Warbird Information Exchange

I for one was never crazy about trading .50 cal for 37mm. Give me a 750lb nape and have at it! If a gunner was able to put his shells between the engine and canopy I'd say he was a reasonably good shot. Generally we expected the gun fire and most of the time it was not a big deal. However, once in a while things would get hectic. During the week of 22 Jan -28 Jan 1968 the NVA really began to run the trucks down the trail. The Nims managed to destroy 124 out of 450 that were attacked. Naturally the gunners were also busy and two crews left the following notes in post mission reports on Jan. 24th.
Capt Michael Roth and Lt Col Francis McMullen: Tonight I observed the heaviest flak I have ever seen, at Delta 82. There were more than 10 multiple 37mm positions, barrage firing. It was easily the heaviest and most accurate I have seen. Blind Bat (C-130 flareship) was hit just before I entered the area.
Maj Dick Mendonca and Maj Bob Zimmerman: Tonight was the closest we came to getting shot down by 37mm. 4 positions firing, extremely accurate, in Charlie area.
Frank
Nimrod, Oct 67/68

Frank, I am not sure how anyone gets to the point that people shooting at you is no big deal unless you have some edge?? The darkness of night have something to do with it? You tried to work above any flares that might have been dropped, right? I have heard that some of ya'll put the props out of sync to throw off the gunners who were trying to shoot by the sound of the engines. It all sounds like a very daring cat and mouse game. The use of a 750 lb nape though might well be showstopper if you hit a gun emplacement. That has to be dropped at fairly low altitude though??? I think I remember 300 ft for unfinned and maybe a little higher for finned. When the nape went off, did you get much turbulence from it? I know in just flying over the pyro at airshows, that sometimes the small blast wave and heat can be felt in the airplane. I would suppose that a 500 lb GP bomb would be felt if you were closer than 3000 ft, too. This is all very interesting and I appreciate your sharing this part of the history you helped make over Laos. Best regards, JR

In the middleish part of 1969 we started loading a lot of nape on the Nimrods… much more than the previous months. Sometimes it would be “wall to wall” on the wing stations. Us bomb loaders hated it because we had to slather paint on the bottoms of all those shiny canisters. No matter what, it was messy and you always got some paint on you.

After a few weeks of that, the 609th commander held a special briefing… not a commander’s call ‘cause we really never had those. Instead, all of the 609th maintenance guys were brought in, the doors were closed and the commander told us that what he was about to tell us was “top secret”. He went on to explain that he decided to wage an “anti-gun” campaign. We had lost some guys to AAA and he wasn’t having any more of it. (I’m not sure how a squadron commander can pull off something like that on his own, but we were Air Commandos so that probably explains a lot.)

For this campaign, the Nimrods would work in pairs… one high, one low. If a gun opened up on them, the high bird would roll in and hit the gun with nape. The low bird would circle around and hit it with nape too. Then the high bird again and the low bird again. They wanted the gunners to know that if they opened up, the Nimrods were going to make them pay. Seeing your comrades nailed with napalm again and again is a very terrifying thing.

The commander went on to tell us that after the campaign went on a while, they couldn’t get the gunners to open up on them at all. If one did open up it would be from a very long distance away… so they would go and “troll” near the gun that opened up, but then they wouldn’t fire. The only thing they might get would be from a distant gun near the place they had just come from.

This put a smile on all of us weapons guys faces and made loading all that nape worthwhile… and then some. I never complained about slathering paint on them again. My recollection is that after this time, we never lost another Nimrod.

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Bob
Memories of Naked Fanny
More Memories of Naked Fanny (Nov 2013)
609th Nimrod, Bomb loader, Gun Plumber, '68 - '69

Bob, that is a great story!! Thanks for giving us that moment in time when victories like this were hard to come by. If I was one of those gunners, I sure would have given it a second thought. This might be one reason why the NVA started moving missiles into the route. It would be interesting to find out if they used these missiles successfully after the Nimrods left at the end of 1969. Several pics of Laos along the HCM Trail show old missiles and launchers still there. The trouble to get one down the Trail must have been tremendous and not worth the effort to bring back after the war. Hope you have a good holiday season!! JR

Hmmmm? Wonder what everybody is watching? A new milestone occurred today for the team. Can you spot it?? Wild hogs better start learning to look up for low flying A-26's out at the ranch. We are getting closer to becoming the Ace Wild Hog Extermination Company!! JR

Operational bomb bay doors?

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Dean Hemphill, K5DH
Port Charlotte, Florida

Yeppers!! Bingo.... You didn't cheat and peek today did you? I don't think I saw you sneaking around??? JR

While the guys were working the hydraulic system on the bomb bay doors, Larry found the correct wiring from the cockpit to the bomb bay door actuators after much easter egg hunting. He installed the missing lights on the armament panel that indicate the position of the doors on either side of the switch that opens and closes the doors. These are all now operational and represent the second half of the bomb bay door equation. Gettin' closer!!
This coming Saturday, Dec 27, we are going to have some special visitors. A former Nimrod, Bob Bakken, and his son will be visiting us. Bob hails from AZ, but his son lives here in the Republic. We have invited them to stay for lunch so this will give us a good opportunity to show the Bakkens how far we have come since their last visit and to allow our volunteers to hear some of his stories about the airplane. These are always priceless. Hawkeye will just have to show up with his video camera!! If you are in the neighborhood of Meacham Airport next Saturday, come visit us and meet an original Nimrod. He will be there from about 11 am until 1 pm. JR

Nice to hear Bob Bakken is visiting. I had wondered where he calls home since he does not show up on any of my address lists. Seems like I remember him and his nav, Tom Owens, being one of the Nimrods that visited General Vang Po's headquarters at Long Tieng, Laos. Happy holidays to everyone!!
Frank Nelson
Nimrod Oct. 67/68

Hi Frank, I'll try to remember to ask him or at least get his contact info for you. That must have been an interesting trip to see VP's HQ. Seems like I remember his passing some years back in California. Wasn't he running a chain of Holiday Inn's or something like that? Was very successful whatever it was. Hope ya'll have a great holiday tomorrow!! Regards, JR

Some folks just can't get enough of the airport or a B-17 looks like!! Our friend Chuckie still likes to put the runway and airplane in front of her house even though her namesake is now in Oregon with a new name and paint job. Anyway, we want to wish everybody a very Merry Christmas and Happy New Year from the Special Kay team!! From deep in the heart of the Republic, JR and the gang

Well, one holiday gone and another to go! Gosh, this is fun. But the team will be back to work tomorrow with our special Nimrod guest coming for lunch. Larry is busy chasing the wires for the bomb bay door switch and lights in this shot. He found them after much effort. Hopefully, we can finalize all that this weekend. The weather is threatening a cold rain which makes working in our unheated hangar just a bit trying at times. Maybe Hawkeye's soup tomorrow will warm everybody back up!! If not, the Mexican cornbread may do the job! All good stuff. Happy to be in the Republic, JR

We survived the first round of feasting last week & then Hawkeye showed up yesterday with the best homemade Posole, tamales & jalapeño cornbread ever! Sure was good to warm up that way. The longer the day went, the colder it got. We distributed new stocking caps with the Nimrod logo that Hawkeye got made just in time! Thanks Hawkeye!! JR

The team enjoyed a great visit with one of our Nimrod pilots, Bob Bakken and his son Brian on Saturday. They got the grand tour of Kay given by Larry and Tim and then lunch with Hawkeye's cuisine. Our guys really enjoyed hearing his story of his only two daytime missions in the A26 trying to help defend Lima Site 85. Some time after that battle, Gen. Vang Pao invited the two A26 crews to his personal home for dinner and presented them with two rings. One was for safe passage that would be recognized by the locals and the other was pure gold with a diamond that would indicate safe passage to others of the Laotian and Hmong people. He also gave Bob an ancient muzzle loading musket in appreciation for his efforts. They became friends and Bob visited VP in the US after he moved here from Laos when the war was over. Anyway, Bob and Brian were both very pleased with our progress on Kay and they promised to come back in September. Hawkeye got some oral history on video. We look forward to their next visit. JR

It is alive, I tell you!! It is alive!! Check out the litle green light on the upper armament panel for the bomb bay door position. And then the purty radios all lit up!! And the indicator lights above the radio panel. Look like Christmas lights, huh? Yay for the avionics guys. Snap, crackle, pop did not happen this time. Attaboys all the way around. Thanks, JR