USAF Considers Extending Huey 30 Years

[FARRIER]

http://www.defensenews.com/article/20120422/DEFREG02/304220002/USAF-Considers-Extending-Huey-30-Years?odyssey=tab|topnews|text|FRONTPAGE

[SarDragon]

The Navy and Marine Corps have been doing upgrades since the '90s, maybe even earlier. That includes new avionics, and a power train upgrade. All they need is money. 

[SARDOC]

It is a great Utility helicopter

[bosshawk]

My first ride in an A model Huey was in Korea in 1963.  [darn], that was a long time ago.

[Cliff_Chambliss]

That was just about the same time the Army had a (then HU-1) simulator they brought up to the State Fair in Birmingham, Al. and as a CAP cadet was allowed to "fire" a simulated "Dart" missile at a simulated target.  Wow, the sim did not move but the picture our front did and I was able to "fly" the missile all the way to target.  Interesting how some things just stay imprinted in your memories.

[NIN]

"When the fly the last Blackhawk to the boneyard, they'll fly the crew home in a Huey."

[bosshawk]

The Army keeps saying that the Hueys are all retired and it always seems that another one shows up somewhere. 

NIN: I agree with you completely.  You can probably extend that to the Lakotas, too.

[PHall]

Supposedly the Army has finally retired it's last Huey. Maryland Army Guard IIRC.
Heck they even replaced the Huey's out at Kwajalien several years ago.

[titanII]

I'd love to see an updated, modernized Huey!
The Huey is to the US military as the Hind is to the Russian military. Two (very different) great, reliable, workhorses!

[NIN]

Supposedly the Army has finally retired it's last Huey. Maryland Army Guard IIRC.
Heck they even replaced the Huey's out at Kwajalien several years ago.

Yeah, tell the NH ARNG that the 2 they have sitting on the ramp are retired.

[Stearmann4]

I fly a Huey+ which is the same thing as the Huey IIs that the AF is flying down at Ft Rucker. The "Plus, or II" mod is a basic Army surplus UH-1H with a Cobra engine tail, wide chord rotor blades, and transmissions. It makes a stock 105kt Huey into a 130kt, high altitude bronco.

While the Army was in the process of moth balling all it's Hueys, along with wasting money on the Commanche, Kiowa replacement and the now almost useless Lakota, the AF took all the Army's DRMOs Huey,s and for comparitive pennies, had them all rebuilt into Huey IIs right in Ozark, AL outside Ft Rucker for their primary training division. The AF's Huey's even have glass cockpits and will smoke a Lakota both in payload and hot and high performance. In fact, they come very close to the UH-1N (twin PT-6) B-212s performance using only one engine.

The private sector is now starting to get ahold of ex-Army huey's and finding what a bargain a re-built Huey II is rather than prucjasing a shiny new helicopter.

Mike- 

[Майор Хаткевич]

I had no idea those were still flying in the military...

[ThatOneGuy]

They still are (kind of). I flew on one operated by the Air Force at my basic encampment two years ago, that thing is FUNNNNNNNN 

[NIN]

They still are (kind of). I flew on one operated by the Air Force at my basic encampment two years ago, that thing is FUNNNNNNNN 

The UH-1 is a pretty solid helicopter. Bell did it right.

First helicopter I ever hovered.

[FlyTiger77]

They still are (kind of). I flew on one operated by the Air Force at my basic encampment two years ago, that thing is FUNNNNNNNN 

First helicopter I ever hovered.

Me, too.

First aircraft I ever soloed, too. With about 18-20 hours of total time in my logbook.

[NIN]

First aircraft I ever soloed, too. With about 18-20 hours of total time in my logbook.

Stunning that they let you fly off over the treeline all on your own with that amount of time, ain't it?

I wasn't going thru primary, I just had a crusty old W4 MTP sitting next to me going "Here, kid, get on the cyclic.. now the collective.. you got the pedals.. I'm backing you up, no sweat.. nice hover.."  So I'm hovering away just dandy, really got the hang of it, and I look over at him and both his hands and his feet are nowhere near the controls.

Man, talk about "pilot induced oscillation" when I saw that.. Yikes.

[Майор Хаткевич]

I think he means solo aircraft and a total of 20 hours on the airframe, not when he got to solo. At least how I read it...

[NIN]

I think he means solo aircraft and a total of 20 hours on the airframe, not when he got to solo. At least how I read it...

Read it again.

[FlyTiger77]

They still are (kind of). I flew on one operated by the Air Force at my basic encampment two years ago, that thing is FUNNNNNNNN 

First helicopter I ever hovered.

Me, too.

First aircraft I ever soloed, too. With about 18-20 hours of total time in my logbook.

I can't remember exactly how many hours I had when I first soloed. It may have been as many as 24, but 20-ish seems to ring a bell. (It was a long time ago and the logbook that survives started at 36.1 hours by which time I had already logged 2.5 hours of solo).

When I went through Initial Entry Rotary Wing (IERW) the UH-1H was the primary trainer. A 9,500 pound max gross weight, 1,300 horsepower turbine helicopter was the first aircraft I ever flew. I finished the Huey contact portion with a total of 57.8 hours and finished my instrument rating with 30 hours in the simulator and an additional 19.6 hours in the aircraft. Then, it was on to the Cobra, etc, etc, etc.

So, yes, I first soloed at well less than 25 hours in my logbook. The aircraft had thousands of hours on the airframe. At one point, I flew a 1962 model Huey (older than me) with over 30,000 hours on the airframe. The Huey is a great aircraft.

When I received my first private pilot certicate just last month, I already had over 800 total flying hours (and a commercial, instrument helicopter ticket).

[riffraff]

I can backup the flight hours to solo. My first solo was at 18.7 hours -- a TH-55 out of Ft Rucker in Sept 1985. Pretty hilarious considering navigation wasn't taught until the (then) UH-1 contact phase.  We literally were sent out with instuctions along the lines of, "when you see the yellow building with the metal roof, turn right and fly for a few more minutes until you see the stage field". Then it was 12-18 trainees jammed into a stage field with 4-6 lanes (runways) each with 3 landing points on them. Credit to the Army and its program. No incidents during my 9 months there.

As for the UH-1H -- I have fond memories of the time I flew them. I don't recall it having any vices.