Apollo Program

How about Launch Site Recovery at Cape Canaveral during the Apollo Program.

I was involved in that program when I was with the 48th ARRS at Eglin AFB in Florida. We staged out of Patrick AFB andwould orbit just outside the launch area just in case there was a screwup. We were supposed to recover the Astronauts in the event they had to jettison the capsule for some reason or the other. We never had to recover anybody but we were there in case.

There is an interesting story about this mission. I wasn't on this one but during the initial testing to see if the HH-53B could actually pick up the capsule out of the water they used a mockup of the Appollo Capsule made out of boiler plates.

Well when they dropped it from the C-130 it must have gotten damaged when it hit the water and started taking on seawater. Before the helicopter could get over the capsule, drop the PJ and attach the sling it really took on a lot of water.

Subsequently when they tried to pick up the Capsule it was too heavy and they almost overtemped both engines as well as coning the main rotor blades at a very steep up-angle. They finally dragged it to the beach where the mission was aborted.

The helicopter had to have both engines, rotor blades and main gearbox changed. To the best of my knowledge, we never tried that again.
(J.D. Adams)