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"The Good Widow Mrs Jones" Question


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Gentlemen,

here it is, the indisputable proof that the Good widow was indeed painted on a UH-1D as well:

172095.jpg

Actually, it appears that 65-09777 had been converted to "H" standard by the time this photo was taken.

Hope this helps :)

Marko

Marko,

My fiend I knew we could count on you to dig out a pic if it existed. Good work!

Ray

PS: the last few D's off the line had roof mounted pitots. Not saying this particular one did, but it is possible. However, I don't think most in country birds received roof mounted pitots when they were upgraded to H's, just the T53-L13 engine upgrade.

Edited by rotorwash
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Yup, no question at all now. Two different paintings of the same subject. It came off the line as a UH-1D (04/66) and was assigned to D Troop 1/10 Cavalry in 10/66. My guess is by the time it left D Troop in 1967 it got the uprated engine and the 121st had it as a UH-1H. That's truly a unique picture both for the airframe AND the artwork.

Chris M

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  • 11 months later...

The Good Widow Mrs Jones

assigned to the 121st AHC Soc Trang Tigers during the period 67-68.

65-9777 was a UH-1D with a T53-L11 engine.

None of our Huey's were H Models or had L-13 engines during its time with the Tigers.

The older D's had the pitot tube on the nose. The newer D's, as did the H models, had the pitot tube on the Roof.

The reason being that many soldiers & others got stuck on it when walking around then nose.

Also the Tigers Head on the pilots doors had a "White" Lightning Flash. Not "red" as depicted elsewhere.

Of course doors could be replaced and the Tigers Head and Lightning Flash were applyed with a stencil...one color after another, the lightning flash was added last. Thats why its missing on the photo above.

During my tour 67-68 I never saw a red lightning flash.

The foot step on the skids, below the pilots door were also normally painted White or Blue for the reasons stated below.

Also on the Tailboom, ahead of the Stabilizer, was a White Triangle with a smaller Red Triangle inside it. All 121st a/c had this marking.

The Tigers had three platoons.

The 1st Platoon had a White Lightning Flash....call sign White Tiger

The 2nd Platoon had a Blue Lightning Flash....call sign Blue Tiger

The 3rd Platoon was the Gun Platoon with UH-1B's.....call sign Vikings...no Tigers head...they had their own Viking markings on the door & nose

I was a crew member (Pilot) on this aircraft when we got shot down in Tieu Can, IV Corp (Mekong Delta) on a resupply Mission on 6 Feb 1968. This was during TET.

It was retrieved several weeks later by a CH-47 and lifted back to Soc Trang.

Because of the damage incured I believe it was returned to the states for rebuilding.

No more Tail Rotor Transmission (90 gearbox) or T/R blades, many holes in the boom, underbody (fuel tanks),fuselage and cockpit.

After its rebuild & Military use it was sold on the civilian market.

It is now flying in South Africa as ZU-LCY.

Edited by shaky
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