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The Bell UH-1 Iroquois, almost universally known as the “Huey”, is a utility helicopter built by Bell Helicopter. The US Army ordered it to move troops, haul cargo, evacuate casualties and fly armed escort, and it became the defining aircraft of the Vietnam War, carried by its distinctive rotor sound into film and popular memory. More than 16,000 were built between 1956 and 19871, and variants still fly with air arms around the world.
Design and development
Bell developed the type to meet a 1952 US Army requirement for a turbine-powered medical evacuation and utility helicopter, and its prototype, the Bell 204 (military designation XH-40), made its first flight on 20 October 19561. The choice of a single turboshaft engine in place of the heavier piston engines common at the time let Bell build a lighter, simpler airframe with a better power-to-weight ratio than its piston-engined rivals. The Army designated the production helicopter HU-1, and the nickname “Huey” stuck even after the type was redesignated UH-1 in 1962.
Bell kept developing the design for three decades, lengthening the cabin, fitting progressively more powerful engines and, in the twin-engine UH-1N and later variants, adding a second powerplant for redundancy and lift. Production ran from 1956 to 1987, with more than 16,000 built1, making it one of the most widely produced helicopters ever.
Specifications
The figures below describe the UH-1H, the definitive single-engine US Army variant and the most numerous. It measures 17.62 m long with the rotor turning, and its two-blade main rotor has a diameter of 14.63 m rather than a fixed wingspan, as on any helicopter. Wikipedia’s specification table lists its maximum take-off weight at 9,500 lb (about 4,309 kg)1.
It is powered by a single Lycoming T53-L-13 turboshaft rated at 1,400 shp but limited to 1,100 shp by the transmission; twin-engine variants instead use two Pratt & Whitney Canada PT6T turboshafts. At maximum take-off weight the UH-1H cruises at about 204 km/h (127 mph), and with maximum fuel and no reserves at sea level its range is about 511 km. A crew of one to four flies it, with typical capacity for 11 to 14 troops, or 6 stretchers and an attendant for medical evacuation1.
Variants
The UH-1 family split along two main lines. Single-engine models ran from the original Bell 204 through the stretched UH-1D and the definitive UH-1H, each adding engine power and cabin length over its predecessor. From the 1970s, twin-engine models such as the UH-1N paired two Pratt & Whitney Canada PT6T turboshafts for extra power and engine-out safety, and this twin-engine line continues today in Bell’s own successor, the UH-1Y Venom1. Armed variants carried door guns and rocket pods, while the AH-1 Cobra gunship, developed from the same transmission and engine, became a dedicated attack airframe in its own right.
Operators and service
The US Army flew the Huey as its primary utility and assault helicopter through the Vietnam War, moving troops into landing zones, evacuating wounded and flying armed escort. The US Air Force, Navy, Marine Corps and allied air arms also flew it widely in Vietnam. Production and licence-building spread the type to air forces on every continent, and although the US Army retired its last UH-1Hs by 2016, the US Air Force still flies UH-1N variants for base security and support duties, and many foreign air arms continue to operate the type1.
Safety record
The Huey’s losses in Vietnam were heavy, reflecting the intensity and duration of the air-mobile war it made possible: of roughly 7,000 UH-1s deployed to Vietnam, about 3,300 were destroyed, and 1,151 pilots were killed1.
Similar aircraft
- Sikorsky UH-60 Black Hawk: the twin-engine helicopter the US Army chose under the UTTAS programme specifically to replace the UH-1.
- Mil Mi-8: the Soviet Union’s contemporary medium utility helicopter, built in even larger numbers for a similar troop-transport and utility role.
