Granby High School Alumni
Norfolk, Virginia (VA)
Alumni Stories
Russell Theisen
Class of 1955
Russ Theisen helped develop the AH-64 Apache Helicopter for the Army
AH-64 Apache Helicopter
By Russell E. Theisen CM PE IEEE Life Senior Member
In the 1970s the US Army held a completion for The [AAH] Advanced Attack Helicopter to replace the Cobra Helicopter.
Bell Helicopter [YAH-63] and Hughes Aircraft [YAH-64] were selected for a completive Fly Off to see which would win the Engineering Development contract. The [Y] designated experimental.
The AAH is a twin-engine helicopter designed as a manned-aerial weapons system. The Army envisions it will be capable of defeating a wide range of targets and of performing its mission at night and under adverse weather conditions. The AAH will also be an integral element of ground units and will contribute mobile and effective firepower to the anti-armor capability of the Army in the field. It 1s now in the validation phase and 1s undergoing engineering development.
Martin Marietta Orlando Aerospace was chosen by Hughes Helicopter to provide the Electro Optics package for their YAH-64 development.
Prototype helicopters will be tested and evaluated during a competitive fly off from December 1975 through March 1976.
Russ Theisen was part of the Martin Marietta Development team and helped develop the Electro Optics portion of the Development.
During the 8 year development Congress played a typical game every year, of killing the budget of any program that they thought the Military / Army wanted, in order to force the Military to offer up any developing contracts as sacrificial lambs, that the Army thought was less important than the one that they wanted to save. That way Congress would save the cost by forcing the Military to cut the budget of other contracts thus saving the money of each cut program. The budget was cut by Congress each year that Russ Theisen worked on the AH-64 Development.
[pictures in photo section since pictures can not be presented here]
Russ Theisen was trying to show Martin Management why each of the tasks could not be done at the same time, since each step would develop part of the input for the next step.
[pictures in photo section since pictures can not be presented here]
Part of the Army’s completion was to see if the Helicopter could fly the Atlantic Ocean and not have to be transported by air or sea.
This test was to fly from a base in America to UK without having to be refueled on the way.
[pictures in photo section since pictures can not be presented here]
During this over the Ocean flight the British Coast guard was trying to find several sailors that had fallen off of their sinking ship during rough weather.
I understand that, the Apache pilots heard the distress call over the Guard channel and offered to help locate the sailors. They used the [TADS/PNVS] Target Acquisition Designation System and Pilots Night Vision Sensor to spot the sailors in the rough seas.
Of course they could not tell the UK Coast Guard how they were able to direct the UK Coast Guard to where the sailors were located, since the Helicopter was still classified and not known to exist. The Apache Helicopter pilots used the thermal sensors developed by Martin Marietta, to find the body heat of the sailors in the water and direct the ships trying to find them to their location. When the Coast Guard wanted to know how they were located they were told that “we were just lucky to spot them”.
I understand that this event helped the YAH-64 win the competition. And win the Development Contract.
[pictures in photo section since pictures can not be presented here]
Later we were asked to develop the Apache Longbow AH-64-D that used Radar to locate the targets as well as the [IR] Infrared of the TADS/PNVS.
Later we were asked to provide an optical sight to aim the 30 mm Chain gun, so that the pilot only had to look at the target and the gun would automatically track the target where the pilot was looking.
[pictures in photo section since pictures can not be presented here]
Note the 30 mm chain gun under the helicopter.
[pictures in photo section since pictures can not be presented here]
This AH-64-D Apache Longbow is one of the most feared helicopters in the world.
[pictures in photo section since pictures can not be presented here] AH-64-D Apache Longbow Attack elicopter
https://youtu.be/N73-6xVSUrA
=======================
AH-64 Apache Helicopter
By Russell E. Theisen CM PE IEEE Life Senior Member
In the 1970s the US Army held a completion for The [AAH] Advanced Attack Helicopter to replace the Cobra Helicopter.
Bell Helicopter [YAH-63] and Hughes Aircraft [YAH-64] were selected for a completive Fly Off to see which would win the Engineering Development contract. The [Y] designated experimental.
The AAH is a twin-engine helicopter designed as a manned-aerial weapons system. The Army envisions it will be capable of defeating a wide range of targets and of performing its mission at night and under adverse weather conditions. The AAH will also be an integral element of ground units and will contribute mobile and effective firepower to the anti-armor capability of the Army in the field. It 1s now in the validation phase and 1s undergoing engineering development.
Martin Marietta Orlando Aerospace was chosen by Hughes Helicopter to provide the Electro Optics package for their YAH-64 development.
Prototype helicopters will be tested and evaluated during a competitive fly off from December 1975 through March 1976.
Russ Theisen was part of the Martin Marietta Development team and helped develop the Electro Optics portion of the Development.
During the 8 year development Congress played a typical game every year, of killing the budget of any program that they thought the Military / Army wanted, in order to force the Military to offer up any developing contracts as sacrificial lambs, that the Army thought was less important than the one that they wanted to save. That way Congress would save the cost by forcing the Military to cut the budget of other contracts thus saving the money of each cut program. The budget was cut by Congress each year that Russ Theisen worked on the AH-64 Development.
[pictures in photo section since pictures can not be presented here]
Russ Theisen was trying to show Martin Management why each of the tasks could not be done at the same time, since each step would develop part of the input for the next step.
[pictures in photo section since pictures can not be presented here]
Part of the Army’s completion was to see if the Helicopter could fly the Atlantic Ocean and not have to be transported by air or sea.
This test was to fly from a base in America to UK without having to be refueled on the way.
[pictures in photo section since pictures can not be presented here]
During this over the Ocean flight the British Coast guard was trying to find several sailors that had fallen off of their sinking ship during rough weather.
I understand that, the Apache pilots heard the distress call over the Guard channel and offered to help locate the sailors. They used the [TADS/PNVS] Target Acquisition Designation System and Pilots Night Vision Sensor to spot the sailors in the rough seas.
Of course they could not tell the UK Coast Guard how they were able to direct the UK Coast Guard to where the sailors were located, since the Helicopter was still classified and not known to exist. The Apache Helicopter pilots used the thermal sensors developed by Martin Marietta, to find the body heat of the sailors in the water and direct the ships trying to find them to their location. When the Coast Guard wanted to know how they were located they were told that “we were just lucky to spot them”.
I understand that this event helped the YAH-64 win the competition. And win the Development Contract.
[pictures in photo section since pictures can not be presented here]
Later we were asked to develop the Apache Longbow AH-64-D that used Radar to locate the targets as well as the [IR] Infrared of the TADS/PNVS.
Later we were asked to provide an optical sight to aim the 30 mm Chain gun, so that the pilot only had to look at the target and the gun would automatically track the target where the pilot was looking.
[pictures in photo section since pictures can not be presented here]
Note the 30 mm chain gun under the helicopter.
[pictures in photo section since pictures can not be presented here]
This AH-64-D Apache Longbow is one of the most feared helicopters in the world.
[pictures in photo section since pictures can not be presented here] AH-64-D Apache Longbow Attack elicopter
https://youtu.be/N73-6xVSUrA
=======================
Recent Members
| Diana Lillard | 1976 |
| Emily Hartigan | 1964 |
| Hasieh Blackwood | 2020 |
| Herbert Herbert Davis | 1969 |
| Jason Crump | 1999 |
| Marc Pollack Marc Pollack | 1966 |
| Paul Long | 2000 |
| Tyler Lockwood | 2015 |
Military Alumni
Honoring Our Heroes
This area is dedicated to our alumni that have served or are serving in our armed forces!
Lost Class Rings
Have you lost your Granby High School class ring? Have you found someone's class ring? Visit our Comets lost class ring page to search for your class ring or post information about a found ring.
Do you have a fun holiday story or a great family tradition? Share them with our fellow Granby High School alumni! Submit your own stories, achievements and photos in our Alumni Stories section. Read other classmate’s stories and see what they have been up to over the years.
Happy Holidays!
Happy Holidays!