Vietnam UH-1H Huey Helicopter Turbine Failure Training

Autorotation - turbine failure - practice is a fundamental part of helicopter pilot training. This UH-1H Bell Huey served several tours of duty in the Vietnam War and was restored back to flying condition. Still in the air today, this helicopter is a flying piece of history.
To find out more, visit:
www.iasar.org
►Socials
Instagram: / rotorwake

[@petecoppola5428]

Enjoyed doing autorotation training while I would sit in the back, it was like an amusement park ride that I got paid to ride.

[@jackcobb1090]

Nice shots of the Huey in flight. 😍

[@carpetmogul007]

Beautiful aircraft by the way.

[@andyhutch1947]

I have had two engine failures in my eight years of active duty. One in a fully loaded UH-1C (Charlie) Model Gunship at night, in Viet Nam. Also had one, day time, instructing in a UH-1H at Ft Rucker. I have done thousands, not a thousand, all to the ground. All of my flight Instructor’s told me if you have to think any part of an autorotation, ie put collective (the thingy on the left that you pull UP on to go UP, or push DOWN to go DOWN) DOWN, or fail to monitor Rotor RPM during the descent, or failure to apply the correct amount of anti-torque pedal, you may DIE! I taught Instrument Training in OH-13’s and UH-1A, B, D & H’s at Rucker and taught using the correct technique of entering into rotation and maintaining proper control while in autorotation. Most instructors never teach instrument autorotation, for whatever reason, and probably because it wasn’t part of an Instrument Check Ride. I was also an Instrument Flight Examiner and guess what was a part of my check-ride, but not gradeable, an entry into autorotation. I wanted all of my students to live through all emergencies! My last engine failure which was at Rucker cost both of my students (both were Army Fixed Wing Rated Pilots and going through the Army Rotary Wing Flight Transition Course) a PINK SLIP, failing grade for the day. I was in the Co-Pilot’s left seat and one student was in the Pilot’s right seat and the other was in a jump seat set to my right rear and close to give them a full visional of the instrument panel. My student was flying along at about 1,500’ and climbing to about 3,000’ msl, and there was a loud bang, a violent rotation to the right, a loud beeping noise and the RPM Warning Light was flashing and there was LOUD SILENCE of the jet engine. My instinct was to grab the controls but I wanted to see what my student would do so I just placed both hands resting on my upper legs and watched. I had included simulated engine failures already in my teaching so I wanted to see what my student would do. He immediately said on the intercom “engine failure, collective down and rotor in the low green and coming up”. He made a simulated radio call on Intercom, “Mayday Mayday Army (aircraft #) has just had an engine failure, followed by our approximate location”. All perfect. The aircraft was under control. I stated to the student, “I have the aircraft, remove your hood and take down the cardboard (an Army high tech piece of equipment that is placed on top of the instrument panel to reduce visibility to the outside world) but can be replaced by a piece of scrap cardboard that is folded into thirds and always carried to the Huey by the first student of the day and returned to my desk by the second student of the day). Once the student stated “you have the aircraft”, I ordered my student to remove his plastic hood (a device that hung on the helmet that reduces peripheral vision so his attention is guided to the instrument panel) and to take down the cardboard and to give it to the other student. All of this has taken about 10 seconds and I go On Guard on the UHF radio which is 243.0 MHz, and calmly say “Mayday Mayday Army xxxxx engine failure so many miles da da ta da ta da Mayday Mayday. My student who had been flying looks at the instrument panel and then looks outside and then he stares at me. My Vertical Speed Indicator is reading 1,500 Feet Per Minute and then all 200+ military aircraft in SE Alabama are talking on top of each other and I just say “Roger That I am going with an engine failure in a Army Huey and I will be landing in a corn field, over”! I am gazing out my left door window primarily looking for a field with minimal corn vegetation. There was one just about under me so I enter into a tight left turn and look at my rotor speed and it is rising so I pull up on the collective to keep the rotor in the green and my student in the right seat announces “rotor in the green, I’ll monitor it sir”. I’m impressed but I am reminded that both students are seasoned Army fixed wing pilots and understand the importance of keeping flight instruments in the green, even if there is not the noise of a jet engine present. As I began to flare at a couple hundred feet above the corn field I notice there is a slope going from my front towards the rear of the aircraft. I needed a zero run ground speed touchdown perpendicular to my right to keep the main rotor from flexing down and chopping off the tailboom that could cause the transmission to come loose and wipe out the cockpit. I had a very steep flare as I had the wind coming from my six o’clock. I then pressed the left anti-torque pedal all the way to the stop until we were parallel to the slope and then the aircraft entered to drop like a rock. That’s normal I thought. I grabbed the end of my Collective and jerked it up with all I had, which was the norm for me and the aircraft went skids level and I cushioned our soft touchdown. The blades were decreasing in RPM and I turned the Main Full OFF and began my normal Shutdown Procedure of the aircraft out loud on the intercom system. I reached up to turn the battery off and as I looked out to my right, the Pilot’s Door was wide open and the right cargo door was wide open. My two students were nowhere to be seen. I unbuckle and I step outside and peer into the engine compartment door to be sure there wasn’t a fire and it appeared ok. I notice one Huey is touching down next to my crippled Huey and several more were circling overhead. I was now very concerned for my two students who were nowhere insight. I walk around the front of the nose and I see a hole in the 3-4 foot high corn. My eyes follow the trench that appeared to run out from my aircraft and towards the top of the slope I see two bodies from about the waist up with flight helmets on. My two students had de-assed the aircraft, without paying any attention to my well-being and run off. I motioned for both to return to the aircraft. We tied down the rotor blades of the Huey and re-checked the aircraft for damage. None to be found anywhere. I told my students to get in the Huey that was sitting next to us and I followed them into the Huey and we departed and headed back towards Lowe’s Army Airfield. On arrival the three of us walked towards the Flight Room where we had started our day. Both students sat down across from me. I reached over to the pile of blank flight report pads. I dug down to a pad of “Pink Grade Slips” (Failing Grade slip) and I tore off two of the grade slips and began to write, never saying a word to my two students. I finished writing on the second Pink Grade Slip and I gave each one a Pink Slip and they began to read what I had written. They read my short note. They Failed for not assisting ALL occupants from safely disembarking the downed aircraft (helping me). They both were excellent students but forgot to check that all crew members were safe. They never disputed the Pink Slips. At the end of our class and both had passed their final check ride I gave them their folder that contained all flight and ground school classes and grade slips. They had to review the contents and sign a slip that stated the contents were correct and that they agreed to the grades given. I left the table and looked at these two pilots looking through their flight records several times. They both were talking softly to each other as I walked to their table. I asked both if they agreed to the contents of the folder and if they signed off on the final slip. They acted like they had a question but were afraid to ask it. I wished them luck and I took their folders after shaking hands with both. I stopped and reached into my flight suit pocket and pulled out two pink slips of paper. I began ripping up both into tiny little pieces and I dropped the pieces into the garbage can and walked off. I head the two holler “thanks sir” as I left the area. I think they had learned a valuable lesson both days. The crash day and their graduation day. I also survived 2-3 hydraulic failures and the beginning of a transmission failure and lockup.

[@royshashibrock3990]

Whew! A book-length post if I ever saw one, but still some good stories and a butt-load of good info.

[@darioinfini]

Did they not actually land to save wear and tear on the frame?

[@grange247]

Do the US Army still fly these? Sorry for the ignorance,but I'm from the UK???

[@carpetmogul007]

Any reason a full down auto wasn’t initiated? I’ve seen the guys at the Bell BTA do thousands of them. Just curious.

[@dudleymeier5872]

That is a autorotation with a power recovery which is like walking on the beach with your socks on. However, they do an actual hovering autorotation near the end of the clip.

[@Rotorwake]

Insurance reasons!

[@andyhutch1947]

@@robinpassey83 What class did you graduate in? I was WORWAC 67-11, 1 August 1967. A lot changed after 1975 for the good. Great you flew Cobras. Where did you go overseas? I flew Cobras at night on night search and destroy or Firefly Missions. I was in Viet Nam on my first tour for 19 months of which I asked for a six month extension. My unit, the 334th Armed Helicopter Company was organized just the opposite of how an Assault Company was organized. They had three platoons of slicks and one platoon of guns. We had three platoons of gunships and one platoon of slicks. The slicks usually had three slicks flying with Special Forces LRRP units. They also provided four to five “D” or “H” models that flew every night with a FireFly Team so they were pretty maxed out. Our first platoon was the first Cobra Platoon in Viet Nam in 1967 and were the Playboys. The 2nd and 3rd Platoons, Raiders and Dragons, respectively, put up two fire teams every night so we had four FireFly Teams a night and sometimes we put up five FF Teams if action increased. When I arrived at the 334th on 30 August 1967, we were not only flying our own Search & Destroy Missions, we were called when ground units were under attack. I flew 6-8 hours a night sometimes, seven days a week. I went home on Special Leave for extending 6 months and when I returned our Charlie Models were gone and we were 100% Cobras. I got quite a bit of backseat time and I wasn’t Cobra rated. The in country Cobra Net Team lived with us and their tour wasn’t considered Combat Time so they had to maintain all flight minimums like if Stateside. They were always looking to fly with us to meet their night time minimums. I was a senior CW-2 and a Mission Commander so I could do just about anything I wanted including having a Cobra Net pilot fly my front seat with me in the back. All legal🙄! The Playboys flew all day missions and the other two platoons flew all night. I got 1,500 hours of Combat Time of which 1,300 was Night Combat Time with 1,675 Combat Mission’s under my belt. I actually hated flying the Cobra at night on the FF Missions because I flew on the deck blacked out to find the little F&$kers hiding along the rivers in sampans coming into Viet Nam at night loaded with ammo, weapons and replacements. They got to know us pretty well and our tactics. They would wait until we passed by and then shoot at us. The FF Mission was created for a Charlie Model Crew with the Crewchief and Gunner protecting our sixes. It wasn’t possible in a Cobra. But the low ship had to be low to flush out the MF’s. It didn’t matter that you were carrying 76 or more 2.75 FFAR and a belly full of 7.62mm and 40 mm ammo. You just couldn’t fly at night the same way as you flew during the day at 1,500-2,000 feet ready to shoot at a million targets. The muzzle blast of twin mini’s on the wing stores or the rocket blast was so blinding that shutting one eye to try and maintain some kind of “Night Vision” gave me terrible headaches because my pupils were getting a workout opening and closing. But I wouldn’t change a thing except that I lost two roommates with one still MIA and Presumed Dead Now. He was shot down in a Cobra and had high time in it, all day missions. Well glad you made it home my friend.

[@andyhutch1947]

@@dudleymeier5872 I am sure it is insurance because insurance on a helicopter can be 4x as much or more than a fixed wing. The helicopter has many many many moving parts compared to most all fixed wing aircraft. There’s more of a chance for a crash caused by component failure in a rotary wing aircraft.

[@andyhutch1947]

I bet Bell is self insured and pays out if there is an accident.

[@user-xq3kg8hk5q]

Этот звук волшебный 😍😍😍😘