AOPA Pilot Magazine - March 2014 - 45

AN AMMO BOX (right) feeds
an M60 machine gun, and
smoke grenades are hung
for convenience on the
aft cabin bulkhead. Large
sliding cabin doors (below)
give the Huey an open-air
feeling.

"Charlie" heard it, too, and knew that to
be discovered by the crew of a Huey gunship
would put them in a world of hurt. Such an
enemy ground unit often retreated, wisely
abandoning its prey.
More than any other aircraft, the
beloved Huey symbolizes the Vietnam War
and the American heroes who served and
sacrificed there. The iconic helicopter was
developed specifically for the United States
military and first flew on October 20, 1956.
The Army's first turbine-powered helicopter, it was originally designated as the
HU-1 Iroquois, the pronunciation of which
is the origin of the Huey epithet. The aircraft was redesignated as the UH-1 in 1962,
but the familiar nickname stuck. "Huey"
became so popular and immortal that Bell
began casting the name on the anti-torque
pedals. Its official name, Iroquois, is rarely
used except when referring to a nation of
Native Americans.
The Huey was responsible for a new
breed of U.S. military pilot, the warrant
officer, who could go directly into flight
training from high school without having
to undergo the rigors of becoming a commissioned officer.
UNSIGHTLY WRECK

The aircraft on these pages, N832M, was
built in 1963 and served in Vietnam with
the 101st Airborne and 1st Cavalry divisions between 1964 and 1966. Following
military discharge, it returned stateside,
eventually flew for the Lee County (Florida)
Mosquito Abatement Program, and became
an unsightly wreck. It was purchased by the
Wings and Rotors Air Museum in 2001 for
only $10,000. It then had a painstaking and
thorough two-year restoration.

During the restoration, graffiti was discovered on the inside surfaces of the tail
boom. This was left undisturbed as a tribute
to Army maintenance personnel who had
worked on the aircraft in Vietnam. Although
1,010 UH-1Bs have been built, this likely is
the only gunship that is still airworthy. It is
used primarily for airshows, static display,
parades, veterans' events, and fly-bys.
During a departure from Prescott,
Arizona, in 2008, the Huey's turboshaft
engine produced three severe compressor
stalls-resulting in so much structural damage that the aircraft had to be rebuilt. This
time, however, it was restored as an attack
helicopter similar to those used by the U.S.
Navy Seawolves to control the Mekong
Delta and the Rung Sat Special Zone (a shipping channel leading to Saigon). The inside
of the avionics access hatch on the nose
bears signatures of surviving Seawolves, and
a plaque on the aft-cabin bulkhead lists and
honors the 44 Seawolves who died in combat while flying Huey gunships in Vietnam.
As a gunship, the Huey normally had a
crew of four, two pilots and two gunners.
Each pilot has his own entry door, and the
cabin has two large doors that slide aft, making the aircraft suitable for a wide variety of
utility roles. The gunship was used primarily to clear landing zones for troop-carrying
helicopters and to provide close-air support
for ground units. It also was used for troop
transport, medevac, emergency resupply,
and armed attack. The Huey was the Jeep
of the Vietnam War.
The gunship carried effective and
concentrated firepower. The deactivated
armament aboard this Huey is typical
and includes a traversable M134 Minigun
with six rotating barrels that could fire
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AOPA Pilot Magazine - March 2014

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