Description: CD-Rom Containing Nine Master Digital Images Related to Air America "803" Helicopter Operations in Southeast Asia. 001 Pak Chong & 002 Pak Chong (photos taken Jan or Feb 1966): Weekly flights were made from Bangkok to our Field Site. Typically, contractor personnel were ferried from Don Muang Airport to our field site. Then the helicopter went on to Pak Chong to pick up food, equipment or other supplies and carried them back to the field site. When all of these supplies were transferred, the helicopter picked up returning contractor personnel and flew back to Don Muang. Images 001 and 002 show the operations area at Pak Chong while supplies and personnel were being loaded. Quite a crowd formed whenever the helicopter was in the area. The Holden automobile is one of the contractor vehicles used to carry equipment and/or personnel from Bangkok to Pak Chong. 003 Pak Chong (photo taken Jan or Feb 1966): Air America Pilot Frank Stergar pays attention during take off from Pak Chong bound for our field site. Air America "803" operated with one pilot and one crew chief, so contractor personnel sometimes got to ride in the co-pilot's seat. 004 Field Site (photo taken Jan 1966): Field Site south of Pak Chong. The helicopter pad can be seen at the right center of the image. A swath has been cleared in the jungle running from the pad towards the left and upward. This clearing was used for landing and take-off to avoid the stress of straight vertical takeoff and landing. In the camp compound, circling clockwise are the guard shack, water tank, kitchen/mess hall, 3 sleeping rooms, office, equipment buildings and fuel dump. Outside the gate under a lean-to is the power generator. 005 Songkhla and 006 Songkhla (photos taken March 1967): After contract work was mostly completed at the Pak Chong site, operations were moved far south to Songkhla. Ferrying Air America “803” from Bangkok to Songkhla took a bit of planning. During these flights, one or more 55-gallon drums of 115/145 Av Gas were carried as cargo, along with a hand pump and chamois. Refueling stops were made as necessary. In these photos our crew chief is checking the helicopter engine while pilot (Tom Moore?) goes through his pre-flight checklist. 007 Enroute (photo taken March 1967) In the Songkhla operational area, contractor personnel were ferried to/from the field site each day, rather than weekly as at the Pak Chong site. The daily routine was for security purposes as the jungle area between Hat Yai and Satun was a suspected operational area for CT's (Communist Terrorists). 008 Pre-Flight and 009 Pre-Flight (photos taken March, 1967): Pre-flight warm-up, ready for takeoff. Air America pilot Tom Moore?
Citation: CD-Rom Containing Nine Master Digital Images Related to Air America "803" Helicopter Operations in Southeast Asia., No Date, Art Goddard Collection, The Vietnam Center and Archive, Texas Tech University. Accessed 24 May. 2013. <http://www.vietnam.ttu.edu/virtualarchive/items.php?item=1629EM0307>.