Another Huey question ''Refuelling the Huey"

John,

  I have photos of US UH-1D's with one window removed (sorry but I haven't had time to find em and I don't a have "Huey cabin windows removed" folder). I think in that case, the gunner actually fired the M60 through the  open window.  At least that is how it was posed on the ground. But yes, it probably would give access to the fuel cap.  My big question is, if you are going to remove the windows, why not just remove the doors?  I have seen several US units that did that as well.  Sorry I don't have more insight into the Bushranger. Those were some really interesting birds.

     Ray
 

I spent one tour in Nam from Jun 71 to Apr 72 and then later seven years in the Reserves crewing a Medevac UH-1H and removing the doors or windows had nothing to do with refueling.  The mounts of the door guns didn't interfere with movement of the cabin doors.  The door frame would be in the way of the fuel filler on a fully opened cabin door even if you removed the front window.  I have seen the rear windows removed so the main cabin door could be closed and the crew chief and gunner could still have access to the door guns but this was rare.  Some times Units removed the main cabin door because when the rollers and slides get worn the door vibrates and can come off in flight.  At one time the door sliders were really hard to get so the better option was to removed the cargo doors.  Hope this sheds some light on the topic.

Thank's Ray and Mel .

I may have got myself a little confused while searching and looking at pic's . I couldn't understand why one window would be missing but as ray said the door gunner would still have access to the guns and perhaps with the door closed it would provide some protection from small arms fire being directed back at the Huey ; And as mel kindly replied completely removing the doors for safty reasons [worn rollers] makes a lot of sense . Am I also correct in thinking that Perhaps without the doors on , it would save on weight and you carry or pick up more troops ???

I found the pic that got me confused

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Thank's again Guys , I'll go ahead and fit the doors and windows on my Bushranger Huey builds , all of the pic's I've seen so far show the RAAF Huey cabin doors on , so I'll build mine that way . Actually Italeri designed the doors to slide open and closed , "a nice touch" , It's a shame that the clear windows themselves weren't more of a snug fit .

Anyway I greatly appreciate you guys taking the time to answer my question and as always you provide a wealth of information

                              Kind regards John

I don't know why the pic didn't upload but here is the link where I saw the Huey being refuelled

http://www.network54.com/Forum/219149/thread/1150718183/UH-1H+Fwd+weapons+mounts-

                                         John

John,

If your doing one of the RAAF bushrangers leave the cabin doors fitted but leave off the forward  cabin windows off on both sides. If my memory serves me correctly for start up and shut down there are fire access panels on both sides of the fuselage that had to be inspected by the loadmaster/Crewman. With the doors pinned back these panels were obstructed, by removing the forward window it gave access to these panels without having to be sliding the door forward and back every time. I have several photos of the RAAF gunships in this config but no Idea how to post photos on this forum!

Hope that helps out a little
Cairnsy

Thank's Cairnsy .

I'll fit the doors and leave the forward cabin door window out on both sides . I have sent away for decals for the Bushranger Huey , one set for the vietnam era and another for Army 1980s camouflage scheme .

Thank's again for the help , I greatly appreciate it .

                                   Kind regards John

No Worries John,

 I look forward to seeing your Bushranger take shape I'm probably not too far off starting mine with the 1-35 Dragon kit so if you have any other Bushranger questions feel free to drop me a line and I'll see what I can come up with

Regards
Cairnsy