UH-1 Huey Helicopter Gunship - Vietnam -
The concept of using helicopters for quick deployment of troops was a brand new concept developed during the
Vietnam war. The UH-1 Huey helicopter was the workhorse of the vietnam war.
The photograph shown here is of a very early version of a Huey gunship helicopter. Perhaps 1963 or earlier.
Helicopter gunships had 50 and 30 caliber machine guns mounted to the side. The machine gun depicted below
shows an early mount. In a fixed position facing forward. The helicopter would have to face the target in
order to shoot it. A very crude handle was constructed to engage the trigger mechanism. Pulling back on it
would fire the gun. Duct work attached to the side of the machine gun channeled the spent cartridges in a
downward direction.
A clear disadvantage to this approach is that the stability of the gunner would be compromised every time
sharp turns were taken.
The rocket pod was mounted next to the machine gun. The wire frame shown here left the projectiles and their
firing mechanism exposed. Later versions of the pods consisted of enclosed cylinders.
The following pictures illustrate the type of rocket that was fired from the gunship. This sample is dated
1967. The blue nose denotes it as a training round.
The motors were ignited electrically via the use of the connecting wire.