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| This is a photo of the first new AH-1S Cobra to arrive at Katterbach AAF in Feb. 1982. It was in a flight of two aircraft that arrived that day. It landed on the Delta (D) Company, 501st ABC ramp, and was towed into our hangar a short time later. Within a month or so the Cobra pilots of the battalion were out practicing 180 degree auto-rotations, there on the airfield. Because this new aircraft weighed so much (10,500 pounds gross) our Cobra mechanics were busy building up new landing skid assemblies. During these practice auto-rotations, many of the pilots were landing hard and bending the cross tubes. It was taking them a while to get used to the extra weight. I believe I heard the term "Flying Pig" used a time or two during this transition. One crew even did an emergency landing in those early months, landing inside the Bismark Kaserne (home of the 1st of the 37th Armor) across the street from Katterbach AAF. |
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| This photo of Cobra's of B Company, 501st ABC, was taken on the ramp at RAF Greenham Common, England. This was during a training deployment (Operation "Yankee Doodle") in late June and early July of 1980. The helicopters of B Company flew from Katterbach AAF in West Germany in a series of fuel stops. Support personnel and vehicles for the mission were airlifted by C-130's from Feucht AAF, near Nurnburg, West Germany. These Air Force aircraft landed on a grass airstrip in England, 30 minutes drive from Greenham Common. |
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