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For educational purposes
One sight and one sound personified the Vietnam War more than any other.
The Bell UH-1 Iroquois Helicopter, universally known as the Huey, remains the definitive icon of American involvement in Vietnam.
One sight and one sound personified the Vietnam War more than any other.
The Bell UH-1 Iroquois Helicopter, universally known as the Huey, remains the definitive icon of American involvement in Vietnam.
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00:05Advances in aviation history give way to legendary aircraft that become the most powerful and
00:12innovative weapons of our time. Each airframe is unique with limitless capabilities but one
00:22thing remains the same. Underneath the surface they are all simply great planes. Designed as a utility
00:41helicopter the versatile Huey serves with the United States Army, Navy, Air Force and Marines.
00:48Its incredible legacy propels the Bell Aircraft Company to unprecedented success and revolutionizes
00:55the role of the helicopter. I'm Paul Max Moga. Join me as we tell the story of the beloved Huey.
01:11During the Vietnam War the work of the Huey helps add a new element to military strategy,
01:16changes the way wars are fought and becomes an integral tool for military forces around the
01:22world. This UH-1H is on display at the Air Mobility Command Museum at Dover Air Force Base. It's an
01:29authentic Vietnam War veteran. The US Army used it in combat from 1970 to 1972. Jim Fazekas and Rick Roll
01:39are volunteers at the museum and flew the Huey in Vietnam. Jim is a retired Army Chief Warrant Officer
01:444 and has more than 2,500 hours flying the Huey. Rick flew the Hueys for a year in Vietnam
01:50and worked
01:51as an instructor at Fort Rucker. He left the Army with the rank of Captain after three years of service.
01:57Rick, Jim, pleasure to meet you guys. Same here. Nice to meet you. Yeah, thanks for taking a couple minutes
02:03to talk to us
02:04about the mighty Huey. I'm a little nervous standing around a couple of Army guys, but we'll get over it,
02:11okay?
02:12Talk to me about, Rick, kind of the genesis of the Huey. Why was this helicopter developed? I mean, it
02:21did some
02:22wonderful things throughout its service life, but was there a need that it filled at the given time?
02:28Well, after the Second World War, it was clear that the Army wanted to have an air mobile concept and
02:34being able to take their troops into battle in the air rather than on the ground. The Huey was developed.
02:40It was the first turbine engine utility helicopter for the US Army. It went into service in the late 50s,
02:47early 60s, and dramatically revolutionized Army aviation. If one sight and one sound personify
02:56the Vietnam War, it's the Bell UH-1 Iroquois helicopter, universally known as the Huey,
03:02built in greater numbers than almost any other aircraft in history. To the more than 2.6 million
03:08Americans who served in Vietnam, the Huey conjures a proud symbol for the brave souls whose lives were
03:15forever changed by the devastation of war.
03:25The Bell Company's Huey emerges from one of aviation's most fascinating innovators, Arthur Young.
03:32Born in Paris in 1905, Young attends Princeton and is determined to make a contribution to the field of
03:38philosophy, a contribution he feels impossible without success in the field of technology.
03:46After a visit to the US Patent Office in 1927, Young focuses on the challenge of the helicopter.
03:54For more than a decade, he works alone in a Connecticut barn, continually testing and
03:59redesigning small models of his helicopter. In 1941, he demonstrates one of his models to Larry Bell,
04:10the founder and president of Bell Aircraft Company. Impressed, Bell hires Young to develop his helicopter.
04:19Convinced about the future of helicopters, Bell pays for development without government funds.
04:25Within 18 months, Young and other Bell engineers build their first one, the Model 30.
04:32It debuts on a cold winter day, a day filled with problems.
04:41First, they have to adjust the landing skids to get the aircraft out of the hangar,
04:45and then the engine won't start. A less than impressive debut.
04:57But Young presses on, and after a few modifications, tests continue.
05:06For several months, tethered flights assess the aircraft's mobility and stability, enabling Young
05:12to determine if the aircraft has enough power to lift off the ground.
05:23Young often tests the aircraft himself, but the first accident happens with another pilot at the helm.
05:30He's thrown from his seat and through the rotor. Incredibly, he escapes with only a broken wrist.
05:40Bell pilot Floyd Carlson, fresh from testing Bell fighters,
05:44quickly learns how to hover the aircraft.
05:48In the spring of 1943, under Carlson's control, the Model 30 takes its first free flight.
05:57The Model 30 unveils two innovations that identify Bell helicopters.
06:02A wide two-blade main rotor hinged at the rotor head, and a stabilizer bar mounted at 90 degrees to
06:08the main
06:08rotor blades, with streamlined weights at each end.
06:18The aircraft is powered by a 165 horsepower Franklin engine, with a covered fuselage and an open cockpit.
06:31The success of this test flight strengthens Bell's commitment to the helicopter.
06:38However, excessive vibrations destroy the prototype during landing tests.
06:44Bell's engineers are persistent and continue to modify and improve on Young's design.
06:54In 1944, test pilot Floyd Carlson hovers the experimental aircraft in front of a puzzled crowd in Buffalo, New York.
07:06The following year, Carlson gives two impromptu demonstrations of the helicopter's potential.
07:18In the first, Carlson flies a doctor to a snowed-in farmhouse in western New York to aid an injured
07:24pilot.
07:26Carlson later rescues two men from a crumbling ice flow on Lake Erie.
07:31Both missions demonstrate that helicopters can go where planes and boats cannot.
07:39Carlson's Lake Erie rescue earns him the Treasury Department silver medal,
07:43and provides the Bell Company with great publicity for its helicopter development.
07:55The first officially designated Model 47 takes to the air on December 8, 1945.
08:02Within three months, the model receives the FAA's type approval certificate.
08:08It's the first ever awarded to a commercial helicopter.
08:12Commercial and military contracts pour in, and production of the Model 47 begins in late 1946.
08:23This marks the start of a legacy that spans 27 years, 20 models, and more than 5,000 aircraft.
08:38After Bell spends $12 million in development, the Model 47 emerges, pushing Bell to the forefront of
08:45helicopter design and manufacturing.
08:48Determined to integrate the helicopter into the commercial world, Larry Bell sends out teams of
08:54employees with Model 47s to demonstrate its capabilities. These new models replace the cabin
08:59of the older model with the now familiar goldfish bowl plexiglass bubble. Bell succeeds in gaining
09:06commercial acceptance of his aircraft, and world events ensure the military will also learn about the Model 47's talents.
09:13Bell's Model 47D, the first helicopter mass-produced for military use, is developed in 1947.
09:34Three years later, the Korean War gives the Model 47 a new opportunity to demonstrate its capabilities.
09:44But could the Korean winter prove to be too harsh for the helicopter?
09:54The initial designation of HU-1A Helicopter Utility, or HU-A, led to its nickname, HU-E.
10:03In 1947, the first mass-produced military helicopter, the Bell Model 47D, gets its first chance to prove
10:11itself during the Korean War. The bitter cold Korean winter takes its toll on the troops and on their
10:18vehicles. Because fixed-wing aircraft can't land in many remote areas, the Army integrates helicopters
10:24into its logistical strategy. The Model 47 finds its niche as an air ambulance, revolutionizing the
10:33evacuation of wounded soldiers. The Model 47 can land virtually anywhere, and with stretchers on each
10:40side can carry a medic and two wounded soldiers directly to MASH units. More than 2,400 Model 47s serve
10:48military forces throughout the world. And in commerce, more than 2,600 Model 47s take flight.
10:57The Model's success spurs more development. In 1954, Bell engineers designed Model 204 to fit the U.S.
11:05Army's need for casualty evacuation, troop transport, and pilot training.
11:18The Army specifies easy field maintenance and the ability to lift an 800-pound load over a mission
11:24radius of 115 miles. The prototype of Bell's Model 204, the YH-40, wins the U.S. Army design competition
11:35in June 1955.
11:40It first flies on October 22, 1956, and the military authorizes six more pre-service trials and several
11:48design adjustments. In August 1958, six YH-40s are delivered to the Army for evaluation, each with a
11:59cabin about a foot longer than the prototype.
12:14In addition, these choppers have four-inch high landing skids, a wider access door, and a cabin roof-mounted turbine
12:22engine
12:22that runs on most fuels. It can also fly 1,000 hours before needing a mechanical overhaul.
12:36The cabin can accommodate two crewmen and eight troops. The Army puts these aircraft through a battery
12:43of brutal tests.
12:52In Canada and Alaska, the aircraft endures temperatures down to 65 degrees below zero,
12:58and is then subjected to extended icing conditions.
13:11Other models are tested in the extreme heat and dust of the Arizona desert.
13:18The YH-40 meets the challenges.
13:26The tests determine if the YH-40 can perform under battle conditions.
13:36The Army also tests the helicopter's tactical capabilities for troop transport,
13:41medical evacuation, and both internal and external cargo transport.
13:50The YH-40 incorporates a single-point, 3,000-pound capacity external cargo suspension system.
14:04The system is attached to the aircraft's center of gravity to improve stability while moving external cargo.
14:18The YH-40 is able to easily lift an L-19 airplane, weighing just under a ton.
14:33The Army is pleased with the Bell helicopters.
14:38It designates the helicopter the HU-1A Iroquois, nicknamed the Huey.
14:43Even when the military changes the designation for utility helicopters to UH in 1962, the name Huey stays.
15:04The Army initially orders nine HU-1s, featuring a single Lycoming T-53 turboshaft engine.
15:13Two months later, in September 1958, the first HU-1A leaves Bell's Texas plant.
15:20Within a year, orders for the Huey exceed 100.
15:25Now, uh, I'm looking at a checklist in front of me.
15:28Jim, you can't see it, but it says,
15:30Pilots checklist, UH-1H, takeoff, instruments controls, governor RPM.
15:34There had to have been more to it than that.
15:36I mean, this one only has three.
15:38Are those like the, you gotta do them or else you're in big trouble?
15:41That was, that, that was the, the, the basic instruments.
15:43The thing is with the helicopter, it's, it, it's all governor controlled.
15:46Once you roll the throttle all the way on, the governor controls the turbine.
15:49Mm-hmm.
15:49And you don't, you don't miss the throttle until you're ready to shut it off.
15:52Uh, and also the, uh, military didn't want us to memorize or use checklists, uh, because they wanted
15:57to be, uh, they didn't want us to use paper checklists.
15:59They wanted us to memorize them because they wanted us to jump in the machine, crank it,
16:03and take off the shortest amount of time.
16:06The ruggedness and ease of operation proves vital in the Huey's first combat deployment.
16:13Before 1960, few Americans experienced the wet terrain and harsh climate of a small coastal country
16:20in Southeast Asia. Yet within the next decade, 2.6 million Americans serve in the jungles of Vietnam.
16:28More than 60,000 will not come home.
16:42The average age of an American soldier is 19 compared to age 26 in World War II.
16:53The troops serving in Vietnam are not prepared for guerrilla warfare.
17:06The traditional American military equipment also isn't suited for the unpredictable landscapes of
17:12Southeast Asia. New technologies and strategies have to be mastered, quickly, and the Huey will be at
17:22the forefront of these new methods of warfare.
17:30UH-1s tasked and configured for troop transport were often called slicks due to an absence of weapons pods.
17:41In the 1960s, America is working diligently to design new,
17:46better, and more efficient equipment to help fight the battle in Vietnam.
17:53America's involvement in Vietnam begins as an advisory role to the South Vietnamese.
18:00But as the possibility of North Vietnamese victory increases, full-scale military operations are
18:06implemented, and more American supplies and aircraft head to Vietnam.
18:13Throughout the war, the U.S. works desperately to slow the infiltration of supplies and soldiers
18:19from the North, who are making their way south.
18:23The U.S. is believed that the U.S. would force the North Vietnamese to the negotiating table.
18:33But the strikes fail to halt the North Vietnamese supply lines,
18:37and gradually, American ground troops commit to the campaign.
18:43Soon, thousands of American men find themselves out of their element in Southeast Asia.
18:54Without roads and bridges, moving trucks, troops, tanks, and other supplies through the jungle terrain
19:01becomes a challenge for Pentagon strategists.
19:07Through trial and error, they develop new methods of warfare, and at the heart of it lies the helicopter.
19:21The first American helicopters to serve in Vietnam are the Piasecki H-21 Shawnee tandem rotor helicopters,
19:28dubbed the Flying Bananas.
19:40These underpowered and unarmed aircraft suffer serious losses, prompting some American advisors to
19:46suggest they fly with an escort. In 1962, the first Hueys arrive in Vietnam and begin escorting the H-21s.
20:00The first unit of 15 Hueys, under the designation of the Utility Tactical Transport Helicopter Company,
20:07come armed with 2.75-inch rockets mounted eight to a side.
20:12Two Browning 30-millimeter air-cooled machine guns are mounted on the skids,
20:17and feed from ammunition boxes stored inside the cargo compartment.
20:22On their approach, the H-21s stagger their formations, and fly approximately one minute apart.
20:29On the ground, they unload their troops as fast as possible, and immediately fly out.
20:36In the first five months of combat flying, only one Huey gunship is shot down, and the loss of H
20:43-21s drops 25%.
20:46These early successes endear the Hueys to pilots and ground troops alike.
21:00Now, let's talk about kind of the skin of the Huey. This doesn't seem to me to be very resilient
21:07or armor-plated.
21:08Was there armor-plating around the helicopter at all? I assume there was up front in the cockpit for you
21:14guys, but what, you know, this seems like...
21:17What you see is what you get. Nothing. There's nothing there.
21:20The helicopter, essentially, a 50-caliber round will go through the front to the back of the Huey without stopping.
21:26Nice.
21:26And there are many instances of helicopters coming back with a lot of battle damage. Parts of the blade shot
21:32off, part of the engine shot off, and it's still running.
21:33She could take a beating.
21:34It's very, very versatile. It's a strong helicopter and very combat-worthy, let's say.
21:40There was no other armor plate on the aircraft. We had a baffle under the oil cooler, but that was
21:46it.
21:47The crew chief, the crew also wore chicken plates. We call them chicken plates.
21:51Chicken plates.
21:52Yeah, well, that's what that armor's called.
21:53What are chicken plates?
21:55We wore a heavy piece of armor on our chests.
21:57Compressed tile.
21:58And then on top of the chicken plate, we would wear a flak vest, because rounds could penetrate the flak
22:04vest, hit the plate,
22:05but the flak vest would keep the fragments from then deflecting into the pilot's face.
22:11So it was like a reverse, reverse flak vest.
22:13But you have to think about it, that this airplane only weighs about as much as an SUV.
22:20Designed for minimal maintenance, the Huey's engine needs an overhaul after 1,000 flight hours,
22:26or approximately every 125,000 miles.
22:31That's unprecedented for helicopter service.
22:35The turbine engines can be changed in a matter of minutes,
22:38without draining the fuel or rewiring the electrical system.
22:47Fellas, at the nose of the Huey, we were talking earlier in the cockpit about the fact that you guys
22:55had the luxury of flying with a maintenance guy in the aircraft at times.
23:00Tell me about how the Huey was maintenance-wise on the ground.
23:04From what I recall, it was a very reliable workhorse.
23:08It was. It's very reliable.
23:09Just like you said, very reliable.
23:11It's very easy to work on.
23:12Very simple.
23:13Not a lot of complicated systems on it.
23:14Not a lot of complicated radar and communication systems and so on and so forth.
23:18Just basically an engine or rotor system and a fuselage, and that's it.
23:23A portable hoist system simplifies field repairs even more.
23:33The Huey engine, designed to run on a variety of fuels, proves itself in combat when supplies are scarce.
23:40You talk about fuel and armament loads.
23:43You know, let's say you're fully topped off with fuel and you knew you were going to have to go
23:47out and fly a long mission.
23:49What kind of sortie duration could you guys normally have?
23:52These things would stay in the air for about two hours and 15 minutes.
23:54At that point, you're either on the ground or looking for some place to find fuel.
24:03As performance reports make their way from Southeast Asia, Bell knows he needs to make the Huey better suited for
24:09the escort role.
24:15He installs the XM6 Emerson quad system.
24:22The co-pilot controls these flex guns through a sight device mounted on top of the cabin.
24:29They're fed by a dozen 500-round ammunition boxes mounted on the rear cabin floor.
24:40So, Rick, talk to me about what a typical crew was for you guys on a gunship mission.
24:47We'll talk about the transport mission maybe later on, but for you guys out there in Vietnam, what was a
24:51crew?
24:51Sure. Well, we typically operated with two ships working together in a fire team, sometimes three, but usually two.
25:00And the aircraft commander would fly in the left seat in our unit and would fire the miniguns that were
25:07mounted to the side of the helicopter.
25:08We had two XM-21. Right on the rail. We had a pylon that extended out here, and the machine
25:15guns were mounted on the pylon.
25:17They were like a Gatling gun machine gun, and they were slaved to a sight that hung down in front
25:22of me, and then wherever I moved the sight, the machine guns would fire.
25:27Oh, so they weren't fixed. They would move. So whenever I moved the sight, they would move to the left
25:32and right.
25:33Now, we never worked a target by overflying it. We would always brake to the left and right.
25:37So if we were braking away from the inboard gun, then the outboard gun would double its rate of fire.
25:44So it could put like 4,000 rounds per minute on the target.
25:47The co-pilot rode in the right seat and fired the rockets.
25:51And then we had ammo cans that were mounted longitudinally in the center of the helicopter.
25:56And they would feed, would belt feed the machine guns on either side.
26:01And then the door gunner and crew chief would have their own machine guns firing from the side.
26:06So we were very, very heavily loaded, especially in the hot weather.
26:10A Huey armed with flex guns can fire at targets not directly in its flight path.
26:20Despite these improvements, the Huey finds it even harder to slug it out with an entrenched hostile force.
26:27More work has to be done.
26:43Bell's continual upgrades bring the UH-1D into service in 1963.
27:05With the rotor diameter increasing up to 48 feet and a blade cord of 21 inches,
27:11these aircraft nearly double the basic Huey payload.
27:16The UH-1D can carry up to 14 passengers or 4,000 pounds of freight.
27:22More than 1,000 UH-1Ds form the backbone of the Army's battlefield support helicopter force.
27:32There was a mount here, a pinnel mount for the door gunners here.
27:35The crew chief and door gunners sat on this side.
27:36Now this is a little longer.
27:37The D model and the H model are longer than the B and C.
27:40The door gunners that we had were right here.
27:43And the ammo cans were under there, or whatever systems that we operated.
27:47Of course, the rockets are fixing the skids.
27:48And they would just throw the doors open?
27:50Yeah, or take the doors off.
27:52Most of the time we throw the doors off.
27:53Any kind of weight takes away from ammunition and or fuel that you can carry.
27:56Now, he mentioned a door gunner and a crew chief.
27:59Jim, were their roles different?
28:01Yes, essentially, the crew chief is responsible for the aircraft.
28:04The door gunner is responsible for the weapon systems.
28:07Ours are a little different than his.
28:09We had two M60 machine guns on each side, flexible.
28:12They're right over here.
28:13And in the front, right on the nose of the helicopter,
28:15was a turret mounting a 40-millimeter grenade launcher on another system called the Frog.
28:20The M16 is just called the M16, different from the rifle, the M16 kit.
28:23Then we had another one called the Hog, which had 48 rockets and large
28:29rectangular containers here, 24 on each side, plus the two door gunners.
28:33While Hueys prove themselves as gunships,
28:36they serve equally well as dust-off helicopters for the U.S. Army Medical Corps.
28:44Known by their radio call sign dust-off, these unarmed Huey ambulances evacuate wounded
28:49soldiers within 15 minutes, regardless of service branch or nationality.
28:55They stay true to their motto, not without your wounded.
29:05The sight and sound of a dust-off Huey reassures injured and stranded soldiers.
29:13More than 97 percent of the wounded picked up in the field survive,
29:17a testament to the bravery of the pilots and the success of the Huey.
29:22When you guys did the medevac, you know, secondary mission, it's not like you could throw,
29:27you know, put a magnet red cross on the side of the Huey. You know, you're still fair game.
29:32Later on in the war, the medevac, the dust-off guys painted over the red crosses
29:36for obvious reasons, because they were the target.
29:38Yeah.
29:39But the medevac guys did a superb job. Many, many medals of honors were
29:43granted for medevac pilots.
29:46As American involvement in Vietnam escalates, the versatile Huey gets pushed into service with
29:51all four branches of the American military.
30:11Bluebird 30, this is a clean clip, roger out.
30:17Very well, thank you.
30:19In late 1965, the United States Navy is called to
30:23patrol the 2,500-mile network of canals and streams of the Mekong River Delta.
30:32Operation Game Warden tries to stop the flow of enemy supplies into South Vietnam.
30:39The maze of delta waterways is swarming with enemy activity,
30:43even in the face of the Navy's deployment of armed patrol boats.
30:49Recognizing the need for helicopter gunship support,
30:52the Navy borrows several Huey gunships from the Army.
30:56The first of them arrive in March 1966.
31:00In April 1967, the operations consolidate into the Helicopter Attack Light Squadron 3,
31:06nicknamed the Sea Wolves.
31:13Their two-pronged mission provides direct support of armed patrol boats,
31:17and offers armed patrol of the river delta areas.
31:23The Huey's adaptability makes it the essential aircraft.
31:29By 1967, the United States is fully engaged in a helicopter war.
31:35At any time in the following four years, as many as 2,000 of the aircraft darken the skies over
31:41Vietnam.
31:44Although the Huey thrives in nearly every role it's thrust into, by the summer of 1966,
31:50the changing situation requires a new gunship.
31:54The war keeps escalating, and the Huey, after all, is really a modified utility helicopter.
31:59The time has come for a true helicopter gunship.
32:04During the Vietnam War, the Huey proves itself in every area of military service.
32:10But there's still room for improvement, and the Huey soars forward into the new age of the helicopter.
32:16Debuting in 1968, the Bell AH-1 Huey Cobra is the first helicopter designed specifically as a gunship.
32:24Its awesome firepower and tremendous speed heralds the future of attack helicopters.
32:59The cobras fire their weapons in all directions, suppressing the enemy's fire from the ground.
33:14The barrage continues during actual landing, but only after another Cobra lays a screen of smoke to provide an extra
33:21margin of safety.
33:26Once troops land, the Cobra's mission changes to direct fire support.
33:34The ground commander, in direct contact with the Cobra fireteam leader, announces enemy positions.
33:43The Cobra's accurate shooting enables the ground leader to direct fire only meters away from his own position.
33:55Each Cobra is armed with over a ton of ordnance, which is shot from two 19-shot rocket pods located
34:01on each side of the aircraft.
34:10The Cobra has as much firepower as the 38-round howitzer barrage.
34:25But the Cobra isn't perfect.
34:29It's designed to have air conditioning.
34:32Many never have it installed.
34:34The enormous plexiglass windshield becomes a greenhouse in the hot, humid jungle, leaving the pilot and co-pilot miserable.
34:43And unlike the earlier Hueys, the Cobras can handle only two passengers.
34:48There are no cargo holds, no benches, no big doors on the sides.
34:54So if a Cobra comes across troops who need to be airlifted to safety, it must leave them behind.
35:02These problems don't prevent the aircraft from accomplishing the task it's designed for.
35:10The Cobra successfully demonstrates the practical use of a gunship in combat.
35:16An attack helicopter with a powerful engine, great maneuverability, and awesome firepower becomes the cornerstone of contemporary warfare.
35:25Anticipating such developments, Lockheed designs the AH-56 Cheyenne.
35:34In 1966, after the Cheyenne wins a U.S. Army Advanced Aerial Fire Support competition, the Army orders 10 aircraft
35:42for extensive tests.
35:44The Cheyenne uses the Lockheed Rigid Rotor System and has a pusher rotor on the tail for high-speed level
35:50flight.
35:55The short stubbed wings provide lift for high forward speed.
36:23During forward flight, most of the engine's power drives the rear pusher rotor,
36:28with only 25% of the power feeding the main rotor.
36:36The Cheyenne can reach an impressive 249 miles per hour, and its ability to fly fast and low is unprecedented
36:44for its time.
36:48The new tow-wire-guided anti-tank missile system forms the heart of the Cheyenne's firepower.
36:55The Cheyenne carries six tow missiles, a 7.62-millimeter minigun, and a 30-millimeter anti-tank cannon.
37:09The computer-assisted, flexible weapon system relies on both laser and Doppler radar technology.
37:16The weapon system can lock on its target throughout the entire engagement, regardless of the helicopter's position.
37:29The tandem seating arrangement with the huge canopy provides superb visibility for the pilot and gunner.
37:41The pilot can fire at any target he sees, simply by aiming with his helmet sight, selecting his weapon, and
37:48shooting.
37:55The rocket system is very accurate, and the aircraft's ability to approach at low altitudes, at high speed, reduces exposure
38:03to enemy fire.
38:05Inspired by the continued successes of the Huey and the Cobra, Lockheed diligently tries to move the Cheyenne from development
38:12into production.
38:13Unfortunately, the high cost forces the project's cancellation in 1972.
38:20But the Cheyenne confirms the military's commitment to the attack helicopter, a significant advancement in military strategy that began with
38:28the Huey.
38:40Bell developed military helicopter models ranging from A all the way to Z.
38:50As the Vietnam War grinds to an end, many Americans still wonder about why and how it was fought.
38:57Veterans return home from the sheer brutality of the war to find a public bitterly divided about their mission.
39:04The healing of the wounds from the war continues to this day.
39:10Still flying today, too, from what I hear.
39:13Like, all over the world, right?
39:15Exactly.
39:15It finally, the Huey finally retired from the U.S. military about a year ago.
39:19But it's being flown by armed services all over the world.
39:22And it's used by a lot of commercial operators as well as by medevac companies.
39:28For some, the Huey becomes a symbol of healing and a reminder of sacrifice.
39:37Vietnam veterans across the country still come together, sharing a bond with fellow veterans, living and gone, to ensure their
39:44sacrifice is not forgotten.
39:48We were talking about auto-rotation a little bit earlier, and you had to auto-rotate for real once, actually
39:56in Vietnam.
39:57Tell me a little bit about that story.
39:58Yeah, I was flying a VIP for the State Department and had an engine failure in a bad part of
40:04the Delta south of Saigon and did an auto-rotation into a rice paddy.
40:09Fortunately for me and my passenger, we had a Navy Seawolf helicopter pilot flying an airplane very similar to the
40:18gunships that we flew.
40:19And he heard my mayday and picked me up within five minutes of hitting in.
40:24Five minutes, that ain't so bad.
40:25And I had a reunion with him after 40 years.
40:28It was a year ago.
40:30And found out for the first time that there were Viet Cong weapons within 150 meters of my position before
40:37he picked me up.
40:38So it was quite a reunion, as you can imagine.
40:40Oh, I can only imagine.
40:42I tell you, flying these helicopters where you guys flew them and the situations you were in, that took nothing
40:49shy of unbelievable guts.
40:52Well, you're nice to say that, but really when you're actually doing it, you don't have the luxury of thinking
40:58about that.
40:59You're basically doing a job that needs to be done because the guys on the ground need you just like
41:04you need them.
41:05So we were all part of a team.
41:08In Maryland, a group of Vietnam veterans decides to rescue and restore an old friend.
41:16When I first saw it, I saw a photograph in the newspaper.
41:20And I came down to the chapter.
41:22I've been a member of Vietnam Veterans at Large and saw the newspaper, read the article, came down and looked
41:28at her.
41:28And I'll be honest, Jack, I told you at the beginning, well, do we really want to do this?
41:33She's in pretty bad shape.
41:34She's been pretty well beat up over the years.
41:37Martin's Aviation Museum got her first, got her down to Martin's, and then we got her from Martin Aviation.
41:44Brought her here.
41:46That photograph of them bringing it into here was what got my interest, got me involved when I met Jack.
41:53Starting at the planning stage, we had to do our homework and getting part numbers and contacting people,
41:58trying to find parts so we could refit her, and getting in contact with people who could help us out.
42:11We located a lot of parts through the Internet.
42:13I'm a member of the Vietnam Helicopter Flight Crew Network on the Internet.
42:18It's a bunch of pilots, co-pilots, crew chiefs, gunners.
42:23Let them know what we were doing and asked for their help, basically, started looking for parts.
42:34We got parts from all across the country, as far away as California, sometimes no more than a phone call.
42:42Hey, we need this part.
42:43Yeah, sure, we'll send it out.
42:44We have so much support across the United States to find parts for this young lady.
42:51Vietnam Veterans of America Chapter 451 spends the better part of a year restoring the old Huey, inside and out.
42:58The Huey is now on display outside the Baltimore Chapter.
43:03The Vietnam conflict has a huge impact on helicopter development and use.
43:08The last Hueys are produced in 1976.
43:12About 7,000 are used in the Vietnam War.
43:153,300 of those aircraft are destroyed.
43:1940,000 pilots served during the war.
43:221,100 are killed.
43:27More than 30 years later, most Americans still have trouble sorting out their emotions about the war.
43:33Many still search for their own road to reconcile their feelings about Southeast Asia,
43:38as more and more Americans remain ignorant of the complexity of the Vietnam era.
43:55And that's why we sojourned our hopes that we're the
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