Vol.35, No. 04- June 2012 - Have Guns, Will Travel, Huey

Have Guns, Will Travel
DENNIS BERGSTROM
o
The UH-1B Huey – Seawolf 324
ver the years there has been a
large assortment of gun-toting
warbirds that have strutted their
stuff at AirVenture. From cannon-nosed B-25s to P-47 Thunderbolts packing eight .50 caliber
machine guns—heck even some
T-6s show up with a machine gun or
two. But during AirVenture 2011, Warbirds of America members were treated
to a devastating aerial platform like no
other—a combat veteran of the Vietnam
War—the UH-1B Huey Seawolf helicopter. This bad-to-the-bone whirlybird was
loaded for bear, bristling with a combination of machine guns, rocket pods, a
mini gun, and a grenade launcher or two
just for good measure. But what is most
unique about this Huey was the long unbreakable journey it had endured while
valiantly serving our country’s military,
both in Army green and Navy blue paint.
Seawolves in Vietnam: A Brief History
From early 1967 until March 1972,
f light crews of Helicopter Attack
26 JUNE 2012
by Jim Busha
Squadron (Light), or HA(L)-3, operated in support of U.S. Navy units
in South Vietnam that included the
inland “Brown Water Navy” (operating in large patrol boats) along with
the aerial insertion and extraction
of Navy SEALs. HA(L)-3 consisted of
nine detachments of two helicopter
gunships each—with two four-man
crews per Huey. They were stationed at
various locations in South Vietnam or
onboard barracks ships positioned in
the larger rivers of the Mekong Delta.
During the Seawolves first year they
fired more than 13,761,000 rounds of
7.62 mm ammo, 800,000 rounds of
.30- and .50-caliber ammo, and more
than 155,000 rockets. During the Tet
Offensive of 1968, 275 M60 barrels
were burned out by the Seawolf crews.
The squadron had to borrow replacement barrels from a Marine unit in Da
Nang, which were rush-delivered by an
H46 of HMN-165.
The Seawolves operated the UH1B, UH-1C, UH-1L, UH-1M, and the
HH-1K models of the Huey in various
armament configurations. Most of
the helicopters were on loan from the
Army, and the Seawolves scrounged
replacement parts and equipment
from many sources to accomplish their
missions. There were no two Hueys
that looked alike.
“The Seawolves ended up mixing
Army green paint with some Australian black paint they obtained in trade,
giving it a dark blue look,” said Larry
Clark, a former U.S. Army, 350-plusmission Vietnam veteran Huey pilot
and current pilot of Seawolf 324. “The
commanding officer wanted the word
“Navy” painted in large white letters on
the tail boom so the enemy knew who
was shooting at them! The Navy also
took a lot of liberties with these helicopters as they overloaded them with
machine guns and rockets—it really
carried a heck of a knockout punch!
“They couldn’t take off with a full
fuel load because of the weight of the
guns and ammo. There were many
The Huey sustained major damage and was sent
back to the United States
for repairs. It remained in
the States, and in October
1966 it was assigned to the
6th Army at Dugway Proving
Grounds in Utah until March
1967. It was sent back to VietJIM KOEPNI
CK
nam and assigned to the 1st
times that the door gunners had to
Cavalry Division, 11th General
run alongside the Huey as it bounced Support Company for seven months
along off the ground trying to get it- before going to A/1/9 (A Troop, 1st
self moving forward and then grab on Squadron, 9th Air Cavalry) for three
to a skid just as it was lifting off. The months until it was damaged again in
Seawolves earned their keep in Viet- February 1968. Rebuilt by the 388th
nam and the respect from the soldiers Transportation Company in country, it
on the ground.”
was then transferred to the U.S. Navy
HA(L)-3 was decommissioned in HA(L)-3 Seawolves in November 1968.
March 1972. Approximately 3,000
It was once again damaged and
men were rotated through the squad- sent back to Bell Helicopter in Amaron. The Seawolves were the most rillo, Texas, for repairs from October
highly decorated squadron in U.S. 1969 to November 19, 1970, when it
Navy history with 44 Seawolves killed was returned to the Seawolves in Vietin action (KIA) during the five years it nam. Total aircraft hours were 3,198
spent in combat. During the Vietnam at that time. It was flown by Seawolf
War the men of HA(L)-3 were awarded Detachment 9 and given Modex #324.
the following:
On May 28, 1971, it was damaged
5 Navy Crosses
by a 75 mm recoilless rifle fire while
31 Silver Stars
aboard YRBM-21. The damage must
2 Legion of Merit Medals
have been minor because 324 was ac5 Navy and Marine Corps Medals
tually used for an emergency medevac
219 Distinguished Flying Crosses
right after the attack. It was checked
156 Purple Hearts
for static leaks and none were found.
101 Bronze Stars
With the absence of leaks and signifi142 Gallantry Crosses
cant structural damage, it was decided
More than 16,000 Air Medals
to make a run to Binh Thuy with an
439 Navy Commendation Medals
injured sailor.
228 Navy Achievement Medals
The last flight in the military log6 Presidential Unit Citations
books for Seawolf 324 was on February
2 Meritorious Unit Commendations 29, 1972, by HA(L)-3 when it returned
1 V i e t n a m M e r i t o r i o u s U n i t the helicopter to the 388th TransportaCommendation
tion Company in Vietnam for shipment
back to the United States. Arriving back
Account of Seawolf 324
in the States in June 1972, 324 was in
Bell UH-1B Huey, Bureau number maintenance until October 1973 when
63-12923, was built in 1963 and deliv- it was lent to NASA Langley Research
ered to the U.S. Army in October 1964. Center until August 1975. No flights
It was one of 17,000 helicopters that were logged during this period. Along
served in the Vietnam War. Originally with hundreds of other Hueys, it was
assigned to the 1st Cavalry in Viet- placed in storage at Davis-Monthan
nam, it subsequently took three hits AFB in Tucson, Arizona, with a total of
in the skid on April 8, 1965. On April 4,390 flight hours.
27, 1965, it was brought down by small
Seawolf 324 was eventually sold
arms fire, resulting in one wounded. surplus for $611.57 as one of a block
of surplus helicopters that sat in an
outdoor boneyard until 2007 when the
restoration project began.
Restoring and Flying a Gunship
On September 23, 1991, Seawolf
324, or what remained of it, was sold
to J.H. Helicopters in Tucson, Arizona,
for under $700 bucks. Overseas Aircraft Support Inc. purchased the airframe as part of a package of 13 Hueys
in 1995, and it remained in outdoor
storage in Lakeside, Arizona, until the
owner discovered the historic treasure he had resting outside his shop.
John Boucher, president of Overseas
Aircraft Inc., was originally planning
on restoring a pair of P-40 warhawks
that had been rescued from Russia and
later blow up the helicopters.
“The helicopters I bought were complete shells that I intended to build up
as mock-ups and then blow them up
in the movies,” said John Boucher. I
really wanted to get out of helicopters
and concentrate on restoring a pair of
P-40s that had been shot down over
Russia. That all changed when another
friend of mine was looking through
the helicopter logbooks and found
out that this aircraft had flown with
the Seawolves in Vietnam. I had never
heard of that outfit until I was informed by my chief pilot, Larry Clark,
that they were the most highly decorated squadron in U.S. Navy history; I
knew right then and there that we had
to restore this bird.
“I wanted it as authentic as possible
and set about making it period correct,
using bits and pieces I had collected
over the years. We picked 1968 as the
period, mainly because of all the action
the Seawolves saw with the Tet Offensive. It was amazing how fast the word
got out in the Seawolf community that
we were restoring one of their former
birds. I started receiving calls and visits from former Seawolves, which really helped add authenticity to the
project. I really enjoyed hearing their
stories of how they would sneak into
an Army base in Vietnam and ‘borrow’
parts and pieces from Army Hueys just
to keep their birds flying—they were
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DENNIS BERGSTROM
true pirates! Their flying exploits are
legendary, as well as they flew in all
kinds of weather, day or night, flying
some of the most heavily armed helicopters of the Vietnam War.
“ They also took a lot of enemy
fire during those missions, and the
ground crew simply used flattened
empty beer cans as patches. Legend
has it that one Seawolf Huey was hit
so many times it looked like a flying beer can, with various brands of
beer labels running up and down its
fuselage. We found our own set of
PHIL HIGH
PHIL BERMEISTER
JIM KOEPNICK
28 JUNE 2012
patched-up bullet holes on our bird
with many of the hits found on the
door posts and nose area. We tried to
maintain everything as is, and I think
my crew did an outstanding job with
the restoration of this helicopter.”
John estimated that the Seawolf
Huey project involved thousands of
man-hours that included new sheet
metal, wiring, hydraulics, paint, and
assembly. The T53-L-11D engine installed on this Huey was rebuilt and
now powers the historic warbird on
its cross-country tours. Although Seawolf 324 could have easily been transported to AirVenture on a f latbed
truck to save on fuel and time, John
and Larry decided it would be a fitting
tribute to fly the Huey to Oshkosh.
“I get a real kick flying the Huey,”
added Larry Clark. “Especially this
one—it’s a historic piece of our nation’s histor y. The Huey is a ver y
stable platform, and this particular
model flies just like an old warbird:
low, slow, and loud. It has a lot of
drag because of all the guns hanging
off of it. We burn about 1 gallon per
mile and cruise around 85 knots—if
you want to get somewhere in a hurry,
don’t fly a Huey! But for me the greatest kick I get out of this old bird is
sharing it with the veterans who flew
them, worked on them, or were saved
by them. This aircraft stirs up a lot of
emotions, both good and bad. I have
watched countless men caress the
sides of the Huey like it was a long-lost
love as tears stream down their faces.
That’s why we owe it to our country’s
veterans to ‘Keep ’em Flying!’”
Seawolf 324 Specifications
Army Serial Number
63-12923
Navy Modex Number
324
Turbine Engine
Lycoming T53-L-13A, 1,400 hp
Rotor Diameter
44 feet
Fuel Capacity
168 gallons
Empty Weight
4,900 pounds
Gross Weight
8,500 pounds
Max Airspeed
120 knots
Armament (inert, replicas) M2HB .50-caliber right door guns
Dual M60 7.62 mm left door guns
M134 “Mini Gun” 7.62 mm
Dual M158 seven-shot, 2.75 rocket pods
M79 40 mm “Chunker”
M16A1 crew weapons
M1911 .45-caliber crew pistols
Smoke grenades
10,000 rounds of ammo
Seawolf: A solitary fish
with strong, prominent
teeth and proj ec tin g
tu sk s th at gi ve it a
sa va ge lo ok .
UH-1 Iroquois Huey Facts
The original prototype Huey helicopter
first flew in 1956 and continues in production today as both military and commercial models. More Hueys have been
built than any other helicopter. Used by
all branches of the U.S. armed services
and most Allied nations, it became the
“Flying Jeep” of the war in Vietnam. Beginning in 1963, the U.S. Army ordered
the first of improved model 205/UH-1D
Hueys. Its primary modification was the
addition of an enlarged and stretched
main cabin and more powerful engine to
boost carrying capacity. A single Textron
Lycoming T53-L-13 turboshaft engine with
1,400 shaft hp powered the UH-1H. The
Huey measured 41 feet 9 inches long, 14
feet 5 inches high, and had a rotor diameter of 48 feet. Weighing in at 5,210
pounds empty, it had a maximum speed
of 127 miles per hour and a range of 276
nautical miles.
During Vietnam 21,166 helicopters
were hit by enemy fire with 4,128 being lost while flying 26,733,403 sorties.
During the peak years (1970-1972) of the
Vietnam War, the U.S. Army was training more than 3,000 pilots and 21,000
aircraft mechanics per year to keep the
helicopters flying. The UH-1 Huey helicopter holds the world record as having flown more combat hours than any
other aircraft in history.
The Huey was enormously successful for three reasons. First it achieved
an ideal mix of cabin room, speed, and
lifting capability. Earlier piston-engine
helicopters simply lacked enough power
for many military missions. Second, the
Huey proved to be a rugged and reliable
helicopter in service. In addition, large
military orders enabled Bell to offer the
Huey both commercially and overseas at
an attractive price. Bell also built commercial versions of the military Hueys beginning in 1960 and developed upgraded
models such as the 214 and 412 for military export and civilian use.
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