Your fault, ndoghouse!

ndoghouse: The translation follows immediately after the script. Got my "oh why did I ever decide to study this" in the mail today.

Bawanna: Left or right turns/banks were never considered. The guys just hopped out when the stuff hit the proverbial fan.

Shavru: Hello to you, too, Shavru. The keyboard will get a good work out soon. I hope your "good fortune" helps me out. फॉलो माय प्रोग्रेस एंड ऑफर कर्कशन्स, प्लीज.
 
Bawanna, here are two photos of my last helicopter in RVN. The first is when I started flying it. The last after I quit. The paint job got customized, and other little things doe to it. Notice my scoreboard behind the crew chief. The pilot's seat in the photos was my "office". I had the doors removed entirely to reduce bullets turning into shrapnel because they would explode as they passed through the skin.
358MyLightshipSm.jpg
[/URL][/IMG]
SMLightship4372.jpg
[/URL][/IMG] Guess what my computer chair is....
SmSeat.jpg
[/URL][/IMG] I completely rebuilt it last year.
 
You two should get a room talking like that. My oh my.

I'm gonna try practicing hanging out the door of my van, (on the freeway at 60) with my kid driving. I can do this door gunner thing.

Wait! I'm reminded of the time in my younger days hauling firewood in a 1 ton van, going down the freeway when a bozo did a dumb thing and caused me grief. I switched driving with my pard went to the side door, whipped it open and tried to sink a double bit axe into the dude's hood. Probably thought I was possessed! I was possessed and I would have got him but my pard wouldn't man up and get close enough.

I always was a peaceable sort but once in awhile I just sort of lose it temporarily.

Peace Out.
 
Man, that's some cool stuff Bookie! What do the different figures on the scoreboard represent? They sure look different with all the doors took off, I read that on your site where that was common because of the shrapnel deal.
Must be interesting flying in the rain though.

Those are mini guns in the one picture right. Do you control those or a crew chief, doesn't look like he has to hold or aim manually.

Oh and I really dig the chair too. That is wicked cool. Bet that's quite a conversation piece. That would look great in a van too when I'm practicing my door gunning.
 
Bookie. Do you still get opportunity to fly these birds? Do you have to go through licensing again to fly civilian or private aircraft? How does that work?
 
Bookie. I am the wrong person to ask that of. I am just starting to learn too and any mistakes you might make would be far beyond my knowledge, I would more likely assume you were right and I was mistaken LOL..
 
Man thats a cool bird for sure, the mini gun is just sick, if I may ask what is the other piece at the back?? almost looks like speakers.
 
Believe if I remember what I was told they are lights. Is that correct Bookie?
 
The electric powered minigun was hand/manually operated by the gunner. Another person manipulated the "cluster light" made from 7 DC-3/C47 landing lights. Yet another crew member was in the back manning a 60, chunker, or frags as the need arose. I flew usually at night. 40-100 feet off the ground with every light on the helicopter turned on bright. The cluster light really lit up the surrounding area. The airspeed was usually about 40 mph. I was the "bait" for the two armed gunships orbiting overheard with all lights blacked out. If the minigun did not eliminate the threat, I flew wide circles around the target, keeping it illuminated. The two guns would form a daisy chain and arrange for Charlie to meet his maker. One night in December, 1970, on one mission, I took 543 holes in that bird and almost never made it back. RPG was fired from about 60 foot away and luckily it hit a tree which set it off prematurely. Shrapnel was a mite abundant. No electricity, no hydraulics, no tail rotor pedal controls, and the transmission getting hot from loss of fluid, not counting the engine running rough. To top that off, there was a severe 1 to 1 vibration set in because I lost 2 feet of main rotor blade crashing through the trees after being welcomed to the neighborhood. Had to make a running landing to get her down as she would not hover. The long red things are sampans sunk. The yellow triangles (hats) were bad guys. They made a TV documentary about us a couple of years ago. There is a website with a trailer on it at www.theshadowsofmen.com you can see and hear me in it as I am today. You would not recognize me in the shoot'em up in the film as I was 127 pounds of gut wrenching terror. One of my old gunships (which we are rebuilding) is in Arnold Schwarzenegger's movie: Terminator 2: Judgment Day.

षव्रु, योउ प्रोबब्ल्री क्नोव मोरे थन व्हत इ विल्ल क्नोव अफ्तेर अ येअर्'स स्तुद्यिङ । इ मुस्त स्तर्त वृतिङ थे स्कृप्त इन अ फेव मिनुतेस अस पर्त ओफ म्य फिर्स्त अत्तेम्प्त तो लेअर्न डेवनगरी ।
 
Yup wicked powerful lights. I forget what he compared them too but they gotta ruin your night vision for sure.
 
Quite a story you got there Bookie.

I envy your experience. Here's what I fly instead - The rotor is about 1m in diameter.
Overview%25255B2%25255D.png
 
फ्रोम व्हत इ चन तेल इत सीमस लिके यौ अरे दोइङ्ग ग्रेअत! इ चोउल्द्न'त् तेल इफ यौ मंत थिस वास द फिर्स्त तिमे यौ त्रिएद लीर्निंग देवनागरी ओर इफ देवनाफ्गिरी वास द फिर्स्त लनगुअगे यौ वेरे लीर्निंग? मी प्रोब्लेम विथ सेंतांस स्त्रुच्तुरे

Snow. If I was going to war I would take Bookies ride. But for just plain fun your is probably all I could possibly need.
 
Shavru said:
Snow. If I was going to war I would take Bookies ride. But for just plain fun your is probably all I could possibly need.
Click to expand...

Bookie's ride ruled the sky in the 70s. Today's rides got 40 years to perfect the aeronautics and the weaponry. The result is rather scary.
apache.jpg

ah1z_super-cobra.jpg
 
You'd think with all the modern technology they'd come up with a better place for them fellas to sit. Don't look like they even got seatbelts?

In addition to my being a door gunner dream I always wanted to be a Cobra driver, don't know nothing about them but at one time I thought they would be pretty cool.

Course after Top Gun I want to fly jets, but alas none of it gelled. Just have to stick with my Gigilo work, just born to it I reckon.
 
Neato chopper, Snow! I like it and wish I had one like it. The entire tale be read in The Boys from Jasper County. This year is the 50th Anniversary of my gun team. The Razorbacks are the only gun team still flying from the VN war. They are stationed at Ft. Carson and fly Apaches. I'll have our 50th Anny commemorative t-shirt out in a few weeks.
 
Shavru, Today is my first experiment with Devanagari at all. I will have an issue with sentence structure, too, so don't feel like the Lone Ranger. A Doctor friend told me to try a phonics converter in a few days after I learn the 48 or so "letters".
 
Snow, I have actually been able to play a bit with the .30 off the Apache which were just coming in service to "replace" those Cobra's when I left the military. The Cobra has a special place in my heart because I used to get a chance to ride in them when the pilots needed air-time to qualify for flight pay (Both those and Warthogs out of Army Air corp, Edwards Air Base CA). I understand the Cobra frame is being brought back as a "Viper" because the Apache doesn't have some of the same capabilities. However I stand by the comment I prefer the old Huey not because it outguns the attack choppers. But because it is much more of a blank slate that could be turned into anything. Gunship, Medevac, Troop transport, Ect. These are 2 distinct styles and the attack helicopters are very very good at what they do, but also very limited.
 
Ah, Great advice Bookie, Think I will "steal" it myself. Though the problem with those converters I have tried in the past is it is a word for word translation so the sentance structure thing really separates novices like myself from someone who truely speaks the language. English seems to be backwards from 90% of other languages LOL. Once I get past the this symbol = this. next symbol = that. Now try to turn the result into something that makes sense stage, and start being able to really understand the sentance then I can work on structure. Until then I will probably sound like a 2 year old to a native speaker. Right noun/verb but a lot of confusion about what I really mean about them.
 
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