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A98-043 at rest after its last sortie. The damaged Cessna was later sold for scrap. (Geoff Moller)
Vietnam Diary
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Of Shush Missions, Voice Sorties and Pucker Factors
Some of the less publicised roles of the Army’s 161 Reconnaissance Flight were Signals Intelligence gathering and Psychological Warfare. Between 1966 and 1972 it’s estimated that 161 flew over six thousand hours on these missions.
Phuc Tuy Province, August 24, 1968 – The Cessna 180, A98-043 was pat rolling at five thousand feet, about thirty clicks north of the Task Force base. The sun had slipped to the horizon as the pilot glanced at his fuel gauges.
Callsign Possum 13 decided they’d had enough-this was his fourth sortie for the day and they’d been carving a groove in the sky for almost three hours. He thumbed the intercom button on the control yoke and advised the crewman crouched over the console in the rear cabin that they were returning. Possum 13 then banked south and began descending towards Nui Dat and a cold beer. In a few minutes the day was going to end in a way he’d never anticipated.
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