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Cache is not on UH-1 Iroquois
UH-1 Iroquois
The Bell Helicopter UH-1 Iroquois, commonly (or officially in the U.S. Marine Corps) known as the "Huey", is a multipurpose military helicopter, famous for its use in the Vietnam War.
The UH-1 was developed from 1955 US Army trials with the Bell Model 204. The initial designation of HU-1 (helicopter utility) led to its nickname, Huey.
The aircraft was first used by the military in 1959 and went into tri-service production in 1962 as the UH-1. The last were produced in 1976 with more than 16,000 made in total, of which about 7,000 saw use during the Vietnam War.
In Vietnam, 2,202 Huey pilots were killed and approximately 2,500 aircraft were lost, roughly half to combat and the rest to operational accidents.
Development
Earlier helicopters had been powered by piston engines. By the early 1950s, however, turbine engines were being used in many fixed-wing aircraft and aircraft designers began to consider using them for rotary-wing use. Turbines, though expensive to build, were long-lived, durable, and extremely light for their power output in comparison to piston-powered engines.
A Bell XH-40, a prototype of the UH-1
The first Bell helicopter to use a turbine engine was a modified Model 47 (designated the XH-13F), first flown in October 1954. In 1955, anxious to obtain a powerful medical evacuation helicopter, the U.S. Army awarded Bell a contract to develop the next generation turbine-powered helicopter, designated the XH-40 (Bell company designation was the Model 204). The first XH-40 flew on 22 October 1956. Two more prototypes were built in 1957, and six YH-40 prototypes were tested in 1958.
Bell believed the YH-40 was ideal for troop transport and cargo carrying as well as the medevac role, a view soon adopted by the Army, who found the pre-production aircraft so much better in service than previous piston-powered helicopters they soon ordered more of them.
The HU-1A (later redesignated the UH-1A) was the first turbine-equipped U.S. helicopter to go into production, and production models first entered service with the 101st Airborne Division at Fort Lewis, Washington, the 82nd Airborne Division and the 57th Medical Detachment. Although they were intended for evaluation only, the Army quickly pressed them into operational service and Hueys with the 57th Medical Detachment arrived in Vietnam in March 1962.
The helicopter was originally designated the HU-1A, which is where it received its nickname "Huey, a reference so popular that Bell started putting the Huey name on the anti-torque pedals. The official U.S. Army designation Iroquois (Army helicopters are traditionally given Native American names) was almost never used in practice.
Service in Vietnam
A rifle squad from the 1st Squadron, 9th Cavalry exiting from a UH-1D Iroquois.
The UH-1 has long become a symbol of US involvement in Southeast Asia in general and Vietnam in particular, and as a result of that conflict, has become one of the world's most recognized helicopters. In Vietnam primary missions included general support, air assault, cargo transport, aeromedical evacuation, search and rescue, electronic warfare, and later, ground attack. During the conflict, the craft was upgraded, notably to a larger version based on the Model 205. This version was initially designated the UH-1D and flew operationally from 1963.
Helicopters played an integral part in the U.S military's land and air operations. Here UH-1Ds airlift members of the 2nd Battalion, 14th Infantry Regiment from the Filhol Rubber Plantation area to a new staging area, in 1966.
During service in the Vietnam War, the UH-1 was used for various purposes and various terms for each task abounded. UH-1s tasked with a ground attack or armed escort role were outfitted with rocket launchers, grenade launchers, and machine guns. These gunship UH-1s were commonly referred to as Hogs if they carried rockets, and Cobras if they had guns. UH-1s tasked for troop transport were often called Slicks due to an absence of weapons pods. Slicks did have door gunners, but were generally employed in the troop transport and medevac roles. In the US Navy and USMC the gunships were referred to as Sharks and troop transport aircraft as Dolphins.
USS Garrett County (AGP-786) at anchor in the Mekong Delta, South Vietnam, date unknown. On her deck are two Navy Helicopter Attack (Light) Squadron Three (HAL-3) "Seawolf" UH-1B Huey gunships from the squadrons Det Four or Det Six assigned to the ship.
UH-1s also flew hunter-killer teams with observation helicopters, namely the Bell OH-58A Kiowa and the Hughes OH-6 Cayuse (Loach).
Towards the end of the conflict, the UH-1 was tested with TOW missiles, and two UH-1B helicopters equipped with the XM26 Armament Subsystem were deployed to help counter the 1972 Easter Invasion. USAF Lieutenant James P. Fleming piloted a UH-1F on a 26 November 1968 mission that earned him the Medal of Honor.
UH-1 troop transports were designated by Blue teams, hence the nickname for troops carried in by these Hueys as the Blues. The reconnaissance or observation teams were White teams. The attack ships were called Red teams. Over the duration of the conflict the tactics used by the military evolved and teams were mixed for more effective results. Purple teams with one or two Blue slicks dropping off the troops, while a Red attack team provided protection until the troops could defend themselves. Another highly effective team was the Pink Recon/Attack team, which offered the capability of carrying out assaults upon areas where the enemy was known to be present but could not be pinpointed.
During the course of the war, the UH-1 went through several upgrades. The UH-1A, B, and C models (short fuselage, Bell 204) and the UH-1D and H models (stretched-fuselage, Bell 205) each had improved performance and load-carrying capabilities. The UH-1B and C performed the gunship and some of the transport duties until 1967, when the new AH-1 Cobra arrived on the scene. The newer Cobra, a purpose-built attack helicopter based on the UH-1 was faster, sleeker, harder to hit, and could carry more ordinance. The increasing intensity and sophistication of NVA anti-aircraft defenses made continued use of gunships based on the UH-1 impractical, and after Vietnam the Cobra was adopted as the Army's main attack helicopter. Devotees of the UH-1 in the gunship role cite its ability to act as an impromptu dustoff if the need arose, as well as the superior observational capabilities of the larger Huey cockpit, which allowed return fire from door gunners to the rear and sides of the aircraft.
During the war 3,305 UH-1 were destroyed. In total, 5,086 helicopters were destroyed out of 11,827 documented in service.
USAF
In October 1965, the USAF 20th Special Operations Squadron was formed at Tan Son Nhut Air Base in South Vietnam, equipped initially with CH-3C helicopters. By June 1967 the UH-1F and UH-1P were also added to the unit's inventory, and by the end of the year the entire unit had shifted from Tan Son Nhut to Nakhon Phanom Royal Thai Air Force Base. On 1 August 1968, the unit was redesignated the 20th Special Operations Squadron. The 20th's UH-1s were known as the "Green Hornets", stemming from their color, a primarily green two-tone camouflage (green and tan) was carried, and radio call-sign "hornet". The main role of these helicopters were to insert and extract reconnaissance teams, provide cover for such operations, conduct psychological warfare, and other support roles for covert operations especially in Laos during the so-called Secret War.[citation needed]
Specifications (UH-1D)
General characteristics
Crew: 1-4
Capacity: 3,880 lb including 14 troops, or 6 stretchers, or equivalent cargo
Length: 57 ft 1 in with rotors (17.4 m)
Fuselage width: 8 ft 7 in (2.6 m)
Rotor diameter: 48 ft 0 in (14.6 m)
Height: 14 ft 5 in (4.4 m)
Empty weight: 5,215 lb (2,365 kg)
Loaded weight: 9,040 lb (4,100 kg)
Max takeoff weight: 9,500 lb (4,310 kg)
Powerplant: 1× Lycoming T53-L-11 turboshaft, 1,100 shp (820 kW)
Performance
Maximum speed: 135 mph (220 km/h)
Cruise speed: 125 mph (205 km/h)
Range: 315 mi (510 km)
Service ceiling: 19,390 ft (Dependent on environmental factors such as weight, outside temp., etc) (5,910 m)
Rate of climb: 1,755 ft/min (8.9 m/s)
Power/mass: 0.15 hp/lb (0.25 kW/kg)
Armament
Variable, but may include a combination of:
2x 7.62 mm M60 machine gun, or 2x 7.62 mm GAU-17/A machine gun
2x 7-round or 19-round 2.75 in (70 mm) rocket pods
2x 7.62 mm Rheinmetall MG3 (German Army and German Luftwaffe)
For information on US armament systems see:
Main article: U.S. Helicopter Armament Subsystems
some of the Lebanese Air Force's helicopters are equiped with Bombs and matra SNEB 68mm
Additional Hints
(Decrypt)
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