consp04@bingvaxu.cc.binghamton.edu (Daniel F. Boyd) (07/17/89)
From: Daniel F. Boyd <consp04@bingvaxu.cc.binghamton.edu> In the July 1989 issue of a magazine called "International Combat Arms" which I found on a newsstand, the cover story is about the AH-1W Supercobra. (There are also major stories on a Mossberg shotgun, night-vision equipment, the Internet Worm (this I found to be a real loser of a story, but then I have read Seeley, Spafford, and Rochlis/Eichin's papers about the Worm) and light operations on the USS America.) In the photographs surrounding the story, there are several pictures of the AH-1W, with various underwing stores. On the top of both wings, there is a boxlike, slightly streamlined object just inboard of the wingtip pylon. There are no pictures taken from a close enough distance to give good detail of the box itself. My question is this: What is this Mysterious Boxlike Object? I would also like to know what one has to go through to get into the cockpit of one of these machines -- does the Army fly them or do you have to join the Marines? What rank do you have to have? I have read James Mason's Chickenhawk, which made me realize that I much prefer jockeying a VAX to an AH-1, but my question remains, and I would like to know what (if anything) has changed since 1964 which is when Mason got into flying helicopters for the Army. Daniel F. Boyd | "If it wasn't for disappointments, Student Consultant, SUNY Binghamton | I wouldn't have any appointments." consp04@bingvaxu.cc.binghamton.edu | -- They Might Be Giants