Ret. CW5 Dick Hanusa, an experienced Army helicopter pilot, is the next speaker in EAA’s Speaker Series. Dick will share his experiences from two tours in Vietnam flying the UH-1, OH-6, and more in his presentation at the EAA Aviation Museum on Thursday, May 22, at 7 p.m.
Growing up in Oshkosh, Dick, EAA Lifetime 295217, never pictured aviation being a part of his life (this was before EAA’s move to town, of course), nor did he have any idea what he wanted to do after graduating high school. Though after he and his friend received a letter from the U.S. Army directing them to report for a draft physical, he found something that piqued his interest. “We went down to the recruiter, and while [my friend] was talking to the recruiter I was looking at a bunch of pamphlets describing different jobs, and they had one with a helicopter on it. I picked it up, and I looked at it, and it looked like it would be fun and interesting. And that’s how I got into flying,” he said.
Dick graduated from flight training in December 1968 from Fort Rucker (now Fort Novosel) in Alabama. During his first tour in Vietnam from 1968-69, his roles varied day by day, flying both the UH-1 and OH-6 helicopters. “I flew UH-1 helicopters, the Huey. We normally flew single-ship missions carrying brigade or battalion commander, and we’d take them out to units,” he said. “And then when the units needed assistance, if they were in a firefight or needed assistance with medevac or they needed ammo or food or mail, we would transport that, and personnel, as needed in and out.”
“And then with the [OH-6] scout helicopter, I flew liaison, carrying people around for various logistical things. And as a scout pilot, we had mini guns and a door gunner, they’d give us an area to scout that the ground troops thought there were somebody in the area. We’d go fly at treetop level and hover around and see if anything on the ground that looked like enemy activity. And if we could see tunnel openings or things like that, we’d mark ‘em. Basically collecting intelligence.”
To this day, the OH-6 remains Dick’s favorite to fly. “The Loach, the OH-6, is like flying a sports car. It was very quick, very responsive, and just fun. It’s probably still my favorite helicopter ever to fly because it was just so much fun,” he said.
His second tour from 1972-73 took him out of helicopters and into fixed-wing aircraft, with a focus on electronic surveillance and reconnaissance aircraft, which he will also dive into during his presentation.
Dick’s Army career beyond Vietnam involved being a flight instructor, and after leaving active duty for the reserves, he worked for the Department of Defense before transferring to the FAA as an aviation safety inspector, which he did for nearly 20 years.
After retiring from the FAA in 2003, Dick came back to Oshkosh and found a role with EAA, which he currently serves in as the director of ground operations during AirVenture and safety program manager for aircraft operations for EAA. He also owns his own aviation consulting business, but the most fulfilling role he has currently is being a designated pilot examiner for the FAA. “That’s a lot of fun. It’s just very enjoyable and very gratifying to see people after they work so hard to get their pilot certificate, finally achieving what they’ve been working on,” he said. “I’ve been doing that for over 20 years; I’ve seen people throughout their careers. A lot of them move on to the airlines or corporate. It’s very satisfying.”
Dick hopes that by sharing his story, perhaps someone else will find their path like he did his. “My hope is for young people to get an understanding of what kind of opportunities are out there for them. There are so many different things that people can do out there,” he said. “At least for myself, when I went into the Army, they taught me this great skill of how to fly. I’ve got a good friend, a couple of friends I went to high school with, who had different roles over there. … And their experience was totally different than my experience as a helicopter pilot.”
“And also sharing stories about experiences like Vietnam give people a little bit of an understanding about what military life is like. I think sharing with people, it makes them understand a little bit more about what other people do in their lives, but especially for young people,” he said. “I’ve been really fortunate to travel all around the world and visit basically almost every continent and meet people from all different areas. Living in Europe for three years and travelling to Asia and China and Japan and Korea, and Australia, and several South American countries, and in Africa. … I’ve learned so much by being able to do that. Growing up here in Oshkosh, I never had any idea that I’d have the opportunities to travel all over the world. It’s been great.”
Thursday’s presentation is free for EAA members and youths, and just $5 for nonmembers.
If you’re unable to attend, all Speaker Series presentations are recorded and will be available to members to watch here at a later date.
Photos Courtesy of Dick Hanusa.