Vietnam Huey

I had seen those before, would be nice for another sheet or two of huey nose art.....

also, don't know if people have seen this or not; c ration can in use for door gun

phantom works wrote:

one of my favorite links...........wish decal companies would grab some of these and run with them...

One company has, Fireball Modelworks: Huey Slicks, Cobras, and USN SeaWolves.

one of my favorite links...........wish decal companies would grab some of these and run with them...

http://www.vhpamuseum.org/art/art.shtml

Ed,

  Thanks for the link and thanks for your service.  My father was at Ben Hoa with the 190th from 68-69.  I have wanted to see Bandit 3 ever since I saw the restored aircraft in the Wayne Mutza  Huey Gunships book.  Man, she looks nice!

             Ray

www.118ahc.org

Also try 145th Avn Brigade, of course 1st Cav div . 227th and 229h AHC from the 1st Cav should have websites.

Would be glad to help you with any info.

Ed

Andy,

  I didn't realize quite how dumb it sounded to "only red books with pictures" till I saw your post.  I am interested in other facets of the war, it's just that as a modeler and scientist, I tend to trust photos or even better, things that I can go up to and touch and look at for myself, more than words.  The old addage that a "photo is worth a thousand words" is so true when it comes to model building.  I'll have to get "Chickenhawk" from my dad and give it a go.  I remember reading some of it a long time ago, maybe I have matured more since then!

      Ray

HeavyArty wrote:

Don't always believe what you read on the net.  Anyone can put up a website to further their B.S. agenda.  From all the Vietnam helo vets I have talked to, his book was right on and he was a highly decorated pilot.  No telling who the author of the webpage is, but it is most likely someone who had an axe to grind over the book or with the author.  The website is not an official 1/9 CAV webpage, but a personal page of a guy who was supposedly in 1/9 CAV.  Who knows.

I hope so Gino, it would be terrible if the guy had ripped off actions of other pilots, the only thing is the web page is linked from a site that deals with all the individual air cav squadrons, that link is for 1/9 A Troop. In his photo page there are lots of pictures donated from other members of Alpha troop and surely they wouldnt contribute to his site if they had a problem with his comments.

But then if what he says is true im surprised other members of Alpha troop havn't spoken out, Plus the pictures in the link to the chickenhawk webpage that Rich provided, mostly show helicopters from Bravo troop so like you said "who knows"

All i can say for sure is it is a very good book and hard to put down and is essential reading for anyone interested in Vietnam and huey helicopters.

Ray .. If you do get round to reading a book about Vietnam without pictures, make sure its this one  p.s. go to this page for a couple of good pictures of sagami mounts mate.

http://www.vhpamuseum.org/companies/118ahc/118ahc.shtml

Its the same site that has links to all the Air Cav and other helicopter company pages.

Andy

Ray,

Here are the pics that should ahve been in the book but were included in more uptodate publications.

http://www.robertcmason.com/

Once you start reading it you wont be able to put it down. I've read it three times now, each time in about 3-4 days, which is fast for me.

Enjoy,

Rich

I have the Chickenhawk book, but haven't read it.  I'll be honest, it lacks pictures and that is what I am after these days.  Good, solid documentation that is irrefutable (unless somebody photoshopped it!).  That is why I have started putting links to photos in my posts.  Thanks for posting the Sagami mount photo, Gino.  Speaking of said mount, I understand that this mount was never a Government Issued system, but was adapted in the field.  I would be very suprised to see any modern aircraft with the identical system on active duty today.

     Ray

Well, well. I....don't really know what to say.

And yet when you click on the recommended reading link at the bottom of the page, there's the book.

Shaun68

I agree chickenhawk is a good read but check out this link, it may shock you, as it did me, its from 1/9th Air Cav website.

http://www.9thcav.com/Trashing%20A%20Troop.htm

Andy

Yep that's it. Thanks Gino. I didn't have my refs handy to draw on.

On the subject of books & Hueys & VietNam: If anyone hasn't read it, get a hold of "Chickenhawk" by Robert Mason. A very good read.

Sagami mounts - I'm not certain, but I think our AAAvn Blackhawks use a similar mount for the previous M-60's & now MAG58's. Can anyone verify that - Gino perhaps?

Shaun, I don't know about Aussie Blackhawks, but I haven't seen any Sagami-type mounts on US Blackhawks.  I would assume that you use the same M144 mount we use on our hawks with M60s and M240B (US nomenclature for the MAG58). 

You can see the standard US M144 mount below.

Here is a Sagami mount on an early D model.

Hey all

I've just spent the last 20 odd mins reading through this thread - excellent stuff. For what it's worth, this topic generates a similar level of interest on our aussiemodeller forum here in Oz. Speaking of modelling gunships accurately, I would think the reason us Aussies haven't done many full-on Bushrangers properly yet, is because there are still many RAAF 9 Sqdn guys around - they are held in fairly high regard & I guess we want to do the bird, & them, justice.

Sagami mounts - I'm not certain, but I think our AAAvn Blackhawks use a similar mount for the previous M-60's & now MAG58's. Can anyone verify that - Gino perhaps?

Hi Guys,

Just been reading through this thread and found it facinating, not just from a modellers persprctive but from a historical one as well. It's great that forums like this can keep history alive and teach us "kids" (I'm 41) about the past and how it was lived (and fought). Thanks to all you fellas who were over there for reciting your tales, anecdotes and knowledge on this subject.

Rich

I have examined as many of the helicopter scenes in Vietnam movies as I could find and the ONLY one that seems to accurately depict Huey gunships is the Green Berets with John Wayne.  My father remembers John Wayne coming to Ft. Benning in '67 to film the movie and he even took time to talk to the guys who were actually going to war.  There is a scene at the end where you can see a whole flightline of B/C model gunships (can't recall at this very minute) and they look authenitic because they were actual Army birds ready for combat!  There are some gross innaccuracies elsewhere in the film, however, and the terrain of Vietnam looks suspiciously like Southern California and Georgia.  The scene where the chopper goes down is also hokey.  They needed one of you guys to make the models.  Anyway, has anyone seen this movie more recently than I and can comment on the helicopters?

      Ray

PS:  I know We Were Soldiers did a pretty good job as well, but I don't think the XM-21 system saw action in Ia Drang in '65. 

skypirate1 wrote:

Revell UH-1H Gunship mystery solved.   During the main helicopter scene in Apocalypse Now there is a UH-1H armed with M6 quads and 7 tube rocket pods, oh and a couple of surfboards just incase, I love the smell of historically accurate films in the morning. Andy

Yeah.  Good idea to follow Hollywood.  They are always a great references for accuracy.

Revell UH-1H Gunship mystery solved.  

During the main helicopter scene in Apocalypse Now there is a UH-1H armed with M6 quads and 7 tube rocket pods, oh and a couple of surfboards just incase,

I love the smell of historically accurate films in the morning.

Andy

   http://huey.co.uk/

Nice website with some very good photos both black and white + colour.

A question for the door gunners.

I have noticed in a few UH-1H pictures (mostly Air Cav ones) that only the left side door gunner has an ejection bag attached to his M60!

The only reason i can think of for this is.. if spent shells are ejected from the right side of a 60 and if a gunner on the left fires forward of the helicopter the spent shells fly into the crew compartment.

Where as the shells from the gun on the right side of the helo fly back away from the compartment so he doesnt need the ejection bag.

can anyone confirm this?

Its just something i have spotted and if it was standard practice to do this i thought it worth mentioning for model accuracy.

Andy

Mel,

  Your right, as usual.  Those birds are all from around '65-'66 so they almost had to be D's.  I just try to hedge my bets.  The high vis paint schemes also date the photos to the early vietnam era.  Always looking for new ways to tell D's and H's apart, though.  Thanks.  

     Ray

Rotorwash,

Those pictures are of an early "D" judging by the intake scoops aft of the transmission.  The older flight helmet dates it also.  The .50 cal. wasn't widely used because the recoil really played hell on the airframe.  They definitely gave you some "stand off " firepower and were used on a lot of "night hawk" birds which were few and far in between.   

Yet another D/H model with a 50 cal in door.

and another

Another D/H model showing the "Sagami" mounting system I mentioned earlier in this post.

Another interesting D/H model Huey with a window removed for firing the M60.