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Scanned a few new pics i thought you guys might like. These are all official Bell photos.

Ray

UH-1A with M22 system and training missiles:

UH-1AwithM22systemcompressed.jpg

Beautiful High vis UH-1B:

UH-1B60-3606compressed.jpg

finally, one of my favorites, the Uh-1B's in antarctic colors. This scheme can be seen on the UH-1B on display at the US Army Transportation Museum at Ft. Eustis.

UH-1Bsinantarcticcolors.jpg

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  • 11 months later...

Yesterday was a GOOD day! By the way, the white birds are bound for Lebanon and are the Huey IIs mentioned in the recent Army contract I posted on another thread. Turns out those birds are for foreign military sales.

Ray

DSC_0351.jpg

LebanonHueyII-4.jpg

LebanonHueyII-5.jpg

LebanonHueyII-2.jpg

This Columbian Huey II has all the goodies: FRIES system, hoist, armored floor, etc. She started life as a UH-1D in 1965, went to Vietnam, was shot down twice, and is now headed south of the border to start a new life.

ColumbianHueyII-4.jpg

ColumbianHueyII-3.jpg

Edited by rotorwash
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Any idea what might be "experimental" about the Huey IIs bound for Lebanon? Not too surprising either. The US has a major assistance program there that involves DoD, State, and USAID. Of the 3 known forward-based SOCCENT elements, one, Special Operations Command (Forward) - Lebanon, is in the country to coordinate training and other support activities there.

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Any idea what might be "experimental" about the Huey IIs bound for Lebanon? Not too surprising either. The US has a major assistance program there that involves DoD, State, and USAID. Of the 3 known forward-based SOCCENT elements, one, Special Operations Command (Forward) - Lebanon, is in the country to coordinate training and other support activities there.

It's an FAA thing. I don't know the particulars of the experimental designation, but I can find out. The white birds are slated to be painted a digital blue camo by the Lebanese from what I understand.

Ray

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I know there are Huey threads and Cobra threads but I thought I would start one for official Bell photos. That way the Bell civil types can get some love as well. If anyone else has official Bell photos, please feel free to add them as well. Wayne has been kind enough to share his incredible collection of images with me so I thought I'd share them with you. I will post em a few at a time, but I have quite a large selection. Let me know what do you guys think about this thread idea.

Ray

Bell 214

bell%20214%20Isfrahan%20Bell%20Photo.jpg

I saw 7 of these at Ft. Rucker in mid-1977, on their way to Iran. They were delivered in a non-descript all-over tan color. The only markings they had was a serial (from memory on the tailboom, not the fin) that was prefixed with a G, for example G-0000001 through G-0000007. For 2 or 3 days they were all parked on the closed airstrip that was behind the old location for the Army Aviation Museum, and then they disappeared. One of the pilots in my class flew one for a demo.

Interestingly at Rucker at that time we had a both Iranian and Israeli Huey pilots in training. I think things were arranged so that they seldom met.

John Hairell (tpn18@yahoo.com)

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Here's a few shots for the civilian helo guys.

Ray

Bell 407 (actually a 406, thanks Matt)

Mutza%20slides%2020090007.jpg

Mutza%20slides%2020090008.jpg

I think I've actually flown this a/c in a previous incarnation where it didn't have the T-tail.

It was brought down by Bell to Ft. Hood in 1978 or 79 for a demo. I got two rides in it, one back seat and the next front seat.

I remember it being taken through its paces by the Bell pilot, who took it to its upper G-limit. I had just eaten lunch and could feel it...

John Hairell (tpn18@yahoo.com)

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Hmm... There are clearly not enough german Hueys here!

It should be noted that although it is designated UH-1D, it is actually a UH-1H.

On all german Hueys, the louvres of the air intake are turned vertical. I've only seen this on german Hueys. RoG got that wrong on their 1/72 kits. Also note the GPS antenna on top of the upper cable cutter.

7237_ARC.jpg

This one is without the GPS antenna:

7283_ARC.jpg

And another one with the latest upgrades:

7288_ARC.jpg

This one belongs to the Air Force. The Air Force is using their Hueys to support the civil EMS operators.

7175_ARC.jpg

Edited by Lancer512
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Hmm... There are clearly not enough german Hueys here!

It should be noted that although it is designated UH-1D, it is actually a UH-1H.

On all german Hueys, the louvres of the air intake are turned vertical. I've only seen this on german Hueys. RoG got that wrong on their 1/72 kits. Also note the GPS antenna on top of the upper cable cutter.

Some late Ds and early Hs in U.S. Army usage also had the vertical louvers, at least in some photos I've seen.

John Hairell (tpn18@yahoo.com)

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Some late Ds and early Hs in U.S. Army usage also had the vertical louvers, at least in some photos I've seen.

John Hairell (tpn18@yahoo.com)

Hmm... Didn't know that. I though it was a german thing, since they were built by Dornier.

Another Huey of the German Air Force, this time equipped for the CSAR role. Looking really serious...

7099_ARC.jpg

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ColumbianHueyII-4.jpg

ColumbianHueyII-3.jpg

The only way this Huey could look any better is if they fitted it with a pair of door-mounted mini-guns! Aircraft involved in Central/South American counter-narcotics operations are always fascinating and this Huey really looks the business. Is there any indication of how many of these airframes Colombia are planning to buy? Great photos as usual, Ray.

LD.

Edited by Loach Driver
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Hmm... There are clearly not enough german Hueys here!

It should be noted that although it is designated UH-1D, it is actually a UH-1H.

On all german Hueys, the louvres of the air intake are turned vertical. I've only seen this on german Hueys. RoG got that wrong on their 1/72 kits. Also note the GPS antenna on top of the upper cable cutter.

German birds are still designated as UH-1D's. I can't remeber the reason, but Rob Busse has all the details in his awesome German Huey book. You can find it on Amazon. Also, John is correct that early US Army D models had the vertical vents. I'll post some pics later. The German UH-1D's also have glide slope indictors on the nose that are not found on US Army UH-1H's. Thanks for the German Huey pics, by the way.

Ray

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The only way this Huey could look any better is if they fitted it with a pair of door-mounted mini-guns! Aircraft involved in Central/South American counter-narcotics operations are always fascinating and this Huey really looks the business. Is there any indication of how many of these airframes Colombia are planning to buy? Great photos as usual, Ray.

LD.

LD,

I have no idea how many they might get, but my guess is that there are no new ones planned for a while. By the way, the exhaust is modified for IR supression. I would really like to see her minus the "N" number on the side personally. I can easily remove it in photoshop, but it's just not the same.

Ray

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German birds are still designated as UH-1D's. I can't remeber the reason, but Rob Busse has all the details in his awesome German Huey book.

Yupp, I've met him on that same day when I took the first three of the above pictures. I also have his book.

The reason they are called UH-1Ds is, that nobody changed the designation in the sales contract to UH-1H when the helicopters were upgraded during production. At least that is what I understood.

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  • 1 year later...

Have a look at this thread on PPRuNe (Posts 2361 onwards).

http://www.pprune.org/rotorheads/419023-rotary-nostalgia-thread-119.html#post8200742

It has some very nice photos of Iranian Bell 214s. Check out the photo of the ramp full of 214s and Chinooks. Also have a look at the 214 in the nice green-and-sand camouflage pattern. :thumbsup:

Is it true to say that the main bits you need for a 214 model is a Bell 212 kit, a new engine housing and the main and tail rotors from an AH-1W? What do you think, Ray, is it doable?

LD.

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Loach Driver, You are indeed correct!! You will find though that the main instrument panel is shaped differently, and also that the windshield Wipers are mounted below the window, as opposed to above on the 204/5/12... You can see in images that they all use a common window, because the 204/5/12 windshields have a curve on the bottom for the wiper kit on the 214B.

I have tried to email one of the companies in Canada who has a 214B-1 for drawings, but they where not really interested... My plan was to take the Panda 212 and make a 214A or B out of it... Use a Chinook engine, and just make the exhaust out of sheet plastic.

The blades are shorter on the main rotor though I believe. On the 214ST (I fly one in the Canadian Arctic) we have tail rotor, engines, transmission etc from the Whiskey Cobra, but with civilian dataplates. I believe the diameter of the rotor is slightly less on the 214B.

Did some further looking, the Cobra Rotor Dia is 48', the 214B is 50 and the 214ST is 52 feet.

Cheers

H.

Edited by Winnie
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  • 2 weeks later...

Would love to see more Vietnam era birds.

Well it is Christmas after all. These are from Tommy Thornton 118th AHC 1965-66. To be considered a beauty shot for this thread, I ideally want to be able to see the whole bird. That leaves off a bunch of nice Vietnam shots, but I think you will agree these are pretty good. Enjoy!

Ray

454545R16969_2_zps15540b4e.jpg

123123R1055_2_zpse379cb89.jpg

Heavy Hog with a "Bandit" on the nose:

PICT0034-1_zps249accf0.jpg

Some nice formation shots:

[

PICT0074-1_zps8531a209.jpg

PICT0258_zpsa92bb852.jpg

PICT0116-1_zpsa0e29380.jpg

PICT0247_zpsdd875197.jpg

These look like the prototype for the Apocalypse Now shots:

22424Dec6568thTigersBeachAssaultAfterB-52Strike-5ThunderbirdsAttachedto68thforOperation_zpsb7675faf.jpg

22524Dec6568thTigersBeachAssaultafterB-52Strike-5Thunderbirdsattachedto68thforOperation2_zps889e281c.jpg

Last but not least, one of my all time favorite Vietnam helo images. This one is an award winner. MERRY CHRISTMAS!

2604May66Inserting173rdNorthofTanUyen-Made7LiftsonThisMission4_zps4e28f07d.jpg

Edited by rotorwash
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Great photos as always Ray. The photos of all those Hueys setting down on the beach looks amazing. I wonder what the story is behind that photo!

LD.

LD,

Both of those beach CA's have the same caption " 24 Dec 65 68th Tigers Beach Assault after B-52 Strike-5 Thunderbirds attached to 68th for Operation" HTH.

Ray

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