Warbird Information Exchange

I know there are a bunch of Huey guys here on this board. And some of you like the Inspector and Gary1954 go back a long ways.

Something that has always bothered me is that on the Uh-1 D/H/V series you have an obvious difference in the nose of the aircraft. It seems like all D's were short nose Huey's. But; so were a great many H's.

It always seemed to me that as a rule of thumb the break came somewhere in the 69-xxxxxx series. But I have seen short nosed 70-xxxxxx a/c.

Does anyone know why that design change came about and what block it affected?

Thanks

Joe ( 67N/15M)

Nothing concrete, but my best SWAG is it had to do with weight and balance issues as the airframe put on weight and equipment and perhaps more avionics installed.

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Don't make me go get my flying monkeys-

To the best of my knowledge, all US Army single engine Hueys were delivered with a short nose.
The long nose only began appearing on the USAF/USN/USMC Twin Hueys circa 1970.

If a single engine Huey has a long nose, it was a retrofit..in fact Bell offers it as part of the upgraded "Huey II" program.
For avionics space I'd guess.

I've never seen a V or later (post Vietnam mods) USA Huey with a long nose. Have I missed something?

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Remember the vets, the wonderful planes they flew and their sacrifices for a future many of them did not live to see.
Note political free signature.
I figure if you wanted my opinion on items unrelated to this forum, you'd ask for it.

Yeah, the long nosed twin huey is a completely different bird than what I am talking about.

This is a more subtle difference. It is really quite obvious once you know what you are looking for.

And maybe it is just something us long time 67Ns notice. I went to Rucker in 80, and in Sept. of 11 was the last person in the Army with a Huey MOS (15M) as my primary.

The short nose Huey is more blunt. If you get a chance this weekend watch "The Green Beret's". There is a scene with a flight of Hueys coming in to land and has both types of Huey. I don't have a photobucket account or I would scan in some pics so you can see the differences.

Thanks Inspector, I knew you would know what I was talking about. I may have been the last official Huey guy in the Army; but I get the impression you know way more about that airframe than I do. I mostly crewed and did AVUM and AVIM maintenance. Though I did help re-mast ours in 02 and rebuild the 42 degree g/b's that same year. Our engine guys took care of the N2 spur gear issue.

Sorry, It thought you were referring to the Twin long nose. If you've noticed a difference between Huey noses, you've been paying more attention than me.

Last time I saw Army Hueys was at Ft. Hood, in 2003. They were supporting a exercise of Apaches and OH-58s in central Texas. near Brownwood. I spoke with the commanding Colonel, he kept a Huey around as their hack to bring spare parts and personnel from Ft. Hood. he loved, it..it carried what he needed carrying for less money than a Blackhawk.
He was a Vietnam vet and said the young guys loved to fly it.

_________________
Remember the vets, the wonderful planes they flew and their sacrifices for a future many of them did not live to see.
Note political free signature.
I figure if you wanted my opinion on items unrelated to this forum, you'd ask for it.