pre-emptive explanation 10/13/07 for HH 60 and F-1-11 Phantoms

vftt.org

Help Support vftt.org:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.
B

Breeze

Active member
Joined
Aug 19, 2005
Messages
339
Reaction score
33
For any one up in the MW area today "wondering" why there were 2 Heavy Huey 60 helos' and 2 F-1-11 Phantom jets playing weekend warrior over Madison this afternoon...

There was a scheduled NH Air Guard HALO mission today to insert 10 individuals onto the summit of Madison in the vicinity of the Madison Springs Hut

Those 10 individuals are expected to make their way tonight across that part of the Presi Traverse to the Texas Slab of Crawford Path, where they will be picked up by Helicopter Sunday afternoon. Possibility of a dramatic rendition of How/Lo can you go on the Helicopter crane ride on Sunday

They have been denied permission to bivouac ABOVE treeline, advised that they must abide by NFS rules and drop below treeline, off trail, for bivy.


There were questions today "are they looking for someone up there?? Is someone missing???"

That is not their mission, It is just a training exercise.


Breeze
 
Cool. Wish I could see it in person!

The military buff in me does have to make a few corrections though....:

HALO is High Altitude, Low Opening...its a parachute techinique and is most likely NOT what was done. Since helicopters were involved the probably "fastlined" in, which is when a chopper hovers while the soldiers exit via static ropes.

And as for the helicopters, they were HH 60 Blackhawks.....the HUEY has been removed from general service for along time now (though some are still used.)

And lastly, they are F-111 Aardvarks, not Phantoms (thats the designation for the now long retired F-4 fighter/bombers). I know about these well because my Uncle, as an MP in the Air Force, guarded the nukes these planes were tasked to carry.

Brian
 
All over the white mountains as well many other remote areas around the country, there are mapped out areas called MOA's Military Operations Areas. Probably training exercises. The green mountain boys from BTV practice there a lot.
 
Thank you for that information! I was across the way this morning and heard a lot of aircraft.
 
Breeze said:
It is just a training exercise.
Click to expand...

It looked like Ft Campbell two decades ago. Dr Wu (and 4 others) saw them from the talus field near the summit of Vose Spur.

The jets were actually A-10s, esentially a flying tank. The designation for a Blackhawk is UH-60, 'U' standing for utility.

Yes, there is a hyphen in 'nit-pick' ;)
 
Barbarossa said:
The designation for a Blackhawk is UH-60, 'U' standing for utility.
Click to expand...

The odds are VERY good it WAS an HH 60G...also called the Pave Hawk. The HH 60G is the long range version of the UH 60. The Pave Hawk is responsible for deep penetration missions:

http://www.af.mil/factsheets/factsheet.asp?fsID=107

I am also surprised they had A-10's flying "cover". The A-10 is an armored/ground attack fighter. I would have figured they would use F-15's instead (unless they shipped out of Mass already.)

Brian
 
NewHampshire said:
I am also surprised they had A-10's flying "cover". The A-10 is an armored/ground attack fighter. I would have figured they would use F-15's instead (unless they shipped out of Mass already.)
Click to expand...
Depends--were they establishing air superiority or keeping nearby hikers heads down? :)

Doug
 
I don't think I've ever seen an F-15 in the whites. A-10s, I see once in a while.

F-15s ("Eagles") are "air superiority fighters", used by the Air Force mostly to attack other aircraft at long range (there is also a fighter/bomber configuration). They're fast and powerful, and capable of going supersonic to catch their prey. They're armed with a variety of air-to-air missiles (plus a 20mm gun).

A-10s ("Thunderbolts" aka "Warthogs") are designed for "close air support" - taking out tanks and so forth from low altitude and at relatively low speed. Their primary weapon is a 30mm Gatling gun (they also carry rockets and Maverick missiles). They're designed to withstand a certain amount of fire from the ground. That's the kind of escort you'd expect for helicopter bringing a fastline team into mountainous terrain.

(You might instead/also use an attack helicopter such as the Apache, but I don't think the Guard has any of those -- though I think they do have some Cobras.)

But the National Guard does fly the F-15, so who knows...

(I heard the noise of multiple engines flying low and subsonic, but can't say for sure they were TF34-GE-100s...)
 
Last edited:
nartreb said:
I don't think I've ever seen an F-15 in the whites. A-10s, I see once in a while.
Click to expand...
Oh, they definitely fly overhead. I've got some photos of some playing if I can just track them down.
 
I took a few pictures of two A-10's refueling from a KC-135 over the Northern Presi's last fall. A few weeks ago, an A-10 flew over me and Sapblatt while we were on Guyot. We lost it behind the Bonds, but heard that it came around, into the Pemi and put on quite a show for those who saw it.
 
I'll never forget a tandem pair of A-10's that buzzed our high school roof during lunch in 1988. Every window in the place was shaking. Dave is right, there has definitely been F-15 Eagles, as well as F-16's. They were plentiful in the mid to late 80's.
White Moutain Regional High School, Class of '89.
Go Spartans!
 
I have seen A-10s over the Sandwich Mtn area multiple times on workdays from the lifts on Tenney Mtn. They were practicing maneuvers, dropping flares, etc.

I have also seen multiple A-10s and F16s flying over the Lake George region.

Doug
 
Silentcal told me the A-10's are being shipped out west forgood and more F-15's being brought in to replace them because Homeland Security wants the air superiority craft closer to the coast. But what is odd is the Boston news staion reported a wing of F-15's from the MA Air National Guard were shipping out west too. Don't know why they would ship out F-15's when they want as many as they can near the coast...but then again this IS the Governmant (and the state of Mass) we are talking about ;)

Brian
 
Wargames in Waterville Valley

nartreb said:
I don't think I've ever seen an F-15 in the whites. A-10s, I see once in a while...
Click to expand...

We see A-10s a lot in Waterville Valley, I presume practicing mountain warfare Afghanistan-style. It's at least a monthly occurrence. One weekday morning last winter, my wife, a friend, and I had just left the summit of Mt Tecumseh and skied down to about 3500 feet when two A-10s tore by below us, about 100 feet off the deck, at about 350 knots. It's very odd seeing the top of a warplane in flight, close enough that you can make out the pilot's helmeted head in the cockpit.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Latest posts

Top