over to you. Strike frequency Delta.”
“Roger. Thanks.”
Boss pulled his KAK wheel out of the leg pocket of his flight suit, and listened up on strike frequency.
“You need to go to the BX and get yourself one of these,” Boss remarked, as he held up a small rectangular flashlight. “It's a Sanyo Cadnica.”
“What's so special about it?”
“It's a very low illumination level, so it won't blind you or ruin your night vision. Also, you can use this switch” he held up the flashlight so I could see the sliding switch on the side, “to change from white to red light. You'll need the red light for most of the things we do, like using the KAK wheel, but you need the white light for reading contour lines on the map. Watch.”
He moved the sliding switch to turn on the red light, and held it over the map. The orange contour lines on the map totally disappeared. Then he slid the switch over to white light, and I could see the contour lines again. Yes, I definitely needed a Cadnica.
After a few minutes, we heard Magpie flight check in, and Boss had them authenticate. They sounded different from the fighters I'd heard previously.
“They're Aussies,” Boss explained. “The Magpies are B-57s out of Phan Rang. You're playing FAN tonight, so be sure to keep track of all of our information. Just like before. Start time, end time, target coordinates, ordnance, BDA, the works.”
“Got it.”
When Magpie flight was overhead, they couldn't see us.
“Not a problem,” Boss transmitted, “I'm going christmas tree now.”
With that, he turned on every light on our airplane: navigation lights, rotating beacon, and landing light.
“Okay, Covey, we have you in
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