Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year—33rd Division Aviation
Army Aviation, page 32, 1958 issue / Editied by Mark Albertson: The article below was contributed by Lieutenant Colonel Frank O. Grey, Jr., Aviation Officer, 33rd Infantry Division. “I thought that Army Aviation readers might be interested in the accompanying photo. Knowing the editor’s fondness for reducing the large photo to the small and the small to the microscopic, I’ll decipher the white ink scrawl in the lower center of the photo. It says, Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year—33rd Division Aviation. “Taken in 1927, it proves that Army aviation is much older than we thought. In order to...
Learn MoreA Man’s World?
Mrs. Sylvia L. Waller / Army Aviation, page 43, June 1958 issue: Women are playing more of an important role in Army Aviation, becoming better informed on roles and missions and equipment employed by Army Aviation. One such is Mrs. Sylvia L. Waller, an electrical engineering graduate and wife of a U.S. Army Aviation Board senior officer. In addition, she is a highly active electronics advisor with the Board at Fort Rucker. Mrs. Waller is the first woman to earn a Bachelor’s Degree in Electrical Engineering from the Polytechnic Institute of Brooklyn; following this, she earned a Master’s Degree at M.I.T. ...
Learn MoreCold Cycle Pressure Jet Helicopter
BLOOMFIELD, CONN — The first successful flight of a new cold cycle pressure jet helicopter was announced recently by the Kaman Aircraft Corporation. Bottom of page 12, May 15, 1958 edition, Army Aviation The joint U.S. Army-Kaman built K-17 helicopter is one of several types of helicopters employing tip-driven rotors currently being investigated by the U.S. Army. The K-17 is powered by a Blackburn Turmo 600 gas turbine aof 400 hp driving a Boeing compressor located in the fuselage. Air from the compressor is ducted through a rotating seal to the rotor hub, and out through the blades to jet...
Learn MoreChariots to Choppers
Historical Perspective / By Mark Albertson: The history of war is the story of Man attempting to foster mobility for decisive advantage on the battlefield. – Mark Albertson Vietnam – The Helicopter War / AAPI FILE PHOTO (Feb 66 Issue) The chariot was an early expression of mobility on the battlefield; employed for military purposes during the Bronze and Iron Ages. The Assyrian Army, considered by some military historians as the world’s first professional army, employed the chariot to great advantage. Early light chariots, each with driver and archer and a team of two horses, was an early weapons support...
Learn More35th Anniv. of Army Avn. Branch: Product of American Invention, Innovation & Specialization of Tasks
Looking Back, February 2018 / By Mark Albertson: Army Aviation is the product of American invention and innovation; and, is the beneficiary of that inexorable march towards specialization which has come to mark the evolution of the American armed forces following the Spanish-American war. Left: Thaddeus Lowe’s balloon An early attempt at innovation and specialization of tasks appears in 1848 during the Mexican-American War with John Wise, one of the celebrated names in American aeronautics. Wise hatched a scheme to break the siege at Vera Cruz. He proposed the use of a monstrous lighter-than-air-craft capable of hoisting a payload of 20,000 pounds. ...
Learn More0-1 BIRD DOG
Two-place liaison, observation aircraft. Cessna Aircraft Company, Wichita, Kansas. O-1 Bird Dog, originally the L-19 ENGINESOne Continental 0-470-11 piston eng ine rated at 213 hp, PROPELLERSMcCauley fixed-pitch two-bladed metal propeller. SPECIFICATIONSSpan: 36 ft. Length: 25 ft. 10 in. Height: 7 ft. 4 in. Empty weight: 1,614 lb. Gross weight: 2,430 lb. PERFORMANCEMax. speed ISL) : 115 mph. Cruise speed ISL): 100 mph. Cruise speed, 10,000′: 106 mph. Service ceiling: 1,850 ft. Max. range: 592 st. mi. Endurance:4.67 hours. Rate of climb: 1,040 fpm. REMARKSThe TO-1 D is the instrument trainer version of this aircraft and is st ructuallystrong er. It...
Learn More1962 Redesignation of Aircraft
Looking Back / Edited by Mark Albertson: Pages 694 & 695, December 1962 issue, ARMY AVIATION Magazine. We now have a new AR which should be of interest to all Army Aviators. This new AR 700-26, dated 18 Sept. 1962, titled, “Designation, Redesignation, and Naming Military Aircraft, upersedes AR 705-42. The AR also implements DOD Directive 4506.6, dated 6 July 1962. Here is what the AR does: It prescribes a standard designation for all aircraft and applies to all services, Army, Navy, Air Force, etc. It further reidentifies all aircraft which are in the nventory. Hold it! Don’t get panicky! This reidentification is...
Learn MoreThe Real Goal of Army Aviation
Historical Perspective / By Brig. Gen. Clifton F. von Kann, Director of Army Aviation, ODCSOPS, D/A: One of the ghosts that haunts every discussion of Army aviation is “another Air Force.” To add to this scare factor, there are a lot of little minor ghosts who always accompany the first: “The Army wants to take over TAG.” “The real goal of Army aviation is its own branch.” “Army aviation is merely another example of divergence rather than unity within the services.” On Global Lecture Tour General -I.D. White (1.), Commander in Chief, U.S. Army Pacific, chats with Capt. Walter F. Jones...
Learn MorePlight of the Gunners
Looking Back / By Mark Albertson: The best army in the world is bound to be annihilated unless it is backed up by a strong, well-organized Home Front. Let every institution in the USSR treat the Army as a matter of priority. . . —Vladimir Lenin(1)* The L-4 was the backbone of Army Aviation in World War II. Flown by Aviators during first part of the Korean War Army Aviators opened the Korean conflict flying World War II holdovers; in a word, their mounts were long in the tooth. L-4s and L-5s shouldered the load for the first part of the...
Learn MoreWomen In Army Aviation Today
By MAJ Jennifer A. Phelps: The following article leads up to the Association’s 2009 National Convention in Nashville, Tenn. marking the 35th anniversary of women serving in the Aviation Branch. Straight out of flight school in early 2007, 1LT Erin Leach found herself being tested in combat as a UH-60 platoon leader in Afghanistan with the 2nd Bn., 82nd Avn. Regt. Female pilots like Leach are proving themselves as leaders and aviators, performing equally or better with their male counterparts. Leach is pictured here ready for an Oct. 1, 2007 mission and flying on another mission over an Afghan community./...
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