snowmman

http://books.google.com/books?id=Y9pTC9FPPocC&pg=PA33&lpg=PA33&dq=%22buffalo+hunter%22+reconnaisance+drone&source=bl&ots=vJLokn-3yR&sig=5FiY473b4d9be6w8Njx_HPfpo5c&hl=en&ei=2Vl2Ss-CGI_WsQPZh73UCA&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=3#v=onepage&q=&f=false Buffalo Hunter was a program making use of Teledyne Ryan 147 series target drone airframes converted into reconnaissance drones...Launched from modified C-130 Hercules transports, the 147s could take photos, collect electronic intelligence and even act as decoys for U.S. airstrikes when needed. http://www.acig.org/artman/publish/article_344.shtml The first two new programs for introducing drones to USAF were named "Lightning Bug" and "Compass Cookie". Both used Ryan Model 124 Firebee I for reconnaissance tasks and were initially planed for operations over Cuba. However, the situation there stabilized, thus the first unit equipped with Q-2C Firebee (later developed into AQM-34) namely the 4025th "Black Knights" Reconnaissance Squadron (RS) of the 4080th SW (Strategic Wing), flew its operational missions over North Korea and China, in 1964, spying local SAM-sites. Regardless of place, time and art of the mission, all the drones of the AQM-34 series deployed during the Vietnam War were carried and started from specially modified GC-130As, MC-130AS and - finally - DC-130A and DC-130E control aircraft, each of them being equipped with systems for carriage, start, control and guidance of drones. The drones were always pre-programmed, but after release their progress was monitored and the "pilot" could override the programme manually if necessary. The carrier aircraft had a console for two "pilots“, equipped with all the usual flight-instruments, which read the data sent to them from the drone. All the data about the navigation, planed route, the actual flight pad and position of the drone and the carrier aircraft were feed into a single system, which showed them on one display. On their return the drones deployed a parachute and were snared by specially modified CH-3 recovery helicopters. Immediately drones showed immense capabilities and adaptability. The simplest AQM-34H variant - of the project "Litter Bug" - was used for dropping leaflets. However, advanced models, foremost AQM-34L/Ms (project "Buffalo Hunter“) were equipped with Doppler-radars, precise LORAN-nav-systems and recce cameras, including a TV-camera capable of transmitting pictures to carrier aircraft in "real-time". The AQM-34Q and AQM-34Rs were designed for operations at high altitudes, but - generally - all versions could relatively simply be equipped with modules for a very wide range of missions, including ELINT, SIGINT, jamming, photo-reconnaissance (especially at low level), real-time televised reconnaissance and leaflet-dropping. The guidance system automatically controlled the height, course, power setting of the engine and the recovery systems. Usual AQM-34 for use at low levels had a span between 3.96 and 4.57mm. For missions at high altitude, however, wings of between 8.23m and 9.14m span could be attached. Early drones had a length of 7.92m, but this grew to 9.75m on later versions. Initial engines were not very powerful at only 771 or 871kg thrust, but later better - with up to 1.27 tonnes - were added. Several models were also capable of carrying drop tanks under the fuselage or wings. They were recovered with helicopters, snagging a deployed parachute (drone didn't land?) Photo attached of drone winched up below a heli. more detail at the url above. Actually, there were kills, but they were scored by Americans - and indirectly. In May 1970, an AQM-34L was on a mission over Hanoi area, acting as a manned reconnaissance aircraft. Finishing its photo-run, the drone turned toward the Tonking Gulf, where it was to ditch after spending its remaining fuel. Almost everything was going according to plan - down to one detail: the drone was intercepted by an MiG-21 of the 921st FR. The fighter closed and tried to shot it down by two K-13/AA-2 Atoll air-to-air missiles. Both malfunctioned however, and the Vietnamese continued the pursuit, trying to down the drone by tackling its wing. By doing so, the SRVAF-pilot forgot to control his fuel reserves: after the drone fell harmlessly into the sea, he found out that he had not enough fuel to return to base. The Vietnamese ejected while flying back toward the coast. This was the first air-to-air kill scored by an unmanned aircraft in the history of air warfare. This drone was salvaged and it continued its interesting carrier. On 9 March 1971 it was on a photo-run, most probably over the SRVAF’s Tho Xuan AB, when intercepted by two MiG-21s. Manoeuvring behind the drone, one of Vietnamese pilots "finally" acquired the target and fired an K-13/AA-2 missile. A direct hit was scored - however, not on the drone but on the leader of the Vietnamese section, flown by pilot Luong Duc Truong, who was killed. Only several weeks later the same drone flew straight into fierce Vietnamese air defence fire and was simultaneously intercepted by an MiG-21 of the SRVAF. While the drone came away the unlucky MiG-pilot experienced the excellent marksmanship of his colleagues on the ground: he was shot down. By the end of 1971, the same drone „scored“ two further „kills“, becoming the actual first US air-combat "ace" of the Vietnam War! The life of AQM-34s was not always that easy, however. Dozens were shot down during operations over the Hainan Island and Chinese mainland in 1964, 1965 and 1966 dozens were shot down by Chinese interceptors, while even more went lost to other means of air defence. According to Chinese records, the first AQM-34 was downed by an J-5 on 15 November 1964, followed by at least five others each in 1965 and 1966, two in 1967 and further five in 1968. As mentioned, Vietnamese claimed ten in 1969, none in 1970. This changed in 1971, when Vietnamese MiGs managed to intercept four other drones and claimed the downing of one of them. Other of these small but loyal and dependable aircraft were exceptionally heavy damaged by Vietnamese AAA and SAM. Some of them so extensively, that hardly the construction number could be read after the recovery. Not only this, in late 1971 one drone was lost, when it was falsely recognized by crews of two USN F-4 Phantoms - that escorted the guiding DC-130A - during its return flight toward Da Nang. Phantoms fired and shot down the unlucky drone by a long-range Sparrow shot believing that a North Vietnamese MiGs was closing to attack the Hercules. more detail http://www.vectorsite.net/twuav_04.html

Some detail on the KH-4 missions is here: http://www.globalsecurity.org/space/systems/kh-4.htm Attached is a photo taken over South Laos in December 1968. This photo is from declassified US national satellite imagery taken by KH-4A, Mission 1049, Pass 119. Aft Camera took this photo from 100 miles altitude. The weather was unusually clear over South Laos. source: http://www.angelfire.com/home/laoslist/galleryhoss06.html

the jet pods 377 mentioned: "By 1962, the C-123K variant aircraft was evaluated for operations in Southeast Asia and their stellar performance led the Air Force to upgrade 180 of the C-123B aircraft to the new C-123K standard, which featured auxiliary jet pods underneath the wings, and anti-skid brakes. In 1968, the aircraft helped resupply troops in Khe Sanh, Vietnam during a three-month siege by North Vietnam[1]." .... "Black Spot and other special military C-123s During the conflict in Vietnam, a number of C-123s were modified for specialized roles. Most of these modifications were on a one- or two-aircraft level. Only the usage of C-123s as "flare ships" to illuminate targets for fixed wing gunships such as the AC-47 and AC-119G were more numerous. These aircraft, operating under the call-sign Candle were flown by the USAF's 14th Special Operations Wing. USAF NC-123K "permanent test" model used over the Ho Chi Minh Trail. It was outfitted with FLIR, LLTV, laser rangefinder, and cluster bomb dispensers. A single C-123B was tested as a possible replacement for the Candle aircraft, with its rear loading ramp removed and replaced with a large box with 28 large lights. The airplane could continuously light a 2 mile circle from an altitude of 12,000 feet. This aircraft, under the provisional designation NC-123B was dropped because the lights, fixed to the aircraft, made it far easier for enemy gunners to track compared to the earlier flare ships. The "Candle" aircraft had an extended life when several UC-123K's were transferred to Nakhon Phanom Royal Thai Air Force Base in Thailand. During that period, it was used as a flare ship as well as a forward air control (FAC) aircraft. The flare duties were generally used for troops in contact (TIC) while the FAC mission directed air strikes in Laos over the Ho Chi Minh trail. Another NC-123B was used as a radio relay aircraft over the Ho Chi Minh trail, with equipment to read the signals from various sensors on the ground designed to pick up enemy truck activity. Two C-123K aircraft modified in September 1965 under Project Black Spot.[8] The Black Spot aircraft were to fit under the "self-contained night attack capability" that was Operation Shed Light's primary focus and E-Systems of Greenville, Texas was contracted to complete the modifications. These aircraft featured a variety of new sensors including Low Light Level TV (LLLTV), Forward Looking Infrared (FLIR), and a laser rangefinder.[9] The aircraft looked radically different visibly from its transport brethren, as the new equipment required lengthening the nose by over 50 inches.[10] The aircraft also featured an armament system designed to carry BLU-3/B (using the ADU-253/B adapter) or BLU-26/B (using the ADU-272/B adapter) bomblets, or CBU-68/Bs cluster bombs.[11][12] The two aircraft, AF Serial Numbers 54-0691 and 54-0698, were first designated NC-123K in 1968 and then redesignated AC-123K in 1969.[13] These NC/AC-123Ks were first deployed operationally at Osan AB, South Korea between August and October 1968, and flying in support of operations against North Korean infiltrators approaching by boat. The operations in Korea met with a certain level of success and as a result the NC/AC-123Ks were transferred to South Vietnam in November 1968. The aircraft operated there until January 1969, when they were redeployed to Ubon RTAB, Thailand. The two aircraft were then returned to the United States to Hurlburt Field, Florida in May 1969, where a second round of training occurred. Four crews attended a ground school in Greenville, Texas and returned to Hurlburt where they flew the aircraft for the first time. The fate of the aircraft is still unclear. Sources have missions terminating in early July 1970 and the aircraft flying to the MASDC Yard "boneyard" at Davis-Monthan AFB, AZ where they were returned to C-123K standard, then returned to South Vietnam still wearing their camouflage and black undersides for transport duty.[10] However, the official history states that combat operations ceased on 11 May 1969, with no mention of the second deployment.[8] While the second deployment is mentioned in associated documentation, the only dates are of the arrival in Thailand and there is no information as to when they departed or where their destination was.[14]"

Man you are good! So 377 is in the lead. (with detail bonus points) Now what about the other plane (attached again) and the 2nd pic, doesn't it seem like a c-123 taking off with the tailgate down (looking out the back)... I have some more pics of it, that make it seem like it's taxiiing with the tailgate down.

Book overview On the night before Thanksgiving in 1971, a man the press identified as D. B. Cooper jumped out of an airliner with $200,000. Only three people saw him. Searches spanning many years, did not reveal a trace of the man. The police, the FBI and journalists across our nation thought the mysterious hijacker had disappeared for good. But legends refuse to die. Almost thirty years later on that Tuesday September 11th 2001 as he watched the twin towers fall, Ted Bolan an ex CIA operative, knew that something had to be done. Title The Return of D. B. Cooper Author Gene Elmore Publisher Ruroanik Publishers, 2003 ISBN 1889361089, 9781889361086 Length 229 pages Subjects Fiction / Suspense http://books.google.com/books?id=xntJAAAACAAJ

from http://www.air-america.org/News/LS85_painting.shtml On January 12, 1968, four dark green People’s Army of Vietnam (PAVN) Air Force AN-2 “Colt” biplanes lifted off from an airfield in northeastern North Vietnam and headed west toward neighboring Laos. According to an official Vietnamese account, the specially modified aircraft and highly motivated crews were on a critical mission to destroy a U.S. radar base that was successfully guiding American bombers in damaging attacks against communist supply depots, airfields, and railroad yards. Known to the Americans as “Site 85,” the radar facility was perched on the southwestern cliffs of Phou Pha Thi and had been in operation only a few months. The 5,800-foot mountain, used for many years as a staging base for U.S. Central Intelligence Agency-directed Hmong guerilla fighters and American special operations and rescue helicopters, was only 125 nautical miles from the North Vietnamese capital of Hanoi. Manned by U.S. Air Force volunteers “sheep-dipped” as employees of the Lockheed Aircraft Corporation - under the code-name “Heavy Green” - the facility provided the United States an otherwise unavailable all-weather bombing capability against North Vietnam. A tactical air navigational aid (TACAN) was located on the mountaintop. The isolated base was protected by local Hmong guerillas and Thai contract soldiers under the direction of U.S. Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) paramilitary officers. Air America, a CIA-proprietary, provided critical aerial support for the facility, the technicians, and the security forces. At about 1:30 PM the Colts approached their target and split into two formations. While two of the aircraft orbited in the area, the other two planes turned toward the mountain and conducted separate single bombing and strafing passes. John Daniel, a Heavy Green radar operator, was at the helipad just below the radar buildings when the airplanes attacked. “I could see the aircraft very clearly, only a couple of hundred feet above the site. I saw one dropping bombs and a Thai soldier emptied a full ammo clip at the plane.” The extensive bombing and strafing was confined mostly to the CIA area near the helipad, indicating the pilots may have been attracted to the shiny tin-roofed buildings. Roland Hodge, an electrical power specialist assigned to Heavy Green, was working on a CIA generator near the helipad and was slightly wounded by flying debris. Elsewhere, the attack killed four Hmong (including two women) and wounded two soldiers. Air America captain Ted Moore, flying artillery ammunition to the site, saw the biplanes attack and recalls, “It looked like World War I.” Moore and his flight mechanic Glenn Woods began to chase the first Colt as it attempted to head north to the Vietnamese border. Captain Moore positioned the unarmed UH-1D “Huey” above the biplane as Woods pulled out an AK-47 rifle and began firing at the lumbering airplane. The pursuit continued for more than twenty minutes until the second AN-2 flew underneath the helicopter and both airplanes attempted to gain altitude. Moore and Woods watched as the first AN-2, apparently hit by gunfire, dropped and then crashed into a mountain ridge less than two miles west of the North Vietnamese border. Minutes later, the second Colt hit the side of a mountain located some three miles further north of the first crash and only a few miles west of the border. The two AN-2 Colts orbiting to the southeast of Site 85 did not take part in the attack and retreated back to North Vietnam. Within hours a CIA-controlled ground team reached the crashed aircraft and found bullet holes in both. The first airplane had burned on impact and was nearly completely destroyed. The second aircraft, which bore tail number 665, was in far better shape. Three bodies which “appeared to be Vietnamese” were found in the wreckage. Aeronautical charts, which marked the inbound route to Site 85 and a return home, were found along with note books and a Soviet manufactured HF radio. An examination of the aircraft by a U.S. Air Force intelligence team revealed “that 120mm mortar rounds had been converted to ‘bombs.’ Dropped through tubes in the floor of the AN-2, the ‘bombs’ became armed in the slip stream and detonated on impact. The rockets were 57mm, and were carried in rocket pods under the wing of the AN-2.” Captain Moore later estimated that nearly fifty of the mortar “bombs” were dropped on Phou Pha Thi. Clearly, had the pilots been even slightly more proficient in their bombing and strafing, the attack at Site 85 would likely have been costly in both lives and equipment. Shrouded in the mists of the Annamite mountains, and part of a “secret war,” Air America employees Ted Moore and Glenn Woods gained the distinction of having shot down a fixed-wing aircraft from a helicopter - a singular aerial victory in the entire history of the Vietnam war. Two months later, in yet another unprecedented communist attack, Vietnamese commandos would launch a daring nighttime raid on Site 85. The radar facility was destroyed and Hanoi inflicted the deadliest single ground loss of U.S. Air Force personnel of the Vietnam war.

We've referenced Leeker's info before. I just noticed it's been updated again this summer. http://www.utdallas.edu/library/collections/speccoll/Leeker/index3.html "After the fourth edition of this database had come out in August 2008, once again many people spontaneously sent in many additions as well as new photos. This new material was equally used for the updates of The Aircraft of Air America and of The History of Air America. So I’d like to say: Thank you very much indeed for your assistance in updating both publications to Martin Best, Dick Casterlin, John M. Davis, Clarence Fu, Joe Hazen, Gary K. Lai, Lee Long-Wen (Director General, CAA, Republic of China), Sid Nanson, Dr. Jonathan Pote, Don Schwabel, Steve N. Stevens, Jack Thompson, and Jake Wehrell." Dr. Joe F. Leeker 1 June 2009 "In the fourth edition of this database, new material has been added that came from a number of new collections received at the Air America Archives. Among these new collections, I’d like to especially mention two new collections: 1) The material donated to the Archives by Gary Bisson, which contains invaluable microfilms made from Air America’s original business correspondence especially regarding the Corporate Organization, Corporate Affairs like the acquisition and sale of aircraft, and Contracts. 2) The material donated to the Archives by Margaret Leary, widow of the late Professor William Leary, that contains, among others, invaluable interviews with former Air America personnel, made by Bill Leary since the early eighties and preserved as a large correspondence, as memoirs or as audio tapes..."

C-123K? 1969912 said: "C-123K" Did you see this shot (attached). Can see the entire plane plus the engine plus 377 standing in the doorway plus the Air America marking. (edit) Wait: I may have been wrong. Maybe it is C-123K??? my mistake? Or is it a C-123B like the one numbered "374" ..note it has a different tail number. (edit) is that small metal thing a gas tank or ???

I will admit, it seems like all the Air America guys liked sunglasses. Some on the SOG guys, but not so much. :) Now, if you wanted to disguise yourself, and cast suspicion on Air America guys...what would you do? I'm still looking hard at those sturgeons. (edit) there were some pics of the Air America guys where they were quite young. But on average, I think they skewed older. Does that matter? dunno. There were some old guys in Vietnam. Waugh example.

whew, and I think that completes the blizzard of photos. I believe they were all air america circa '68-'73

attached

If the engine shot wasn't enough, here's some more. Hey you're flying too close! get out of the way! (you can see the Air America marking on the midsection of the plane) (edit) And who's standing in the side door? 377 is that you?

Remember when we had to give the monks the ride in the C-123? (photo attached) (no snakes)

attached (it's from air america days) (edit) Plus nice C-123B taxi shot

Nice photo plus some others

Going to post some cool pics from back in the day with Air America. If anyone sees themselves in the photos, give a shout out, my memory isn't as good as it used to be. (edit) This is one of the coolest Air America airdrop interior shots I've ever seen. A lot of detail. Look at all the gear. Is this a C-123??? How about the rig the guy is wearing? identify?

photo attached. Nice!

Some photos for 377. one an actual air drop in 1966 taken from the ground Ammo/supplies from a c-123. Surprisingly close to ground. C-123 is rear tailgate??? others are from a Special Forces CIDG camp near An-Phu, South Vietnam (circa 1966). The mortar pit and machine gun bunker are not being used as models for any new construction. last photo is recent: more tax expenditures: M-107 50 caliber paintball gun designed by Tom Kaye.

georger proposed "It may be an aerial photo of the bar someone used to draw a grid on? " This is clearly false. The beach is disturbed. There's no drawing on a photo. Now maybe the beach was marked lightly with a rake, to create a search grid. That's possible. I don't think they dug that many trenches??? Hard to tell, but those marks don't look that deep. It's odd that the area of Tena Bar around the money find has different lighting/texture, than the beach farther away. Maybe just a lighting oddity, or a side effect of something.

I've juxtaposed two images of the Tena Bar search for comparison. You have to mentally adjust: one is looking upstream, one is looking downstream. I had a thought that maybe the photo labelled "Looking Downstream" was accidently mirrored when published. But in comparing the two, I think the photos are as taken, and my labels are correct. Comments? (remember "downstream" is towards the ocean) Both pics are on the east shore of the Columbia, at Tena Bar. You can think about the shadows caused by a winter sun, and seem them in the photos? (edit) I'm guessing the money find is below the brushy/treey clump that's visible in both photos??? (edit) The new photo shows sand deposits a LOT further inland then we've seen from newer photos? What do people think about that???

Why are you throwing suspects into the Cooper thing without investigation? Randy Newman had nothing to do with Cooper, and nothing to do with the JFK assassination. Jo can confirm.

The congressional oversight committees make it too hard to pay civilian operatives in cash, so the Spooks and FBI barter stuff instead. They offered SF HALO gear but that big military stuff is so yesterday. Free Ft Bragg tunnel time works out better for everyone: no hard assets to trace. That's how I get compensated for my job keeping Jo in line. Jerry, how are you paid? Nice bunker Snowmman. The quantity of arms suggest you are not a one man show. The thought of an army of Snowmmen gives me pause. 377 377: those are just the training weapons. You can see the metal boxes on them. We advanced beyond paintballs for training long ago. The real weapons are...uh...there are no real weapons. And that rocket launcher was purely a pnuematic device.

This "e" photo that georger just released is stunning. I've never seen anything like it. It shows an AMAZING number of trenches dug. Previous snaps I had posted had only shown 2-3 trenches perpendicular to the water. This picture shows 13 trenches??? spaced at maybe 20'? It also shows the beach area to an amazing degree we've not seen before!!! I don't think the trenches in this photo are all that deep. Georger: when was this photo taken? And the area close to the water in the center, that is more disturbed...was that the center of the dig activity????