Delaware Valley Historical Aircraft Association

History

The Bell UH-1 "Huey" is perhaps the most widely recognized helicopter ever made. The Museum’s UH-1V is the air ambulance or medical evacuation derivative of the UH-1H utility helicopter model. History of this aircraft is largely unknown but Arabic writing stenciled on the pilot’s door suggests that it served in Desert Shield/Storm.

The UH-1 line of aircraft is probably the most produced helicopter in the world with something over 10,000 being built, not including co-production in several foreign countries or the commercial variants that were produced. The original design dates back to the late 1950’s and was originally know as the XH-40, first flown in 1956. With the military changeover in model designation, it then became known as the HU- 1, which shortly was changed to UH- 1. It might be of interest to mention that the official name for the model was the “Iroquois”. But the HU-l designation generated the nickname “Huey” which became so popular that Bell, the manufacturer, started putting the “Huey” name on the anti-torque pedals.

The original design was for a utility/med-evacuation aircraft with the ability to carry ten people, including the pilot or three litters with medical attendant. The original production model was the HU-1A (UH-1A). This original small cabin design progressed through a considerable number of model designations until Bell developed a larger cabin version which had the capacity for fifteen persons (including the pilot) or six litters with medical attendant. This model was known as the UH-1D which through production improvements became the UH-1H. In all, there were some 18 or 20 military models in the UH-1 series, plus several commercial variants as well. In addition, the AH-1 Cobra is an offshoot of the UH-1 as it used the UH-1 dynamics (Rotor, transmission, drive train, etc.).

Additional History of our Huey

by CW4 William H. Carlisle, Retired

The Huey you have on display was last assigned to the 336th Med. Det. Hel. Amb. Our unit was located at Stewart Field in Newburgh, NY right next to the West Point hanger. That’s our symbol on the nose cover and also was also the symbol of our patch. I was the pilot that was at the controls when she decided to have an engine malfunction/failure on June 6th, 1995 at North Central Airfield in Rhode Island. We were flying home from a military airshow near Boston on that Sunday afternoon when the failure occurred. I have the post inspection conclusion reports. This failure lead to a nationwide grounding for a one-time inspection of a major drive gear.

Our unit was disbanded in September, 1996. We did have overseas medical service in Honduras and Desert Storm/Shield.