Hillclimbers Larry Fann Photo Album

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This photo album is the work of Larry Fann. Larry was a Hillclimber pilot from late 1969 to 1971. He was in Vung Tau and took part in the Hillclimber move to Can Tho in the middle of 1970. These pictures are from both locations and also reflect on the missions flown in the Hillclimber area of operations.

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1 link The Hillclimber orderly room at the Vung Tau Army Airfield.
2 link The company sign in front of the orderly room.
3 link This is one of the versions of the Hillclimber company sign that was used in Can Tho. Larry was "Hillclimber 20" as you can see from the patch.
4 link CW 2 Fann's Can Tho BOQ room, 1971.
5 link

CW2 Fann exchanging aircraft at QuNhon 1970.  Met up with classmate (WOC Class 69-25) Bill Stone for a brief visit.  NOTE:  Bill's son became an Army CWO CH-47 pilot years later.
6 link Hillclimber aircraft stored in revetments at Can Tho airfield.
7 link Hillclimber doing field work (1969, 1970, or 1971).
8 link Hillclimber Huey pickup at Can Tho (1969, 1970, or 1971).
9 link Hillclimber taking on a load. Notice the blue racing stripe going up the nose and forward pylon. This was a project of a Hillclimber known as Melly Mel (1969, 1970, or 1971).
10 link Hillclimber performing a "piggyback" sling load of an artillary piece and an ammunition load load at the same time (1969, 1970, or 1971).
11 link Hillclimber maintainance run up check while parked in a revetment (1969, 1970, or 1971).
12 link Hillclimber performing a fuel bladder sling load (1969, 1970, or 1971).
13 link An ARVN (Army Republic of Vietnam) guard tower. I believe this is Can Tho airfield (1969, 1970, or 1971).
14 link ARVN troops somewhere in the delta (1969, 1970, or 1971).
15 link

WO1 Bob Agee and AC (Aircraft Commander) WO1 Larry Fann assigned together for Hillclimber missions during 1970 (Larry attended CH-47D transition as a Reserve WO at Evertt, WA, in 1992.  CW4 Agee was his Reserve IP for this course).
16 link (1969, 1970, or 1971)
17 link Larry Fann relaxing at the Can Tho BOQ (Bachelor Officer Quarters) in 1970.
18 link ARVN 105 Battery, (1969, 1970, or 1971).
19 link Flame Munitions drop in Vietnam in 1970 or 71.
20 link Flame Munitions drop from another angle.
21 link ...and another angle.
22 link

ARVN ground units invading Cambodia March or April 1070.
23 link Hillclimber BOQ (2ea, 2 story buildings on the perimeter road) Can Tho Airfield 1970 or 1971.
24 link

CW2 Kehn, WO1 Fann, CW2 Wright (IFE), & WO1 Grier on 2nd floor walkway, Hillclimber BOQ at Can Tho 15 Aug 1970.
25 link

WO’s Fehrs, Fann, Weihrauch (the best CH47 pilot I’ve ever flown with!), and Cockerham on the Hillclimber 2nd floor walkway at Can Tho in 1970.
26 link Can Tho airfield 1970: Hillclimbers located botton center of photo.
27 link A Hillclimber sling load mission in 1969, 1970, or 1971.
28 link Photo came from either Tommy Gleason or Mike Spivey.
29 link Photo came from either Tommy Gleason or Mike Spivey.
30 link

Hillclimber troop mission during Cambodia incursion March or April 1970.
31 link

WO Larry Fann on Hillclimber BOQ, 2nd floor walkway in 1970.
32 link Bomb craters. Most likly a US Air Force B-52 drop zone.
33 link Same as above.
34 link

This is a Hillclimber, with a 214th Avn Bn symbol on the aft pylon, aboard the USS Coral Sea. The Coral Sea was a "Depot" level maintenance stationed in the South China Sea.
35 link CW2 MacClaren (Hillclimber IP) with a 2nd Hillclimber carrying a Cobra slingload 1970 or 1971.
36 link

Flame munitions drops (16 each  55 gal drums of MoGas) late 1970 or 1971.
37 link

Sling load Mission of an airboat 1970 or 1971. The Navy had a fleet of boats that traveled the rivers of IV Corp area of Vietnam.  They were known as the “Brown Water Navy”.
38 link More boat movement missions 1970 or 1971.
39 link More boat movement missions 1970 or 1971.
40 link Top of Seven Sisters Mountain between Chi Lang and Ha Tien near Cambodian border, 1970 or 1971.
41 link

These next two slides are illustrative of a real shortcoming in the US Army Chinook program. It is not known by many people, but the CH-47 Chinook "A" model was considered an "experimental" aircraft by the Army. This aircraft is complex, and all personnel associated with it must pay absolute attention to what they are doing. These two pictures are an example of not properly synchronizing the forward and aft rotor heads to ensure that there is no contact between the forward and aft blades during rotation.
42 link

These two images were taken from an 8mm film. This was state of the art fifty years ago, but it had a big drawback. Camera movement during filming was a real issue. Also, time has degraded the film and created issue of film resolution. However, you can see from the image at the right that frankly, Larry Fann and crew is fortunate to not have died as a result of this maintenance issue. Even today, with all the technology evident in the modern Chinook, this issue would usually be fatal to the crew.

Link to "Hillclimber Stories" about this incident.
43 link Larry Fann in QuinHion in 1970.
44 link VC (Viet Cong) prisoner awaiting transportation.
45 link Hillclimber CE and later FE Tommy (Michigan) Gleason 1969.
46 link

Hillclimber WO1 Matt Wojack 1970. In 1992 CWO Wojack, still on active duty, was my Reserve PMO at St. Louis. He was able to obtain a CH-47D transition course for me.
47 link 307th AVN BN (CBT) (Aviation Battalion - Combat) Hawk Magazine news article that talks a little about the 147th ASHC (Assault Support Helicopter Company) - Hillclimbers.
48 link The two Hillclimber locations in South Vietnam. From the fall of 1966 to the middle of 1970 Vung Tau was the company location. In the middle of 1970 the Hillclimbers moved to Can Tho untill they relocated to Hawaii, their present location, in 1972.
49 link Class 69-25 9th WOC (Warrant Officer Candidate) 2nd Platoon. AKA "Flight School."
50 link

Former PFC/CPL/SGT/PFC/CPL/SGT/PFC Morgan Fann, Larry’s father; pinning his son’s newly awarded WO1 bars, August 25th 1969, Ft. Rucker, AL.  Morgan served 22 months during WW II in the South Pacific, with the 31st Inf Div. He served as 167th Inf Reg, CO I, 1st scout in the New Guinea, South Philippines, & Mototai Island campaigns.
  The next few pictures are of Larry Fann's daughter Ashleigh. She is a US Army Veternarian.
ashleigh_1

CPT Ashleigh Fann, DVM, deployed to Iraq Nov 2004 – Oct 2005. Bagdad photo with Oklahoma State University flag.
ashleigh_2 CPT Fann at Ft. Hood, TX, on deployment day Nov 2004.
Working dog CPT Fann, performing surgery on one of our K9 soldiers in Iraq 2005.  The handler had slammed the vehicle door on his tail, requiring amputation.  Major surgery for an adult dog.
ashleigh_4 CPT Fann, performing surgery on one of our K9 soldiers in Iraq 2005.  The handler had slammed the vehicle door on his tail, requiring amputation.  Major surgery for an adult dog.
ashleigh_5

After 7 years active duty Army, CPT Fann transitioned back to civilian life in 2010.  She continued to serve as an Army Reserve Veterinarian.  In 2011 she deployed to Afghanistan with Civil Affairs.  There she experienced her first CH-47 flights.  She had many UH-60 flights during her 11 months in Iraq.  She described the CH-47 as “…boring, can’t see anything!”  Civil Affair’s missions used two CH-47D aircraft.  The first CH-47 had the security forces for the village perimeter.  The second had Engineers, Doctor’s, Nurses, Veterinarian, etc. Because they could be ambushed on any mission, everyone had to be trained, equipped, and prepared to fight.
david_fann Larry Fann's younger brother David Fann. David served 21 years Army, RVN veteran, retired MSG. David is the father of Army SPL Kevin Fann, Iraq & Afghanistan veteran.
morgan_fann New soldier, Morgan Fann, 1943. WWII & Korean conflict veteran.