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| Subject: | Re: Blackhawk helicopter kits |  |
| Date: | Feb 16, 2006 |
| From: | Gino P. Quintiliani | |
Actually, the DAP version was not used in Operation Gothic Serpent (Blackhawk Down, Somalia). All the Blackhawks were MH-60Ls. You do need some of the parts from the MH-60G, MH-60L DAP kit, or some of the Cobra Company conversion parts to make one though. Here is info from some pilots/crewmen who were there.
"For an Operation Gothic Serpent MH-60L, here’s what I can tell you as told to me by a Doorgunner from the 160th who flew the mission on Oct 3-4 1993. The Blackhawks were all MH-60L, They were black with OD Markings, No IFR probe, Pilot Doors were removed for missions, FLIR and Radar Dome were fitted but not the angled missile detectors on the nose. No ESSS wings were used during missions the AH-6 was used for fire support. The internal fuel tanks were removed for missions due to small distances flown and to fit more passengers in the back. The aircrafts call sign was painted on the window of the cargo door on both side e.g. Super 68 had "68" painted on the windows. As for the Crews they all wore Desert sand colored flying suits with a pistol usually on the thigh and their survival vest (unsure what type) and helmet personal weapons were Mp-5 or M-16 usually. M-134 was the only weapons carried no .50s and the miniguns were fed by 2 individual 20mm ammo box one per gun not the huge central one like the MH-60G in the Kit.
1) The 160th MH-60L's didn't use internal aux tanks as the ranges flown were minimal, and they were primarily configured for max pax. Some of the regular army -60's used ESSS and the Medevac -60's as well.
2) There are actually two internal aux tanks mounted side-by-side against the rear bulkhead. Sometimes we use only one, sometimes both, and sometimes neither. The mission and environment dictate how many.
3) Since we're talking about Gothic Serpent, only the M-134 miniguns were used. Every insert bird also carried two (sometimes 3) Delta snipers. The D-boy snipers used M-25's (accurized M-14's) M-4's and I think a saw a couple SR-25's or AR-10's.
4) While the 160th guys brought two DAP kits with them and even used them for training (to keep currency, etc.) they were never used operationally during Gothic Serpent. For that fact, I don't remember ever seeing an MH-60L using ESSS during my deployment there.
5) Weapons, a personal thing for each crewmember. MP-5's were sometime carried in thigh rigs but were generally stowed up front somewhere. Crewchiefs had M-4 carbines and M-16A2's usually stowed behind the pilot's seats but they were also stowed elsewhere. We stowed them hanging off the webbing on the H-bar directly over the minigun ammo bins. All crewmembers also usually carried at least one pistol (issues M-9, but some had Sigs and 1911's) in a thigh rig or in a vest holster.
6) IFR probes were not used in Gothic Serpent for the same reason as Item 1). And that the only refueling assets were two USMC KC-130's based out of Mombasa Kenya but I think they left when the marines left prior to Gothic Serpent.
I vividly remember that some MH-60L's had the nose radar and some did not. All had the FLIR turret mounts but didn't have FLIR installed for every mission. There were no plume detectors that I saw but each one had nose and tail mounted APR-39 radar detectors.
What are the serial numbers for the two MH-60Ls downed in Mogadishu?
91-26350 and 91-26324
Super 61 was named ????? 91-26324
Super 64 was named 'Venom' 91-26350
Super 68 was named 'Razors Edge'
Super 66 was named 'Gun Slinger'
And then there was 'Southern Comfort' which I'm not sure their operational codename was.
"The aircraft always flew with the cockpit doors off. Super 61 had a hoist mount, but no hoist was installed. It would be a U shaped piece of metal about a foot long and about a foot forward of the right hand engine air inlet. One other thing, the fairings around the main landing gear strut weren't installed on any of the Black hawks in D Company Cargo Hooks weren't installed in the aircraft. There was a tube, about 3 inches in diameter installed in its place. The tube had 4 rings (in a clover leaf pattern) attached to it in the center. The system was installed in place of the cargo hook for securing the aircraft during fixed wing transport of the helicopter..." (Pat Powers crew chief Super 65)
Super 64, 160 SOAR, Michael Durant’s bird.
Durant’s Blackhawk was Super Six-Four. It had 64 painted on the front cabin door windows. As for the helicopter's nickname, Durant never referred to it in his book other than Six-Four. Looking at the photo of his crew posing with the helicopter, on the right engine nacelle (looking forward from the pilots' positions, there is a word written in what looks like Arabic under a square root symbol. It is hard to make out, but in another picture, this time of 64's crew chief Tommy Fields, you can make out the bottom half of the left engine nacelle. Nothing appears to have been painted on this nacelle. “VENOM” on nacelles.
Also from Durant’s book:
"Tommy, in his late twenties, had a race car back in his garage in Lisbon, Maine, and he treated 'his helicopter' no differently from that hot rod. The wheels were always slick with Armor All, the windshield washed after every mission. There wasn't a drop of oil on that thing."
So you don't have to dirty the model up too much to accurately represent the real thing
For more info, try posting at Fine Scale Modeler's Helicopter Forum, http://www.finescale.com/FSM/CS/forums/16/ShowForum.aspx There are a bunch of guys there who have built BHD dios as well. A few guys who were there in Somalia too. Great sources of info.
Good luck. |
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 | Blackhawk helicopter kits - Alan Leong - Feb 15, 2006 |
| . . . I think you could be lost :-) - Steve Campbell - Feb 15, 2006 |
| . . . . . . Re: I think you could be lost :-) - Alan Leong - Feb 15, 2006 |
| . . . . . . . . . Re: I think you could be lost :-) - Steve Campbell - Feb 16, 2006 |
| . . . . . . . . . . . . Re: I think you could be lost :-) - Alan Leong - Feb 16, 2006 |
| . . . Re: Blackhawk helicopter kits - stavros soulis - Feb 15, 2006 |
| . . . . . . Re: Blackhawk helicopter kits - Alan Leong - Feb 15, 2006 |
| . . . . . . . . . Re: Blackhawk helicopter kits - Lawrence Quah - Feb 16, 2006 |
| . . . . . . . . . . . . Re: Blackhawk helicopter kits - Gino P. Quintiliani - Feb 16, 2006 |
| . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Re: Blackhawk helicopter kits - Alan Leong - Feb 16, 2006 |
| . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Re: Blackhawk helicopter kits - Lawrence Quah - Feb 16, 2006 |
| . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Re: Blackhawk helicopter kits - Gino P. Quintiliani - Feb 16, 2006 |
| . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Re: Blackhawk helicopter kits - Alan Leong - Feb 16, 2006 |
| . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Re: Blackhawk helicopter kits - Gino P. Quintiliani - Feb 16, 2006 |
| . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Re: Blackhawk helicopter kits - Lawrence Quah - Feb 16, 2006 |
| . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Re: Blackhawk helicopter kits - Alan Leong - Feb 16, 2006 |
| . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Re: Blackhawk helicopter kits - Gino P. Quintiliani - Feb 17, 2006 |
| . . . . . . . . . . . . Re: Blackhawk helicopter kits - Curtis Jurrens - Feb 17, 2006 |
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