Taiwan will retire its UH-1H fleet on October 30. The UH-1 has been in service on the island for 50 years. It will be replaced by the UH-60. According to local reports, the Army officially confirmed that it will decommission the UH-1H on October 30. The Ministry of Defense will hold a decommissioning ceremony. The UH-60 is a four-blade twin-engine medium-lift utility helicopter. In 2017, Sikorsky won a $135.4 million Foreign Military Sales (FMS) contract by the Republic of China Army for the manufacture of 24 Sikorsky UH-60M Black Hawk utility helicopters. Taiwan is a mountainous island surrounded by ocean. This helicopter is perfect for a rescue mission in the mountains at the altitudes above 2,000 meters or out at sea in nighttime. Its best feature is nighttime reconnaissance.
Notably, the USAF still has some 60-ish 1970s vintage UH-1N Hueys still on hand for use in carrying security forces guys around ICBM fields. These are set to be replaced by 84 Boeing MH-139s (an upgraded version of the AgustaWestland AW139) starting in 2021.
The Bell Model 204 (prototyped as the XH-40) first flew in 1956 and entered service with the military as the HU-1 (which quickly became “Huey” in milspeak), transitioning to the UH-1 Iroquois designation in 1962, with the first “slick” medevac ships assigned to the 57th Medical Detachment arriving in South Vietnam the same year. With more than 16,000 of these iconic medium lift helicopters built, the Huey became the defacto symbol of the Vietnam conflict.
Enter the obligatory Apocalypse Now- Ride of the Valkyries clip here:
It should be remembered that the last searing image of U.S. forces leaving Saigon in 1975 was centered on a Huey.
Evacuees are helped aboard a CIA/Air America helicopter perched on top of a building in Saigon. Photograph: Hugh van Es/REUTERS
While a number of Hueys remain in service with the military (59 UH-1Ns are used by the Air Force for Minuteman ICBM security, 37 TH-1H trainers are still in the air, the Army keeps 53 UH-1Vs in various Guard units, and of course the Marines have 107 advanced UH-1Y Venoms in regular fleet use), the Pentagon divested themselves of Vietnam-era UH-1s some years ago.
Which brings us to last week’s final flight.
In 2000, a pure former Army Bell UH-1H Huey S/N 69-15533, which clocked 419 hours in 1971 as a “Dolphin” with the 174th Assault Helicopter Company (she took 2 hits during Lam Son 719), was transferred from service with the FBI to the Border Patrol. Then when Border Patrol became part of CBP after 9/11, was transferred to the U.S. Customs and Border Protection Air and Marine Operations’ (AMO) office as N7247J.
N7247J, Bell UH-1H CN 69-15533, in her white and blue AMO livery At Grand Prairie via Airport-Data.com
Parked last week, she has an impressive 6,900 flight hours and 2,466 cycles on her 47-year old airframe that are documented.
The popular Vietnam-era 174th Dolphin nose art by WO1 Richard Machina, June 1967. Photo by Jim McDaniel. Huey gunships in the 174th were termed ‘Sharks” and carried P-40 Warhawk Flying Tiger-style sharkmouth designs
She is the last UH-1H in Homeland Security and DOJ long ago moved to more modern platforms, leaving DHS the antiques.
As noted in a press release from CBP on the event of N7247J making its final flight in El Paso:
It was a crucial platform for law enforcement operations along the Southwest Border, and over the last decade, was directly involved in the seizure of approximately 4,000 pounds of marijuana. It was also deployed to conduct vital missions during Hurricane Katrina.
During its tenure, AMO crews have operated the UH-1H to perform tactical and utility missions, including the insertion of agents into otherwise inaccessible terrain, external “load” operations, fast rope and rappel, search and rescue, air crew rifle operations, and aerial patrols.
She will be sold as surplus at auction.
A few Super Hueys remain in AMO’s flying museum, refitted with AH-1F Cobra engines, though its not clear if they are Vietnam era or not.
N7247J, Bell UH-1H SN 69-15533, on her last flight over the wilds of El Paso
