Hobby Master Archive

The US Army purchased Huey 64-13978 in March 1965. First used in Vietnam by the 335th “Cowboys” AHC (Assault Helicopter Company) in October 1966 then the 128th “Gunslingers” AHC in February 1968. 64-13978 was referred to as a “Heavy Hog” because it had an optional weapons configuration of “XM-3” that installed 2 24-round rocket packs and removed the door guns, “M-5” that installed an M-75 40 mm grenade-launcher carrying 150 grenades. This UH-1B was shot down and destroyed in May 1969 without loss of life.

The Bell UH-1 “Iroquois” better known as the “Huey” first started arriving in Vietnam in 1963. During its tour of duty the Huey was put to work in a variety of jobs. When used for Medevac it was a “Dust-off”, as a troop and materiel transport it was a “Slick” because they were only armed with two M60D door guns. It was also used for air assault with guns, and/or rockets and some even had grenade launchers. Over 16,000 Hueys have been manufactured and flown in 40+ countries with 5,000, of which 1,010-1,014 were “B"s, having served in Vietnam.