The HU-1A (later redesignated the UH-1A) was the first turbine-equipped U.S. Two more prototypes were built in 1957, and six YH-40 prototypes were tested in 1958.īell believed the YH-40 was ideal for troop transport and cargo carrying as well as the medevac role, a view soon adopted by the Army, who found the pre-production aircraft so much better in service than previous piston-powered helicopters they soon ordered more of them. Army awarded Bell a contract to develop the next generation turbine-powered helicopter, designated the XH-40 (Bell company designation was the Model 204). In 1955, anxious to obtain a powerful medical evacuation helicopter, the U.S. The first Bell helicopter to use a turbine engine was a modified Model 47 (designated the XH-13F), first flown in October 1954.
Turbines, though expensive to build, were long-lived, durable, and extremely light for their power output in comparison to piston-powered engines. By the early 1950s, however, turbine engines were being used in many fixed-wing aircraft and aircraft designers began to consider using them for rotary-wing use.
Variants: UH-1N Twin Huey, AH-1 Cobra, Bell 204/205, Bell 212, Bell 214Įarlier helicopters had been powered by piston engines.Primary users: United States Army, Japan Ground Self-Defense Force, Australian Army, Armed Forces of the Philippines.In Vietnam, 2,202 Huey pilots were killed and approximately 2,500 aircraft were lost, roughly half to combat and the rest to operational accidents. The last were produced in 1976 with more than 16,000 made in total, of which about 7,000 saw use during the Vietnam War.
The initial designation of HU-1 (helicopter utility) led to its nickname, "Huey." The aircraft was first used by the military in 1959 and went into tri-service production in 1962 as the UH-1. The Bell UH-1 was developed from 1955 US Army trials with the Bell Model 204. Marine Corps) known as the “Huey,” is a multipurpose military helicopter, famous for its use in the Vietnam War. The Bell Helicopter UH-1 "Iroquois," commonly (or officially in the U.S. Twin-engine light utility cabin monoplane