Page 66 - History of War - Issue 29-16

UH-1H IROQUOIS

Operator’s Handbook

“HUEY”

WORDS TOM GARNER
The ‘sound’ of the Vietnam War

is not just a symbol of the USA’s
involvement, but also an outstanding
aircraft that changed the rules of

combat survival for the better

he Bell UH-1 Iroquois helicopter is one of the
most iconic symbols of American involvement in
Tthe Vietnam War (1955-75), and the distinctive
noise of its rotor blades have led American veterans
to describe it as the ‘sound of our war’. It rst entered
service in 1959 and over 16,000 of these powerful
helicopters have been produced in the years since.
During the war the Iroquois was nicknamed ‘Huey’ thanks
to its early ‘HU-1’ designation (which was later changed
to UH-1). This name became so common that the AH-1
attack version was of cially named the ‘Huey Cobra’.
From 1965-73 the UH-1 Huey was the most common
utility helicopter used in Vietnam and is the most produced
variant of the model. It was primarily used to transport
troops for aerial attacks, medical evacuations and
transporting cargo. Hueys clocked up a total of 7,531,955
ight hours during the war and over 2,500 were destroyed.
Over 10 per cent of all combat deaths in Vietnam
occurred in helicopter operations, with 6,175 fatalities, but
Hueys also helped to airlift over 90,000 patients. During
World War II and the Korean War, hospitalisation time was
measured in days, but Hueys could transport a wounded
soldier from the eld to hospital in less than one hour,
dramatically increasing wartime survival rates.
This particular photographed aircraft is an ‘H’ model,
a type that would have been used in Vietnam. It was
stationed on a US Army base in Germany and now resides
in the American Air Museum as part of the Imperial War
Museum Duxford.

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