over the years there has been a large assortment of gun-toting warbirds that have strutted their stuff at AirVenture. From can-non-nosed B-25s to P-47 Thun-derbolts packing eight .50 caliber machine guns—heck even some

T-6s show up with a machine gun or two. But during AirVenture 2011, War-birds of America members were treated to a devastating aerial platform like no other—a combat veteran of the Vietnam War—the UH-1B Huey Seawolf helicop-ter. This bad-to-the-bone whirlybird was loaded for bear, bristling with a combi-nation of machine guns, rocket pods, a mini gun, and a grenade launcher or two just for good measure. But what is most unique about this Huey was the long un-breakable journey it had endured while valiantly serving our country’s military, both in Army green and Navy blue paint.

Seawolves in Vietnam: A Brief HistoryFrom early 1967 until March 1972,

f light crews of Helicopter Attack

Squadron (Light), or HA(L)-3, oper-ated in support of U.S. Navy units in South Vietnam that included the inland “Brown Water Navy” (operat-ing in large patrol boats) along with the aerial insertion and extraction of Navy SEALs. HA(L)-3 consisted of nine detachments of two helicopter gunships each—with two four-man crews per Huey. They were stationed at various locations in South Vietnam or onboard barracks ships positioned in the larger rivers of the Mekong Delta. During the Seawolves first year they fired more than 13,761,000 rounds of 7.62 mm ammo, 800,000 rounds of .30- and .50-caliber ammo, and more than 155,000 rockets. During the Tet Offensive of 1968, 275 M60 barrels were burned out by the Seawolf crews. The squadron had to borrow replace-ment barrels from a Marine unit in Da Nang, which were rush-delivered by an H46 of HMN-165.

The Seawolves operated the UH-1B, UH-1C, UH-1L, UH-1M, and the

HH-1K models of the Huey in various armament configurations. Most of the helicopters were on loan from the Army, and the Seawolves scrounged replacement parts and equipment from many sources to accomplish their missions. There were no two Hueys that looked alike.

“The Seawolves ended up mixing Army green paint with some Austra-lian black paint they obtained in trade, giving it a dark blue look,” said Larry Clark, a former U.S. Army, 350-plus-mission Vietnam veteran Huey pilot and current pilot of Seawolf 324. “The commanding officer wanted the word “Navy” painted in large white letters on the tail boom so the enemy knew who was shooting at them! The Navy also took a lot of liberties with these heli-copters as they overloaded them with machine guns and rockets—it really carried a heck of a knockout punch!

“They couldn’t take off with a full fuel load because of the weight of the guns and ammo. There were many

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The UH-1B Huey – Seawolf 324by Jim Busha

Have Guns, Will Travel

DENNIS BERGSTROM

times that the door gunners had to run alongside the Huey as it bounced along off the ground trying to get it-self moving forward and then grab on to a skid just as it was lifting off. The Seawolves earned their keep in Viet-nam and the respect from the soldiers on the ground.”

HA(L)-3 was decommissioned in March 1972. Approximately 3,000 men were rotated through the squad-ron. The Seawolves were the most highly decorated squadron in U.S. Navy history with 44 Seawolves killed in action (KIA) during the five years it spent in combat. During the Vietnam War the men of HA(L)-3 were awarded the following:

5 Navy Crosses31 Silver Stars2 Legion of Merit Medals5 Navy and Marine Corps Medals219 Distinguished Flying Crosses156 Purple Hearts101 Bronze Stars142 Gallantry CrossesMore than 16,000 Air Medals439 Navy Commendation Medals228 Navy Achievement Medals6 Presidential Unit Citations2 Meritorious Unit Commendations1 V i e t n a m M e r i t o r i o u s U n i t

Commendation

Account of Seawolf 324Bell UH-1B Huey, Bureau number

63-12923, was built in 1963 and deliv-ered to the U.S. Army in October 1964. It was one of 17,000 helicopters that served in the Vietnam War. Originally assigned to the 1st Cavalry in Viet-nam, it subsequently took three hits in the skid on April 8, 1965. On April 27, 1965, it was brought down by small arms fire, resulting in one wounded.

The Huey sustained ma-jor damage and was sent back to the United States for repairs. It remained in the States, and in October 1966 it was assigned to the 6th Army at Dugway Proving Grounds in Utah until March 1967. It was sent back to Viet-nam and assigned to the 1st Cavalry Division, 11th General

Support Company for seven months before going to A/1/9 (A Troop, 1st Squadron, 9th Air Cavalry) for three months until it was damaged again in February 1968. Rebuilt by the 388th Transportation Company in country, it was then transferred to the U.S. Navy HA(L)-3 Seawolves in November 1968.

It was once again damaged and sent back to Bell Helicopter in Ama-rillo, Texas, for repairs from October 1969 to November 19, 1970, when it was returned to the Seawolves in Viet-nam. Total aircraft hours were 3,198 at that time. It was flown by Seawolf Detachment 9 and given Modex #324. On May 28, 1971, it was damaged by a 75 mm recoilless rifle fire while aboard YRBM-21. The damage must have been minor because 324 was ac-tually used for an emergency medevac right after the attack. It was checked for static leaks and none were found. With the absence of leaks and signifi-cant structural damage, it was decided to make a run to Binh Thuy with an injured sailor.

The last flight in the military log-books for Seawolf 324 was on February 29, 1972, by HA(L)-3 when it returned the helicopter to the 388th Transporta-tion Company in Vietnam for shipment back to the United States. Arriving back in the States in June 1972, 324 was in maintenance until October 1973 when it was lent to NASA Langley Research Center until August 1975. No flights were logged during this period. Along with hundreds of other Hueys, it was placed in storage at Davis-Monthan AFB in Tucson, Arizona, with a total of 4,390 flight hours.

Seawolf 324 was eventually sold surplus for $611.57 as one of a block

of surplus helicopters that sat in an outdoor boneyard until 2007 when the restoration project began.

Restoring and Flying a Gunship On September 23, 1991, Seawolf

324, or what remained of it, was sold to J.H. Helicopters in Tucson, Arizona, for under $700 bucks. Overseas Air-craft Support Inc. purchased the air-frame as part of a package of 13 Hueys in 1995, and it remained in outdoor storage in Lakeside, Arizona, until the owner discovered the historic trea-sure he had resting outside his shop. John Boucher, president of Overseas Aircraft Inc., was originally planning on restoring a pair of P-40 warhawks that had been rescued from Russia and later blow up the helicopters.

“The helicopters I bought were com-plete shells that I intended to build up as mock-ups and then blow them up in the movies,” said John Boucher. I really wanted to get out of helicopters and concentrate on restoring a pair of P-40s that had been shot down over Russia. That all changed when another friend of mine was looking through the helicopter logbooks and found out that this aircraft had flown with the Seawolves in Vietnam. I had never heard of that outfit until I was in-formed by my chief pilot, Larry Clark, that they were the most highly deco-rated squadron in U.S. Navy history; I knew right then and there that we had to restore this bird.

“I wanted it as authentic as possible and set about making it period correct, using bits and pieces I had collected over the years. We picked 1968 as the period, mainly because of all the action the Seawolves saw with the Tet Offen-sive. It was amazing how fast the word got out in the Seawolf community that we were restoring one of their former birds. I started receiving calls and vis-its from former Seawolves, which re-ally helped add authenticity to the project. I really enjoyed hearing their stories of how they would sneak into an Army base in Vietnam and ‘borrow’ parts and pieces from Army Hueys just to keep their birds flying—they were

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JIM KOEPNICK

true pirates! Their flying exploits are legendary, as well as they flew in all kinds of weather, day or night, flying some of the most heavily armed heli-copters of the Vietnam War.

“ They also took a lot of enemy fire during those missions, and the

ground crew simply used f lattened empty beer cans as patches. Legend has it that one Seawolf Huey was hit so many times it looked like a f ly-ing beer can, with various brands of beer labels running up and down its fuselage. We found our own set of

patched-up bullet holes on our bird with many of the hits found on the door posts and nose area. We tried to maintain everything as is, and I think my crew did an outstanding job with the restoration of this helicopter.”

John estimated that the Seawolf

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Huey project involved thousands of man-hours that included new sheet metal, wiring, hydraulics, paint, and assembly. The T53-L-11D engine in-stalled on this Huey was rebuilt and now powers the historic warbird on its cross-country tours. Although Sea-wolf 324 could have easily been trans-ported to AirVenture on a f latbed truck to save on fuel and time, John and Larry decided it would be a fitting tribute to fly the Huey to Oshkosh.

“I get a real kick flying the Huey,” added Larry Clark. “Especially this one—it’s a historic piece of our na-tion’s history. The Huey is a very stable platform, and this particular model flies just like an old warbird: low, slow, and loud. It has a lot of drag because of all the guns hanging off of it. We burn about 1 gallon per mile and cruise around 85 knots—if you want to get somewhere in a hurry, don’t fly a Huey! But for me the great-est kick I get out of this old bird is sharing it with the veterans who flew them, worked on them, or were saved by them. This aircraft stirs up a lot of emotions, both good and bad. I have watched countless men caress the sides of the Huey like it was a long-lost love as tears stream down their faces. That’s why we owe it to our country’s veterans to ‘Keep ’em Flying!’”

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Seawolf 324 SpecificationsArmy Serial Number 63-12923

Navy Modex Number 324

Turbine Engine Lycoming T53-L-13A, 1,400 hp

Rotor Diameter 44 feet

Fuel Capacity 168 gallons

Empty Weight 4,900 pounds

Gross Weight 8,500 pounds

Max Airspeed 120 knots

Armament (inert, replicas) M2HB .50-caliber right door gunsDual M60 7.62 mm left door gunsM134 “Mini Gun” 7.62 mmDual M158 seven-shot, 2.75 rocket podsM79 40 mm “Chunker”M16A1 crew weaponsM1911 .45-caliber crew pistolsSmoke grenades10,000 rounds of ammo

UH-1 Iroquois Huey FactsThe original prototype Huey helicopter

first flew in 1956 and continues in pro-duction today as both military and com-mercial models. More Hueys have been built than any other helicopter. Used by all branches of the U.S. armed services and most Allied nations, it became the “Flying Jeep” of the war in Vietnam. Be-ginning in 1963, the U.S. Army ordered the first of improved model 205/UH-1D Hueys. Its primary modification was the addition of an enlarged and stretched main cabin and more powerful engine to boost carrying capacity. A single Textron Lycoming T53-L-13 turboshaft engine with 1,400 shaft hp powered the UH-1H. The Huey measured 41 feet 9 inches long, 14 feet 5 inches high, and had a rotor di-ameter of 48 feet. Weighing in at 5,210 pounds empty, it had a maximum speed of 127 miles per hour and a range of 276 nautical miles.

During Vietnam 21,166 helicopters were hit by enemy fire with 4,128 be-ing lost while flying 26,733,403 sorties. During the peak years (1970-1972) of the Vietnam War, the U.S. Army was train-ing more than 3,000 pilots and 21,000 aircraft mechanics per year to keep the helicopters flying. The UH-1 Huey heli-copter holds the world record as hav-ing flown more combat hours than any other aircraft in history.

The Huey was enormously success-ful for three reasons. First it achieved an ideal mix of cabin room, speed, and lifting capability. Earlier piston-engine helicopters simply lacked enough power for many military missions. Second, the Huey proved to be a rugged and reliable helicopter in service. In addition, large military orders enabled Bell to offer the Huey both commercially and overseas at an attractive price. Bell also built com-mercial versions of the military Hueys be-ginning in 1960 and developed upgraded models such as the 214 and 412 for mili-tary export and civilian use.

Seawolf: A solitary fish

with strong, prominent

teeth and projecting tusks that give it a

savage look.