Blind Bat, Yellowbirds, Willy the Whale
"Night Intruders" on Uncle Ho's trail
Blind Bat FAC and Flareship
Not only was Blind Bat a flareship, but she also played an important role operating as a Forward Air Controller (FAC).
Little has been written about the C-130A Blind Bat in her FAC role. Perhaps the easiest way to tell you about the Blind Bat FAC is to relate a few war stories provided by Blind Bat crews.
On September 10, 1969, a Blind Bat crew was scheduled to conduct a night flare and FAC mission over Laos. The task involved searching for targets, arranging for aircraft to attack these targets, directing the attack aircraft to the target, and illuminating the target with flares for the final attack run. The crew launched at 2330 hours (11:30 PM) with a weather forecast indicating good conditions in the target area, but with thunderstorms on their way.
While proceeding to the target area, number three propeller began to malfunction. The flight engineer, Sgt. Lee, followed standard corrective procedures to control the malfunction, but reported the propeller operating beyond normal limits. The propeller was overspeeding or turning too fast, and could become a runaway propeller, meaning the revolutions per minute (rpm) might accelerate at a rate the pilot could not control.
Major Nadler, the pilot and aircraft commander, began air abort procedures and requested a heading back to home base. His co-pilot, Capt. Mims was communicating with the Airborne Command and Control Center (ABCCC). The ABCCC understood Blind Bat's propeller issue but advised that friendly troops were engaged in the target area and had an urgent need for a flare drop or risked being overrun. Remember, all this is happening at night.
Based on that report, Nadler changed his mind, instructed Sgt. Lee to keep the number three engine operating as long as possible, and advised the crew they were going to the target area to assist the troops in contact. While all this was going on, the cockpit crew discussed that they might have to feather the number three engine.
Feathering an engine means shutting it down, but the propeller needs to be shut down so that the blades are at a pitch where they will impose minimum drag while the aircraft continues flying with the other engines. Complicating all this, thunderstorms were now showing on the aircraft's radar.
The navigator, Major Parks, worked with the pilots to fly around the thunderstorms as best they could and still get to the target area with dispatch. The co-pilot then contacted the troops fighting on the ground.
The ground forces reported the enemy approaching from all sides, within 50 meters on one side. In addition, they reported heavy casualties, dead and wounded, and requested flare light immediately. The ground troops provided their exact location, the navigator pointed the aircraft in that direction, and the pilot took the aircraft down to minimum allowable altitude to maximize the effects of the flare drop.
Then the autopilot malfunctioned, which complicated the need to maintain an almost continuous bank required to lay down a good pattern of flares. The flight engineer continued working with his controls to keep the number three engine operating.
Blind Bat arrived over the target area, and the extensive ground fire was clearly visible. Blind Bat was sufficiently low to see mortar rounds coming at friendly positions.
Without delay, the loadmasters, Sergeants Jacoby, Izzo, and Taylor did a flare run, loading and launching the flares, illuminating the sky. That's what the guys on the ground wanted, but it gave away Blind Bat's position and track, and enemy forces opened fire on her. The air crew now put their aircraft into a continuous flare pattern, turning the night on the ground into daylight.
The Blind Bat was unarmed, so it had to depend on Lady Luck, the success of the ground forces in occupying the enemy's attention, and some flying skill to avoid getting shot down.
The ABCCC advised that fighter-bomber aircraft were on the way. But then another malfunction struck, this time with the flare launcher in the back of the aircraft. A flare malfunctioned, was hung up in the launch tube, and its timing mechanism had been activated, meaning it would go off automatically at a prescribed time. One of the loadmasters, Sgt. Jacoby reached into the tube, dislodged the tangled lanyard, and the flare released out of the aircraft to do its job. Despite this malfunction, the crew kept loading the tubes and maintained the continuous flare pattern coverage without missing a step, all while under hostile fire.
Attack aircraft arrived, and between the troops on the ground and the Blind Bat, they were directed to their targets. The Blind Bat crew kept the night alight with flares for two and a half hours while the attack aircraft did their job on the enemy forces surrounding the friendlies. Finally, the friendly ground force was able to drive off the enemy force and break the attack.
The C-130 flareship remained on the scene for five hours total and dropped 200 flares. The terrain demanded that the pilots keep their aircraft above 10,000 feet; the crew was not on oxygen, so the air was thin. In addition, the nearly continuous banking stressed the flare crews with sufficient “G” forces to tire them out, and the flares grew heavy.
The aircraft returned home safely, as did the fighter aircraft, and the ground force was able to regroup, take care of its wounded, and get rescue aircraft into the area to pick up the wounded and dead.
Ten days later, on September 20, 1969, another interesting mission developed while again flying a flare and FAC flight over Laos. This time, an Army Ranger special operations team was trapped on the side of a mountain, and the team was under attack. Once again, Major George Nadler was the Blind Bat aircraft commander.
A call came in to Blind Bat requesting help in trying to save the special operations team trapped on the side of a mountain. The team was under hostile attack. The team was fighting back, but several were wounded, and the enemy was closing in.
The team had only eight men. One among the team, if caught, could have caused diplomatic problems for the US since the American ground force was not supposed to be in Laos. Blind Bat was told that the team had to be extracted. The Blind Bat crew hooked up with two Army helicopters, and they came up with an impromptu plan on how best to retrieve the special operations team.
The tactic called for the Army pilots to put together two one-hundred-foot ropes and dangle them below their helicopters. Blind Bat would then launch flares over the side of the mountain, the Army pilot would drop down and pick up one man, and then dash to the valley about four miles away. Blind Bat would then race to the valley location and light up the ground below the helicopter. Since the man at the end of the rope was 200 feet below the helicopter, it was vital that the Army pilot was able to see the ground, so he didn't descend too fast and kill the man he was trying to rescue. Blind Bat's flares burned for two and a half minutes, so it was necessary to dash back to the mountain before the last flare went out. The helicopter pilot back at the mountain needed constant light to hold his position and not clip trees sticking up beside him. Hovering next to trees in the daylight is hard enough, and becomes extremely difficult at night. Blind Bat had to keep the mountain lit up all the time, or the hovering helicopter would surely crash. If the area went dark, the Army pilots would lose their bearings in relation to the trees. Since they were hauling a special operations troop at the end of a 200-foot rope, they couldn't simply lift upward and leave.
So what the two aircraft ended up creating was a choreographed dance that demanded perfect timing. The helicopter would hover off to the side, waiting for Blind Bat to light up the mountainside. Then the helicopter would dash to the target, drop the 200-foot line, wait for a trooper on the ground to grab it, and then lift off to clear the trees and make an escape to the nearby valley. The Blind Bat would follow, illuminating the valley so the helo crew could safely set the troop at the end of the line on the ground. Then, they both had to scurry back to the mountain, with the Blind Bat once again lighting up the side of the mountain. That round trip had to be done in a couple of minutes. The concept worked, everyone involved did their job, and the special forces team was extracted.
The Blind Bat crew did all this work flying at 4,000 ft. and 140 knots. Each time the Blind Bat turned at the valley to return to the mountain, the enemy broke loose everything it had, trying to shoot the C-130 down. Blind Bat was painted black, which helped. But by flaring in two places nearby, the aircraft was visible to the naked eye each time it turned over the valley. An enemy 37 mm gun would have taken the aircraft down early on. Incredibly, Blind Bat made eight passes over the same route, giving the enemy eight chances to shoot her down. How the enemy missed shooting the aircraft down is a miracle. What is not a miracle is that Major Nadler and his crew risked their lives flying slowly, unarmed, in a large aircraft with a kind of courage matched by few.
This next mission, flown in January 1970, demonstrates the persistent need for close coordination in a “business-like” way when under intense hostile fire. It is worth noting that for many, perhaps even most missions, the Blind Bat crews did not know precisely what they would have to do that evening until they checked in with the ABCCC for instructions. They understood their mission area, but the details depended on the action on the ground at the time. On this night, the Blind Bat was directed to conduct visual reconnaissance of a major enemy infiltration route. That was not going to be easy because the weather in the area was marginal at best. But by this time, Blind Bats carried night observation device (NOD) gear and could get a good bit of visual night reconnaissance done even in lousy weather.
The crew understood the route structure in the assigned area, so the NOD operator began looking for targets. He spotted six hostile trucks moving toward friendly positions. That's the good news. The bad news is these trucks were operating in an area heavily defended by some pretty good enemy anti-aircraft artillery positions, AAA, known popularly as triple-A or just “guns.”
The aircraft commander, knowing that his crew had spotted the trucks, decided to head into the area, mark the moving targets, and call in fighters to attack the trucks. Just as Blind Bat set up her orbit area and began marking the targets, the AAA opened up. The NOD operator had his targets in sight and began directing the attack aircraft. The Blind Bat crew had to lay down the flare markers as close to the target as possible, describe the setting to the incoming fighters, and help lead them to their target.
The AAA intensified, so the C-130, having put down its flare markers, withdrew for a moment.
The strike fighters, in this case A-1s, started arriving, so Blind Bat went back into the area and briefed the A-1s on exactly where the targets were. Meanwhile, the flight engineer positioned himself to monitor his engine instruments and assist the pilots in locating the AAA positions, which were now unleashing everything they had to try to bring down the C-130. The loadmasters held position in the rear of the aircraft, helping to identify the gun positions and ready to launch flares as required.
As the A-1s did their attack runs, the Blind Bat crew also helped them adjust their aiming points. The attack lasted about an hour. Six trucks were struck, there were two secondary fires, three secondary explosions, and two 23mm AAA guns were put out of business. Three of the trucks were destroyed, and the area fell silent. Together, the Blind Bat crew counted over 1,000 rounds of AAA fire from five gun positions.
The demand for coordination intensified on this next mission. Blind Bat was once again directed to proceed to a general target area for a night flare FAC mission over Laos. Upon arrival in the briefed target area, she was instructed to assist a friendly outpost under attack by enemy forces. As luck would have it, Blind Bat lost all its navigation radios, so the radar navigator used precise dead reckoning procedures to guide the aircraft to the besieged outpost.
The outpost was an important defensive and supply position for friendly forces. Flare illumination was requested. The terrain was very mountainous, and the winds were high, increasing the degree of difficulty in accurately dropping flares. The radar navigator studied the area, did his calculations, and briefed the crew on terrain, wind conditions, and recommended flare drop headings. The aircraft commander focused on placing the aircraft in the desired positions, the co-pilot called in gunships and fighter aircraft, and the loadmasters, who had to work in blackout conditions, readied their flares and launchers.
The battle on the ground intensified, and out popped 23mm and 14.5 mm AAA guns that tried to keep the C-130 away from the area. Blind Bat had to orbit a precise area to drop its flares accurately, and with each orbit, the AAA guns became more and more accurate. As a result, while orbiting, the C-130 would have to make multiple defensive maneuvers and then get back on the desired orbit track.
An AC-47 “Spooky” gunship, also known as "Puff the Magic Dragon," arrived on station, and Blind Bat kept the area fully illuminated so the gunship could send its wrath to enemy forces on the ground. AAA rounds kept coming up. The NOD operator coordinated the target's exact position with the pilots and navigator; together, they set up target briefings and set initial strike headings. The aircraft commander then briefed Spooky on recommended attack tactics and coordinated the final ground marker headings to the target. Remember, the C-130 is unarmed and was out there marking AAA gun positions that were shooting at it. The AAA fire intensified even more.
As usual, the flight engineer's job was to monitor all fuel and engine instruments to ensure the airplane was operating correctly and to alert the pilot crew to AAA tracers on their way up. The co-pilot kept his eyes focused on the target, helped keep the aircraft lined up, and coordinated drop warnings and aircraft turns with other crew members.
The loadmasters would spot the AAA locations, notify the pilots, and then drop ground markers whenever the AAA was observed directly below the aircraft. The ground markers provided superb reference points for the incoming strike aircraft. The aircraft commander briefed Spooky on the locations of enemy fire, and Spooky laid down her fire.
Blind Bat could see that the friendly garrison was being hit with mortars, and fires were breaking out. Then, Blind Bat lost communications with the garrison. Once reestablished, Blind Bat learned that the garrison evacuated its position, and large quantities of its supplies and ammunition were now under hostile control. At that point, the aircraft commander directed his crew to mark the stock of munitions and supplies. Spooky directed his fire at the markers and pulled off the target area when he ran out of ammunition. But he had done his job, because the entire area was on fire with hundreds of fuel barrels exploding. The friendly forces, under constant attack, made their way away from the area.
A second AC-47 Spooky showed up to join the battle. Blind Bat briefed him. The friendly force on the ground directed Spooky's fire at a gully near the field. Enemy forces were massing there, preparing for a final attack on the retreating friendly troops. Spooky took care of them in short order. Blind Bat got some F-4s assigned to the battle and brought them in to completely destroy the area, which they did, leaving behind hundreds of secondary explosions that continued for hours. Blind Bat and both Spooky gunships endured many hundreds of rounds of AAA fire, Blind Bat counting over 675 rounds.
Illuminating the night with flares became a significant business in the war. Blind Bats saved hundreds of lives by turning night into day when outposts were being overrun. Large amounts of enemy ammunition and equipment, antiaircraft guns, and trucks were destroyed each night. When pilots were shot down, Blind Bats, due to their extensive time on station, played a significant role in locating them. By making many passes over a downed pilot, the onboard radar could get an exact fix on the pilot's location. Many rescues were completed due to this vital information. If not for this, rescue aircraft would have had to hunt for the downed pilot, subjecting them to added risks. Since one plane had already been shot down in the area, the antiaircraft fire was usually hot and heavy, and hundreds of rounds being shot at the Blind Bat aircraft was not uncommon.
Click to zoom graphic-photo
Click to zoom graphic-photo
