#UH-1 huey

[thestonecuttersguild]

Finish Stuff Friday!

Finally wrappedup this Italeri 1/48 Huey. It didn't really take too long to build, it had just sat on my wishlist for a couple of years. I'm not really a helicopter guy, but Huey is THE icon of the Vietnam era. This builds more like an armor model than an airplane kit. I guess that's why I keep seeing it in 1/35th scale. Fun little build. One half of my fuselage was warped, so it made it tough to fit all together. There is a resulting gap under the windscreen that I just have to live with. As for displaying it, the build is small like a truck, but really long like an F-104.

[planeyboys]

Helicopter severely lacking in polygons

[a-4skyhawk]

UH-1Y Venom and AH-1Z Viper

[casposters]

The Screaming Eagles In Vietnam - Bob George

[usafphantom2]

281st AHC by Linh Yoshimura Via Flickr: 1966/67 – 281st AHC's UH-1C Huey gunship on the move. Photo by Brent Gourley

[casbooks]

Books of 2023

Book 30 of 2023

Title: To the Limit: An Air Cav Huey Pilot in Vietnam Authors: Tom A. Johnson ISBN: 9780451222183 Tags: AC-47 Spooky, B-52 Stratofortress, CH-47 Chinook, CH-54 Tarhe, EOD, LAO Laos, LAO Laotian Civil War (1959-1975), LAO Operation Commando Hunt (1968-1972) (Laotian Civil War) (Vietnam War), LAO Operation Shining Brass / Prairie Fire / Phu Dong (1965-1975) (Laotian Civil War) (Vietnam War), O-1 Bird Dog, OH-13 Sioux, OH-23 Raven, OV-1 Mohawk, Pathfinders, UH-1 Huey, US Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara, US USA 11th Aviation Group, US USA 11th Aviation Support Group, US USA 12th Cavalry Regiment, US USA 12th Cavalry Regiment - 2/12, US USA 15th Medical Det. - Mercy, US USA 173rd Airborne Brigade - Sky Soldiers, US USA 1st Cavalry Division, US USA 1st Cavalry Division - 11th Pathfinder Co., US USA 20th Aerial Rocket Artillery Bn, US USA 20th Aerial Rocket Artillery Bn - 2/20 - Blue Max, US USA 227th Assault Helicopter Bn, US USA 227th Assault Helicopter Bn - C/227, US USA 228th Assault Helicopter Bn, US USA 229th Assault Helicopter Bn, US USA 229th Assault Helicopter Bn - A/229 - Bandit, US USA 229th Assault Helicopter Bn - A/229 - Python, US USA 229th Assault Helicopter Bn - B/229 - Preachers, US USA 229th Assault Helicopter Bn - D/229 - Smiling Tiger, US USA 229th Assault Helicopter Bn - D/229 - Tom Cat, US USA 478th Aviation Co, US USA 7th Cavalry Regiment, US USA 7th Cavalry Regiment - 1/7 - C Troop, US USA 7th Cavalry Regiment - 2/7, US USA 8th Cavalry Regiment, US USA 8th Cavalry Regiment - 1/8, US USA 8th Cavalry Regiment - 1/8 - B Troop, US USA 8th Cavalry Regiment - 1/8 - C Troop, US USA 8th Cavalry Regiment - 2/8, US USA 8th Engineer Bn, US USA 9th Cavalry Regiment, US USA 9th Cavalry Regiment - 1/9, US USA 9th Cavalry Regiment - 1/9 - C Troop, US USA Fort Polk LA, US USA Fort Rucker AL, US USA Fort Rucker AL - Hanchey Army Air Field, US USA Fort Wolters TX (1963-1973), US USA General Creighton Abrams, US USA General John "Jack" Norton, US USA General John Tolson, US USA LRRP Team (Vietnam War), US USA United States Army, US USA USSF Green Berets, US USA USSF Special Forces, US USMC 3rd MarDiv, US USMC United States Marine Corps, US USN Construction Battalions (Seabees), US USN SEALS, US USN United States Navy, USA 5th SFG, VNM 1968 Tet Offensive (1968) (Vietnam War), VNM A Louie Airstrip, VNM A Shau Valley, VNM An Khe, VNM An Lao Valley, VNM Ba To Airstrip, VNM Battle of Hue City (1968) (Tet Offensive) (Vietnam War), VNM Battle of Khe Sanh (1968) (Tet Offensive) (Vietnam War), VNM Bong Son, VNM Bong Son Pass, VNM Bong Son River, VNM Camp Evans (Vietnam War), VNM Camp Radcliff (Vietnam War), VNM Cay Giep Mountains, VNM Central Highlands, VNM Command and Control North/FOB-4 (Vietnam War), VNM Da Nang, VNM Dak To, VNM Dam Tra-O Lake, VNM Dia Dong, VNM Dong Ha, VNM DRV NVA 22nd Regiment, VNM DRV NVA 325C Division, VNM DRV NVA 325C Division - 7th Bn, VNM DRV NVA 325C Division - 9th Bn, VNM DRV NVA 3rd Division, VNM DRV NVA North Vietnamese Army, VNM DRV VC Viet Cong, VNM Highway 1, VNM Highway 19, VNM Hill 450, VNM Hill 814 (LZ Peanuts) (Vietnam War), VNM Ho Chi Minh Trail (Vietnam War), VNM Hon Kon (Hong Kong Mountain) / (Signal Mountain), VNM Hue, VNM Hue Phu Bai, VNM I Corps (Vietnam War), VNM II Corps (Vietnam War), VNM LZ Bird (Vietnam War), VNM LZ Dog (Vietnam War), VNM LZ El Paso (Vietnam War), VNM LZ English (Vietnam War), VNM LZ Geronimo (Vietnam War), VNM LZ Laramie (Vietnam War), VNM LZ Pat (Vietnam War), VNM LZ Pepper (Vietnam War), VNM LZ Sally (Vietnam War), VNM LZ Sandra (Vietnam War), VNM LZ Sharon (Vietnam War), VNM LZ Signal Hill (Vietnam War), VNM LZ Stud (Vietnam War), VNM LZ Thor (Vietnam War), VNM LZ Tiger (Vietnam War), VNM LZ Tom (Vietnam War), VNM LZ Two Bits (Vietnam War), VNM LZ Vicki (Vietnam War), VNM Marble Mountain, VNM Nui Mot (The Rockpile), VNM Operation Arc Light (1965-1973) (Vietnam War), VNM Operation Delaware / Lam Son 216 (1968) (Vietnam War), VNM Operation Jeb Stuart (1968) (Vietnam War), VNM Operation Pegasus / Lam Son 207 (1968) (Vietnam War), VNM Operation Pershing (1967-1968) (Vietnam War), VNM Phan Rang Air Base, VNM Phu Cat Mountains, VNM Quang Tri, VNM Quang Tri Province, VNM Qui Nhon, VNM RVN ARVN Army of the Republic of Vietnam, VNM Song Ba, VNM Song Chal Truc, VNM Song Re, VNM Song Re Valley, VNM Tam Quan, VNM US MACV Military Assistance Command Vietnam (Vietnam War), VNM US MACVSOG (1964-1972) (Vietnam War), VNM US UH-1 Huey Firefly Missions (Vietnam War), VNM US USAF Phu Cat Air Base (Vietnam War), VNM US USMC DHCB Dong Ha Combat Base (Vietnam War), VNM US USMC KSCB Khe Sanh Combat Base (Vietnam War), VNM US USMC MMAF Marble Mountain Air Facility, VNM US USMC QTCB Quang Tri Combat Base (Vietnam War), VNM Vietnam, VNM Vietnam War (1955-1975) Rating: ★★★★ (4 Stars) Subject: Books.Military.20th-21st Century.Asia.Vietnam War.Aviation.US Army.Helos.Slicks, Books.Military.20th-21st Century.Asia.Vietnam War.Laotian Civil War.Aviation.Helos

Description: **The riveting memoir of a Vietnam War helicopter pilot. “When you step into a Huey with Tom Johnson, you’re in for the real thing. No one has previously captured the Vietnam helicopter experience with such gripping authority.”—Robert F. Dorr, author of Chopper   **   From June 1967 to June 1968, Tom Johnson accumulated an astonishing 1,600 flying hours piloting the UH-1 “Iroquois”—better known as the “Huey”—as part of the famous First Air Cavalry Division. His battalion was one of the most decorated units of the Vietnam War, and helped redefine modern warfare. Johnson’s riveting memoir takes us into key battles and rescue missions, including those for Hue and Khe Sanh. In harrowing detail, he tells of being shot down in the battle of A Shau Valley, of surviving enemy attacks during the Tet Offensive, and of a death-defying nighttime river rescue, in which only the bare feet of soldiers hanging off the Huey’s skids kept the helicopter from plunging under water. From dangerous missions to narrow escapes, Johnson’s memoir vividly captures the adrenaline rush and the horror of war, and takes you on a ride you’ll never forget.

[historyofguns]

The article "History of the Medevac — How Air Ambulances Changed War" by Will Dabbs, MD, delves into the evolution of medical evacuation (medevac) via air transport in military contexts, highlighting its significant impact on survival rates among wounded soldiers. Starting with French aviation pioneer Isidore Auguste Marie Louis Paulhan's 1915 mission to save Milan Rastislav Štefánik, it traces pivotal moments like Lt. Carter Harman’s WW2 helicopter rescue in Burma and the development of medevac practices during the Korean and Vietnam Wars. The article emphasizes the lifesaving value of rapidly evacuating casualties within the "golden hour" and describes the advanced medical support provided in modern conflicts, leading to unprecedented survival rates, particularly noted during the Global War on Terror, and how these military techniques have influenced civilian medical evacuation systems.

[nocternalrandomness]

Huey's arriving as part of a Vietnam War reenactment at the 2007 Aviation Nation Airshow, Nellis AFB

[karagin22]

[thestonecuttersguild]

Workbench Wednesday!

It's been a minute, but here we go. Been working on this Huey this week. It's a very different challenge to working on an airplane. This is more like an armor kit that airplanes are. It's inside out, meaning that the interior will be on full display. Makes painting and filling tricky, since I'm painting everything ahead of time, and then going back for touch ups after sanding and filling. This thing will be nothing bust masking when it comes time for clear coats.

[pukindawgsblog]

Doorgunner's M60D w spades and IFD - Improvised Feed Device - otherwise known as a Coke can (or any can) to help keep the Pig fed 😎

[casposters]

Landing zone Hueys and Chinooks

[histrorybygosh]

Bell UH-1 Iroquois (nicknamed "Huey") 

[usafphantom2]

Vietnam war by Linh Yoshimura Via Flickr: 1960s - 101st Airborne helicopter landing on base.

[casbooks]

Book 41 of 2024 (★★★★)

Title: Super Slick: Life and Death in a Huey Helicopter in Vietnam Authors: Tom Feigel & Larry Weill

ISBN: 9780811775663 Rating: ★★★★ Subject: Books.Military.20th-21st Century.Asia.Vietnam War.ARVN, Books.Military.20th-21st Century.Asia.Vietnam War.Aviation.US Army.Helos.Slicks, Books.Military.20th-21st Century.Asia.Vietnam War.Specops.ARVN, Books.Military.20th-21st Century.Asia.Vietnam War.Specops.Green Berets, Books.Military.20th-21st Century.Asia.Vietnam War.Specops.Seals, Books.Military.20th-21st Century.Asia.Vietnam War.US Army.Advisor

Description: Helicopters loom large in how we picture the Vietnam War. Kilgore’s birds coming in hot (and Wagnerian) out of the rising sun in Apocalypse Now. The infantry/helicopter assault at Ia Drang in the climax of We Were Soldiers. A chopper flying over green rice paddies, with a teenaged door gunner manning a .50-cal. A slick dropping into an LZ whirling with purple smoke. We can only imagine it. Tom Feigel lived it, as a twenty-year-old crew chief in a Huey. Super Slick is the story of his year in Vietnam. Tom Feigel grew up a typical post-World War II kid who wrestled in high school, had a steady girl, and loved working on cars—and then everything changed. Less than a year out of high school, he was drafted into the army and assigned to aviation, ultimately to helicopters. In Vietnam in 1970, he first worked as a “hangar rat,” part of the ground crew responsible for maintaining the company's thirty Hueys—the Warriors and Thunderbirds—of the 336th Assault Helicopter Company, which operated in southern South Vietnam, in the Mekong Delta and U Minh Forest. In short order, Feigel volunteered for a flight mission to replace the rotors of a damaged chopper—which led to his becoming a crew chief on a transport slick called Warrior 21. Before long, he and 21's crew asked the company commander for permission to re-outfit their ship for thicker, more dangerous missions—and they ended up flying an up-gunned helicopter call sign Super Slick , tasked with similar missions but into more dangerous zones. Feigel’s memoir recounts the thick and thin of helicopter combat in Vietnam. Heart-pumping missions into hot landing zones (sometimes inserting and extracting Navy SEALs). Adrenaline-fueled flights into enemy-infested jungles and free-fire zones. Low-level reconnaissance. “Hash and trash” runs to deliver supplies to far-flung units. Terrifying nighttime operations where trees posed nearly as much danger as the enemy. Razor-thin margins between life and death. It was dangerous; it was thrilling. The crews loved it; the crews hated it. They were proud of it. And they never wanted to do it again. Super Slick is as close as you can get to being inside a Huey—to hearing the radio chatter, feeling the thrum of the rotors, the pounding of the door guns.

My Review:

Let me start this review by saying that this book has a LOT of really good stuff in it for the Vietnam War historian, and those interested in the conflict. From his time at Soc Trang, to his experiences with the Navy SEALs and spending time aboard Sea Float, working with the ARVN and the LLDB's, and especially about the nightitme perimeter defense firefly mission.

The author was a Crew Chief of a Huey slick that was a little different than most. While he did the usual insertion/combat assault of ARVN troops into the Mekong Delta, he also inserted and supported Navy SEALs, as well as a distant LLDB outpost with a single US Special Forces advisor. Later, his helicopter takes over the firefly night mission mounting a xenon spotlight and night vision device on board, along with a mini-gun and a 50 cal machine gun in opposite doors. Flying as a crew of 5 (Spotlight operator, 2 door gunners, pilot and co-pilot), they had a very unique mission around Soc Trang. His stories about their missions, their fellow crews, and the unit are like few others told and it's really a must read.

I would have loved to have heard more about his duties as a crew chief, beyond just saying that after they landed, he had to do the routine maintenance… ok… what is that? what’s that involve? what’s that like? what did you actually do??? But you do get a great feeling for the type of flying they did, and the collection of stories presented does give a really good impression of his tour of duty.

And that's what this book is, it's a collection of stories told by Feigel to Weill who polished them up and created the book out of them. The writing is good, the stories are really good, but it's a lot like sitting down with someone and letting them tell you tales over a few beers across a period of time, instead of a single narrative style book. Sometimes that means you're left scratching your head and asking “why are we talking about this here? what about the other thing you mentioned? are we ever going to talk about the other pilot that you keep saying you flew with a lot??” The answer is no. We don’t get to hear any stories about him at all.

The stories you do get, and especially the stuff post-Vietnam where you learn about the fate of the Helicopter and the efforts to award someone their missing purple heart are incredible additions that give the whole story a more filled out ending. I'm reluctant to only give this book 4 stars, because it really is closer to 5, but too often I was left scratching my head asking those questions and left waiting for the stories that were alluded to but not actually included, like of the 2nd aircraft commander's time with the crew.

All in all, a good read!