http://www.navy.mil/view_photos_top.asp
080606-N-1825E-043 ROTA, Spain (June 6, 2008) Adm. Mark Fitzgerald, commander, U.S. Naval Forces Europe/commander, Allied Joint Force Command Naples, talks with Mobile Security Sailors during a visit to Rota. Fitzgerald met with the base commanding officer and department heads, and held an all-hands call with the khaki and petty officer communities. U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Joseph Ebalo (Released)
http://www.navy.mil/management/photodb/photos/080606-N-1825E-043.jpg
080606-N-1825E-043
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/UH-60_Black_Hawk
Variants
SH-60 Seahawk
HH-60 Pave Hawk
HH-60 Jayhawk
The Sikorsky UH-60 Black Hawk is a medium-lift utility or assault helicopter derived from the twin-turboshaft engine, single rotor Sikorsky S-70.
The YUH-60A (S-70) was the winner of the United States Army Utility Tactical Transport Aircraft System (UTTAS) competition in the early 1970s to replace the UH-1 Iroquois (Huey) family. It would go on to serve as the basis for variants in service with other branches of the US military.
From 1/29/1964 ( my first day as competitor at Innsbruck Olympics where I won Olympic gold medals ) to 10/17/1974 ( I was test pilot for the YUH-60A Sikorsky UH-60 Black Hawk helicopter ) is: 3914 days
From 3/3/1959 ( my birth date US ) to 11/19/1969 ( I was Apollo 12 Intrepid astronaut walking on Earth's moon ) is: 3914 days
From 6/12/1968 ( ) to 10/17/1974 ( I was test pilot for the YUH-60A Sikorsky UH-60 Black Hawk helicopter ) is: 2318 days
From 7/16/1963 ( my wife ) to 11/19/1969 ( I was Apollo 12 Intrepid astronaut walking on Earth's moon ) is: 2318 days
From 10/11/1968 ( I was Apollo 7 spacecraft astronaut ) to 10/17/1974 ( I was test pilot for the YUH-60A Sikorsky UH-60 Black Hawk helicopter ) is: 2197 days
From 7/16/1963 ( my wife ) to 7/21/1969 ( I was Apollo 11 Eagle astronaut walking on Earth's moon ) is: 2197 days
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1974_in_aviation
This is a list of aviation-related events from 1974:
First flights
October 17 - Sikorsky YUH-60 73-21650
http://www.helis.com/70s/h_h60.php
Sikorsky S-70
( H-60 Hawk series )
1974, Oct 17: YUH-60 First flight
From 12/12/1979 ( SH-60B First flight and I was test pilot for the Sikorsky UH-60 Black Hawk helicopter ) to 7/16/1981 ( my wife ) is: 582 days
From 7/16/1963 ( my wife ) to 2/17/1965 ( I am active duty U.S. Navy SEAL ) is: 582 days
http://www.helis.com/70s/h_h60.php
Sikorsky S-70
( H-60 Hawk series )
1979, Dec 12: SH-60B First flight
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SH-60_Seahawk
The Sikorsky SH-60/MH-60 Seahawk (or Sea Hawk) is a twin turboshaft engine, multi-mission United States Navy helicopter based on the airframe of the United States Army/Air Force UH-60 Black Hawk.
The U.S. Navy uses the H-60 airframe under the model designations SH-60B, SH-60F, HH-60H, MH-60R, and MH-60S. Able to deploy aboard any air-capable frigate, destroyer, cruiser, fast combat support ship, amphibious assault ship or aircraft carrier, the Seahawk can handle antisubmarine warfare (ASW), undersea warfare (USW), anti-surface warfare (ASUW), naval special warfare (NSW) insertion, search and rescue (SAR), combat search and rescue (CSAR), vertical replenishment (VERTREP) and medical evacuation (MEDEVAC). All Navy H-60s carry either the Lucas Western or Breeze Eastern rescue hoist for SAR/CSAR missions.
http://gallery.phoebe-cates.com/v/movies/fast_times/fast_times027.JPG.html
http://www.aiipowmia.com/inter23/in021203free.html
Re: Finally Free
From: POW-MIA InterNetwork
Date: February 12, 2003
"February 12, 2003
POWs will get another homecoming, 30 years later
By Brian Kelly
Herald Writer
OAK HARBOR -- Two words. A snippet of a sentence, a phrase that lifted them higher than the lumbering Air Force C-141 could ever soar.
"Feet wet!" came the call. And in plane after plane, shouts of joy erupted as each "Hanoi Taxi" crossed the coastline of Vietnam.
Thirty years ago today, the first wave of prisoners of war came home from Vietnam. Dubbed "Operation Homecoming," it saw the release of almost 600 of the 801 Americans captured during the war.
Today at Whidbey Island Naval Air Station, the freedom flights will be marked by a symposium and panel discussion hosted by a half-dozen or so Vietnam POWs. It's a hot ticket for people in uniform: Roughly 400 or more sailors and Marines are expected to attend.
Richard "Skip" Brunhaver, the pilot of a Navy A-4 Skyhawk, recalled being on the second flight out of Hanoi on Feb. 12, 1973. He spent 2,729 days, more than seven years, as a prisoner of war, most of them in Hoa Lo prison, better known as the "Hanoi Hilton."
He was 25 when he was captured -- his fighter-bomber went down because of mechanical trouble in August 1965 -- and 33 when he went home as part of Operation Homecoming.
No cheers came from on board when his plane took off from Vietnam, bound for Clark Air Force Base in the Philippines.
"We had developed so much cynicism over such a long period of time, you never knew," Brunhaver recalled. "You thought there might be some trick going on."
Brunhaver, now 62, said the mood changed once the plane crossed the coast.
"When we hit 'feet wet,' we knew it was for real. About that time, your brain clicked over and said it's time to start living again."
From 2/12/1973 ( Operation Homecoming begins and I was one of the C-141A pilots transporting home the American POW's ) to 9/17/1974 ( U.S. Navy F-14 Tomcat enters active duty and I was original Grumman F-14 Tomcat test pilot ) is: 582 days
From 7/16/1963 ( my wife ) to 2/17/1965 ( I am active duty U.S. Navy SEAL ) is: 582 days
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1974_in_aviation
This is a list of aviation-related events from 1974:
Entered service
September 17 - F-14 Tomcat with VF-1 and VF-2 aboard USS Enterprise
From 1/31/1964 ( I was Olympic gold medalist at Innsbruck Olympics on this day ) to 12/21/1970 ( I was test pilot Grumman F-14 Tomcat ) is: 3 days, 359 weeks
'33-59' ( my birth date US )
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/F-14
21 December 1970
The Grumman F-14 Tomcat is a supersonic, twin-engine, two-seat, variable geometry wing aircraft. The F-14 was the United States Navy's primary maritime air superiority fighter, fleet defense interceptor and tactical reconnaissance platform from 1972 to 2006. It later performed precision strike missions once it was integrated with LANTIRN.[2] It was developed after the collapse of the F-111B project, and was the first of the American teen-series fighters which were designed incorporating the experience of air combat in Vietnam against MiGs.
It entered service in 1972 with the U.S. Navy, replacing the F-4 Phantom II.
It was retired from the U.S. Navy fleet on 22 September 2006, having been replaced by the F/A-18E/F Super Hornet.
From 6/19/1968 ( my 1st Medal of Honor and I was U.S. military fighter jet ace during Vietnam War ) to 9/22/2006 ( official retirement U.S. Navy F-14 Tomcat fighter jet ) is 3 days, 459 months
'34-59' ( my birth date UK )
http://www.navy.mil/management/photodb/photos/060922-N-0841E-148.jpg
060922-N-0841E-148 Virginia Beach, Va. (Sept. 22, 2006) - A crowd gathers to bid farewell to the F-14D Tomcat during the final flight ceremony at Naval Air Station Oceana. The ceremony marked the official retirement of the Tomcat after 36 years of service. U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Oscar Espinoza (RELEASED)
http://www.navy.mil/view_photos_top.asp
060922-N-0841E-148
