Postcards from the Bleeding Edge
Tuesday, December 21, 2004

  Illusions and the RH-53D

I knew I had conciously blocked out a lot of stuff while I tried to write an uplifting tale in Uncle Bill's Helicopter, but not how much, until today.

I knew I'd got the wrong helicopter in the first version of the story. I knew I'd kind of mentally substituted for the CH-53D variant afterwards...

I didn't know the details of the most famous mission they went on, until today: Operation Eagle Claw - the failed mission to rescue Iranian hostages in 1980.

A representative of a film company just contacted me in the hope of finding some RH-53Ds still flying and I've emailed around looking for anyone that might know something. Any blog readers know anything? I'd still like to fly in one, one day.

But by now the thing is an example of how flawed my approach to life has been and now the analogy of UBH grows more tarnished, as Josh is back in rehab. My own "operation eagle claw", as it were.

What's the risk, Colonel Beckwith?"

"Oh, about 99.9 percent."

"What's the probability of success?"

"Zero."

"Well, we can't do it."

"You're right, Boss."

"I've got to buy time from the JCS."

It wasn't the helicopter's fault...

It was the situation that FUBAR.

In finally making peace with one of the true stories behind the helicopter , and in all of my attempts to find one... I just found one in a museum, in a place I'd never would have thought of looking. In southern NJ.

 
Comments:
The CH-53 is still the main heavy helicopter of Israeli Air Force.

http://www.iaf.org.il/Templates/Aircraft/Aircraft.IN.aspx?lang=HE&lobbyID=69&folderID=82&docfolderID=208&docID=18301¤tPageNumber=2
 
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David Täht writes about politics, space, copyright, the internet, audio software, operating systems and surfing.


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