Rotorwash Posted February 14, 2009 Share #1 Posted February 14, 2009 Guys, I am new to the forum. This appears to be a great place to get in contact with some of the Vietnam vets out there. First, to all the vets' thanks for your service! My father served in the 190th AHC at Bien Hoa from 68-69. I became interested in Vietnam helicopters while researching to build scale model of dad's primary gunship, Gladiator 36. In so doing I have become absolutely immersed in all things Huey. At any rate, I finally built a model of dad's bird and gave it to him for Father's Day. I have been collecting any and all images associated with helicopter aviation in Vietnam for the last two years. I was wondering would anyone have pictures they are willing to share? I would like to have permission to use them on some of the scale modeling sites as refs (with appropriate credit to the author's, of course). Any and all photos are welcome, but pictures of nose art, armament systems and inside of helos would be very useful. Also, any info you have on them that you'd be willing to share. As an incentive, I will post a photo for every one posted here by another member. These will mostly be from the Army Aviation Museum archives and WILL NOT be posted pics from a unit website. As such they are all public access and may be freely distributed. Here are some examples of the kind of stuff I was hoping to get. Thanks, Ray 117th AHC UH-1B: M21 armament system: 190th AHC Gladiator nose art on UH-1B 1969: 334th Playboys AH-1G 1968: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zvez Posted February 14, 2009 Share #2 Posted February 14, 2009 Here's a nice shot taken Hau Nghia 1964-65 Chris Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zvez Posted February 14, 2009 Share #3 Posted February 14, 2009 and another same time frame hau nghia province. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rotorwash Posted February 14, 2009 Author Share #4 Posted February 14, 2009 Chris, Wow, that was fast! Thank you sir. I love that early high vis scheme. Here's a model of a M-3 armed UH-1B called "Big Train" from 1965 I just finished: alright, a deal's a deal: Here's a couple of 2/20th ARA birds from 1965: firefly ship: nose art: Keep em coming! Ray Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Charlie Flick Posted February 14, 2009 Share #5 Posted February 14, 2009 Hello Ray: First, welcome to the Forum. You will like it here. Second, I thought that you might like this one since you also asked for pics of aerial ordnance. This helicopter crewman is seen at Bien Hoa in 1967 carrying linked 40mm grenades. He is wearing a western style holster rig for his .45, a common practice at the time since "fast-draw" techniques had been popularized by western/cowboy TV shows. Many of these rigs were locally made and purchased. Regards, Charlie Flick Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zvez Posted February 14, 2009 Share #6 Posted February 14, 2009 The holster rigs were called cheap charlie and my dad had one he used for his model 39 he carried there in 64-65. Unfortunatly my mom did have the affinity for military goodies I had and was tossed when I was a child! Chris Hello Ray: First, welcome to the Forum. You will like it here. Second, I thought that you might like this one since you also asked for pics of aerial ordnance. This helicopter crewman is seen at Bien Hoa in 1967 carrying linked 40mm grenades. He is wearing a western style holster rig for his .45, a common practice at the time since "fast-draw" techniques had been popularized by western/cowboy TV shows. Many of these rigs were locally made and purchased. Regards, Charlie Flick Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hawkdriver Posted February 14, 2009 Share #7 Posted February 14, 2009 Hello Ray: First, welcome to the Forum. You will like it here. Second, I thought that you might like this one since you also asked for pics of aerial ordnance. This helicopter crewman is seen at Bien Hoa in 1967 carrying linked 40mm grenades. He is wearing a western style holster rig for his .45, a common practice at the time since "fast-draw" techniques had been popularized by western/cowboy TV shows. Many of these rigs were locally made and purchased. Regards, Charlie Flick YIKES!!! Dragging HE rounds on metal PSP! Not very conducive to long life. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cobrahistorian Posted February 15, 2009 Share #8 Posted February 15, 2009 Nah... They've gotta go a certain distance ans spin a certain number of times before they go boom... Honest... Great to see ya on here Ray! Guys, if you have any question about the history of the Huey, Ray's your man! Jon Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hawkdriver Posted February 15, 2009 Share #9 Posted February 15, 2009 Nah... They've gotta go a certain distance ans spin a certain number of times before they go boom... Honest... Great to see ya on here Ray! Guys, if you have any question about the history of the Huey, Ray's your man! Jon Ya, the warhead, but the other end doesn't Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rotorwash Posted February 15, 2009 Author Share #10 Posted February 15, 2009 Charlie, Thanks for the photo and to everyone else for the welcome and info. Ok here's one to compliment that pic. as Paul Harvey might say "the rest of the story": Please keep em coming. I always enjoy seeing new Vietnam photos. Thanks again for sharing. Ray Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Charlie Flick Posted February 15, 2009 Share #11 Posted February 15, 2009 ARVN soldiers are dropped off by a Huey. Charlie Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rotorwash Posted February 15, 2009 Author Share #12 Posted February 15, 2009 Charlie, UH-1B slick. I love those early shots. Thanks! Here's a UTTHCO (Utility Tactical Transport Helicopter Company) UH-1B with interesting cammo and very unusual weapons loadout. You can tell it's an early photo by the white rocket pods. Most were painted OD. I can only imagine what it would be like to try and take off with four 19 shot pods full of rockets and a full crew! I bet this one didn't see a lot of action or at least not with a full load of rockets. Ray Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Charlie Flick Posted February 15, 2009 Share #13 Posted February 15, 2009 Ray: Cool rocket pod shot. I figure that any UH-1 in SEA is of interest to you, so how about this one? I like the paint job. Charlie Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zvez Posted February 15, 2009 Share #14 Posted February 15, 2009 I've got some slides my dad took on his 69 tour. It's of a UH-1 outfitted with infrared detection gear, the slide lists it as UH-1 "infant" it was apparently an experimental system for picking up enemy at nite? Don't recall more details. I'm going to get these slides converted over and will upload them Chris Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rotorwash Posted February 15, 2009 Author Share #15 Posted February 15, 2009 Charlie, Thanks for the Air America pic. That's a Bell 204B which had the same lengthened tailboom and 48ft 205 rotor as the Air Force UH-1F, but used the Lycoming T-53 engine. Chris, The INFANT (Iroquois Night Fighter and Night Tracker) system is definitely of interest to me. Thanks for offering to share those photos! I can't wait to see em. Your dad wouldn't happen to have been in the 191st AHC would he? In the meantime here's the INFANT system installed on a sateside bird. Ray Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zvez Posted February 15, 2009 Share #16 Posted February 15, 2009 Charlie, Thanks for the Air America pic. That's a Bell 204B which had the same lengthened tailboom and 48ft 205 rotor as the Air Force UH-1F, but used the Lycoming T-53 engine. Chris, The INFANT (Iroquois Night Fighter and Night Tracker) system is definitely of interest to me. Thanks for offering to share those photos! I can't wait to see em. Your dad wouldn't happen to have been in the 191st AHC would he? In the meantime here's the INFANT system installed on a sateside bird. Ray HI Ray, Actually he was with ACTIV on his second tour and worked on the field testing of INFANT and other things. Thanks very much for the explanation of the meaning of Infant! Chris Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rotorwash Posted February 15, 2009 Author Share #17 Posted February 15, 2009 HI Ray,Actually he was with ACTIV on his second tour and worked on the field testing of INFANT and other things. Thanks very much for the explanation of the meaning of Infant! Chris Chris, He was with ACTIV! That's the Army Concept Team in Vietnam for those who don't know. I can't wait to see whatever you are willing to post. Awesome stuff! Thanks Ray Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zvez Posted February 15, 2009 Share #18 Posted February 15, 2009 Chris, He was with ACTIV! That's the Army Concept Team in Vietnam for those who don't know. I can't wait to see whatever you are willing to post. Awesome stuff! Thanks Ray Ray, you're the first guy who even know what they were, amazed. His second tour 69-70 he was with ACTIV, they did a lot of eval on the INFANT, the Air Cushion Vehicles, and something called a silent plane, a single engine small plane. I one time had photos of it but in all the moves, they're gone. But last year I converted a couple hundred slides from his first tour as advisor in 64-65. Now my plan is to do the same for the second tour, I've rounded up some, but am missing a box of the really good stuff. At any rate, here's the plaque he got on the second tour. Chris Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rotorwash Posted February 15, 2009 Author Share #19 Posted February 15, 2009 Chris, I take it from your posts that your dad is no longer around. You should be very proud of him and the work he did in Vietnam. I am still fortunate enough to have my father around to help me sort out all his photos and talk about what went on over there. My guess is that he was working on the YO-3A on his second tour. I'm no expert on this plane, but here are some in country pics (possibly from when your dad was there) from Binh Thuy, Hue Phu Bai, and Long Thanh. Hope they help replace the ones you lost. Ray Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zvez Posted February 15, 2009 Share #20 Posted February 15, 2009 INcredible Ray, that's the plane, thanks for the details. Unfortunately dad died in 97, and never really told me too much about his vn experiences, too late now. Thanks so much for those pics! Chris Chris, I take it from your posts that your dad is no longer around. You should be very proud of him and the work he did in Vietnam. I am still fortunate enough to have my father around to help me sort out all his photos and talk about what went on over there. My guess is that he was working on the YO-3A on his second tour. I'm no expert on this plane, but here are some in country pics (possibly from when your dad was there) from Binh Thuy, Hue Phu Bai, and Long Thanh. Hope they help replace the ones you lost. Ray Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rotorwash Posted February 15, 2009 Author Share #21 Posted February 15, 2009 Chris, Sorry for your loss and you are very welcome for the pics. Thank goodness you are keeping his memory and his history alive. We look forward to seeing your photographs. Ray By the way, the YO-3 photos are from the archives of the Army Aviation Museum at Ft. Rucker, Alabama. They are public access so feel free to copy and distribute them if you want. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cobrahistorian Posted February 16, 2009 Share #22 Posted February 16, 2009 Chris, Sorry for your loss and you are very welcome for the pics. Thank goodness you are keeping his memory and his history alive. We look forward to seeing your photographs. Ray By the way, the YO-3 photos are from the archives of the Army Aviation Museum at Ft. Rucker, Alabama. They are public access so feel free to copy and distribute them if you want. Charlie, There is actually a YO-3 in storage at the Army Aviation Museum as well. Really cool airplane! Definitely would love to see some ACTIV stuff! In the meantime, here's a little something: 9th Aviation Battalion, 1969. This one was in my book. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rotorwash Posted February 16, 2009 Author Share #23 Posted February 16, 2009 Thanks Jon! Here's some 335th AHC guys demonstrating that not ALL slick gunners used pintle mounted M60D's! Ray Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rotorwash Posted February 24, 2009 Author Share #24 Posted February 24, 2009 Here's a few more pics to inspire some others to post theirs. These are a couple 118th Bandits birds sometime around 1964-65. Ray Psyops bird: UH-1B slicks. Who can ID the big ugly bird in the background with a Huey under her belly? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Klorvin Borno Posted February 24, 2009 Share #25 Posted February 24, 2009 Sikorsky Skycrane? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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