Original vintage 1960s Viet Nam conflict-era Bell Helicopter Company advertisement, featuring the U.S. Military's UH-1 Iroquois "Huey" helicopter - "The Hottest Thing in Helicopters Today!"
Dimensions: 8 inches wide by 11 inches high.
The primary air transportation vehicle for the U.S. Army during the Vietnam War, the Bell Huey served with almost every arm of the US forces during the conflict including:
- U.S. Marine Corps: close support helicopter troop carrier and gunship
- U.S. Air Force: inserting and extracting reconnaissance teams and other covert operations
- U.S. Navy: heavily armed gunship patrolling the Vietnamese river deltas.
When thinking about the Vietnam War, what comes to mind? Sights and smells of napalm or the harrowing scenes in magazines or newspapers. Or the fall of Saigon unfolding dramatically on TV or massive anti-war protests in the United States. These are all scenes of the same war, but for others the thought travels to sounds – the sounds of helicopters.
First generation helicopters were large, lumbering, cumbersome airframes that were described as “maintenance nightmares” full of complexities. The U.S. Army began to search for a design that was easier to maintain as a utility and multipurpose helicopter, specifically for the role of MEDEVAC and instrument training.
The Army selected a design submitted by Bell Helicopter from a pool of 20 designs in February 1955. The following year, the prototype XH-40 made its first flight, but by this time the Army had already requested six more XH-40s to be built. Finally in 1960, the Army ordered 100 of the helicopters using the designation “HU-1.”
Initially designed for the US Army as a medical evacuation and utility helicopter, the Bell Huey’s ruggedness and adaptability soon saw it deployed as a cargo transport, air assault, search and rescue and ground assault helicopter. As the U.S. airborne workhorse, the Huey was to become the most recognizable symbol of U.S. involvement and interdiction in South East Asia.
Known as “Slicks,” the short-bodied Huey UH-1 was deployed with great success during the opening years of the war deploying and extracting troops across the country but with the escalating conflict, the U.S. Army needed a version that could carry more troops. In response, the Bell Corporation stretched the fuselage and used the additional space for four extra seats facing outwards. This took the crew and passenger capacity to 15 with the enlarged cabin able to accommodate six stretchers and a medic.
Further modifications included replacing the side sliding doors with two large doors and then dispensing with them altogether allowing the Huey to be flown in a “doors-off”; configuration which greatly increased the speed of egress and loading of troops - an important consideration when coming into a hot landing field under enemy fire. The doors-off configuration also allowed for the deployment of door gunners behind their swivel mounted M60 machine guns.
A later model, the UH-1C or “Charlie“ model was fitted with more powerful engines and side-wing pods to carry guns and/or rockets with grenade launchers and automatic cannons also fitted to the nose turret. Like the one displayed in the advert here! The UH-iC’s operated as dedicated attack gunships providing fire support for troops in contact with the Viet Cong. The all-gun models were called “Cobras," whilst the rocket-carrying types were called “Hogs.” As well as providing fire support for ground troops, the UH-1C helicopter gunships escorted the Slick transports during all phases of an air assault operation.
It was the task of the Hogs to protect the Slicks during transit, to soften up a landing zone prior to the arrival of the assault force, provide suppressive fire during the actual landing, and cover the withdrawal of the Slicks during pickup of troops. When the last Bell Huey had lifted off from the US Embassy in Saigon, over 7,000 had been deployed across the South East Asian war zone with a further 16,000 being built since 1960.
The Bell Huey has also served with many allied nations across the globe and was also the primary air transportation for Australian troops during the Vietnam conflict. Its ability to take significant punishment, simple design and ease of repair has also seen the Huey transition into civilian service as an air ambulance, firefighter, search and rescue and policing.
The legacy of the Huey lives on through these updated revisions and in the photos that emerged during Vietnam, Grenada, Panama, and then some. And, of course, there are the numerous films and cinematography of war movies and stories of valor that project the Huey into the realm of one of the most iconic platforms in military history.