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Bushrangers
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If one instrument of war dominated the Vietnam conflict more than any other, that instrument was the helicopter. Perhaps the senior American officer, arguing the virtues of the aircraft as a weapon, was pressing the argument too far when he declared: “The Vietnam war hangs on the rotor blade of a helicopter. ” Nevertheless, helicopters were used so extensively in such a multiplicity of roles that they became for the Allied commanders in the field almost indispensable. It seemed that in all combat activities whether in direct con tact with the enemy or not, the ground commander called for the use of helicopters in support. “More than any other artifact of war, the chopper has become the indelible symbol of the lndo-China conflict” wrote Newsweek’s editor, Russell Watson. But in the same article he quoted a United States Air Force general’s warning: “It cannot survive when the enemy has sophisticated anti-aircraft weapons or air power. “
The basic helicopter idea was an ancient one, at least as old as Leonardo da Vinci who designed one in the 16th cen tury. The first workable helicopter was invented before the Second World War. Yet they had scarcely been used until the Korean war and it was not until Vietnam in the 1960s that their role in the conduct of operations became so dominating. The reason for this was that helicopters committed to action in Vietnam and particularly the Iroquois helicopters operated by No. 9 Squadron, were a vast improvement both in what they could do and in reliability compared with the pioneering designs. Aeoronautical engineers, busy with the problems of conventional winged aircraft, took much longer to solve the basic helicopter problems, particularly the problems of vibration, power, stability and control. Until designers began to power them with the new turbo-shaft engine, helicopters did not really become effective as aircraft. By the time the Vietnam conflict began the basic helicopter problems had been solved.
But it was not only the solution of basic problems that made the helicopter such a successful weapon in Vietnam. As an aircraft it confers its greatest benefits in a primitive, undeveloped country where roads, bridges, airfields and communications generally are lacking or where such surface routes as may be available are subject to harassment and ambush by hostile forces. Vietnam was such a country, except that it did have airfields most of which had been built for military purposes by the Americans and before them the French. So the helicopter came into its own. It could land anywhere a small landing pad could be provided and if no pad or landing zone was available, soldiers could be lifted or lowered by means of winches.
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