U.S. Army UH-1 Helicopter US Air Force 36th Rescue Flight's Bell UH-1N Iroquois light helicopter 69-6648, has achieved a record 17,00...
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| U.S. Army UH-1 Helicopter |
The UH-1N, also known as the "Huey," was designed in the late 1960s and put into military use in the early 1970s. It is primarily used as a search and rescue asset, light utility transport helicopter, command and control platform, medevac ambulance and close air support gunship.
"It's really incredible when you think about it," said Maj. R. Tyler Rennell, a 36th RQF standardization and evaluation pilot and aircraft commander for the record flight. "An aircraft designed in the 1960s and maintained for nearly half a century is still being flown today with the highest mission capable rate of any other platform in the Air Force."
Originally designed for 2,500 flight hours, the airframe shows the incredible built quality and a testement of superior maintenance.
During the milestone flight, Rennell said it didn't feel like the helicopter was an hour past 10,000 flight hours.
Manufactured by Bell Helicopter/Textron Inc., the UH-1N is the military version of the Bell 212, one of the numerous variants of the original "Huey" first designed and flown in 1956.
Powered by two Pratt and Whitney T400-CP-400 turboshaft engines, the 10,500 pounds (4,763 kilograms) helo has a range of 300+ miles and fly at a ceiling of15,000 feet (4,572 meters).
The Fairchild based 36th RQF was activated in 1971 and is a tenant unit of the 58th Special Operations Wing at Kirtland Air Force Base, New Mexico.
