Night Time Inverted O-2

submitted by: Alva Leon Matheson

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I was stationed at Hon Quan flying the O-1E. One day the phone rang and I was given the opportunity of a week of R&R at Bien Hoa. I would get to sleep in an air-conditioned hooch, eat steaks at the O’Club, and have hot water in the shower. All I had to do while I was there was fly the right seat of an O-2 on night rocket watch. Too good a deal to pass up.
So there I was a few nights later, going round and round in the dark, looking out the window for the flash of a rocket launcher, and amusing myself with a Starlight Scope. (I had great expectations for this gadget, but it was no more effective than a pair of good 7x50 night glasses.)
The cockpit conversation eventually turned to airplanes and the relative performance of same. “You can’t really horse this thing around like an O-1, can you,” I asked. In reply, the left-seater proceeded to demonstrate a 60 degree turn to the left. The O-2 responded by snapping inverted and entering a spin! My seat broke and I assumed the “dead bug position” up against the radio rack. The left-seater proved to be as good at spin recovery as spin entry, and got us back to level flight without jettisoning stores.
He then said to me, “You’re really cool, most guys would have been grabbing for the controls.”
“I can’t reach them from here,” I replied.