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Never flew one, but did have some experience with one. A Dust Off helicopter landed in a large clearing on a very dark night in 1965, and hit a large tree in the center of the LZ. We went out in the morning to escort a 
CH37 on a recovery mission. On approach, he put his blades into the same tree and now we had to remain there until new blades were installed and the 37 could lift out the first busted up Huey. Fortunately, the bad guys were gone during this little fiasco. One other time I watched a 37 attempting to lift an artillery piece on a

very hot day. Don't know if he lost an engine, but it settled on the load which punched a big hole in the belly and ruined that pilots day. I think the first Chinooks arrived shortly after those events, which was probably a very good thing.

Another Old Guy