Huey: The Helicopter That Became an Australian Aviation Icon

(Hardback)

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There can be no more iconic a military helicopter than the Bell UH-1 Iroquois.

Such a statement is no more obvious than the image of three Iroquois landing to extract troops in Phc Tuy Province, South Vietnam, in August 1967, etched into the stone edifice of the Vietnam Memorial on Anzac Parade in Canberra.

Flown by Australians of all three Services between 1962 and 2007, the Iroquois served the country in peace and war, from Malaysia and Vietnam to the Middle East and the South Pacific. It served in the search-and-rescue role and saved many lives from those stranded on rooftops during massive floods to those plucked from stormy seas. It was the Iroquois job to deliver water, food, fodder and fuel to stranded outposts and it became the Iroquois job to help keep the peace. It was also the ubiquitous training helicopter for those pilots, loadmasters and crewmen who would go on to more advanced types like the Chinook, Seahawk and Black Hawk. Sixty-six were purchased over an 11-year period and, today, 33 adorn museums, RSL clubs and act as gate guardians at bases around Australia.

The Iroquois is certainly an Australian aviation legend

Author Bio

Dr Mark Lax is presently the Senior Air Force Fellow at the RAAFs Office of Air Force History. After a 33-year career in the Permanent Air Force retiring as an Air Commodore, Mark continues to serve in the RAAF Reserve and has since competed a PhD in Military History. Canberra based, he now lectures widely and writes on the broad spectrum of RAAF history in this the RAAFs 100th year.