174th Assault
Helicopter Company
DOLPHINS & SHARKS


UH-1C Shark #170 "Ace of Spades" on the Cover of the 1996 Vietnam Helicopter Pilots Association (VHPA) Directory.

Fred Thompson (Shark 7) took the front cover photo of the 1996 VHPA directory in December 1970. This photo was taken as the gunship was southbound from Quang Ngai, near the coast of the South China Sea, en route to Duc Pho. This aircraft was shot down on 3 March 1971 near Landing Zone A Luoi in Laos during Lam Son 719. See the black-and-white photo of this aircraft after the shoot-down, taken by a North Vietnamese photographer, on the 1971 photos page. This aircraft was said to have been put on a flatbed truck and transported to a museum near Hanoi.