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UH-1D, Air America, somewhere in Laos


russ c

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Hi Everyone, 

 Hope you don`t mind seeing some pic`s of the latest addition to my `Secret War in Laos` collection

LmhX8J7.jpg

My attempt at building an Air America, `D` version Huey from Italeri`s 1/48 Kit

TXsjNRC.jpg

Built pretty much from the box contents, omitted the cable cutters and grab rails................

QIuJan6.jpg

.....replaced the whip aerial on the tail with wire and built the triangular HF Radio antenna above the co-pilots seat from same

rNfiumX.jpg

The decals came from a Saab 91 Safir sheet which are offered as a what-if option.......

92aITqO.jpg

...but this is not made clear until you open the package:S

ejMHxDE.jpg

Luckily I was able to swap the Safir kit and decals for a Hobbycraft Beaver :) ( Cheers Larry ) which is a costly way of obtaining a Beaver, in case anyone has the same idea. 

Lastly a shot of it with my other Air America builds

cqLAPr2.jpg

Hope you enjoy, thanks for looking

Cheers Russ

 

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37 minutes ago, Mario said:

Very nice, Russ! Guess it must be Long Tieng:smile:.

Cheers,

              Mario

Hi Mario, It`s a top secret Lima Site, so secret in fact,........... not even I know where it is :S

Cheers Russ

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Hello Russ,

Enjoyed your contribution regarding the 1D and the rest of the fleet.

Is that department "Air America" still in business?

Regards, Orion / The Netherlands.

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10 minutes ago, Orion said:

Hello Russ,

Enjoyed your contribution regarding the 1D and the rest of the fleet.

Is that department "Air America" still in business?

Regards, Orion / The Netherlands.

Cheers Orion, glad you enjoyed it. re: Air America, no, they wound up in the mid Seventies ( or so they`d like us to believe :) )

Thanks Russ 

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Super nice build Russ.   An Air America Huey actually shot down an VPAF An-2 Colt in January of 1968 after attacking Lima Site 85.  The crew chief was carrying an AK-47 and fired from the back of the helo onto the Colt.   Have plans to build one very similar and hope it turns out half as nice as yours.

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11 hours ago, IGKent said:

Great Russ! I remember this film!:clap2:

Cheers Igor,

 Forget the film, the reality is even more intriguing, though there`s some wacky parts of the film based on fact. Just saying,

Thanks for looking and commenting 

Regards Russ

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Great job Russ. Where did you get the registration decals from?

Also did this one not have the white curved band on the tail marking out the tail rotor extremity? 

 

Edit: Just seen the reg comes from the Saab sheet.

Yes this one did have the white band on the tail. 

I can't get it to copy the picture link but Google image search XW-PFH. You will see what I mean. 

 

 

Also just checked the aircraft history. She definitely went through the wars crashing multiple times and replied back to service.

 

Bell UH-1D (205D) XW-PFH 3210 21 Sept. 67 bought new

Service history: an Agreement of sale between Bell Helicopters and Air America was signed on 29 May 67 (Minutes ExCom-AACL/AAM of 23 May 67, in: UTD/CIA/B8F2); Bill of Sale for the unregistered aircraft dated 21 September 67 (Status as of 5 April 74, in: UTD/CIA/B56F3); officially bought by Air America on 30 September 67 at $ 328,645.75 (Accumulated costs as of 30 November 68, in: UTD/CIA/B40F8); previously probably financed by the Pacific Corp.; assigned to contract AID-439-713 for use out of Udorn on 2 October 67, still in May 68, called thru 30 June 68 (Aircraft status as of 1 May 68, in: UTD/Herd/B2); put into service 
out of Udorn on 2 October 67 (Minutes ExCom-AACL/AAM of 3 October 67, in: UTD/CIA/B8F2); tail rotor damaged when it hit trees upon landing at coordinates UF 0699, Laos, on 26 December 67 (XOXO of 26 Dec. 67, in: UTD/Hickler/B25F8); Accident report, in: UTD/Hickler/B24F3); repaired; still assigned to contract AID-
439-713 for use out of Udorn 15-31 August 68 (F.O.C. of 15 August 68, in: UTD/LaShomb/B14); unable to climb after take-off from Na Khang (LS-36), Laos, on 26 September 68, XW-PFH came down in soft soil causing the aircraft to tip over and come to rest in an inverted position (XOXO of 26 Sept. 68, in: UTD/Hickler/B26F17; Accident report, in: UTD/Hickler/B24F7); repaired; still assigned to contract AID-439-713 for use out of Udorn 16-30 June 69 (F.O.Circular of 15 June 69, in: UTD/Hickler/B8F7B) and 16-31 August 69 (F.O.C. of 15 August 69, in: UTD/Hickler/B1F1); crashed at coordinates UH 1047 near the pad at Houei Tong Ko (LS-184) in Laos on 7 July 69, injuring the pilot (Capt. R. A. W. Elder), the flight mechanic (L. M. Irons) and one American passenger; extensively damaged; repaired 
at a cost of $135,000 (XOXO of 7 July 69, in: UTD/Hickler/B25F9; F.O.C. of 15 Aug. 69, in: UTD/Hickler/B1F1; Minutes ExCom-AAM/AACL of 8 July 69 and 12 August 69, in: UTD/CIA/B8F3); still assigned to contract AID-439-713 for use out of Udorn 1-31 July 71 (F.O.Circulars of 1 and 15 July 71, in: UTD/Hickler/B8F7B); the engine was damaged during landing at coordinates TG 9905 near Pha Khao (LS-14) in Laos on 25 February 72; repaired and returned to service on 26 February 72; was struck by Bell 204B N8513F, while parked on the ramp at Vientiane (L-08) in Laos on 27 February 72, damaging the main rotor blades and the hub assembly; repaired and returned to service on 12 March 72 (XOXOs of 25 and 27 Feb. 72, in: UTD/Hickler/B27F2; Minutes ExCom-AACL/AAM of 14 March 72, in: UTD/CIA/B9F7); the engine lost power during cruise and malfunctioned, resulting in an autorotation landing at coordinates TF 3546 near Phong Hong (LS-133) in Laos on 7 July 72; repaired (XOXO of 7 July 72, in: UTD/Hickler/B27F2; Minutes ExCom-AACL/AAM of 11 July 72, in: UTD/CIA/B9F7); on 16 August 72, XW-PFH suffered engine problems while on the ground at Long Tieng (LS-20A); repaired and back to service the same day (XOXOs of 16 Aug. 72, in: UTD/Hickler/B27F2); on 17 December 72, XW-PFH was damaged by rocket fire, when the aircraft was parked overnight at Luang Prabang (L-54) airport; repaired (XOXO of 17 Dec. 72, in: UTD/Hickler/B27F2); made a forced crash-landing at “T” helipad at coordinates TG 4611, Laos, approximately 1 mile southeast of Ban Nam Song (LS-363), on 21 May 73, due to engine problems; there were only minor injuries, and the aircraft was later repaired (XOXO of 21 May 73, in: UTD/Hickler/B25F12; Accident report with photos, in: UTD/CIA/B62F4); in use out of Udorn at least between 18 April 73 and 24 February 74 (Crew member duty report of H. F. Miller, in: UTD/Miller/B4F6; Udorn daily flight schedule of 18 April 73, in: UTD/ Dexter/F1); in the Air America documentary; assigned to contract F04606-71-C-0002 for use out of Udorn at least 16-30 April 73 (F.O.C. of 16 April 73, in: UTD/Kaufman/B1F14), 1 November-31 December 73, and 1-30 April 74 (F.O.Circulars of 1 November 73, 1 December 73, and 1 April 74, in: UTD/Hickler/B8F7C); flew to Udorn-Long Tieng for customer 713 on 28 April 74 (Udorn Flight Schedule of 28 April 74, in: UTD/Walker/B31F7); used out of Udorn as a spare aircraft 1-31 May 74 (F.O.Circular of 1 May 74, in: UTD/Hickler/B8F7C); ferried by Air America pilots Marius Burke and Geza Eiler from Udorn (T-08) to Saigon (V-01) via Bangkok (T-09) and Phnom Penh (C-01) on 23 June 74, still registered as XW-PFH (Udorn daily flight schedule of 23 June 74, in: UTD/Spencer/B1F2).

Fate: XW-reg officially cancelled already on 14 May 74; stored at Saigon without reg. (Undated aircraft list of late 74, in: UTD/CIA/B49F1); reg. N47001 was requested by Air America on 10 April 75 (Letter by Clyde S. Carter dated 10 April 75, in: UTD/CIA/B17F3). N47001 3210 17 April 75 reregd. from XW-PFH
Service history: officially regd. on 17 April 75 (e-mail dated 25 April 2013, kindly sent to the author by Martin Best); was to be crated and shipped to the Continental US on 1 May 75 (Telex dated 20 March 75, in: UTD/CIA/B18F2); was undergoing an engine change in the Air America hangar at Saigon on 29 April 75 and not operational at the time of evacuation (Report by Boyd D. Mesecher dated 75, in: UTD/CIA/B17F4).
Fate: abandoned in the Air America hangar at Tan Son Nhut airport, Saigon, on 29 April 75 (Aircraft list as of 15 May 75, in: UTD/CIA/B51F12; XOXO of 19 July 75: “Write-off of aircraft that were abandoned at Saigon”, in: UTD/CIA/B40F4; Report by Boyd D. Mesecher dated 75, in: UTD/CIA/B17F4); the cancellation of the registration was requested on 25 June 75 (Letter by Clyde S. Carter dated 25 June 75, in: UTD/CIA/B17F4); officially cancelled on 17 July 75 (e-mail dated 25 April 2013, kindly sent to the author by Martin Best); however, the list of properties abandoned and the survey report dated 21 July 75 still refer to it as XW-PFH, stating the loss as being of $ 341.242,85 (both in: UTD/CIA/B18F7).

 

 

 

 

Edited by snapper_city
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Very tasty

 

'You know, that would make a great TV commercial? 'Excuse me, is that an Uzi?' 'Why, yes it is. Hey, self-defense is no laughing matter! That why when I want number one I pack an Uzi... accept no substitutes.'

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Super-interesting subject and very well made. The silver finish really works well. Seeing the pics I immediately wondered if this one would have been involved in the Saigon evacuation as well but then I read @snapper_city 's post - so no, but close -reading the history he posted it's amazing how often this Huey needed patching up time after time.

 

Jay 

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