UH-1 Huey Illustrated Paperback – May 1, 2023

My original book “Huey” was published over 40 years ago in the Squadron/Signal Publications “Modern Military Aircraft” series. (A series created by the publisher to account for my predilection for inserting personal narrative into what he preferred to be “hardware” books.) The majority of that book was dedicated to the service of the Huey in the Vietnam War, where the Huey made its bones. The Huey has rightfully been called the “Jeep of the Vietnam War”, a name earned through its ubiquity and utility, matching that of its 4-wheeled WWII namesake. It was the most recognizable of helicopters in an age when the helicopter was coming of age. Along the way, the UH-I “Huey” (nee Iroquois) became one of the most produced of any modern aircraft, serving in the all arms of the U.S. military and in the service of countries throughout the world. There is scarcely a country anywhere in the free world that has not heard the distinctive “WHUMP! WHUMP! WHUMP!” that heralds the approach of one of the many versions of Huey. It was the single most important vehicle in the development of air mobility, a concept that replaced the parachute as the delivery vehicle of the airborne. It was also the vehicle that guaranteed that the wounded of the Vietnam War could reach a hospital faster than they would have after a traffic accident on the highways of America. And it was the aircraft that helped to develop a new breed of military pilot, the Army Warrant Officer, a professional pilot, devoid of any command responsibility beyond his aircraft.The Vietnam War provided Huey with some of its most memorable moments, but certainly not it’s final moments, for the saga of Huey continues, as the basic design has been refined and expanded to account for new missions. The Huey may lack the glamor of fighters, but the Huey is to helicopters what the DC-3 was to fixed wing transport....a continuing legacy of utility, (which the “U” in “UH” stands for.) When the history of vertical flight is written, the career of Huey will provide one of the most important benchmarks in that history. Before Huey, proponents of vertical flight struggled to provide the reliability necessary to make helicopters practical to operate in large numbers. The operational career of Huey removed any doubt about the practical aspects of helicopter operations. While the Vietnam history of the Huey will provide a major portion of this book, the many follow-on versions and missions will also be covered in as much color as I could collect. Read more