History of the Huey

The first flight of the Huey was by Pilot, Floyd Carlson on October 22, 1956 in Fort Worth.

UH-1 aircraft have totaled more than 27 million flight hours since Oct. 22, 1956 when the first model of the huey was flown.

Army UH-1's totaled 7,531,955 flight hours in the Vietnam War between October 1966 and the end of 1975.

The Huey Cobra (AH-1G) had 1,038,969 flight hours in Vietnam

The Huey and the Cobra have more combat flight time than any other aircraft in the history of warfare.

Bell Helicopter built 10,005 Hueys from 1957 to 1975. Of the 10,005 production Hueys, 9,216 went to the U.S. Army, 127 to the U.S. Marine Corps, 79 to the U.S. Air Force and 42 to the U.S. Navy.  The rest went to other countries.

Today, There are only 113 B models registered. 9 E models, 12 F models, 10 Training F Models, 1 HH-1K, 8 TH-1L’s, 14 UH-1L, 3 M models, 1 P model, 5 civilian 205’s and 547 UH-1H’s.   There are zero registered for all other makes and models of the military variant hueys, leaving only 723 Military varient Huey models in all registered today. 


The Huey remains a legend as the most successful rotorcraft in Aviation History.

 

Model 204
Model 205
Vietnam Helicopter Losses

Model 205
Model UH-1D
Even while Bell was working on improvements of the model 204, in early 1960 Bell proposed another version of the Model 204, to be designated the Model 205 with a longer fuselage and additional cabin space resulting from relocation of the fuel cells, thus providing accommodation for a pilot and 14 troops.  It is easily distinguished from the Model 204 by the fact that the side doors have two windows, rather than one.

Bell proposed the concept to the Army in 1960, leading to the award of a contract in July 1960 for seven Model 205’s which were designated in service as the "UH-1D" prototypes.
The Model 205 first flew on August 16th 1961, and were introduced into service in August 9th 1963.  They were delivered to the 11th Air Assault Division at Fort Benning, Georgia. 

The Model 205/UH-1D became the Army's primary combat transport and medevac helicopter in Vietnam. The smaller Model 204 variants were generally assigned to the gunship role. The Army bought a total of 2,008 UH-1Ds.  All remaining UH-1D’s which had not been destroyed in combat, were upgraded to the UH-1H

Model UH-1H
The UH-1D was followed into production, by the more or less identical UH-1H which differed only in the use of the more powerful engine as well as avionics for night and bad-weather operation, and a Decca radio navigation system.

The UH-1H was produced and delivered to the US Army in September 1967.  The UH-1H was the final production version for the military and remained in production for 20 years. The US Army obtained a total of 3,573 UH-1Hs, and many remain in service, mostly with Army Reserve / National Guard units. They have been kept current with new avionics, improved composite rotor blades, countermeasures equipment such as chaff-flare dispensers and infrared jammers.
Three UH-1Hs were modified to the "EH-1H" signals intelligence (SIGINT) standard. 220 UH-1Hs were converted to the "UH-1V" medevac standard, with a rescue hoist and revised avionics. The USAF also obtained 30 similar "HH-1Hs" with a rescue hoist for Search and Rescue.

The UH-1H was employed extensively on a very wide range of duties in South East Asia, and was regarded by many as the workhorse helicopter par excellence in Vietnam. In particular, the type played a major role in special warfare operations in Laos, Cambodia, and in some of the remote areas of South Vietnam. 
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MODEL 212 TWIN HUEY/UH-1N

Bell had experimented with a twin-engine Model 208 Huey prototype, which was a UH-1D/UH-1H fitted with two turboshaft engines.
This prototype led to the production in 1965 of the "Twin Huey" or "Model 212 / UH-1N".  The twin turbine model could actually provide 900 horsepower each.  Although the rotor system couldn't deal with 1,800 horsepower, in the event of a failure of one of the turbines, the remaining operational turbine could be run at its full 900 horsepower output.

Bell began deliveries of the UH-1N to the US Air Force in 1970, who obtained 79 of them for special operations use. The US Navy and Marine Corps were particularly interested in the type, as the twin-engine configuration provided greater flight safety for overwater operations.  They had obtained a total of 221 by 1978. Two standard Marine UH-1Ns were converted to "VH-1N" VIP transports, and six Model 212s were built new to this standard for the Corps as well.

The Canadian Armed Forces, which had backed development of this model, received their first of 50 Model 212’s on May 3rd 1971.  The CAF originally designated the type the "CUH-1N", but this was later changed to "CH-135".

Model 412
The Bell Model 412 was announced on September 8th 1978, which was produced in January 1981. It is essentially a Model 212 only with a four-blade composite rotor for smoother and more efficient flight, rather than only 2. The rotor system could also be folded for compact storage. It is powered by twin engines with a total of 1,310 horsepower. The Model 412 features crashworthy seats, fuel tanks, and landing gear, and the fuselage also features built-in maintenance steps and handholds to ease servicing in the field. It can carry up to 14 passengers, or six stretchers with attendants.

Model 214
In 1970, Bell announced the introduction of an improved derivative of the Model 205 / UH-1H to be designated the "Model 214 Huey Plus".
The prototype led to the production "Model 214A", which was similar but had a more powerful engine with 2,930 horsepower. The Model 214A was demonstrated to the Iranians who placed an order for 287 of the type for the Iranian Army, The Iranian Model 214s served in the country's war with Iraq in the 1980s.
The Model 214A itself was difficult to distinguish from a Model 205, but Bell began to consider a "stretched" derivative with a "Twin Pac" type engine configuration and other much more visible changes they called a 214ST.

Bell continued development of the Model 214ST redefining the "ST" suffix to stand for "Super Transport", leading to initial deliveries of the new variant in 1982. The Model 214ST has a modernized and more streamlined appearance than other versions of the Huey; It features a "roll bar" built into the fuselage for crew protection; and has a glass-fiber rotor with titanium leading-edge strips and stainless steel end caps. It can carry a crew of two and up to 18 passengers.