The US Army’s first operational turboshaft-powered helicopter, the
Bell UH-1 “Huey”, would prove one of the most successful rotorcraft in
history, with over 16,000 built. The Huey was and remains a common sight
in many of the world’s military forces, and still is in first-line
service in the US Marines.
The UH-1C (Model 204) was introduced in September 1965, but only
about 766 were built, since by that time Bell was getting ready to
introduce the optimized AH-1 “HueyCobra” gunship, which was based on
UH-1C technology.
Huey gunships remained in service in Vietnam up to the end of the
war, though that was mainly due to the fact that there weren’t enough
Cobras to replace them.
An Improved version of the UH-1C is the UH-1D (Model 205) that can be
easily distinguished from the Model 204 by the fact that the side doors
had two windows, not one, and its skids were mounted at an angle that
gave the UH-1D a nose-up attitude on the ground.
The UH-1D led to the improved “UH-1H”, which is generally similar,
but was fitted with the more powerful engine as well as avionics for
night and bad-weather operation, and a radio navigation system.
This addon represents the UH-1C and the UH-1H variants.
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