#Huey helicopter pictures full#
#Huey helicopter pictures series#

This arrangement could be supplanted by up to 6 medical litters when in the MedEvac role. Passenger space was equivalent to 14 combat-ready troops.

With its transport origins and inherently large cabin space, the Huey was designed from the outset to serve occupants in quantity.

#Huey helicopter pictures series#

Throughout its production run - with the exception of the twin-engine Huey - the base UH-1 Huey series would retain this unique and very identifiable design. The undercarriage consisted of a pair of fixed landing skids - braced in two areas - allowing for landing and take-off from just about any type of surface making it useful to both land and sea-based operators. The section ended with a single vertical fin adorned with the two-blade tail rotor system mounted to the portside (the latest Huey sports a four-blade tail rotor). The tail section itself made up nearly half the length of the entire fuselage and featured horizontal fins about half-way down the tail section. The engine exhausted rearwards over the base of the empennage. The rotor blades on initial models were simple two-blade arrangements with a rotor mast for added stability (the latest Huey version sports a four-blade rotor system). The single engine was mounted atop the rear portion of the crew cabin root with the rotor mast extending upwards forward of the engine.

The cabin featured a large sliding windowed door on either side of the fuselage for easy access (in most Vietnam-era pictures, these doors are almost always lest open). Entry for either cockpit seating position was made through an automobile-style hinged door. The pilot and co-pilot were seated at the extreme forward of the design with a windowed cockpit providing excellent vision forward, above, to the sides and forward-below. Aircraft construction was comprised of the main fuselage housing the cockpit and passenger cabin (along with their associated systems and equipment), the engine and rotor mast section and the empennage, or tail section containing the tail rotor. The 57th Medical Detachment would be the first to field the system in Vietnam beginning in March 1962.Д«y all respects, design of the Huey was quite utilitarian although more pleasing to the eye that other rotary-wing offerings developed during the 1950s. First deliveries would fall to the 101st Airborne Division, the 57th Medical Detachment and the 82nd Airborne Division. The Model 204 entered production for the US Army as the HU-1A, becoming the first turbine-powered helicopter in service with any US military branch. One of these YH-40's was set aside as a test bed featuring turbofan engines and wing assemblies becoming Bell Model 533.

#Huey helicopter pictures full#

These were essentially the same as the XH-40 prototypes but had their cabin space extended a full 12-inches. A further six developmental models were then ordered as YH-40 evaluation aircraft. First flight of XH-40 occurred on October 22nd, 1956 and were followed by two additional XH-40 prototypes, fitting the Lycoming 700 horsepower XT-53-L-1 engine. The need for a MedEvac helicopter was on the US Army wish list and, as such, Bell was tagged with developing a solution - and the prototype XH-40 (Bell Model 204) was born.

Bell produced the turbine-powered Model 47 (XH-13F) in 1954 to which the United States Army took special interest in. The Huey developed from advances made in turbine technology throughout the 1950's. Hence the Iroquois name was - and is - seldom used to this day when referencing the UH-1 series of helicopters. Despite her official 'Iroquois' name, the nickname of 'Huey' stuck thanks to her early 'HU-1' designation (later redesignated to UH-1 in 1962. Despite her consistent association with that war, her legacy has rightfully developed into so much more thanks to her use throughout the modern world in both military and civilian roles encompassing search and rescue, assault, transport and humanitarian efforts. The ubiquitous system became synonymous with the American effort in Vietnam, no doubt due to her inherent capabilities to take on just about any needed role. The UH-1 Iroquois 'Huey' became an important part of American military actions beginning in 1960 and expanding throughout the latter part of the Cold War years.