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572nd Engineer Platoon (Topographic Aviation)
Army Aviation Detachment (Army Map Service)
USAF Photo Mapping Service
USAF Air Rescue Service Flight operations for Ethiopia-United States Mapping Mission were conducted out of Lideta Airport, a retired Ethiopian Airlines facility shared by Mapping Mission, the Ethiopian Army, US Army MAAG and USAID, and built by the Italians during their occupation of Ethiopia during WW2. "The steel supports of the hangar roof still showed the effects
CLICK HERE for aerial view of Lideta Air Field taken in 2005 by Raimund Stehmann CLICK HERE for the November 2002 Google Earth satellite image of Lideta Field. ________________________________________________________________________
The registration numbers on the aircraft (helicopters, the U-1, U6's, and U8) were all bogus. The Cessnas were borrowed from USAID and had "legit" N-numbers. The bogus numbers replaced official US Army serial numbers (67-17300, etc.) due to local political sensitivities concerning the presence of US military aircraft within the Empire. That's also why our aircraft were painted red & white; why the vehicles were painted gray and had those neat license plates (which are now rather valuable collectors items); why at first Mission military personnel wore civvies; and why we were not supposed to perform "Drill & Ceremonies" (D&C). The latter rule was for a few days knowingly and cheerfully ignored by Flight Line, at which time we marched back and forth in the mornings rather than riding in the back of pickup's. The Ethiopians complained, so we stopped following a not-very-convincing stern warning from Command. UH-1B: There were 5 B model UH-1s over the life of the program. Four were lost to
UH-1H
________________________________________________________________________
H-23 Hiller: MM had 4 or 5 over the life of the program. In 1969 and 1970 they were shipped out--some possibly to Iran. The Hillers were best known for their excellent performance at high altitude. Their problem was that they were just too small, and were limited in range. They saw more useful service in Liberia.
________________________________________________________________________ H-43 Kaman Huskie
________________________________________________________________________ CH-3C
________________________________________________________________________ C-47 Skytrain. (Navy version RD-4) Dubbed the 'Dakota' by the British and Australians (Douglas Aircraft Company Transport Aircraft) but known world wide as the "Gooney Bird" Various C-47's serviced Mapping Mission at different times. Three C-47s were assigned to and operated by Mapping Mission. Among them were N91260 and N17203 N91260 was damaged B.E.R. (Beyond Economic Repair) when it hit a Warthog hole while landing in a remote area in the latter part of 1968. See picture on 'Damaged Aircraft' page.
For a downloadable or printable copy of Lee Rodawalt's account of the trip: Click Here To view the Web page dedicated to Mr. Rodawalt's account of the trip Click Here. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ In addition to the assigned C-47s, there were leases of Ethiopian Airline
________________________________________________________________________ U-6 Beaver DeHavilland Canada, MM had at least 3 U6 Beavers, one of which was damaged "Beyond Economic Repair". The wings were flown out by C-47 and the fuselage was trucked back to Liddetta Airport. The hulk was taken to the Addis city dump after which it completely disappeared in a matter of less than 3 hours. CLICK HERE for Photos. CLICK HERE for additional narrative by Dennis Richards-Detroit Field Party.
To visit Neil Aird's DHC-2 Beaver Web site CLICK HERE. Neil is trying to catalogue all DeHavilland Beavers ever made. N3060R can be found in his archives under the month of November. ________________________________________________________________________ U-1 Otter: Mapping Mission had one U-1 Otter which in August of 1969 was flown to Mannheim, Germany (a 55 hour flight) by CPT. Raines. There was a write-up about it in Army Aviation magazine two years later, as the flight was a distance record-maker for that type aircraft.
________________________________________________________________________ U-8 Seminole-Beechcraft Queen Air
________________________________________________________________________ U-9 Aerocommander (Leased)
________________________________________________________________________ Cessna 185
To contact the Web host or to leave feedback concerning this Web site, you can email leemiller@ethi-usmappingmission.com or submit your request here: CONTACT Lidetta, Liddetta, Lideta, Ladetta, Ladeta, Laddeda. Please disregard, this is for Search Engine information. | ||
Mapping Mission Flightline, Lideta Airport, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. (North West View)
Lideta Airport Terminal (South-West View circa 1963)
UH-1B
UH-1-B (N1904R)Attacked by ELF (Eritrean Liberation Front) troops north of Keren, Ethiopia in July of 1965. Pilot: CW3 Jack Kalmbach, Mission Classification Specialist: SPC-4 Ron Dolecki, and Habte Mesmer (Interpreter) were taken prisoner. Read the personal accounts of this event given by 
The UH-1H replaced the UH-1-B. The four aircraft all arrived together in 1969 on a C-133.
UH-1H gets washed. 
H-23E Hiller 
H-43 Kaman Huskie USAF Rescue Helicopter 
CH-3C. This helicopter had a five bladed main rotor, dual jet engines, and a drop-down ramp at the rear. It flew support for the radio stations, the C-130s doing the HIRAN picture shoots, and Mapping Mission field parties in 1965 and 1966. It was maintained by the USAF 1370th OMS. 
C-47 Skytrain; Dakota; or Gooneybird. This aircraft was used for resupply and troop transport, and occasionally as an R&R transport to Nairobi, Kenya and Asmara, Ethiopia (now Eritrea).
C-47 N91260 (Snoopy) Damaged Beyond Economic Repair (B.E.R.) upon landing. (It hit a Warthog hole while landing at a remote location in Ethiopia in the latter part of 1968). 
C-47 N17203 (actually an ex-Navy R4D)
C-47 N17203 was ferried from Dallas, Texas to Addis Ababa, Ethiopia by Jack Miller, Lee Rodawalt and Gerry Johns (Dec. 1968-Jan. 1969). Pictured L-R: Lee, Jack, and Gerry. (Click Picture for Larger View) 
Ethiopian Airlines DC-3
U6-Beaver N3060R was one of the Beavers flown in the Sudan by Mr. Tim Wolfe, and later flown to Addis Ababa in June 1966. (Single Pratt & Whitney 450 hp R985 Wasp Junior SB-3 reciprocating radial engine).
U-1A Otter 76114. To read the history of Otter 76114 compiled by Mr. Karl Hayes in his book "DHC-3 Otter-A History" 
The U-8 served a multi-purpose role in Ethiopia but mostly as a Command Transport and Field Party light supply and payrole trips.
U-9 Aerocommander. Originally registered in Aden and leased from "Tony" Besse an export-importer in Djibouti. After the completion of the Mapping Mission it was purchased by Mr. Clyde Adams of Axum Air. 
Two Cessna 185's were transferred from the Sudan to Addis Ababa.
