Choppers & Wires Don't Mix

Bob R, I have a simular story about wires & the chopper. While flying down the railroad tracks in the H-19 at Misawa Japan in 1958 or 59 we hit a telephone line between two hills. There were two pilots on the chopper, so I was down in the box & saw the wire just before we hit it. I keyed the mic but didn't even get the word out when it hit the nose & slid up to the windshield wiper & broke. We went back to the base to check for damage. The only thing we had was black marks from the covering on the wire all over the nose of the chopper. We had some A/2C from supply or something like that flying with us just to get a chopper ride, I took him aside & said you didn't see anything. The pilots went back to the office to talk it over. I went to the BX & bought two spray cans of silver paint & painted over all the black marks, you couldn't tell where they were. One of the pilots ( someone that we both know ) came out to the chopper after I had finished painting & ask me if there was any way that I could fix it so no one would know about it. I said take a look at the nose & he couldn't believe that I had fixed it that well & that fast. He said come to the office with me, he showed the other pilot my silver fingers & said it was already taken care of. I don't know if anyone ever new about it or not but nobody ever mentioned it. We were very lucky that the wire broke & didn't get into the rotor blades.
(Bill Crawford)