It may not be as technologically gee-whiz as a current-model Apache, but if you’re so inclined (and moderately well-heeled), you can own a Vietnam War-era ‘Huey‘, a Bell UH-1E model helicopter gunship. It must be one of the more unusual auctions in eBay’s recent experience! The seller states:
SELLING MY 1965 UH-1E MARINE CORPS HUEY GUNSHIP. 205 ORDERED IN 1965. 36 SURVIVED VIETNAM.
I BOUGHT IT A FEW YEARS AGO AND ENJOYED RESEARCHING ITS HISTORY AND RESTORING IT BACK TO 1965 AS ISSUED CONDITION FROM BELL HELICOPTER. IT’S AN AWSOME PIECE OF HISTORY, AND IS THE PINICAL OF MY COLLECTION. NOTHING BEATS A HUEY GUNSHIP PERIOD.
THIS SHIP STARTS AND RUNS GREAT! THERE ARE NO RECORDS FOR THIS HELO. THE LAST OWNERS THAT FLEW THIS HELO WERE THE USDA FL. FORESTERY SERVICE. THEY SURPLUSED THIS HELO, TO REPLACE IT WITH –H- MODELS. IT IS BEING SOLD WITH NO DATA PLATE AND NO RECORDS. ENG, TRANS AND BLADES ARE MISSING SERIAL NUMBERS. ALL GUN MOUNTS, AMMO CANS, CHUTES, GUNS, AND 2.75 ROCKET PODS ARE INCLUDED IN THE SALE. ALL GUNS ARE NON-FIREING DUMMY’S.
THIS HELICOPTER WAS HANGER KEPT MOST OF ITS LIFE. BEING SOLD AS A STATIC DISPLAY THAT RUNS. RECORDS HAVE BEEN LOST. SLOW FUEL LEAK, VERY SLOW HYDROLIC LEAK. (they all leak). NO EXPORTING WITHOUT PROPER PAPERWORK PERIOD. (EUC ).
There’s more at the link, including many more (and larger) photographs. Spelling mistakes are the seller’s!
I flew many a mile in military helicopters, although not of the gunship variety. It lends a new and unique perspective on the human condition to look out the open doors of an Alouette or Puma helicopter (it was noisy! – and windy!) and watch the treetops go past at high speed – above your head! Then, when the pilot banked the aircraft to change course, suddenly you were looking down towards the ground at the base of the trees, and as the helicopter lurched and sagged in the turn, your heart (and your stomach) leaped up into your throat. I think the flight crews probably placed bets on how many troops they could cause to either throw up, or wet their pants, during flights like that . . . at least until we got used to the ride – which some of us never did!
Peter
When I was getting certified as an Air Forward Air Controller in Korea (AFACs flew in choppers while calling in air strikes, FACs stayed on the ground), a USAF F-15 pilot flew with us on a OH-58.
As the zoomie had never flown in a helicopter before, the Army pilot gave him the full helicopter treatment – flying around trees, waiting until the last moment to pull up over a ridge line and the like.
But the one thing that made the fighter pilot happiest was flying sideways. To avoid enemy fire, AFACs in choppers stayed terrain masked until just before the strike (or artillery fire) hit, then pop up to observe, then pop down.
In one case, we masked behind a hill that sloped to out left and hovered while awaiting "splash" from the firing battery, indicating that the rounds had 10 seconds left in flight. When the call came, the chopper pilot slid the -58 sideways to the left and after impact slid it sideways back to the right.
The zoomie was almost beside himself. He said that was the coolest thing he'd ever done in an aircraft.
I was not an aviator but spent a lot of time aboard Army helicopters of many different models in my career. There is no flying like 'em.
(PS to you redlegs reading: splash is ordinarily sent five seconds prior to impact for ground observers, but we were taught to send it 10 seconds for air observers.)
Late model UH-60, flown by combat SAR pilots practicing E&E of air-to-air threats – best damn roller-coaster ride ever.