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I was mulling over bulding a late war (73-end) VNAF Huey gunship when the long-awaited Kitty Hawk Huey arrives.   Unlike the US Army, the Vietnamese flew the long body version in the gunship role.  Typically armed with two 7-shot rocket pods and flex XM-93 miniguns in the cabin.   I initially posted on the KH UH-1 Huey thread but I don't want to take that thread OT.   Cobra offers the sugar scoop and a nice looking XM-93 set, any info out there on where I could get the rocket pods and their mounting system?  Also, anyone make decals for VNAF subjects (if not, might be a cool subject for Werner's Wings)?    Lastly, any good pictures out there of these gunships or specifically the XM-93 system mounted in a Huey.  No luck with Google. At one time, I thought I saw a couple of awesome detail shots of an NVAF Huey that showed the interior in great detail (a unique trait of VNAF Hueys seems to be that the crew flew with a LOT of personal equip stuffed in the troop compartment) but I can't find those pics either.  Any help is appreciated.  Here is one potential subject:

 

Image result for UH-1H VNAF

Edited by 11bee
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The middle picture is not a VNAF huey, it's a US huey with the "Nighthawk" night interdiction system on it. Although it shows a minigun installed it is not the XM-93 system or any of it's components. You can also research UH-1N 20th SOS and find pictures of this system as well as UH-1P instals for details. The rocket pods could come from an MRC UH-1C, 7 shot pods are in some issues of it. The Panda/Dragon UH-1N gunship version had pods and mounts although I think the pods were 19 shot, at least the mounts could be used.

 

Chris M

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Guys,

 

Can't thank you enough.   Tim - those were the exact pics I was trying to find. Midnight - Thanks for the tip on Speedway, if I can get all my ducks lined up AND KW releases their Huey, I'll reach out to them.   Only issue I see is that typically most custom decal outfits request detailed measurements for each marking, which may be an issue.  We'll see.   I'm still hoping we see a boatload of aftermarket decals for the Huey once it's finally released. 

 

 

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Interesting John, from the lead graphic shows the VNAF Huey as being at Can Tho AB in 1973.  I was at Can Tho thru March of '73, but there was no VNAF unit there during my time with C/16 Cavs. Must have been after US aviation units departed.  Just a little historical trivia for you!

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3 hours ago, AH6C-SIP said:

Interesting John, from the lead graphic shows the VNAF Huey as being at Can Tho AB in 1973.  I was at Can Tho thru March of '73, but there was no VNAF unit there during my time with C/16 Cavs. Must have been after US aviation units departed.  Just a little historical trivia for you!

 

Seemed like an interesting subject.  After the US withdrawal, most people in the US (vets aside) completely lost interest in that war.  Although some SVN units called it quits, many, especially air force and elite army units, fought hard until the end.   Even when it was apparent their cause was lost, they kept fighting.  Very much a forgotten war by then. 

 

GT, not many pics out there of US army aviation units towards the end of the (US) war.  If I'm not mistaken, your unit must have been one of the last Army units to leave Vietnam.   If you have any pics, please feel free to share.    

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One thing you should realize about the XM157 rocket pods on the VNAF UH-1H is that they are not mounted to a Army M156 universal mount.  In fact, the mount looks more like the mount for the Marines TK-2 system although not exactly like it either.  I am unsure if this was an in-county mod or a factory made mounting system, but it certainly is not a standard Army setup.

   Ray

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I flew my Cobra and along with two other Cobra's we went hunting along the Cambodian border.  We had a Huey with us with the local RVN Colonel aboard.  He had to give us permission to shoot.  ROE gone made back then too.  Anyway we did find some bad guys and shot 'em up real good, untill we ran out of ammo.  We went back to Can Tho to rearm, but our CO said nope, that's all.  The next day came the ceasefire, 8AM January 27, 1973, and we never flew our Cobra's again.

 

 ere's a  pic from 11/72.  My tail rotor and gearbox came off.  Good thing it was in the Monsoon season, as we ditched in a rice paddy.  We don't seem to be able to upload as many pictures as we used too.  GT

TR Failure at Chau Duc.jpg

Edited by AH6C-SIP
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