thatguy96 Posted March 14, 2013 Share Posted March 14, 2013 Old JUH-1H SOTAS birds then? Quote Link to post Share on other sites
FM-Whip Posted March 15, 2013 Share Posted March 15, 2013 Indeed I am, John. Ask and you shall receive (I had to get these off my camera first). Okay, this is a quiz. Anybody know what's special about this Huey? Looks like a SOTAS bird to me. That's an interesting paint scheme for a NASA aircraft...:-) Thanks for posting that. John Hairell (tpn18@yahoo.com) Quote Link to post Share on other sites
EDWMatt Posted March 15, 2013 Share Posted March 15, 2013 We have a winner! Joe and John, you guys are bang on - that is an old SOTAS bird. For those not familiar, SOTAS stood for Stand OFF Target Acquisition System. Five UH-1H's were converted as system demonstrators and used in Germany and Korea. SOTAS had a large side-looking airborne radar (SLAR) boom (similar to that used on the OV-1 Mohawk) under the fuselage that rotated in flight. Those high skids were needed for ground clearance of the boom and retracted to allow the boom to rotate. The red struts you see between the forward crosstube and the skids are part of the retraction mechanism. The retraction was a bit strange - the crosstubes rotate around the saddle mounts until their essentially flush with the underside. Here's a link to show what the helo looked like with the SLAR installed and how the skids look retracted: http://www.planepictures.net/netsearch4.cgi?srch=Bell%20JUH-1H%20%28SOTAS%29&stype=actype&srng=2. I think there's also a thread on the board that has some additional pics. The intention was to field the system on the UH-60, and one prototype was built (the YEH-60B, known as "Daddy Longlegs", due to it's extended landing gear) prior to the program being cancelled. My understanding from a friend that had some involvement with SOTAS is that the system didn't work well - the SLAR didn't like the vibration levels and failed often, and there was at least one instance where the boom jammed crossways, so they couldn't extend the skids and had to land the helo on a pile of mattresses! The mission is now performed by JSTARS and Block 40 Global Hawks. Langley picked up this airframe to do model drops. The retractable skids allowed them to drop some fairly large models. Wallops grabbed the airframe last year, as Langley was no longer using it. Wallops is using it for range clearance for rocket launches - previously, the had to lease a commercial helicopter. I talked a bit with the pilot. He said he doesn't care for the landing characteristics - it's very squirrely, as the higher gear changes the relationship between the rotor and the ground in ground effect. He offered to take me on a flight, but they were having maintenance issues with the helo that they didn't get resolved before I left. Maybe when I go back again this fall! Markings are a bit unusual. It looks black in the pictures, but it's really just fairly fresh, nasty green CARC, with gold markings. In the current budget environment, it's hard to find money to paint an airplane (we have F-15's that are still AF gray, and likely will stay that way for some time...) Quote Link to post Share on other sites
FM-Whip Posted March 16, 2013 Share Posted March 16, 2013 Markings are a bit unusual. It looks black in the pictures, but it's really just fairly fresh, nasty green CARC, with gold markings. In the current budget environment, it's hard to find money to paint an airplane (we have F-15's that are still AF gray, and likely will stay that way for some time...) For SOTAS airframes this is what I've got: 67-17448 67-17691 67-17755 63-12976 63-12974 As far as the paint, having worked for NASA as soon as I saw it I figured it was a budget issue..:-) So what happened to the Wallops UH-1V? John Hairell (tpn18@yahoo.com) Quote Link to post Share on other sites
EDWMatt Posted March 16, 2013 Share Posted March 16, 2013 For SOTAS airframes this is what I've got: 67-17448 67-17691 67-17755 63-12976 63-12974 As far as the paint, having worked for NASA as soon as I saw it I figured it was a budget issue..:-) So what happened to the Wallops UH-1V? John Hairell (tpn18@yahoo.com) Yeah, and the budget is just getting worse... Those are the same s/n's I have for the SOTAS airframes also. As for the UH-1V, don't know. Talking to Shane (the Flight Ops chief), they hadn't had a helo at WFF for at least 3-4 years prior to getting the JUH-1H last year. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
FM-Whip Posted March 16, 2013 Share Posted March 16, 2013 Yeah, and the budget is just getting worse... Those are the same s/n's I have for the SOTAS airframes also. As for the UH-1V, don't know. Talking to Shane (the Flight Ops chief), they hadn't had a helo at WFF for at least 3-4 years prior to getting the JUH-1H last year. Budget and lack thereof is why I'm no longer at GSFC... As far as the UH-1V, it's been at least 10 years since I saw it at Goddard. It had an experimental (optical I think) package hung on the left side at the time. John Hairell (tpn18@yahoo.com) Quote Link to post Share on other sites
rotorwash Posted March 16, 2013 Share Posted March 16, 2013 Budget and lack thereof is why I'm no longer at GSFC... As far as the UH-1V, it's been at least 10 years since I saw it at Goddard. It had an experimental (optical I think) package hung on the left side at the time. John Hairell (tpn18@yahoo.com) Well this is on the right side but it is definitely an optical package. Looks like some type of IR sensor for detecting wildfires? Ray I thought I'd also throw in a couple of the former SOTAS bird surveying hurricane damage. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
EDWMatt Posted March 17, 2013 Share Posted March 17, 2013 That's definitely a FLIR ball on the white Huey. Nice pics, Ray! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
FM-Whip Posted March 17, 2013 Share Posted March 17, 2013 That's definitely a FLIR ball on the white Huey. Nice pics, Ray! That's not the same hardware that I saw on the WFF UH-1V... John Hairell (tpn18@yahoo.com) Quote Link to post Share on other sites
rotorwash Posted August 6, 2013 Share Posted August 6, 2013 So I had the opportunity to scan some more images from the Lawson collection at the National Museum of Naval Aviation last week and thought I'd share my good fortune with the group. Enjoy! SH-2G AH-1G RSRA (Rotor Systems Research Aircraft): Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Loach Driver Posted February 19, 2014 Author Share Posted February 19, 2014 Another nice set of photos as usual, Ray. Here are a few more that might be of interest. The fleet shot shows a UH-1 and what looks like an OH-58A Kiowa. Possibly a flight proficiency ship that pre-dates the NASA OH-6A? UH-1 variant with a model of the X-29. Same ship with a scaled down F-5. I guess this Huey might be a possibility in 1/35th scale but scratch-building an X-29 or F-5 scale model for a 1/72 Huey might be a bit of a stretch! LD. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
GLMFAA1 Posted February 19, 2014 Share Posted February 19, 2014 (edited) Revelogram 'Rambo' chopper and 144th Hmmmm? I wonder what kind of test that would be with blade wash on the model? greg Edited February 19, 2014 by GLMFAA1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
FM-Whip Posted February 19, 2014 Share Posted February 19, 2014 Here's another NASA-related bird: John Hairell (tpn18@yahoo.com Quote Link to post Share on other sites
rotorwash Posted February 19, 2014 Share Posted February 19, 2014 Another nice set of photos as usual, Ray. Here are a few more that might be of interest. The fleet shot shows a UH-1 and what looks like an OH-58A Kiowa. Possibly a flight proficiency ship that pre-dates the NASA OH-6A? UH-1 variant with a model of the X-29. Same ship with a scaled down F-5. I guess this Huey might be a possibility in 1/35th scale but scratch-building an X-29 or F-5 scale model for a 1/72 Huey might be a bit of a stretch! :thumbsup:/> LD. LD, You made my day with these! The Huey is a civil Bell 204B. It has a 48 ft diameter 205 rotor and a longer tailboom than a UH-1B. You can easily build a civil 204B by kitbashing a Italeri UH-1B and a UH-1F/AB204 kit together. You just need the engine cowling from the UH-1B kit. However, this bird also has a rescue hoist fitted like a Marine UH-1E so you would have to build that (I think I saw a resin set of the hoist in 72nd on E-bay). Also, if you really want it to be accurate, you'd need to get a rotor from a 205/UH-1D/H kit as the Italeri rotors are woefully undersized (40 scale ft vs 48 needed). Ray Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Loach Driver Posted January 29, 2020 Author Share Posted January 29, 2020 Ray, best to look away now. NASA are replacing the Huey with the EC135 (I can't call it an Airbus!) or whatever they call it these days! 😱 https://www.avweb.com/aviation-news/nasa-to-get-airbus-h135s/ LD. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Dutch Posted January 30, 2020 Share Posted January 30, 2020 And Greg Drawbaugh at Draw Decal offers the Bell 205 NASA decals in multi scales. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
hawkwrench Posted January 31, 2020 Share Posted January 31, 2020 Whatever happened to EDWmatt??? Hope everything's ok with him. Sure miss his posting of pics! Tim Quote Link to post Share on other sites
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