U.S. Army UH-1C Gunship

U.S. Army UH-1C Gunship. 18th Thunderbird 3rd Platoon Bandits.

Power Plant , . 1 Lycoming T53-l-11A Gas Turbine Engine , . 1100 Shaft Horsepower , Dimensions , . Length 41'8" , . Width 7' 8.5" , . 7'8.5" , . Rotor Diameter 48' , . Disk area 1808 Square feet , . Empty Weight 4600 , . Maximum takeoff weight 9500 pounds , Performance , . Maximum Speed 120 Knots 135 (135mph) , . Cruise Speed 111 Knots (125mph) , . Range 300 nautical Miles , . Service Ceiling 19,4000 Feet , . Rate of Climb 1,750 Feet Per Minute , Armament , . 2 Over and Under M-60 belt fed machine guns. Mounted on outboard pylons on each side of the aircraft, behind the sliding doors , . 1 Each side 2.75" rocket pods carrying 7 rockets each, mounted inboard of the M-60s , . 1 M-60 belt fed machine gun mounted mid-cabin to a bungee cord for the crew chief.

, 65-09510 had listed 16 incidents which were primarily small arms hits over the multiple hours it was in the 118th AHC. Each time she was repaired in the 118th and returned to service. More importantly, no one was listed as having been wounded or killed during the 1,681 hours of flight time over the two years plus while in the 18th. The Gold Book also showed that while in the 71st AHC, 65-09510 was flown many hours over a period of 17 months and no loss of life was listed there either. What a true War Bird she was. many helicopters were not so successful or "lucky"! Total combat flight hours were 2,636. ,

. 58,148 American were killed and 304,000 wounded out of 2.59 million who served in Viet Nam. , . The average age of those killed in Viet Nam was 23.11 years , . 50,274 were enlisted average age 22.37. , . 5,598 were officers, average age 28.43. , . 1,276 were warrant officers, average age 24.73 years, mostly helicopter pilots , . 11,465 of those killed in Viet Nam were less than 20 years old. , . There were approximately 12,000 helicopters that served in Viet Nam Bell Helicopter built 10,005 Hueys from 1957 to 1975. , . 2,709 people were killed while in Hueys.