WO Fred Thompson, Shark 7
Pre-Surfer Shark 161
This is Shark 161 before the Surfer panels were completed. This was during a time in December 1970 when even the teeth had not been completely painted before assigning it to missions... The paint was just fluff anyway of course. Shark 161 was a replacement aircraft for the DX'd Shark 555 (Triple Nickle). Note 161 had the upper part of only one of its main rotor blades painted white. With one white and one olive drab (OD) blade, you could only see the white one and the helicopter looked like it only had one blade attached. REALLY looked out-of-balance when seen from above, but it got your attention and that was what it was for... probably the most visible gunship we had. (An unknown liquid, possibly water, whisky, or drool, caused some discoloration to this slide...)
(Photo property of Fred Thompson) |