UH-1H Part 2

[gtirob01]

Continued from part one;









This was one heck of a fun ride, especially being on the edge with the doors wide open! I took plenty of stills and shot video at the same time by mounting my GoPro to the hotshoe of my DSLR. That turned out to work perfectly!

[Steve M]

Nice photos, more please! That looks like fun.

[BlackAce]

Damn was the M60 oppernational!?

[expat]

Nice

Question though, why is she marked up Experimental?

Matt

[Hawkeye07]

Nice Question though, why is she marked up Experimental? Matt

Hi Matt!
Since the FAA doesn't have a "Warbird" Airworthiness Certificate Category for registration they heaped it into the Experimental category as a catch all under the "Special Airworthiness Certificate" as you can see from the info I dug up in the FAA website:

A special airworthiness certificate in the experimental category is issued to operate an aircraft that does not have a type certificate or does not conform to its type certificate and is in a condition for safe operation. Additionally, this certificate is issued to operate a primary category kit-built aircraft that was assembled without the supervision and quality control of the production certificate holder. Special airworthiness certificates may be issued in the experimental category for the following purposes:

Exhibition: to exhibit an aircraft’s flight capabilities, performance, or unusual characteristics for air shows, motion pictures, television, and similar productions, and for the maintenance of exhibition flight proficiency.

Air racing: to operate an aircraft in air races, practice for air races, and to fly to and from racing events

I've also seen Warbirds in the "Limited" category too.

A limited category special airworthiness certificate is issued to operate surplus military aircraft that have been converted to civilian use under the following conditions:

The aircraft has a limited type certificate.
The aircraft conforms to its type certificate.
The FAA has determined that the aircraft is safe to operate.
Operations may not include carrying passengers or cargo for hire. The FAA may prescribe additional limitations as necessary for safe operation.

I do wonder about the FAA's definition of "... converted to civilian use ..."

Hawkeye

[ozzy72]

I think you have to take the guns off for Civilian

[gtirob01]

Unfortunately the guns were just there for the overall Vietnam era theme. This very helo did in fact fly in Vietnam!

Here is a brief history on this helo;
http://www.friendsofarmyaviationozark.org/uh-1h-huey

I still have not gone through all the pictures I took, but will post more. Including some of the other aircraft there that day like the B-25 "Panchito"

[expat]

Nice Question though, why is she marked up Experimental? Matt

Hi Matt!
Since the FAA doesn't have a "Warbird" Airworthiness Certificate Category for registration they heaped it into the Experimental category.....................................

Hawkeye

Thanks for that Doug. However, due the number of warbirds in the US, I am surprised they do not have their own dedicated category.

Matt

[Hawkeye07]

You're welcome Matt! I agree with you too. Warbirds should have their own category for no other reason than their age. They have outlived their service life a dozen times over and stress and fatigue aren't always obvious or readily detected during a simple annual inspection.

(The last statement above is meant for our fellow members who haven't had the opportunity to tear apart and reassemble numerous aircraft or their sub assemblies as Matt has or understand what does and doesn't happen during an annual inspection. No offense intended to anyone.)

Hawkeye

[Hawkeye07]

I forgot to mention one thing I found out years ago that some folks here might find interesting. One evening I was sitting in the Enlistman's Club in Bahrain having a beer with a Marine friend of mine who was in the Cobra squadron which was attached along with my HM squadron on the USS Guadalcanal. So we're sitting there enjoying our cold beer and the evening breeze that brought the aroma of camel dung across the dunes to our uncultured nostrils. Suddenly a low flying UH-1 zoomed past our oasis and shattered the moments euphoria. My friend, who had been a door gunner on Hueys in 'Nam, turned to me and said "Remember all those news reels from Vietnam where you saw the intrepid Marines charging for the Hueys heading out to wherever for the next engagement with the enemy?" I replied "Yeah, I remember them. Those Grunts were hot to trot to shoot up some real estate weren't they?" He laughed and said "The fact of the matter is they were running out to the choppers trying to be the first one in because "first one in, last one out." If they landed in a hot LZ and the Huey started taking heavy incoming fire the pilots weren't waiting for everyone to get out, they'd just grab a hand full of collective and get the hell out of there. Anyone left on-board rode it back to base." I turned to him and said "So much for Gung Ho." He laughed and said "And you Squids thought Grunts were just some kind of dumb, ha-ha! Semper Fi Dude!"

[expat]

I forgot to mention one thing I found out years ago that some folks here might find interesting. One evening I was sitting in the Enlistman's Club in Bahrain having a beer with a Marine friend of mine who was in the Cobra squadron which was attached along with my HM squadron on the USS Guadalcanal. So we're sitting there enjoying our cold beer and the evening breeze that brought the aroma of camel dung across the dunes to our uncultured nostrils. Suddenly a low flying UH-1 zoomed past our oasis and shattered the moments euphoria. My friend, who had been a door gunner on Hueys in 'Nam, turned to me and said "Remember all those news reels from Vietnam where you saw the intrepid Marines charging for the Hueys heading out to wherever for the next engagement with the enemy?" I replied "Yeah, I remember them. Those Grunts were hot to trot to shoot up some real estate weren't they?" He laughed and said "The fact of the matter is they were running out to the choppers trying to be the first one in because "first one in, last one out." If they landed in a hot LZ and the Huey started taking heavy incoming fire the pilots weren't waiting for everyone to get out, they'd just grab a hand full of collective and get the hell out of there. Anyone left on-board rode it back to base." I turned to him and said "So much for Gung Ho." He laughed and said "And you Squids thought Grunts were just some kind of dumb, ha-ha! Semper Fi Dude!"

In that case I would have been on the ramp the night before waiting for my ride............

And as for the annual tear down or "C" check for big birds, the average person would never fly again if they knew of the corrosion and damaged that is often found.....

Matt

[Blaunarwal]

Interesting shots! Where's that black crater from? Did you drop bombs or was it an aircraft crash? Where did you fly from/to?

Dan

[gtirob01]

Interesting shots! Where's that black crater from? Did you drop bombs or was it an aircraft crash? Where did you fly from/to?

Dan

Do not think it is any type of crater, there are many small lakes around the area (even more so after 20+ inches of rain the other day lol). We flew out of a small airport in NW Florida, and returned to the same airport. It was a flight just around the area.

[Fozzer]

Interesting shots! Where's that black crater from? Did you drop bombs or was it an aircraft crash? Where did you fly from/to?

Dan

Do not think it is any type of crater, there are many small lakes around the area (even more so after 20+ inches of rain the other day lol). We flew out of a small airport in NW Florida, and returned to the same airport. It was a flight just around the area.

They are called Sink-holes...>>> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sinkhole

Florida is littered with them!...>>> https://www.google.com/search?q=Florida ... 54&bih=746

Paul.

[expat]

Interesting shots! Where's that black crater from? Did you drop bombs or was it an aircraft crash? Where did you fly from/to?

Dan

Do not think it is any type of crater, there are many small lakes around the area (even more so after 20+ inches of rain the other day lol). We flew out of a small airport in NW Florida, and returned to the same airport. It was a flight just around the area.

They are called Sink-holes...>>> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sinkhole

Florida is littered with them!...>>> https://www.google.com/search?q=Florida ... 54&bih=746

Paul.

There was a very interesting program on the idiot box a couple weeks ago. It was an episode of Horizon all about Florida and the sink hole problem. I am not normally a person who it too concerned about what is reported on the TV and in the press, but if I was living in Florida, then I may well be moving slightly north to Alabama or Georgia.......

Matt