Transportation Corps Photo Gallery

Army Aviation Videos

• Helicopter Operation In World War II
• Here and Then TCAA Aviation School
• Here and Then - TCAA AATD
• "Flying Soldiers" - 1959 United States Army Aviation - Helicopters & Planes"
• Army Aviation - "The Big Picture" - 1950's Helicopters and Planes of the US Army
• Introduction to Helicopters - 1957 US Army Training Film
• Angels Of Vietnam
• Tribute to Vietnam helicopter pilots and crew
• God's Own Lunatics by Joe Galloway
• Homage to the Huey

L-19 Bird Dog

A US Army L-19 (O-1) with a fuel tanker at LZ Baldy, near Hoi An, Republic of Vietnam, late 1967 or early 1968

U-1 Otter

CV-2 Caribou

OV-1 Mohawk

PL-5 - 1942

OH-13 Sioux

CH-21 Shawnee



CH-25 Mule

          

CH-34 Choctaw

          

CH-37 Mohave

   

CH-47 Chinook

CH-54 Tarhe

OH-23 Raven



OH-58 Kiowa



UH-1 Iroquois

            

TH-55 Osage

            

Aircraft History

Fixed Wing Aircraft

The U.S. Army Transportation Corps aviation began with flying fixed wing, single engine airplanes. The famous Bird Dogs were actually several different airplanes: the L-4 and L-5 in WWII and later the L-19's and O-1's. The L-20 Beaver, re-named the U-6 and U-1 Otter, flew in Vietnam.  

The Transportation Corps also flew several twin engine airplanes. In Korea and Vietnam the L-23 (later the U-8)flew as a  VIP transport airplane.  The CV-2 (Caribou), was a twin engine cargo airplane and the OV-1 Mohawk was a twin engine turboprop surveillance aircraft flown during and after Vietnam. The OV-1 was assigned to Military Intelligence units, not the Transportation Corps, but the TC retained the maintenance mission and had Mohawk pilots.

Most fixed wing aircraft were named after animals.

Rotary Aircraft

Helicopters first flew in WWII.  Army pilots assigned or attached to combat units were NCOs.  In Korea,  commissioned officers flew the OH-13's Sioux, seen in M.A.S.H. Early in Vietnam three CH-21 Shawnee ("Flying Banana") TC units were deployed as light helicopters.  Then came the CH-34 Choctaw units, a single engine light cargo helicopter, followed by the CH-37 Mohave, a twin engine medium transport helicopter.  By 1963 the UH-1 Huey (Iroquois) and the OH-6 Cayuse were being fielded.  The Huey was used for air assaults and for early gun ships (B-model).  The guns were replaced by AH-1 Cobras, and then replaced by AH-64s.  The OH-6 (called the Loach) was used in an armed observation role, replaced in the 1970's by the OH-58 (Kiowa). Then came the real transport helicopters, the CH-47 Chinook and the CH-54 Tarhe.  CH-54s are gone, but still used to fight forest fires and for heavy lifts.  The CH-47, a medium lift transport helicopter, is currently in use worldwide.