Our last Huey just left

Ah, life is a double sided coin sometimes... Part of me says the Army may rue the day they let the UH-1 go. The practical side of me says that you can only rebuild them so many times, the fleet's old, time to move on.

Thank you Bell..for services rendered!

I just visited my old gunner from Nam and he is the Maint. NCO in the 812th Med Co (AA) Louisiane National Guard out of Pineville, LA.  They still have 4 Hueys but will probaly lose them by the Spring of 2009.  He plans to retire with them.  Hates the Black Hawks.  When you have cut your teeth on a Huey, nothing quite tastes the same.  World has gone too technical!  Take me back to the "60's"!   I did get to see their brand new UH-72 Lakota's, they have 4 but are not configured to the Medevac role yet.  They also don't have AC and the pilots hate the "hot box"!  The Commanding General perfers to fly in the Black Hawks! 

Never thought I'd live to be an old fart!

Must have been the last Army Huey to go. The Marine Huey's are still stationed at NAS until 2012.

alderfek wrote:

Must have been the last Army Huey to go. The Marine Huey's are still stationed at NAS until 2012.

Not the last Army Huey, there are a few still scattered around in the Guard.  As for the Marines at NAS, they are likely moving to Robbins AFB before that.  We are supposed to move into that hangar before then.

There are a bunch of Hueys still whopping around the skies here at Rucker.

Charlie

There was a MA Guard Huey overhead about a month ago... Beautiful machine on a beautiful summer's day but I couldn't help the feeling that it may have been on it's last flight. I was actually surprised that the UH-1 was still in service up here as I had though that the MA Guard had converted to the UH-60 quite some time ago.

I too will miss the the Huey. As a former 11Bush, I've had many flights and been pelted by sand and dirt many times bringing them into an LZ. Thanks for the lifts.

that must be the ones that head into BTR and fly over our hanger every now and then.

Wait, Ray hasnt weighed in on this???? Ray where ya at man??????

Your not old Mel, just good!

See you in a couple of weeks!

David

I get to see two of these bad boys fly almot every day. Nothing perks my ears up quite like them when I hear em coming.

I'm over near Ft Meade, Maryland.  I see Hueys fly over about twice a month.  I've taken a lot of rides in Hueys.  I used to sit with my legs dangling over the sides.  Put some Credence Clearwater Revival on and I'd feel like I'm in a Vietnam War movie.

-Jesse

Not sure why I never replied to this thread initially.  They Huey is the most significant rotorcraft in the history of Army aviatiion in my humble opinion.  She brought my dad back from many missions in Vietnam and I, for one, will never be satisfied with the ugly little UH-72.  I'm not an aviator though so what do I know.

  I have fond memories or seeing and hearing Hueys fly over my house in Birmingham.  My dad would hear em from miles away and say "here comes a Huey"  I really miss those days.  I had the honor of meeting the last student pilot at Rucker being trained to fly the Flat Iron Hueys.  They will supposedly be replaced by UH-72's by the end of the year.  I still hope that it doesn't happen that soon.   I just don't want to see the old girl go.  She means a lot to me and I have never even flown in one (YET)!

    Ray

don't know if it be true but.....

i have heard over the yrs  that blackhawk had some mysterious crashes here and there and the old hueys were more reliable (read safer)

Well, in a way the Corps will be flying them past 2016:

http://defense-update.com/products/u/uh-1y.html

I'm sure it won't have that familar "whoomp, whoomp, whoomp" sound.

-Jesse

Edit: I can faintly hear the old Huey in this video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JBeQnCpwU7s&feature=related

DURR wrote:

don't know if it be true but..... i have heard over the yrs  that blackhawk had some mysterious crashes here and there and the old hueys were more reliable (read safer)

Not to bad mouth the Huey but I have heard (not verified) that the UH-1 killed more people in its development than any other Army aircraft.  That is somewhat of a testament of the technology that it used at the time though.

We got past the crash hawk, lawn dart era years ago.  Now we just have to chase hydraulic leaks.

BTW, we finally got #8 back from loan today.  Went to 25th ID then to Nevada Guard.  Crashed once and a major blade strike (sudden stoppage). She will now likely be known as Miss Piggy.  QC is looking foreward to the historicals

  You mean while it was being developed or during it's years of service?  I'm not aware of very many fatalities involved in the initial development phase of the Huey.  Just looking for a clarification.

    Ray

I think that this may actually refer to the Huey's entrance into service.  like I said before, this is unverified.  It is kind of difficult to gather info on.  Such a claim is not surprising to me though when you compare the UH-1 to those helicopters that came before it.  The Huey represented a huge leap in technology in its day.

I think your unverified numbers do not take into consideration the sheer numbers of Hueys being procured in a very short number. The Huey was developed before the actual build up of Vietnam but was thrusted into a huge production cycle during the build up years that the Blackhawk production run never even came close to. Taking into account this difference alone would skew the statistics I think you are trying to state. I do not think the Huey had near the castastrophic problems the Army version Blackhawk had. I think the numbers you may be looking at are only high because of the sheer numbers of Hueys produced and the huge numbers of pilots flying them at the time. If the sampling was equalized to the blackhawk fleet numbers and pilots flying them, I would be willing to bet the Huey accidents would be much lower than the Blackhawk numbers. Plus your comparing twin engines to single engines which is not fair because in a single engine failure all aircraft end up in an autoration to the ground. Most single engine failures in a twin engine aircraft are able to land with power. So in many cases of comparison it lis ike comparing apples and oranges.

Charlie

What Charlie said!  I would bet money that if Blackhawks and Apaches were required to turn and burn like the Hueys in Vietnam, they'd all be grounded in a week!  Of course that's just another unvarified statistic.  What is not statistics is that a Huey brought dad home from every mission, including once with five AK47 holes in the rotors, so I can't see how the Huey can be seen as anything except the most sucessful rotary wing aircraft ever to enter military service.  Blackhawks have a ways to go to earn that level of respect from me.  Course I am a tad biased!

   Ray

Retired Gunpilot wrote:

I think your unverified numbers do not take into consideration the sheer numbers of Hueys being procured in a very short number. The Huey was developed before the actual build up of Vietnam but was thrusted into a huge production cycle during the build up years that the Blackhawk production run never even came close to. Taking into account this difference alone would skew the statistics I think you are trying to state. I do not think the Huey had near the castastrophic problems the Army version Blackhawk had. I think the numbers you may be looking at are only high because of the sheer numbers of Hueys produced and the huge numbers of pilots flying them at the time. If the sampling was equalized to the blackhawk fleet numbers and pilots flying them, I would be willing to bet the Huey accidents would be much lower than the Blackhawk numbers. Plus your comparing twin engines to single engines which is not fair because in a single engine failure all aircraft end up in an autoration to the ground. Most single engine failures in a twin engine aircraft are able to land with power. So in many cases of comparison it lis ike comparing apples and oranges. Charlie

Hey guys.  I just posted that bit to see if someone had some info, not to say that one is better than the other.  I don't even have numbers to say one way or the other.  I figured that this would be as likely a place as any to find someone with first hand info.  Even if it is the case, I still say that it is a testament to the airframe and crews that the UH-1 became the workhorse that it has been over the years. 

Even as a Blackhawk baby, I have to grudgingly admit that the Huey and her crews were the true pioneers of the tactics, techniques and proceedures that we use in the utility community today.  Our last Vietnam Huey pilot (all I needed to know was that he needed a crewchief) just retired two months ago, we have one enlisted guy left from that era, and it is a great loss as that real combat experience is lost.  The retirement of the Huey represents that Army wide to me.  This means that the training wheels are completely gone.  Even though you will have to pry my cold, dead fingers from my beloved lawn darts, I do realize that the men and machines that came before made Army aviation what it is today.

I really wasn't intending to start a debate on the subject.

No worries.  I'm just attached to the old girl and I really don't see why the Huey can't keep on flying the medivac mission as well or better than the UH-72 that is replacing it.  I know the days of the Charlie model gunship are gone, but the legacy should still live on. 

Ray

I wasn't trying to pick on you either, I was just making the argument that your assumption was propably incorrect for the reasons I stated. The Blackhawk had a design problem that regretably killed many crews, The only design flaw of the Huey fleet I remember was the mast bumping which really wasn't a design flaw because a properly trained pilot did not get into that condition routinely. It was normally cause when you unloaded the rotor system along with an extreme maneuver that was not in trim. When the Army realized the issue, Bell came up with a fix that helped if you got into mast bumping. The blackhawk failed in normal flight modes and the Army was slow to remedy the problem, at least in my opinion. I agree the Blackhawk is a great aircraft and can do much more than the Huey, but because of the Huey's simplistic design and high interia rotor system it was a very dependable aircraft that was easy to maintain and fly, even during an emergency.

One thing I would have loved to see the Army adopt on the Huey is the cobra tractor tail rotor like the civilian 205 had. It gave you much better pedal control on heavy loads and high power settings, but I guess the Army figured we did not need it.

Charlie

rotorwash wrote:

No worries.  I'm just attached to the old girl and I really don't see why the Huey can't keep on flying the medivac mission as well or better than the UH-72 that is replacing it.  I know the days of the Charlie model gunship are gone, but the legacy should still live on.  Ray

And it could have, if the Army had picked the Huey II

Hey Ray and Charlie, I guess that I am a little to blame my self for reading too much in between the lines.  I can't blame you for sticking up for the Tuna Boat (I got this from a long time Huey pilot, can any one elaborate?).  I feel the same way about the Hawk and always stand ready with  the Lawn Dart Solution.

As long as we keep the dirty side down and make sure all of the parts stay in formation it's all good.