Dave, in flight school in mid 69 we had B model Hueys for the most part; with a few D's just to get "familiar" with. Mostly we flew formation and did training assaults with the AIT troops from Ft. Gordon (I was at Hunter-Stewart in Savannah, Ga). We NEVER had a crew in the back seats; and when I got to VN in early Dec 69 was the first time I had eyes to see beyond the 10 o'clock to 2 o'clock periphery.

After the first time they talk you down into some tight little place, and you finally get down, and then look around --- well, that's when the impact of a team effort begins to sink in; and that's when confidence begins to build. By the time I was an A/C, the only thing I ever worried about was keeping my .38 firmly planted where it would do some good (unloaded - I preferred to throw the dang thing at Chuck to haveing a stray round catch me and cook something off!)

But ALL the training that made me a reasonably competent flyer occurred with the 119th, and it was nearly all OJT: we simply didn't have much time to spend at the hover/test areas and hone up our little skills. At least, not until after July 70. Were it not for the continuity of great and skilled aviators that ran thru the 119th, we would have been just another bunch of Bikinis, or, Heaven forbid, Pink Panthers. I learned from guys like Harkins, Paine, Saufley, Gibson, Ferguson, Horn, Morrison, Mittendorf, Breheny, Roussell, Xerxes, "Pappy", Maib, Vansworth, Gipe, Tomlinson, Sherman, and others. And did my level best to pass it on.

Pickett