Warbird Information Exchange

The failed mission to rescue our hostages in Iran has always fascinated me. I just located these threads of photos that I had not seen before, especially the RH-53's.

http://www.militaryphotos.net/forums/sh ... -Claw-1980

http://www.militaryphotos.net/forums/sh ... Eagle-Claw

Supposedly an abandoned RH-53 still in the desert, but something about it looks fishy. Certainly not the original paint. Second link makes it look like a mock-up.

http://www.defence.pk/forums/iranian-de ... -claw.html

http://www.payvand.com/news/12/apr/1263.html

Caution, graphic aftermath photos:

http://www.rohama.org/en/news/8076

After reading some of the info, this was the first time I heard the account that the marshaller attempting to guide the ill-fated RH-53 was backing up and that the help pilot misoriented himself and thought he was drifting back and, as a result, flew forward which caused the collision with the C-130. Brave Americans doing the best they could. There are some who credit Eagle Claw as being the #1 catalyst for the creation of Special Operations Command and many of the advances and successes that have followed.

BTW, was it ever said what became of the RH-53 that aborted enroute to Desert One and was abandoned in place somewhere in southern Iran?

Also, it was said that the 1st C-130 to land required multiple passes and suffered significant wing damage on arrival ( but was still flyable). Any info on this??

Ken

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"Take care of the little things and the big things will take care of themselves."

From what I recall (I was 12 at the time), the Iranian Air Force used the abandoned RH-53 for target practice shortly after the failed mission, except that when they went to bomb the plane, Iranian salvage crews were still on site, killing them.

Interesting story, Saxman. I was also 12 that year.

8 RH-53s started the mission; 6 was the minimum required.
One returned to the Nimitz.
One made a forced landing enroute.
One was destroyed in the fateful departure accident.
One appears in photos as destroyed, but not from the collision.
Four were apparently left intact, although reported damaged by explosion shrapnel.

During my reading of these other threads and info, there are reports that between 2 and 4 of the surviving airframes were adopted into the Iranian military.

The shots of the shell still at the desert site really looks like a mockup to me ... note all the internal bracing, the fact that the tail rotor is installed in one shot and laying intact on the ground in another, and look at all the internal square tubing bracing the interior. Odd.

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"Take care of the little things and the big things will take care of themselves."

The intact CH53 is clearly a mock up. The rotor heads look like they are assembled from bits of plumbing and looking into the interior shows that it looks nothing like a CH53. It looks like it was assembled with bits of steel shelving.

Any truth to the story that the Marines picked thier worst helicopters to send on the raid figuring they wouldn't get them back?

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"I can't understand it, I cut it twice and it's still too short!" Robert F. Dupre' 1923-2010 Go With God.

Have to agree on the conclusion that it is a mock-up. One look at the 17th photo in the article (The one with the man looking in the right hand door.) and I knew it was fake.

Besides, the 6th photo shows an immaculate aircraft. It has been sitting there for 30+ years in perfect condition, and then all of a sudden it was covered in graffiti? I think not.

I doubt the RQ-170 is real either, something that valuable would never be trucked out into the middle of the desert for all to see.

The 2nd photo is interesting though, the wreckage on the flatbed trucks could be the real deal.

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Tri-State Warbird Museum Collections Manager & Museum Attendant

Warbird Philosophy Webmaster

The wreckage on the truck does appear to be real. At a glance, I took them to be helo engines - they did not resemble C-130 cores to me.

I doubt those helos were runts of the litter. An interesting twist I just learned about was that a day or so before the launch, there was a malfunction in the hangar deck and all/most helos were doused in fire fighting agent. The crews spent considerable time cleaning the aircraft and some still believe that the agent made its way into nooks and crannies to cause mayhem. And we will never know if any of the others would have flown successfully for the next full day or so of the raid, had it gone as planned.

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"Take care of the little things and the big things will take care of themselves."

I believe they were all Navy helicopters, not Marine Corps. It was a sad day for the U.S. Military and the Country. I think a lot of lessons were learned that day.

Here are several surprise photos from 2010:

http://www.airliners.net/search/photo.s ... humbnails=

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"Take care of the little things and the big things will take care of themselves."

The RH-53D that was abandoned in the desert early in the mission has never been found...officially. "The Guts To Try" by James Kyle is a great book to read about this mission. Also, The Preatorian Starship; A History Of The MC-130, has a long, detailed chapter on the mission and its planning. You can download this book as a Pdf from Air University Press (at least you use to be able to).

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"Everyone wants to live here (New Jersey), evidenced by the fact that it has the highest population per capita in the U.S..."

That is just fascinating. Supposedly only landed due to a main rotor crack indicator warning light. There was a lot of debate about the accuracy of these lights - but I wasn't there and don't know much about 53's.

Wonder what the real answer is.

Ken

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"Take care of the little things and the big things will take care of themselves."

BIM (Blade Imminent Malfunction) light. The blades are full of nitrogen. A blade failure can be disastrous.
Incidentally, the destroyed Herc was EC-130E 62-1809.

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"Everyone wants to live here (New Jersey), evidenced by the fact that it has the highest population per capita in the U.S..."

Just saw this video, taken shortly after the mission failure. Interesting how the reporter got some right and so many details wrong; kinda reminds me of the news today.

http://youtu.be/nxg6Krggx3I

Just finished reading "The Guts to Try" by James Kyle and "Delta Force" by Charlie Beckwith. Great reads.

This audio clip below is interesting regarding C-130's, callsign "Oilbath". I don't recall that callsign being mentioned in the book, nor do I recall anyone filing dummy flightplans under another callsign, but who knows. The reason I shared it is for any who have not used an HF radio before, the tinny character of the voice and the other background pops and squeaks capture the exact essence of HF comm. In fact, the quality of this call is quite good ... there are any times where it fades in and out, hence the slow talk, spelling of words, and repeating of key words. It's one thing to study photos of planes but this (whether genuine to Eagle Claw or not) really captures a living, breathing aspect of warbird flying that you wouldn't get otherwise.

http://youtu.be/7SLAs6jbIjE


Ken

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"Take care of the little things and the big things will take care of themselves."

Agreed. I listen to that and in my mind I am hearing "Yokota, Yokota, break, break. Skyking, Skyking, do not answer....." in that high, tinny sound you only get over HF.

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Offer me solutions, offer me alternatives, and I decline......

Yup, Speedy. Missing is the second and a half tone to tune the transmitter when the pull the trigger on a new freq for the first time. "beeeeeeep ... Mainsail, Mainsail, Shark 2-1 on 1-1 upper."

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"Take care of the little things and the big things will take care of themselves."

Missed the 33rd anniversary in April. Brave Americans.

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"Take care of the little things and the big things will take care of themselves."