Flying in Vietnam was a real eye-opener for me. After a few missions under our belts, we developed a sense of awareness that can’t be learned any other way. The rattle of the plane and various noises associated with the flight become the norm. Any deviation from that norm was picked up by our senses and we became acutely aware that something was amiss.

Likewise, learning to read the faces of fellow flyers was invaluable to our daily routine. I will never forget those looks from the Pilot and Co-Pilot as they would turn around in their seats and peer back down the aisle toward the RO’s (Radio Operators), especially when they noticed you getting up and going to the tail to relieve yourself. It didn’t take but a couple of those to know you needed to hang onto something as you stood back there trying to “hit the bucket”. They enjoyed playing those little jokes of “fish tailing” or the quick elevation changes. You can imagine what that might have looked like!

Thus, it’s with this experience that I tell this story.

Toward the end of my assignment in Vietnam, I caught a “hop” from Phu Cat to Cam Ranh Bay on a Caribou cargo plane. I recall that there were three of us passenger types. Beside myself, there were two seasoned jungle veterans on board; “Ground Pounders” we called them during those days. We were seated along the right side of the plane on bench seats. The walls were fashioned with loose webbing, used for tying off cargo, I suppose. Our baggage was stacked semi-neatly on the floor and lashed down loosely with a Cargo Net.

The Caribou is a plane that was designed to take off and land on relatively short runways, adapting very well to getting in and out of remote Landing Zones. The engine was powerful and the plane quickly responded to the Pilot’s commands.

On this particular flight, as we became airborne and leveled off, the remainder of the flight was uneventful and routine. After an hour or so of flying, my senses became aware of something out of the ordinary. I glanced towards the front in time to see two faces turned around in their seats and looking towards the rear. I quickly processed the vision and reached down to tighten my seat belt and harness, as I had loosened it following takeoff. Within seconds the bottom fell out! The plane dropped like a rock. The baggage, loosely stored under the lashing, lifted off the deck and strained against the Cargo Net like it was trying to get out! At the same time the two frantic passengers to my left began making loud, guttural noises, naturally muffled by the noise of the engines. Their hands groped behind them and found the loose webbing, as their feet lifted off the cargo deck and appeared to float in a horizontal fashion.

This was perhaps the funniest sight I had witnessed in months! I turned my head away from the two soldiers in order to laugh until I was content, without them seeing my face. I could just imagine what they might do if I was caught laughing at them! The look on their faces was priceless!! They turned at least two shades of white as the blood ran out of their faces! I am certain that, in their state of panic, visions of dying crossed their minds! Their knuckles boldly stood out from the “death grip” they had on the loose webbing, that did nothing to hold them down, but did prevent them from drifting closer to the ceiling! I also took notice of the two grinning faces peering around the corner from the cockpit.

All of this happened in an instant! The plane probably dropped 600 feet and then recovered it’s original altitude. I was still laughing on the inside, as the two boys next to me composed themselves and once again took their seats on the bench. Within seconds they were quickly reassembling their seat belts and slipping inside the shoulder harness behind them. At the same time, the pilot turned around and told us to buckle up because it was getting a little “rough out there”. Ha! I looked at the Pilot and grinned. I had learned from my 148 Missions that “air pockets” are often created in the minds of shrewd Pilots. … Mike Thomas