Mike Durant

We can't use the standard grip from a Blackhawk because it doesn't have enough buttons on it.

So we're hand-drawing that.

And what we're going to use as a sight.

Now, the Little Bird guys were still using grease pencils.

I mean, basically, you would put your seat in a certain spot in the aircraft, and then you would count the number of screws over and the number of screws down, and you'd put a pipper right there, and that's your aim point.

Yes.

And we did the same thing.

And the difference with us is Cliff was the only guy who had gotten formal attack helicopter training.

The rest of us, we'll just learn how to fly.

I mean, I never went to a single formal training course on how to fly an attack helicopter.

And within a year, I'm going to be cut loose flying for these units, danger close, live fire, and then ultimately in combat.

And again, I think about the timing and how fortunate I was to be at that place at that time and be a part of all that.

I mean, it just doesn't happen to be able to do that sort of thing.

So anyway, we're starting to develop this.

And early on, we sort of stuck to the basics.

Mini guns fixed forward, which they'd always been capable of doing that.

When they first put the mini guns on there, they thought, well, in case we ever need to use them this way, let's come up with a way that we can fix them forward with some pins, and then the pilots can shoot with diving fire.

So that was already there.

but it had not really been done much.

And Cliff then sort of gave it a new life.