Ron would know for sure, Dennis, but early '69 I think I remember we had a firefly ship, a flare ship, and a pair of gunships on the hotspot every night. Most times didn't fly. As Ron said, flares were scary, too many things to go wrong, and everybody who did it was either new or rusty at it. Firefly was just a pain in the rear end to rig, but then, if you flew... not good to be low and slow with that good a target 4 ft away. And it was hot as a sumbitch. Smokin' hot. Plus, I think you carried flares on the right side, too. Double trouble. I didn't like it much.

Bob