Ops Normal - AAC History

Official X account for the Authors of Ops Normal - The Authorised Operational History of the Army Air Corps 1957-2017

[Historic Army Aircraft Flight @HistoricFlt]

Turn your sound up!
Watch (and listen to) the venerable Agusta-Bell 47 Sioux AH.1 start up, with the "Sioux Whisperer" Stephen Murray-Twinn at the controls.
With over 8,000 hours on type, there’s nobody who knows this aircraft better.
Enjoy

https://t.co/3VjmcN6Vcp

[Ops Normal - AAC History @opsnormal1957]

Helarm the German way...

[Chris_'OH-58D/F-14'-SIMP 🇩🇪🇩🇰🇨🇭🎗️ @Chris_OH58D]

Those guys could fly.

It took three years of additional special training to become a tank hunter in the BO 105.

[Lee Fennema @LeeFennema]

@av8r97 commissioned this during a European tour. Reminds me of when we were following a Hawk through the Alps. Weather rolled in, they went IFR & disappeared. We weren't authorized. Low on gas, we landed on a glider strip on the side of a mountain. Just another day in the Alps!

[The Chalk Collection @ChalkCollection]

Contender to the Horsa, the Miles M.32 powered glider. Read the article on our Patreon.https://t.co/DzylQc40iQ

[Lee Fennema @LeeFennema]

Yesterday's post by @chinnychick moved me and inspired me to share a few aviation paintings.

This one hangs in the Officers' Mess at Wattisham. My wife, Alison, was commissioned by the @ArmyAirCorps to capture this scene.

[Mike Peters @MikeHistorian]

Next week I will leading the first in a series of WWII battlefield tours focused on the use of Airborne Forces. The Drop Zone 1 tour includes Op Market Garden. This book by John C. McManus examines the massive Allied operation from the American perspective - Recommended.

[Airborne Apparel Co. @abn_apparel_co]

The Little Bird That Landed

When Super 61 went down in Mogadishu on October 3, 1993, another helicopter landed nearby.

It was an MH-6 Little Bird, callsign Star 41, flown by CW3 Karl Maier and CW4 Keith Jones of the 160th SOAR. Their aircraft carried troops rather than the miniguns and rockets of an AH-6 gunship.

Jones left the helicopter to reach the survivors. Maier stayed in the cockpit, providing covering fire with his personal weapon while Jones brought wounded SSG Daniel Busch aboard. They evacuated Busch and SGT Jim Smith from the crash site.

Busch had survived the crash and fought to defend the wreckage before being evacuated. He later died of his wounds.

Thirty-three years later, the downed Black Hawks remain the defining image of that battle. Star 41 deserves it's place as well.

AAC File Image: U.S. Air Force Photo by TSGT Carly Kavish, 1st Combat Camera Squadron.

[Ops Normal - AAC History @opsnormal1957]

Fast Rope rigged

[Gareth Jones @gwjphantom]

When an @BritishArmy Lynx from a few years back spots you on a hill and decides to give you a personal fly past

[Ops Normal - AAC History @opsnormal1957]

Nice design...

[Veterans_Can @Veterans_Can]

Did you know our mates at @PMBrewCo make bespoke labels on their Veterans Can… Pale Ale & Pilsner for all sorts of military units.
If you’d like to know more, give us a shout.
It looks good, tastes good - and does good🍻

[A Soldier's Whisper @SoldiersWhisper]

Tony Buholtz was from Miami, Florida, and became an Army helicopter pilot with A Troop, 1st Squadron, 9th Cavalry, 1st Cavalry Division.

He flew the OH-6A Loach, the tiny scout helicopter that went looking for the enemy at low level so the rest of the air cavalry could react.

On March 22, 1969, Tony was flying OH-6A 67-16482, call sign Apache White, in Tay Ninh Province when the helicopter was hit by ground fire and crashed. Crew chief SP5 Robert Patrick Ilsley and observer PFC James David Wright Jr. were also killed. Tony was 21 years old.

His record included the Silver Star, Bronze Star Medal, Air Medal with five Oak Leaf Clusters, and Purple Heart with Oak Leaf Cluster. That is a remarkable combat record for a man who never reached 22.

So remember 1LT Tony Lee Buholtz not only for the Loach that went down over Tay Ninh, but for the young man from Miami who climbed into one of the most dangerous helicopters in Vietnam and kept going back up.

#TheVietnamWar #AirCavalry #1stCavalryDivision #VietnamVeterans

[Ops Normal - AAC History @opsnormal1957]

The Mighty Lynx returns to the Minden Gap in miniature...

[Battlefront Miniatures @Flames_Of_War]

The Lynx is fast and aerobatic, making it ideal for the anti-tank role as it can fly below tree-top level to sneak into position, then pop up using its roof-mounted sights to acquire targets and destroy them with its missiles.

🛒: https://t.co/FK8uL97QOC

[Air Power @RealAirPower1]

I do not know much about the new AW159 Wildcat and its Martlet missiles, but I do remember a time when its ancestor, the Westland Lynx, armed with TOW missiles, was the backbone of NATO defenses in Central Europe; had the balloon gone up, British Army Lynx attack helicopters would have been there, ready to take on the Soviet tank hordes.

[The Chalk Collection @ChalkCollection]

Our presentation ‘The British Horsa Glider’ is now FREE to watch on our brand new YouTube channel:

https://t.co/IQeU7GhdqM

[Historic Army Aircraft Flight @HistoricFlt]

Keep historic British Army aircraft in the sky! we are recruiting a Volunteer Fundraising & Partnerships Manager.

🔹 4–6 hrs/wk | Flexible & WFH
🔹 Focus on grants, corporate partners & sponsorship
🔹 Open to fundraising, sales, or marketing pros

[Ops Normal - AAC History @opsnormal1957]

Future tasking...

[kaan_fox3✈️ 🇹🇷 @kaan_fox3]

AH-64D/E Apache helikopteri ile Drone avlama eğitimi... Herhalde helikopterin ilk modelinden beri değişmeyen birkaç özelliğinden biri de şu kaska takılı tek göz nişangah ve gece görüş aparatı. Bir göz farklı diğer göz farklı görüntüyü görürken nasıl ayarlıyorlar hala anlamıyorum.

@Yk_Mrti @Dromercay @Fakir14904262 @martialdcs @Pars071014 @DogutCem

[Ops Normal - AAC History @opsnormal1957]

@Mark1_1984 That's correct Mark. The AAC has always maintained a through the ranks route for soldiers to become pilots. Aptitude based selection is a well proven career path. Having soldiers in the cockpit gives them a unique understanding of the ground battle.

[Ops Normal - AAC History @opsnormal1957]

Today is the Corps Birthday! Since formation on 1 September 1957 in its modern, post-war Orbat the Army Air Corps has been constantly on operations with the exception of two years. Happy birthday to all the serving men and women of the AAC and to our many veterans.

[Air Power @RealAirPower1]

"Hello there"...says Pickle "Hellfire" Rick 😆

[✨ Lady Vet ✨ @CoVet_81]

1st Lt. Megan Skalla served as the youngest female UH 60 Black Hawk pilot with the 34th Expeditionary Combat Aviation Brigade during that deployment, and watching her in that cockpit says everything you need to know about confidence, skill, and determination. 🇺🇸🚁

She is one seriously badass Army aviator, and the kind of woman who proves exactly why our military is stronger when talent and grit are given the chance to lead. 🫡🔥
https://t.co/V5OxijlogO