Da Nang Air Base: Pilatus Porter

You will quickly appreciate the quantity and diversity of aircraft types flown in and out of Da Nang Air Base, after viewing this post.

Today, I have put up images of at least 20 different aircraft types that I photographed in 1965 and 1966. They represent the U.S. Air Force, U.S. Marines, U.S. Army, U.S. Navy, Vietnamese Air Force, Australian Air Force, CIA, and the British Air Attache service.

I am 99.9% confident that this final group is the last of my Vietnam photo collection. I will do one more meticulous sweep, however, just to be sure! I will let you know the result in the next post, so that you won't have to keep checking in, needlessly, for future updates.

Beechcraft U-8 Seminole, later sold to the Missouri State Highway Patrol (N116MP).

Grumman C-1 Trader, running up for departure. After the war it was preserved at the Florence Air & Missile Museum, Florence Regional Airport, Florence, SC. The museum closed in December 1997. It was then transferred as a static display to Grissom Air Museum, Peru, IN, now the Grissom Air Reserve Base.

Grumman C-1 Trader. After the war it was transferred to the Military Aircraft Storage and Disposition Center(MASDC) as 7C0009 on May 9, 1982. It was later registered as N26GH in May 1991, which was cancelled. It was then re-registered as N27PH on Sep 29, 1994 to Fuel Services, Inc. It crashed near Skwentna, Alaska Oct 15, 2012 when it collided with tree-covered terrain. The pilot was killed.

Grumman C-1 Trader, being serviced during the monsoon season. After the war it was transferred to MASDC as 7C0005 Apr 9, 1980. It was sold to J. C. Janes and Associates, Inc May 22, 1990 as N71456, current. It is now operated by the Lauridsen Aviation Museum, Buckeye Airport, Buckeye, AZ

Grumman C-1 Trader and crew, awaiting passengers.

Grumman C-1 Trader from the carrier, USS Midway, with engines running and wings folding down in preparation for departure.

CH-46 Sea Knight firing up for an early morning departure.

CH-46 Sea Knights hover over the main Da Nang Air Base taxi-way.

CH-46 Sea Knight of the US Marines.

CH-46 Sea Knight carrying what looks to be an HH4.

A CH-47 Chinook with its jet engines cranking up.

CH-47 Chinook... and dog.

This de Havilland Devon served the British Air Attache, and also provided a nice shady spot for this crew member to rest.

DHC-4 Caribou on the Da Nang Air Base taxi-way.

DHC-4 Caribou parked beside a C-47 "Gooney Bird".

DHC-4 Caribou of the Royal Australian Air Force.

DHC-5 Buffalo. I suspect that this particular bird belonged to the U.S. Army.

A pair of U.S. Marines H-34 helicopters.

A US Marines H-34 chopper kicks up the dust.

Preparing to evacuate an injured serviceman on this U.S. Marines H-34.

A pair of HH-3 "Jolly Green Giant" helicopters.

HH-3 "Jolly Green Giant", Hill 327 in background.

HH-3s and other various aircraft on Da Nang Air Base.

A hovering HH-3, Hill 327 in the background.

US Navy SH-3A Sea King from the USS Hornet. It was "written off" after the war on Apr 27, 1987.

HH-3 "Jolly Green Giant" flight line.

Two HH-43B Huskie rescue helicopters. This particular chopper, 39714 in the foreground, was later damaged in 1971 and subsequently scrapped in 1975 at Clark AFB, Philippines. The Huskie in the background, 39715, was shot down in South Vietnam while attempting to rescue 4 Marines on May 8, 1967.

An HH-43 rests, at dusk, on the Da Nang Air Base pierced steel planking.

A US Navy HU-16 Albatross on the Da Nang flight line.

A US Air Force HU-16 on the Da Nang air rescue flight line.

A US Air Force HU-16 on the Da Nang flight line.

USAF HU-16 Albatross rescue aircraft, awaiting the call.

A US Air Force HU-16 on the Da Nang air rescue flight line.

HU-16 Albatross. Paint scheme appears to be that of the US Navy.

USAF HU-16 Albatross with pylon mounted fuel tank.

USAF HU-16 Albatross.

A USAF HU-16 Albatross with a lengthy history, after the Vietnam war. It was transferred via the Military Assistance Program(MAP) to the Spanish AF as AD.1B-11, withdrawn from use Palma AB Dec 1978 and placed in open storage 1978/1982. Then transferred as N29850 to Westair International Inc, Broomfield CO Mar 16, 1982. Again it was placed in open storage Shannon 1982/1985. Then to G-BMDX Mike Little/ Daedalus Aviation Ltd, London registered Sep 26, 1985, cancelled Jun 12, 1986 port to USA. Then transferred to N23ML Mike Little, Vancouver BC Feb 15, 1986. Finally transferred to N3JY Corpcon Business Service, Ft. Lauderdale FL registered Aug 13, 1986, cancelled Jun 11, 2013. It was reported as crashed in sea off Grand Turk c1987, but I can't confirm.

A USAF HU-16 landing. Hill 327 looms in the background.

Da Nang's air-sea rescue aircraft stand ready. Two HU-16s and two HH-3s.

O-1 Bird Dog. Flown by USAF Forward Air Controllers, these basically defenseless aircraft played a vital role in directing precision attacks on enemy positions.

O-1 Bird Dogs lined up on the PSP.

O-1 Bird Dog. Borrowing from the famous "Puff The Magic Dragon" nickname for the C-47 gunships, this Bird Dog, "Lil Puff" packs some fire.

This Vietnamese Air Force U-17 Skywagon was rigged with loud speakers to broadcast propaganda messages above the towns and villages.

A US Army RU-8D flies over Da Nang.

US Army OV-1 Mohawk. Crew member snoozing in the cockpit of "Lucky" which I understand flew at some point under the call sign "Spud 11". (Note the sum of the displayed dice.)

OV-1 Mohawk parked on the Da Nang flight line.

A US Navy P3 Orion. A search light, allegedly 70 million candlepower, is mounted on the pylon under its right wing.

P-3 Orion tail. This aircraft was later transferred to the Aerospace Maintenance and Regeneration Center, Davis Monthan AFB, Arizona (AMARC) as 2P0229 Oct 20, 2004. It was later transferred to HVF West, Tucson, AZ Mar 2009 and scrapped.

Unit crest painted on a P-3 Orion.

US Navy P-3 Orion.

A Pilatus Porter that belonged to Air America.

US Navy E-2 Hawkeye. It was transferred to AMARC as 2E0017 on Dec 17, 1985. It was still on the AMARC inventory as of Jul 1, 2008.

US Navy E-2 Hawkeye. Crew is preparing for departure. It was transferred to AMARC as 2E0017 on Dec 17, 1985. It was still on the AMARC inventory as of Jul 1, 2008.

U.S. Navy UC-45J. Hill 327 is seen above the twin vertical stabilizers.

U.S. Navy UC-45J.

U.S. Army U-1 Otter. Later sold as C-GCDX, cancelled May 22, 2008. N413JP registered May 23, 2008, current to Bald Mountain Air Service, Inc., Homer, Alaska. Later converted to DHC-3/1000 hp.