Huey on the Road
Lucked up on the
"B" while requesting a static display from the Army last year.
Have a close friend, former Marine/Navy mech who taught at a local
A&P school. The forestry service gave it to the school as a
training aid 5 years ago. It sat on the apron all that time, nobody
used it, only to rob parts. I told my bud that I was getting an
"H" from the Army & wanted specs to
build a trailer to haul it on. Later, he called me, said his boss
said
get rid of the "B", junk it or whatever, they wanted no part of it for
liability
reasons.
I got with my VFW guys,
since I was elected Sr Vice Cdr, told
them of the B, with the idea of a mobile display. That got the VN
vets stired up. Recruitment jumped. I brought the pieces in, put
what I had together, then started looking for the missing pieces.
Turnes out, it's more complete
than anything around, that don't have gov't strings attached, we can do
with
as we please. With the custom trailer, 2 men can sit it on the
ground
in 20 minutes, like it flew in. (it has no engine, so many misfit
parts,
I hate to see it try to spin the blades). But, it has most of the
wiring
for the various systems & gages. So, we use to as a display for
history
classes, parades, & public events.
It usually has a couple
shows a month, during the cooler
months. Sept 19-23 is a bike fest, Oct 9, a fly-in, etc. We hope
to fund it with poloroid
photos of kids & dads, dressed in VN era uniform articles, a
shooting
galery, & memorbilia sales. I have accumulated a pile of junk,
props
from "Blackhawk Down" & "We Were Soldiers", & items of the
time.
My current inert "arsenal"
includes a 2.5 rocket, 12 M-79 grenades,
2-100 round belts of 7.62, a 30 round belt of .50 cal, an RPG, an M-60,
a couple M-16's, A VC outfit with AK-47, (need volunteer to wear it)
several flight suits, 10 working flight helmets, several combat
helmets, flack jackets, &
a LAW.
I have the ICS working with a
3 min loop tape of actual "taking fire"
missions, with interactive vioce from the boom mics. Enought to make an
ole gunner squinch
when he hears "Two choppers going down, one on fire"! It has a
24v
dc charging system runing off 120v ac to work the nav lights, flashers,
internal
lights, rotating beacon, landing light, inverter that whines up when
switched
on, (scares the kids out of the seats), controls move the blades,
complete
control grips with switches, (rare), all the sheet metal, plexiglass,
except
for a busted pilot's door angled window. Leaving it that way for
effect.
It has the origional paint,
last flown in '72 when Ft. Rucker ceased
training pilots for Nam. I've been offered free paint jobs, but it
should be kept in
its orig form, that's the way we remember them.
Meanwhile, the Army came thru
with the "H". The paint shop at
Moody AFB provided the paint & labor to restore it. It's
sitting on a pad in our park, with the names & dates lettered on
the exterior of our county's KIA's.
The trailer handles
either Huey like a dream. It sits between the
skids, loaded wt. 4,500 lbs., highway legal, 13'6" high, 8' wide, &
length, don't matter with a tail flashing beacon. It has
hydraulic brakes on the front axle, auto activated when towing vehicle
slows down. Probably easier to tow than an RV camper.
It draws attention, all VN
vets have a Huey story. Some just
stand & stare, old ladies will say, "That's what my son rode
in?" "Where's the armour plating"? & everybody knew
someone who was there. Kids today don't have a clue of what one of
these things was. These & their crews were the pioneers of modern
gunships.
Our "Huey Hauler". A slightly modified
duce-n-half. (Apr. 2002)
Ever thought you had one of these for a PILOT?
Gunner "Wanna-be"
"Seawolf" goes public again!
Huey Down! In the park at Lake Ella, Tallahassee, Fl.
Good driving, to land in the trees like that, huh?
Just can't get over Ronald McDonald in the pilot's seat!
This kid will have something to bring to show-n-tell.
A proud day for the Bee, being the
guest of such noble Navy heros & hardware with the Yorktown at it's
six, a PBR on it's right, & 2 other Hueys at the Patriot's Point
Museun, Nov. 2002 Enlisted Combat Roll of Honor induction
"Roger that!"
Gunner's eye view of
the Bee at Lake City, Florida. Thunderbird show 2004
"Base Camp" MPVA meet
at Lake City Airshow 2004
Local fly-in, Oct
2001. First public outting for the Bee.
This was our first outting with our
"B", a Fly-in at Thomasville, Ga. Oct 2001. It drew a large crowd, busy
all day. The accompaning jeep is of the same era as the Huey, & was
a ground control radio unit that directed the gunships.
The .50 cal.is a dummy. Kids love it!
This nice tow truck provided by a local Ford dealership for Springtime
Tallahassee,
2003
My son, Thad, with Ginny in a parade.
"Warrior Princess"
Sunday morning, ready to convoy out from a show
in
Crestview, Fl. We were stopped by a FHP officer. He wanted to check out
this
"strange" caravan. Military equipment with civilian license
plates,
what's this all about?
Some of the displays at the Crestview show. This guy had better
equipment
than most of us had on avtive duty. Twin .50's on a jeep, WOOOH!
