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From: QT2PCll avionics maintenance
Date: 3/7/2006
Time: 3:58:50 PM
Remote Name: 24.4.34.71
I was sent to Vietnam towards the end of the Tet Offensive in '68, along with hundreds of other Avionics, Chopper and other techs under 'Project Fix.' I wound up in Soc Trang, assigned to the 3 Signal Detachments that provided avionics services for the airfield aircraft (121st Tigers and Vikings) and 336th Warriors and thunderbirds) AHC's, and the 221st (?) Bird-dogs ("Shotgun") and the Dustoff unit. Soon after arriving in mid-February, I was assigned to do the avionics maintenance, etc., for the Batplanes. They were the 2 gliders that had been rigged with muffled motors to fly "low and slow" using Starlight scopes to gather recon intel at night. One of the 2 the 2 Lockheed techs, Dale Stith, has since started and/or amplified several websites (worth a visit!) about the QT2PCII and related aircraft of that era, the QT-Star, QT2 and the YO-3A at "QT2PC" and "Quiet Aircraft Association"...just 'Google' those 2 names and you'll find the websites. He has tons of pictures of aircraft, flight and maintenance personnel and their stories. I had the sad duty of attending the funeral a few weeks ago of the other Lockheed tech, Wilbur Curtis, in Los Altos, California. We're all getting older and going to that Big Hangar In The Sky, so it's important to keep this stuff alive for those who come after us, so that they will know their roots. It's also good to visit those websites and to add any names, nicknames or lore about who did what and when. The ancient Greeks said that "if men talk about you after you die, you are immortal." I'll drink to that! ---Pat Dwyer, Army Spec4, Soc Trang '68-69.