"The Best" send me an email

I work on the Very last of the Working Huskys left on the planet... We have two flying logs out of Laclede ID... What an awesome machine!!! If you wanted meuseum pieces, there they are, you can have em when we wear em out or crash them....

I had a year as a PJ in Kunsan, Korea on the HH-43B, and a lot of good stories to go with the experience. We had several med-evacs, and a few rescues. One happened when there was flooding, and we pulled about a dozen Korean civilians off a flooded island (normally not an island). I remember watching one F-86 come in for a super-smooth landing, which was really remarkable because the Korean pilot was blind at the time. His canopy had disintegrated at altitude (over 20,000 feet), he put it into a dive and told the Korean control tower that he was blind, and that they would have to tell him when to level the plane. They did, he did, and brought it in for a remarkable landing. Another time, a different F-86 had problems with their altimeter, and the crew of two were coming in VFR. They descended through the clouds thinking they were at 10,000 feet, and were actually at less than 1,000 feet. The ocean was flat calm, and they essentially flew it into the water. I was the PJ who recovered their bodies after jumping into the water in swim gear (full wet suit--it was cold water). So I have a lot of very interesting memories with the Husky and Pedro Rescue. I even had about two weeks in Thailand working LBR with the Pedro in 1970.

i was crew chief of hh-43 tail number 848 in kunsan 71 /72...great tour...would love to go back...

I worked on this helicopter from 1976 to 1984 in Pakistan Air Force as maintenance person as well as aircrew / airborne hoist operator. I found wonderful helicopter for aviation fire fighter. If I talk about its auto-rotation procedure EXCELLENT . This helicopter is preserved in PAF museum, Karachi.

Folks to everyone leaving comments...the pioneer of the air craft we are speaking about Mr.Charles Kaman passed away yesterday 02 /01 /11 at the beautiful age of 92.I am proud to say I am an employee of his in the distribution sector and we lost a legend in my boss's death.RIP Charlie Kaman..

I was at Sheppard afb from 69-70;got orders to det-8 47th rescue yakota ab japan. Fell in love with Pedro 43. We were shut down in spring of 71 to go to Kadena ab okinawa the 33rd rescue squadron. We had two hh-43s and three Jolly Greens. Lt. col Roy Crawford was commander. Best time of my life!!!!

We had 2 H43-B hilos at grand forks afb in the mid-60's. They were used for fire fighting. They were both sent to Udorn Thailandand i believe were shot down

Great memories, I was a flight mech and crew chief for 4years on the Huskie. Started out at Seymour Johnson, moved detachment from there to Columbus AFB,Miss. Next stop,Kunsan AB,Korea 1971-1972.Ended up at Craig AFB,ALA,and was there when the Huskies were phased out in 1973. I spent the last 2 years as a C-130 crew chief at Pope AFB,NC where I got out after 6 years of service. I met a lot of people in the AF,but the best by far were the guys I served with in Air Rescue. "That others may live"

A HH-43 crashed at Phan Rang AB, Vietnam in 1968. I think it was responding to a B-57 Canberra that was returning to base with hydraulic problems. I remember the accident since I had been a passenger on that HH-43 about 30 minutes before it crashed. Luckily, I jumped off when the copter landed to pick up the fire supression unit.
Do any of you remember this incident, or know the cause of the crash??

I was atationed at Kadena AFB Okinawa 68-69 and was the engine mechanic on our 3 HH43B Huskies. It was a great experience to watch those choppers airborne in less than 3 minutes for local base rescue. I would like to get in touch with anyone from Det.6, Maj. Dale Potter, SMSgt Clemons, SSgt Charles Douglas, SSgt Tom Brownlee, anyone from the old crew. If you're out there let me know.

CAM RAHN BAY 1970, NKP 1971 HH-43B /F, CREW CHIEF FLYING MECHANIC. LOVED THE ACFT..TO FLY IS FINE TO HOVER IS DIVINE

I was returning to England AFB, La. from Germany [Berlin Crises,1961] by Pan Am and ended up at Alexandria /Pineville airport. I called the base to report in and they said the base helocopter [H-43B] was up on a test hop and they would radio him to see if he would pick me up. They did and I flew around with them for about an hour, Even as tired as i was, I really enjoyed that, my One and only experiance with Copters. I was a Jet engine specialist on the F100 Super Saber.

I WAS AT UBON THAILAND FROM APR.68 TO OCT.70 WAS RESCUE /FIREFIGHTER HH-43 DET.3 BEST TIME I HAD IN THE MILITARY WAS FLYING ON PADRO

I was a med tech responding to the call when Pedro crashed. I recall the call coming in for in flight emergency
coming in at 8:25 PM October 10, 1968. We used to try to get to the flight line before Pedro lifted off. We beat Pedro that day and I remember saying there is Pedro, a day late and a dollar short, a term which I never used after that fateful day. My friend Angel Luna was the medic on board.
Pedro was shadowing the aircraft when it appeared that the rotor blades got out of sync and the bird came crashing down. The fire crew put out the fire in what had to be record time, but there was nothing we could do for the crew.
By the time we got to them, they were already deceased, victims of the intense heat generated by the fire. That had to be the worst day of my life.

I was a crew chief on an HH43B from 1964 to 1967. Was at Glascow AFB, Mont. and Little Rock AFB, Ark. I really enjoyed flying with the helicopter and went up at every opportunity. Met some great people.

Upon arriving at RAF Alconbury UK in 1975 I was trained on the HH43 that was there, unfortunatley as soon as I went through the training program it was shoved in a hangar, the engines removed and it was still there in Sept. 1977 when my DEROS sent me back to the states. SRA. R.C. Harvey 10thCES /10thCSG

Statoil at Randolph in Texas , Osan in Krea and Da Nang and flew th good old H:43b! Still miss her!!!

Flew 43's from 71 to 74, first at Bergstrom AFB and then at Ubon RTAB. Helped close down both units. Ferried one of the birds from Ubon to Utapao, with the big rubber bladder full of fuel in the rear. Can't remember my co-pilots name, if you are out there e-mail me. That was a unique flight, no smoking!!

Where did we serve together in VietNam please send email to fegbdf@yahoo.com