May need to move a Huey....

[ZRX61]

At this stage it's all "maybe".. but the guy who owns a B model that flew with a friends unit in Vietnam may donate it so it can be restored as original for the surviving members of the unit as a flyer.....

The question I have is: It will need to be moved from Louisiana to near Los Angeles.. & thats the part I don't have a clue about....

Width is apparently 8' 7in so it shouldn't require a wide load permit.....?

How the heck do I go about this? Talk to truck companies for loan of a trailer and/or tractor unit? Tail boom is off the cabin so it isn't "full length" as it sits right now.

Any pointers (or loan of a C17) much appreciated.

[bdk]

How about a pickup truck and a flatbed trailer?

Is it narrower if you remove the skids?

[flightsimer]

At this stage it's all "maybe".. but the guy who owns a B model that flew with a friends unit in Vietnam may donate it so it can be restored as original for the surviving members of the unit as a flyer.....

The question I have is: It will need to be moved from Louisiana to near Los Angeles.. & thats the part I don't have a clue about....

Width is apparently 8' 7in so it shouldn't require a wide load permit.....?

How the heck do I go about this? Talk to truck companies for loan of a trailer and/or tractor unit? Tail boom is off the cabin so it isn't "full length" as it sits right now.

Any pointers (or loan of a C17) much appreciated.

Being a helicopter, it's going to be pretty straight forward and easy compared to some aircraft facing the same challenges.

A pickup and personal trailer should be able to haul it easily. Probably could get everything on a single 28ft gooseneck trailer. There are sites out there, if you have ever seen the show on AE called "trucking wars", where you can post an auction type add for shipping with the lowest bidder winning.

If you don't know anyone who has the truck/trailer and the auction type shipping doesn't work, then you would have to ship it commercially. This is going to be the most expensive way, but will probably require the least effort by you.

Pretty much, you will tell them you need to ship a huey, give them the dimensions of everything that needs transported and they should do the rest. You might have to hire a light crane to meet the shippers on both ends to pick up the fuselage and other stuff unless you have another way of loading it.

A standard flatbed trailer will be more than enough. Though now thinking about it, there is a type of flatbed trailer that has axles that will move forward on the trailer which drops the end to make the entire trailer into a ramp. You could easily then just winch the fuselage onto the trailer and could probably just lift the tail by hand or forklift or anything else.

If you have a helicopter dolly or landing gear, that would make it even easier when winching it on and off the trailer. Not sure what the people at my airport who have Huey's use exactly, but I know it is not a part of the heli and it's not a stand the huey lands on either.

[jmkendall]

I'm a 15M/67N, what we had to do to get it ready for shipping was to remove the Main Rotor, Tail Rotor and Mast. These units can sometimes be too tall for the bridge overpasses on the highway. The Bird itself sits just fine on a lowboy trailer. There is a Am Vets Post here in town that has axles mounted to their bird under the skids with break and tail lights. But i don't think that is a good idea for such a long trip. When you pull the mast put a thick sheet of plastic over the transmission and duct take it real good. Do the same thing for the shaft the tail rotor goes on. I really don't think you need to remove the 90 degree gear box. But check your total height before moving the bird. On the mast wrap the whole unit up real good. Even just plastic bags and duct tape, but put some padding on it and protect the mounting surfaces. By the way you are going to need a hoist rated at the appropriate level to remove the Main Rotors and Mast. If you need the appropriate instructions to re-install I can scan the sections from the TM. Which is TM 55-1520-25-1,2, and 3; when I get back home in July.

[jmkendall]

To answer a question of a previous poster the Huey uses a set of portable wheels that attach to the skids. These are NOT for towing any further than up and down the ramp. Do NOT attempt to use these for cross country towing. The wheels are not rated for that much speed. The skids will bounce and cause damage due to the low height, and the pins that hold the dollys to the skids are not that strong.

I have seen them come out just moving it down the ramp.

[ZRX61]

I should have added: Main rotor blades are missing (not an issue, I know of a set sitting about 300 yards from where I'm sat), the engine is out of the airframe. Not sure about the trans/mast etc.

[The Inspector]

Mast and skids removed and set on a 4 x4 cradle and it should be smaller than a lot of the goose necked land blimps you see on the roads behind sky high dually diesel, crew cabbed pickups that are taller than they are wide & going 75+!
Figure the overall height, check height restrictions in the states you'd be going through on line and plan on hitting the super slab. Ya might also check locally to see if someone needs a goose neck trailer moved to Californicate, then it would be down hill and sailing.

What would possess someone to purposely buy something named 'BOUNDER' or "FIREBALL"?

[ZRX61]

To answer a question of a previous poster the Huey uses a set of portable wheels that attach to the skids. These are NOT for towing any further than up and down the ramp. Do NOT attempt to use these for cross country towing. The wheels are not rated for that much speed. The skids will bounce and cause damage due to the low height, and the pins that hold the dollys to the skids are not that strong.

I have seen them come out just moving it down the ramp.

Don't worry. I knew that

Mast and skids removed and set on a 4 x4 cradle and it should be smaller than a lot of the goose necked land blimps you see on the roads behind sky high dually diesel, crew cabbed pickups that are taller than they are wide & going 75+!
Figure the overall height, check height restrictions in the states you'd be going through on line and plan on hitting the super slab. Ya might also check locally to see if someone needs a goose neck trailer moved to Californicate, then it would be down hill and sailing.

What would possess someone to purposely buy something named 'BOUNDER' or "FIREBALL"?

I've seen several pics of them with the skids/mast/boom etc removed, bolted into a steel frame & then tipped on their side for transport inside regular shipping containers

[T-28mike]

I used to move them on a "double drop" trailer ( deck sits about 1-1/2' off ground). With this trailer, the Mast (sans rotorhead) could be left in. IIRC, I used a pair of ratchet straps to suck the skids in so that they would fit into a pair of brackets (6X6 angle) that fit into the rub rail. Tail boom could be left on with tail rotor removed. On a trailer with a higher deck height, the mast and tail boom need to come off (tail boom because of the vertical stab).

A Huey weighs about 6500 pounds

Maximum Non Permited legal width is 8'-6"
Maximum Non Permited legal height is 13'6"
This applies across the country (at least did when I was still active)

[ZRX61]

Remembered after the previous posts that i know someone with a 40ft triple axle trailer that used to be a mobile home. It's been used before to move a complete, but disassembled, Spitfire in the past

[The Inspector]

Remembered after the previous posts that i know someone with a 40ft triple axle trailer that used to be a mobile home. It's been used before to move a complete, but disassembled, Spitfire in the past

Now, for a back haul load-

[mrhenniger]

This photo was recently uploaded to my database. I thought it may help to illustrate the issues of ground transportation of a Huey.

Mike

Aerial Visuals - Airframe Dossier - Bell-BellUH-1H-BF Iroquois [205] - Bell, Fort Worth, Texas, USA, s/n 70-16436, c/n 12741, c/r N835M

[Wilson]

Pictures and information on a similar rig here: http://www.armyjeeps.net/mcleanhuey/UH1eHuey.htm

[TheBeave]

Being a Louisiana boy, I have to ask, "Where in LA are you? or where is the A/C located?" I remember a Huey sitting in Baton Rouge for some time in partial restoration.

I used to work on Huey's at JRTC Flight Detachment at Fort Polk and was a member of the 812th MED CO (AA) at Esler Field (Pineville, LA) when we flew Hueys for a time. They traded their Hueys for the new Lakota.


Beave

[ZRX61]

I'm in SoCal, the Huey is South of Baton Rouge. It's not alone, there is at least 1 other there, maybe 2