Huey helicopter range serial numbers#

For over 40 years he has been searching for hints about where вЂhisвЂ™ Huey might be these days. He is now Chief Inspector for REACH Air Medical Services here in Sonoma County, CA. One of our museum members, Bob Broaddus, was a Huey door gunner and crew chief during Vietnam. He passed it on to me to answer her question: вЂњI was wondering if you could steer me in the right direction for solving this mystery. Then, museum director Ken DeHoff received an email query from Christina Olds (daughter of legendary ace Robin Olds, who was born on Ford Island - small world!). вЂњBeing a crew member on 411 for a brief period in her history is an emotional thing for me and even more so now.вЂќДЄ piece of video footage was posted on YouTube featuring 56th helicopters, and they thanked the aviation museum in the video. вЂњSomething so significant to me personally is still intact and on its way to being representative of the single-most iconic image of the war in Vietnam and in the Pacific Aviation Museum, no less!вЂќ wrote Bill Quillen. IвЂ™m STILL shocked! Our guys will LOVE to hear THIS news!вЂќДЄnd he began to spread the news to other 56th vets, courtesy of the Internet. вЂњGreat to hear that you seem to have the 56th ship. вЂњWOW!!! I am really amazed to receive your e-mail! Still canвЂ™t believe it!вЂќ he wrote. Heikkila, as it turned out, had already been pursuing a lead on the helicopter, based on a 1994 photo of the bird in Hawaii Guard colors. Almost immediately, I received responses from 56th vets Jay Warshauer, Robert Cartwright, and - all the way from Finland - Dave Heikkila. I knew I had to find just one guy in the know and then the word would get out.ДЄnd it did. I found some Vietnam-vet chat groups online and began sending out blind requests for information. Cross-matching serials with Vietnam-era squadrons revealed that Huey 411 - if she actually was Huey 411 - served with the 56 th Transportation Company based at Long Thanh North. Maybe some veterans who knew the helicopter could shed a little light. Is that really our machine? ItвЂ™s possible that internal parts were swapped with other Hueys. He contacted Bell, who told him the parts belonged to UH-1H 68-16411.

Huey helicopter range serial numbers#

There are other serial numbers stamped on other parts of the airframe, however, and museum friend and Huey expert Pat Rodgers found such a number on our HueyвЂ™s drive train. But when these Hueys were permanently grounded, the data plates were returned to Bell Helicopter.

Since both helicopters were passed on from the Army Reserve squadron based at Wheeler Army Air Field, it was apparent they had cut one set of stencils and used them twice.Д®very military aircraft has a manufacturerвЂ™s data plate that gives the particulars of that airframe. The folks there confirmed that their Huey actually matched the serial number. Not only that, the same serial was painted on at least one other Huey, which is currently on display at Barbers Point. It wasnвЂ™t until I started to research the aircraftвЂ™s history that we discovered she wasnвЂ™t what we thought she was. The weather beaten aircraft had been sitting in Hangar 79 for years, a modest monument to the massive evolution in battlefield rotorcraft during the Vietnam War. This is the case with Pacific Aviation MuseumвЂ™s Huey helicopter. Sometimes, mysteries arenвЂ™t where you expect to find them. The numbers match.вЂќДЄnd just like that, a mystery was solved. Then he jumped down and quietly said, вЂњHere she is - Huey 411. He began to poke around, occasionally consulting a dog-eared logbook. By Burl Burlingame | | Pearl Harbor Aviation MuseumД«ob Broaddus folded his lanky frame into the UH-1H Huey and stuck his head up into the equivalent of the aircraftвЂ™s rafters.