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A typical day in Ton Son Nhut 1968

Crusader

Crusader

SOH-CM-2022
A friend of mine sent me this today . I never got this far south . Stayed in I Corp(Danang area)most of the time . Sure was a lot of different AC in and out of this airport . Looks like a very busy place .


http://vimeo.com/34223525

Rich
 
Rich,
Thank you for serving our country...............
The folks that went to Viet Nam on their return were not treated very well
I respect what you did and am thankful that you returned safely!

I have a close friend that was a door gunnner in a Huey at the age of 19...Ken does not want to talk about it to much but he is a very proud veteran!

Thanks again!

Rick
Tampa,Fl
 
Thank you for the comment Rick . I couldn't get over the several different AC taxing around . It certainly included some of my favorites . The C-7 Caribou , C-123 Provider , Skyraiders. It looked like an ATC's nightmare though .

Rich
 
Hmmm. I get a "Page Not Found" Chief.

My infantry unit pulled some perimeter security in the Ton Son Nhut area for a bit. I had a great time watching all the planes fly in and out of that most busy airbase.

Here are a few shots of the Calclassics Ton Son Nhut from one of their first Asian package.
 
I was flying out of Ton Son Nhut for 6 months in 1966 and out of DaNang for 6 months in 1967 as a crewman in the NC-121J aircraft of OASU / VX-8.

If any of you were in the Saigon - Mekong Delta area and were in a position to catch AFRTS TV programming, I was likely the guy
pushing the buttons as we orbited over the delta each night, broadcasting 1 TV channel for the Vietnamese and another for
US Forces.

In '67 I crewed our "radio plane', going north every evening and orbiting over the South China Sea. When Haiphong radio went off the air,
I pushed the button that put us on the air...same frequency...broadcasting a tape the South Vietnamese government delivered to our
aircraft each night before we took off.

Of my two TDY stints there, the one out of Ton Son Nhut was my favorite as I only had to fly every other night and had liberty on the alternate
nights. Rode my Honda 50cc into town to mingle with the locals :)

Paul
 
Too bad, thanks for the update.

I listened to AFVN back in the day, mostly up in I Corps.

One of my favorite radio broadcasts was "Chicken Man."
 
GypsyBaron said:
I was flying out of Ton Son Nhut for 6 months in 1966 and out of DaNang for 6 months in 1967 as a crewman in the NC-121J aircraft of OASU / VX-8.

If any of you were in the Saigon - Mekong Delta area and were in a position to catch AFRTS TV programming, I was likely the guy
pushing the buttons as we orbited over the delta each night, broadcasting 1 TV channel for the Vietnamese and another for
US Forces.

In '67 I crewed our "radio plane', going north every evening and orbiting over the South China Sea. When Haiphong radio went off the air,
I pushed the button that put us on the air...same frequency...broadcasting a tape the South Vietnamese government delivered to our
aircraft each night before we took off.

Of my two TDY stints there, the one out of Ton Son Nhut was my favorite as I only had to fly every other night and had liberty on the alternate
nights. Rode my Honda 50cc into town to mingle with the locals :)

Paul
Click to expand...

Pardon my ignorance, but did the NVAF field night ops to counter these flights? Or did you fly with a fighter escort? :)
 
aeromed202 said:
The Vimeo link was broken but I found what I assume is the same one on YouTube. Quite the assortment, was that a Do28 Avior at 3:35?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=103kHGjdy9w
Click to expand...



Thanks for finding the video on youtube aeromed202 . Sorry everyone about the broken link . They must have pulled it shortly after I viewed it . Aeromed202 , same video for sure . Danang was busy , I spent six months there but nothing compared to Tan Son Nhut . I could,'t get over the amount of different kind of AC moving around in the vid . We would get a B-52(damaged) once in awhile and I personnally witnessed a A-4 Navy Skyhawk belly in on the foam . Other than a lot of sparks initially it was a very good landing . The pilot seemed more pi--ed stepping down into the foam . I guess it stinks to high heaven .

Rich
 
quote_icon.png
Originally Posted by GypsyBaron
I was flying out of Ton Son Nhut for 6 months in 1966 and out of DaNang for 6 months in 1967 as a crewman in the NC-121J aircraft of OASU / VX-8.


Was at Danang from Feb 1967 to July 1967 . We (VMF(AW)-235) were in the NW corner of 35L . Were you there when the C-141 and the A-6 collided on I believe 35L. The A-6 was taking off and the ATC apparently allowed the 141 to taxi across the runway and there was one hell of an explosion . If memory serves me right the two A-6 drivers ejected a few seconds prior to impact .

http://mofak.com/Ides of March--A Da Nang Tragedy.htm

Rich


 
kilo delta said:
Pardon my ignorance, but did the NVAF field night ops to counter these flights? Or did you fly with a fighter escort? :)
Click to expand...

We were a good distance offshore and were never bothered. The fleet assured us they could have fighters out to us should the need arise.

Paul

Here is a link showing our "TV" birds that flew out of Tan Son Nhut. I crewed on one during my 1st deployment, running the video switching
console, setting up the tape recorders and film-chains and cueing the AFRTS announcer in the small "studio". Another "ET" ran the
audio switch station. We had the 3 crew in the cockpit and the 3 of us in the back end :) The flight engineer would occasionally
let me start those R-3350's and I often was up in the cockpitt during takeoffs and landings.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ia2DsKOWL4M&feature=related
 
Crusader said:
quote_icon.png
Originally Posted by GypsyBaron
I was flying out of Ton Son Nhut for 6 months in 1966 and out of DaNang for 6 months in 1967 as a crewman in the NC-121J aircraft of OASU / VX-8.


Was at Danang from Feb 1967 to July 1967 . We (VMF(AW)-235) were in the NW corner of 35L . Were you there when the C-141 and the A-6 collided on I believe 35L. The A-6 was taking off and the ATC apparently allowed the 141 to taxi across the runway and there was one hell of an explosion . If memory serves me right the two A-6 drivers ejected a few seconds prior to impact .

http://mofak.com/Ides of March--A Da Nang Tragedy.htm

Rich
Click to expand...


No Rich, I don't recall that. We were on the far side of the field. To get to the mess hall we had two choices....go around the end of the
runway where you saw the remains of the B-52 that ran off the end into the minefield or go around the other end of the runway past
the morgue with the stacks of aluminum coffins piled high alongside :(

Some time after I left our barracks was struck by mortar fire, I believe it was. One of out squadron got a Purple Heart from that attack.

Paul
 
That was a trip down memory lane and a great sound track too. Judy in the Sky with Glasses, oh yeah! Kind of would have liked to hear the thunder of the Phantoms, the whop whop of the Hueys and the grumble of the Prat & Whitneys had there been sound with the track.

By the way, not only was Ton Son Nhut a busy airbase, but not too far away was Bien Wa. It filled the sky daily with strike packages and I boarded the Freedom Bird (Boeing 707) there for my trip back to the World.
 
love this thread...great links...great stories..(rememberances)...and i thank all of those who served, once again...thank you...
 
That the most amazing clip ive seen for ages, i could watch that for hours. i cant belive the amount of traffic handled there, and Bien Hoa, only a few miles away was just as big and busy.
Thanks for posting.
cheers ian

Ive just been watching the clip again and im curious about some of the smaller civil traffic there, Beech18,a Howard,i think and even a DH Dove plus others, cant have been a great place for recreational flying, were they military or just innocent civil traffic. just wondering.
 
There were several private comercial concerns in VN at the time, many with connections to France. Rubber and rice come to mind most readily. Perhaps those smaller civil planes were involved with that somehow.
 
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