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full-sized picture
OV1D with SLAR boom on runway
apron.
The flight strip and OH 58 at
Reiterswiesen, Bad Kissingen.
Aircraft
preps for a border flight
Cobra aircraft, Eaglehorse sector,
low pass. |
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Air Assets Along the Eaglehorse Border
Detached from Air Troop, 4/11 ACR in Fulda, was one OH 58 scout
helicopter, pilot, crew chief and mechanic. This aircraft was
maintained at the flight strip in the Reiterswiesen training area,
about five kilometers from Daley Barracks. As weather and
maintenance permitted, the aircraft with an observer made daily
flights of the complete squadron sector. The observer varied,
Border NCO, Border Officer and S2 all had opportunities. Standard
spot report procedures were followed. The pilots took great pride in
their ability to follow the convoluted path of the border at high
speed and low altitude.
The Regimental Border NCO flew our sector on occasion from Fulda and
sent spot reports.
Also seen in the Eaglehorse area were Cobra aircraft on training
missions from Air Troop. Normally they were back from the trace and
seldom reported East German activity.
Several times each week through the late 1980's, an Army fixed wing
OV-1D from airfields in Hanau or Stuttgart flew the border trace.
The aircraft carried a SLAR [side looking area radar] boom which
among other capabilities, could detect magnetic changes along the
scanned path. Massed Soviet armor near the border but otherwise
camouflaged, for example, could be detected by the magnetic
signature. The boom also contained radio intercept and location
sensors. In the event of a crisis, the frequency of flights could
surge to several missions per day.
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