That magnificent flying machine--the HUEY

hjcook · 09-05-2010, 11:52

http://www.justhelicopters.tv/Play/T...e-To-Huey.aspx

I have met and come to know the "HUEY" in many forms and venues. I have parachuted and rappelled from the Huey. I have ridden one into a forbidden country in the dead of night and when I was out and it departed, the sound of its rotors fading in the distance was the most lonely sound in the world. But when it returned from my extraction (twenty some days later) it was the most welcome sound I ever heard. I have ridden it into hot LZs and have been extracted from even hotter LZs on that magnificent bird. I have been med-evaced on it and even taken joy-rides on it. I have crashed in one (during an extraction from a very hot LZ) and have the bracelet made from the drive chain of the tail rotor to prove it. ( It is given in a ceremony to those who survive helicopter crashes) I have been extracted from tree tops underneath it--that is truly a thrill, hanging in a harness while it fly away in the confusion and gunfire below. I have shared an adult beverage or two with its crew members after missions and I was always quick to concede that their balls were much bigger and brassier than my own.
I could go on and on but you get the message, I am sure.

CPTAUSRET · 09-05-2010, 17:38

Nice remembrance. Great aircraft!

dr. mabuse · 09-05-2010, 18:16

Excellent post sir.

f50lrrp · 09-05-2010, 19:01

I, too have fond memories of the "HUEY". I remember most of the things that you remember and I also remember riding a "McGuire Rig" from the bush west of Song Be to the air strip in Song Be.

As an aside, We gave the "slick" pilots training on the McGuire Rig so that they would know what to be aware of when they pulled a team out of a hot spot. The "gunship" pilots all stood around and joked about the slick pilots being made to take that training. One individual in particular, a major who commanded a gunship, said that you wouldn't catch him at the end of a string "like a yoyo".

The next evening as one SF team was being pulled from a hot LZ, the major's gunship crashed into the Nui Ba Ra mountain side into triple canopy jungle. It
was too dark to mount a rescue, so the major and his crew were stuck on Nui Ba Ra until 1st light. A slick passed over the gunship at 1st light and radioed back to Song Be that the jungle was too thick to get a chopper in.

It was decided that McGuire rigs were the only answer. The major was informed of the decision and two choppers rigged with McGuire Rigs were dispatched.

As the 1st slick hovered and lowered its ropes, the copilot and two crew member got into the harnesses and linke arms with the outside men extending their outer arms to stabilize themselves as they "flew" through the air.

The second slick dropped his harnesses and the major climbed in. It lifted out of the jungle, and the major, who had no one else to link arms with and no way to hold both of his outside arms, oscillated the entire way back to Song Be. He threw up the entire way and when he finally got to the ground, he dry heaved for 15 minutes. Our SGM leaned over him and said, "you won't get me at the end of a string like a yoyo, SIR!"

**Ambush Master** · 09-05-2010, 19:15

Very interesting @ 2:57 (prox) it went sub-aquatic!! Never seen a Huey down there!!

I did get drug out of, AND INSERTED INTO, several TIGHT SPOTS by them, and will NEVER refuse a RIDE!!!!!! As I have said in here before, I owe MY LIFE to the Air Crews that supported us!!!

Check this out!!

Read through the dialog of the thread, then................Put on a Headset/Ear-buds and in a DARK ROOM, listen to this recording several times!!!

http://www.professionalsoldiers.com/...ad.php?t=15653

I knew/know all of the voices that you will hear!! My voice has been in place of their's MANY TIMES!!

There is NO JUSTICE LIKE HOT JUSTICE!!!

Take care
Martin

**Team Sergeant** · 09-05-2010, 20:18

I loved the HUEY also, (anything beats walking

) but was very glad to see the arrival of the BLACKHAWK in the 80's!

09-05-2010, 21:36

My first experience with the Huey, was when I was in the 8th grade, summer. BLM rented a Huey to assist with wild Mustang round-ups. I got a ride, flying low to the ground in narrow canyons. The pilot, the real deal, AirMobile/Medivac pilot from Vietnam. Needless to say, I was hooked.

It was this same pilot that said, "Helicopters fly because they are so ugly the earth repels them." I thought the bird looked cool.

dennisw · 09-06-2010, 01:05

For those who have fond memories of the Huey, you may want to watch this documentary if you get the chance or purchase the DVD.

http://www.intheshadowoftheblade.com/

Quote:

The Journey

In The Shadow of The Blade follows the 10,000-mile flight of a restored, battle-scarred UH-1 “Huey” helicopter across America to hear the untold stories of the soldiers who once relied on it for survival and of the families who waited for them to come home. Landing in backyards and farmyards, the war’s symbol became a catalyst for healing as soldiers and citizens came to pay tribute to their shared experience and to the war’s fallen.

Moments captured by the filmmakers as they traveled from the ocean across the plains to the mountains include a Native American blessing of the aircraft, the reunion of a Vietnam War nurse and a Vietnamese woman she helped save 34 years before, an infantryman’s delivery of a message that haunted him for three decades, a door gunner’s meeting with the man he’d helped save, and the army’s highest-ranking prisoner of war’s reunion with the machine that took him “to a very bad place.” Hundreds of veterans from all branches of service rode in the aircraft and shared their stories. By mission’s end at the Vietnam Veterans Memorial and Chapel in Angel Fire, New Mexico, the evocative healing power of In The Shadow of The Blade had been described as “the most important thing to happen to Vietnam veterans since the dedication of The Wall.”

Commentary by General Hal Moore and combat journalist Joe Galloway, co-authors of the best-selling We Were Soldiers Once…And Young, fine-toothed verification of story accuracy and the unfiltered stories of combat veterans deliver what the Library of Congress Veteran Forum describes as “a gold standard for accuracy, insuring that the real experience, as opposed to the Hollywood cliché, is documented for posterity.”

In The Shadow of The Blade has been endorsed by major veteran organizations including the Vietnam Veterans of America, the Vietnam Helicopter Pilots Association, the Vietnam Helicopter Crew Members Association, the DUSTOFF Association and several smaller organizations. It received Best Documentary and Best of Show in the WorldFest Houston International Film Festival in 2004. The aircraft used in the film and three clips are part of a permanent exhibit in the Smithsonian’s history museum.

JJ_BPK · 09-06-2010, 06:02

That sound,, you never forget the sound of the blades.

My 1st ride from Tay Ninh airfield out to LZ Jamie, North-East of Núi Bà Đen, In Dec 69, Young 2nd Lt, Very apprehensive, A little scared. Loaded up with a pile of field gear. I get to sit on the floor behind the pilot and hanging out the door,, The chopper is loaded including two Donut Dolly's. I couldn't understand how they could be sleeping?? I later found out they were hung over from the prior nites partying. Turned around a got a quick pic with my little PEN EE..

Six months later, I was on a chopper out of Cambodia, laying on a stretcher, I could not understand why with the mid-day temps in the 90t'y, humidity +80%,, Why I was so cold,, I was shivering, all I heard were the blades..

Next thing I knew it was about 3AM and this nurse was taking my temp, telling me everything was OK..

From BANG to the MASH OR in less than an hour.

I love Huey's..