Arkansas Canoe Club Forums

Yesterday, half a dozen of us made a Caddo trip from The Narrows (at Caddo Gap) to Glenwood, it was just a great trip, with good water, weather, and friends.
We were making final adjustments with gear on the gravel bar about 300 yards up from the Hwy 240 bridge there, when two Army or Nat. Guard Blackhawks came around the mountain just upstream of us and flew downriver and right overhead. We all waved as they slowly cruised by and disappeared downstream. That was pretty exciting in itself, but just as we pushed off and headed downstream, here they came again from the previous direction, only now it was clear they were slowing and decending on final approach. Now for those not as familiar with this location, Caddo Gap is a 'tight' place, this narrow gorge through the mountains is where the river, a railroad, a highway, and a major east-west powerline all pass through in a very narrow space. As we are floating slowly downstream watching this scene, I am expecting the two helicopters to start drifting off to one side or the other for a pasture landing further away, but no, they kept their trail formation and continued to decend... They both landed in perfect unison, one on a gravel bar a little bigger than my pick-up and four inches above the river level, and within a hundred feet of the Hwy 240 bridge across the Caddo. The other chopper landed landed just on the downstream side of the 240 bridge (and powerline) in a similar but even more wooly spot .Sure wished I'd shot a picture instead of sitting there with my mouth open... After about a minute, they both lifted straight up seventy-five feet, nosed forward and headed off downstream. I have been around a lot of helicopter operations while living at Ft. Rucker, and later when I was in the Army, but this was a pretty spectacular landing in my book, it was executed very well, but it sure took some nerve in my estimation.
I've seen a lot of stuff on my many Caddo trips, been buzzed by fighter jets many times, but this was the most exciting!

Best Regards
Jim Moose

Pretty cool stuff. Wish I could have seen that.

had something similair on the Buffalo when a helicopter came over the ridge, hovered just above the water turned sideways with the crew just staring at us then they were gone

I live on a training route for C130's in Van Buren county. March 27th about 7pm a couple of them went just above the tree tops in my yard. A couple minutes later a Blackhawk went by, slightly east of my farm. It was odd for the helicopter to be here. About an hour later, just after dark, the power went off. Most of the county was without power for a couple of hours. A Blackhawk had clipped a power line just north of Clinton. I'm still wondering if it was the same one.
Jan

On a funny note. 20 some years ago when I moved to the small town of England from Los Angeles, one night a whole bevy of Blackhawks came over (I did not know about the airbase). I kept waiting for the mushroom cloud, but nothing happened!