I was in the Air Force stationed in Melbourne, Florida 1993 to 1997 at Patrick AFB. I was always interested in flying helicopters but after reading
Chickenhawk by
Robert Mason in 1994 I was inspired to fly them. I believe I was in Waldenbooks checking out the Vietnam section when I came across the book; I was captivated and couldn’t put it down. I had already earned my private pilot fixed wing license back in 1987 but I had not flown in a few years. Moving around in the military didn’t help my cause when it came to flying. After reading
Chickenhawk I knew I wanted to fly helicopters but didn’t have the means or the money. I did take one lesson out of Vero Beach but that was just too far and too expensive. My solution at the time was a kit helicopter made by Revolution known as the
Mini-500, (they went out of business in
November 1999), and in my mind making it possible to fly helicopters. In the mean time, I found
Chickenhawk: Back in the World: Life After Vietnam, which is basically the story behind the story, and read that book also. I knew Robert Mason lived up in the panhandle of Florida and I was actually going to pay him a visit but thought it was best if I called first. We simply looked up his number and there he was in the directory. My wife ended up calling because I lost the nerve, Patience, Robert's wife, answered the phone. After they spoke for a few minutes it was decided that it would be best if I sent the book to be signed. I understood this and respected their privacy, besides I was starting to feel like a groupie. I packed up a nice new copy of
Chickenhawk with a little note thanking him for writing the book and my plans to buy a kit helicopter by Revolution. I put the book and note along with a postage paid return envelope into a bigger envelope and sent the whole works to Robert Mason. The letter below is his response. Pretty cool!
1/6/95Jeff-
I've seen the Revolution helicopter in action. There are a couple of things to consider about a machine like this.
1. It's single place. Hard to get dual in, that's for sure. Also difficult to take a friend up for a ride - one of the great joys of flying these things.
2. I asked the company what the time change was for the various critical parts - that is how long would it fly before a certain part failed. They didn't know. That means some unlucky bastard will find out for them. I'm going to buy a used, real, helicopter.
Best,
Robert Mason
Chickenhawk flies the Mosquito XET Kit Helicopter (Lee Komich, aka Connors in
Chickenhawk, is kneeling in the beginning of this video helping Robert Mason start up the little turbine Mosquito)
In the book
Chickenhawk (page 26) Robert Mason talks about the possibility of being washed out of preflight (leadership) training. You had to make it through this training before you were allowed to step foot into a helicopter. Mr. Mason had a gut feeling he was on the elimination list by what the Training, Advising, and Counseling (TAC) Officers were telling him. Mr Mason brings up one of the problems they had with him, and I quote;
“Also, a TAC officer announced that I was definitely not pilot material, based on his analysis of my handwriting." I have the note he wrote and the
Chickenhawk book he signed for me back in January 1995. What do you think? Long story short, Mr. Mason poured his heart out to the elimination board on why he should be given a chance to fly helicopters. He was given a second chance by the board, but had to attend preflight training again. He passed the second time around with flying colors and went on to flight training. On May 11, 1965, he earned his warrant-officer bars and silver wings after the busiest 10 months of his life, he was 23 years old.
As I’ve progressed through my helicopter pilot training there’s one more quote that I feel compelled to bring up from the book. Robert Mason was on his first mission (page 97) in a Huey out of An Khe, Vietnam and was getting checked out by Connors the designated instructor pilot for the platoon. Quote;
“Connors watched from the left seat in the classical disinterested-instructor-pilot-who-is-really-watching-like-a-hawk pose.” This quote stands out during my check rides with
Hon Kinzie, our designated helicopter examiner in Alaska.
I highly recommend reading
Chickenhawk for those that have not read it yet!
Also a book with a wealth of information about the pilots in
Chickenhawk and the 1st Cav Division, 229th Assault Helicopter Battalion during the Battle of the La Drang Valley is
Chopper: A History of America Military Helicopter Operations from WWII to the War on Terror by Robert F. Dorr where you can find out more about Lee Komich (Connors), Robert Mason and the UHI Huey’s they flew in Vietnam.
UH-1H "Huey" This version of the Huey was known as a "Slick".
What has become an iconic photograph of the Vietnam War - air cav troopers of an aero rifle platoon being inserted on a hilltop from a UH-1H Huey. The countless confined-area touch-and-go practice landings the pilots made during training served them well in Vietnam. Gordon L Rottman
