USAF HH-53 Pave Low / Jolly Green / Limited Night Recovery System / Night Rescue Patch
This patch was one of those that was made strictly for Party Suits. Only LNRS System guys wore them and not many people had them in their party suits since they were quite scarce. This patch is quite rare and seen in NKP and McClellan during the Vietnam War. There's a possibility that this is a second edition from that era; hard to say... Circa 1971/78'. VERY RARE!
VN 1976 (L to R) Baylor Haines, Peggy Gilbert, Joe Gilbert, Gary Weikel, Bob Bounds and Bob Dube.
I'm not sure the difference between the LNRS and the Pave Spot and LORAN but I was told it was a challenging system to maintain. I can't give a definitive answer on the differences on these systems but I'm thinking that LORAN is over water navigation. The LNRS had FLIR, Fwd looking Infrared, Low-Level Light TV, TV Monitors on Pilot and Co-Pilot instrument panels, Automatic Approach and hover coupler integrated with the Airspeed indicators and Radar Altimeter. There was a Joy Stick whereas the FE can position the helicopter over the survivor's position while operating the hoist. It also had a DVD (Direct Viewing Device) like a Starlight scope for the hoist operator. That's the main features as I know.
In 1968, eight HH-53 B/Cs received the first of several modifications, called Limited Night Recovery System (LNRS), which incorporated a low light TV and a hover coupler. The B-model was an A-model airframe which Sikorsky separated into three sections to add the supports (struts) for the auxiliary fuel tanks. The tanks were needed to increase the range of the HH-53’s for CSAR duties in Vietnam. The C-model airframes already incorporated support for the aux tanks. As the Jolly Greens were conducting rescue missions in theater, the catalyst for the development of Special Operations Helicopters occurred to Air Force aircrews in Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam.
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