I am getting together some material for SEMINAR’s UH-1B and I have a couple of questions
1.) Sometimes, on the pilots side, I see cables snaking out of the nose radio compartment and sometimes I don’t. Is there a rule of thumb for this?
In some pict’s I see a horizontal brace along both the pilots and co-pilots nose bubble. Was this for a retro-fitted chin turret?
I suspect the back of the instrument panel was open and thus should, in all probabilty, detail the back of the instruments.
On the mounted weapon systems, some helicopters had a brace that extended from the pylon to the back of the exterior cabin. Was this, when used, on both sides or just the side that was giving them “vibration” problems.
I’ve got some good references but any suggestions is greatly welcomed.
I can tell you at 1/32 scale and smaller you should not be able to see the back of the instrument panel as long as the radio/front granade door is closed.
I have never seen that brace at the gun mounts…most did not have it OR at least the ones I have seen.
The cables you see and then don’t see can be anything from upgraded radio gear, ex-granade to advanced weapons systems depending on what pictures your looking at …and if those birds were in action or stock pile…I have seen older Hueys being fitted out for Forest service, National Guard training and Sheriff/Police all mostly old stock and from the Nam era… all having all kinds of crap done to them in the years of what ever kind of service they have seen…I hope some one here can elabrate on this a bit more.
I have a KILLER AEROFAX book on Chinnoks it’s amazing! I wonder if they did one on UH-1 B,C and D HUEYS?
There are also some CD ROM packages out there that are pretty good too. I have one on Chinooks and though MOST of the diagrams and breakdowns are from the U.S. Dept of defence and also used in the said Areofax book…You can blow the images up and really get into it!
Question 1.)Sometimes, on the pilots side, I see cables snaking out of the nose radio compartment and sometimes I don’t. Is there a rule of thumb for this? Answer: Unknown
Question 2.In some pict’s I see a horizontal brace along both the pilots and co-pilots nose bubble. Was this for a retro-fitted chin turret? Answer: Yes, this brace was installed on aircraft retrofitted for the 40mm Grenade Launcher.
Question 3.)I suspect the back of the instrument panel was open and thus should, in all probabilty, detail the back of the instruments. Answer: Personally, I would at least detail the lower back portion of the instrument panel, the part that would be seen if you look UP through the chin bubbles, or if the avionics is opened.
Question:4)On the mounted weapon systems, some helicopters had a brace that extended from the pylon to the back of the exterior cabin. Was this, when used, on both sides or just the side that was giving them “vibration” problems. Answer: This brace was commonly attached to BOTH sides of the weapons pylon to prevent pylon flexing while firing, as recoil flexing destroyed accuracy (especially when firing the FFAR). (not all carried this brace however, reference the aircraft you’re going to duplicate)
“TINS ALERT”
On 22 Feb 68, during the closing days of TET, one of the ACH-47’s (“Birth Control”) was shot down in the open rice paddies about 600 meters NW of the Citadel at Hue. As the other ACH-47 landed to pick up BC’s crew, they began taking heavy fire from a small palm shrouded village beside Hwy 1 just outside the Citadel’s walls, which prevented the crew from making their way over to the rescuing “Easy Money”. About that time, two “Hogs” from the 1/9th showed up to provide cover fire. One of the Hogs (armed with two 19-shot FFAR pods), flew up to within 500’ of the village, about 20’ off the ground, and salvoed all his rockets into the village!
This made things get real quite in the village, long enough for the Go-Go crews to be rescued.
VERY, VERY COOL. I think that you captured the action superbly.
reminds me of a story that a friend of mine once told me when he was a LRRP, about him and his team being extracted out of a dicey situation by a Cobra (part of a red team).
