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(more pictures below the story)
It all started a few years ago early one morning when several of us were setting up our R/C displays at the Indianapolis Air Show at Mt. Comfort Airport. A group of airshow pilots came walking through the R/C tent before the airshow started. The tent is there for all area clubs to show off their models and to let the public know where their clubs are located.
Back to the pilots, several of them were giving close inspection to the war birds and the scale military helicopters. One of them got talking to Kerry Muncy and me about how their group had been looking for someone to build them large displays modeled after the ones they fly in the shows. We asked what aircraft do you fly? He said look to the east - see those Hueys and Cobras they are ours; we are the Sky Soldiers, I’m Mike Brady the President, can you build one of these for us? The Sky Soldiers are a group of guys and gals that keep ARMY flight history alive. Kerry and I thought about it a bit and I said, why not, sounds cool. We all traded phone numbers and he said he would give us a call.
Later that morning a few of us decided to take a ride in one of those Hueys before the air show started and the air field got loaded with spectators . We all got on the Huey and strapped in for a great ride. I remember Kerry Muncy and Mike Karnes sitting in the door gunners seats with their faces out in the wind looking up at the rotor blades whipping over their heads and their feet hanging out the doors. When the Huey made a turn they were either looking at the sky or looking at the dirt. I was sitting in the jump seat just behind the co-pilot next to the open door. Across from me on the bench seat was Jay Hurst, then Kerry’s wife Sarah, then Tony and James Flynn. James and Jay were next to the open doors and the girls were in the middle. We all had a great flight.
A few weeks went past then we got the call from Mike Brady. The Sky Soldiers would like a Huey built. At that time Kerry and a few of us had been going hot and heavy on our Apache so I took on the build job. They sent us a kit that had been started and I finished it with all the display models that they wanted. Running lights – sound system - blades spinning slowly all mounted up on a stand for their display. When I got the Huey done we called Mike Brady he said one of their members would be in Indiana in a few days and would pick it up.
The Sky Soldiers home base is in Georgia. Ken Gillam came and picked up the Huey and thought it was great and said; the guys down south are gonna love it. Time went on, then I got another call from Mike Brady. This time they wanted a Cobra done the same way I had done the Huey. So I then built a Cobra. This time I delivered it to the Dayton International Air Show where they were giving Huey rides. Their members at Dayton thought the Cobra was just great. I spent the weekend there and got to talk to a few of their members over the weekend and enjoyed a great show.
Now we start getting to the fun stuff. Time passes again and I get a call from Mike Brady This time he lets me in on a bit of news. The Sky Soldiers are building a team of four Cobras for a demonstration team. This time we would like to have to have a pair of Cobras done up in their new black and gold colors. Again I said; can do! Mike said the new Cobras will be in Dayton in July for their first show; come give them a look. So off to Dayton Ohio I went.
I'll always remember as I was walking through the displays making my way to the Sky Soldiers display and the Huey ride area, I started hearing the thunder of several rotor blades whipping up the airshow sky. Looking towards show center was four of the coolest helicopters I had ever seen. Four gloss black Cobras flying in tight formation. I thought cool; I get to build a pair of those. After their pre-airshow demo flight one of the Cobras was towed to the display area where I found Mike Brady and he introduced me to Skip Lam, who I had talked to several times before on the last Cobra project I did for them. Skip gave me a walk around the gloss black bird as I took all the pictures and video I would need for this project.
This time I had only three months to build two Cobras. Talk about stress; HA HA! Well, in record time I had two of them built. Those who stopped by my shop to see why I had not been to the flying fields for several weekends got Nick naming them Double Trouble! All building came out fine in the end. But when it came time for delivery we run into a few snags. One of their members who live in Anderson was going to go to the Blue Angels home coming in Florida a week before I was to have Double Trouble finished. Mike and I tried to figure how the Cobras were going to get to Georgia without being damaged and skipping the expensive cost of shipping. Thanksgiving weekend was coming up so I told Mike I would have a four day weekend I could bring them down.
Now we get to the best part of this short story. Mike gives me a call back and says; how would you like a ride in one of the Show Cobras? What do you think I said? I'm on my way! So off to the home of the Sky Soldiers in Hampton Georgia I went to deliver two of the coolest non-flying helicopters I had ever built. I got there Thursday evening Thanksgiving day and spent the night camping out in
my van as I always like to do at one of the coolest airports I had ever been to. Just across the street is the Atlanta Motor Speedway. The track is so close that when a NASCAR driver flies in he can just take a short walk to his race car. Back to the fun…Friday morning pilots and mechanics start showing up and hanger doors start opening up to a fleet of some of the most famous helicopters to serve in the armed forces. One of the hangers had the four US Army Cobras sitting side by side. One of the other hangers was packed full of Hueys, a Loach, a few more Cobras, and what every one knows from the TV show M.A.S.H., a Bell 47. I set up the two Cobras for display for every one to see. I must admit it was a first for me to have models that I built to be sitting next to their full scale helies. Yep, I took several photos. All enjoyed the work I had done to replicate two of the four they fly. My job was done. The Team Cobras are now the Official ARMY AIR SHOW FLIGHT TEAM. How cool is that?
Now, what happened next, I will never forget as long as I live. I got to meet the pilot who was going to give me the ride of my life. I had met him a few short months ago at the Dayton Air Show. A former captain who flew in Desert Storm, Jeff Moss earned a Bronze Star for his service. We talked a bit he looked over the Cobras I built and he fell in love with one of them – HA, HA, HA. Come to find out one that I had done up has the same tail numbers as the one he flies in the shows. Now how cool is that?
Jeff asks, ready to have some fun? But first we have to do a bit of work. OK, I said. It was time for me to see and listen to the years of hard work Jeff has put into his military life, preflight of the Cobra. I have been around more airplanes, gyro copters, ultra-lights and a few helicopters than I can remember and have had been flying several years as a professional student pilot and Hanger Rat starting with my Grandpa, who was in the Army Air Corps, and still fly when I can with my Uncle Bill Sanders, who just got me started flying his Helicopter. But, this Cobra pre-flight was just amazing. One of the mechanics started pulling panels and doors off the Cobra. It looked to me like they were going to do an annual inspection. But as I got to watch and listen to Jeff as he started to inspect the black and gold Cobra. I was very interested to see things in and behind all the closed doors. I don't want any of those parts to fail if I’m going to be up in this thing! Pulling on this, twisting on that, is this pin here, is there oil there, wipe that off, make sure that is not leaking, will that move and so on. I was just amazed that I got to see parts of a helicopter that most do not ever get to see.
All checked out fine and it was time to tow it to the flight area. Before climbing into the front co-pilot gunner’s seat, Jeff had to teach me a few emergency procedures. I had to learn a few switches, how seat belts work and lock, how to brace for a crash and what to stay away from. Like the gunner sight that sticks out right in front of me. The Cobra has been disarmed but all the parts are still there to keep it authentic. By looking at the gun sight I bet it has fired a few rounds in its earlier days. I also had to learn how to break out the windows and where the glass break tool was stored. One of the things Jeff told me was that if we go down and it's on fire; get out. If not, we are gonna ride it out ‘till parts stop moving. I told him HA, it's not a good day to crash; I have a show to get to back home this weekend. He just laughed.
Well, time to get in the front seat and put the helmet and belts on. After climbing and crawling into the small left widow and getting all settled in the front cockpit, it has one of the best views ever. You can look all around with no problems, like sitting in a glass bubble. In the front cockpit the gun site is in front of me, the collective on the left, the cyclic on the right, rudder pedals on the floor at my feet, and a dash jam-packed full of gauges. Most of the flight gauges I knew, but the others I think belonged to the gunner. The flight helmets have speakers and a mike so the pilot and gunner co-pilot can talk to each other. The gunner sits in front and pilot in the rear seat.
After Jeff got in and his flight gear on, we checked mikes and speakers to see if we could hear each other. I sat there and all was quiet for a moment, then Jeff says he is going to turn on the hot mike so I can listen to him go through the start up sequence. He began talking and I watched the instrument panel in front of me start coming to life. This light come on then that light went off; one gauge came to life then another and so on. The Cobra started whining and rumbling. Always Jeff is saying what he is doing, and then he says blades are starting to spin good! I look up and yep, they are moving - he keeps talking. EGT coming up - good. The Cobra is coming to life. It starts shaking, vibrating and making noises I have never heard before. I look down at the gauges again I see the main shaft RPM climbing up. We sat there a moment as he added more power, the Cobra started to settle into a smooth rumble.
Jeff says I’m going to 100% power; I look at the gauges again and see the main shaft at 950 RPM. He then says, here we go. My left hand was light on the collective stick and I could feel it starting to move, the next thing I knew we had done the smoothest lift off I had ever done. We then went a short distance so he could do a bit of hover trim checks and to check that all was fine with the flight controls. Here we go, I hear from him, the nose drops down a bit as he adds a bit of collective and off I go for the ride of my life. Jeff says to me what do you want to do, I said have some fun. He tells me we'll go to our practice area and I’ll show you a few combat maneuvers and what we fly in the shows as a team. Let’s go, I said.
On the way he shows me a few quick turns. The sound of the rotor blades cutting the clear blue Georgia sky was fantastic. We flew to a small lake near by; he tells me they use this small beach for a target. I look ahead and see the beach. We get closer he says; here we go. From a fast forward flight, he pushes the nose over and all I see out the front window is water rushing up fast at me, I hear BANG, BANG, BANG, (Jeff making gun noises in my ears), then all of a sudden he pulls back on the collective and all I see is sky. I have to look over my shoulder to find the horizon. I then feel the left rudder pedal getting shoved to its limits and all of a sudden I see the beach again!
As we dive down to it again, he goes BANG, BANG, BANG, and then pulls out. Wow! I thought, fire on the same target in less than 10 seconds, I don't want
you hunting me down. Now I see why the call it The Attack Cobra. Jeff says to me - You OK? I knew what he wanted. I think somewhere in the back of his mind he wanted to see if he could make me sick. I just laughed and said I’m fine. He says good so he starts showing me a few more attack moves. A few more maneuvers we did. I was shoved forward looking at dirt - feeling hard pulls ups looking at nothing but blue sky and yanked through hard turns. Again he says you OK? I told him to fly as hard as you want to, you won't make me sick; but the only thing you might make me do is mess my shorts if we hit those tree tops. He just laughed and said me too!
We pulled back up to a normal flight path and he asked how much flying I had done. We talked about it a bit, and then Jeff asked me if I wanted to fly awhile. Me? Turn down stick time?! Be it R/C or full scale, I’m game. He tells me; get your hands on the collective and cyclic, now the rudder. He says you got the rudder? I gave it a short kick - he laughed, it’s yours. I look up at the rear view mirror quick like and see his hands on the overhead cockpit glass. Wow! I’m flying one of the best military helicopters ever built. Jeff talks me through a few S turns. I level us back out, he says see the airfield ahead, head for it. So I put us on heading back to the field. I hear Jeff calling our numbers out over the radio to let the traffic know what we are doing.
From a few miles out I start to line up with the runway. The clear blue sky that day you could see for ever. As we get closer he tells me to lower the collective a bit, we get closer and I’m still flying. Lower it a bit more, then a bit more, hold that he says. Next thing I knew I was flying a low pass down the center line of the runway just like I was in the show. He then says - I'll take it! I say laughing, what if I don't wanna give it up? Sorry, time to land, he says! Ok, I can't fly and take a few photos at the same time.
Yep, that was the best ride I have ever taken. I know if the Sky Soldiers are doing an air show near me I will be there. So if you’re ever on the Southside of Atlanta, swing by Hampton, Georgia, go to the Clayton County Airport, and give the Sky Soldiers a visit. Thank you to all of the Sky Soldiers for keeping ARMY aviation history alive, your time spent serving our country, and giving me the chance to work with some of the greatest soldiers ever.
Postscript: A little side note from my pilot. Great story Mika...kept my interest...I will look forward to seeing it in your newsletter…You forgot my compliments to you regarding your flying ability...You did a super job maintaining altitude, air speed, and trim! Super for someone with limited flight time! Jeff
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