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Latest Hueys, Cobras make huge strides

CAMP PENDLETON, Calif. — At a distance, the new UH-1Y helicopters look similar to those born during the Vietnam era, but the four-blade Huey, which Marines call the “Yankee” model, is a different bird entirely.

It has greater range, speed and lift than the old UN-1N — with less vibration. It carries 2,700 pounds of fuel, nearly double the capacity of the “November” model, and its integrated avionics, navigation and communications system give the aircrew access to much more data and mission planning while in flight.

As they settled into the cockpit ahead of a recent flight from Camp Pendleton’s air station, Maj. Christopher Chown and Capt. Rodney Dean spun up the UH-1Y’s pair of T100 engines and scanned the monitors as they ran through a series of preflight checklists.

The blades smoothly lifted the helicopter’s skid off the concrete deck. There was no deep vibration, a noticeable change from the twin-blade UH-1N. It’s at this point, hovering just a few feet above the ground, when the crew members say they really feel the lift generated by the four blades’ larger surface.

“You have so much more power,” explained Sgt. Zach Lucas, 23, a crew chief from St. Louis. “Everything happens a little faster. You feel it right away.”

The extra blades give the Yankee a distinctive sound, a deep thrill rather than the hard “whoop-whoop” of the November. The rotor head yields another important upgrade: flexible articulated composite yokes that allow each blade to bend and flex, a feature that provides for smoother turns.

The Corps is sending three UH-1Ys and a trained detachment overseas with the 13th Marine Expeditionary Unit, which leaves San Diego in early January aboard the amphibious assault ship Boxer for a scheduled deployment to the Western Pacific and Persian Gulf regions. It will mark the first operational and at-sea deployment of the Yankee Hueys, which have foldable blades but no automatic folding system.

The deployment will provide the Corps with plenty of input about the new Huey’s ability to operate on the ship’s windy flight deck.

“You can’t get accurate data from simulators,” said Maj. William M. Sloan, an instructor pilot with Marine Light Attack Helicopter Training Squadron 303. “The ship’s environment is such a dynamic environment because of wind. It’s unpredictable from spot to spot.”

The Corps plans to buy 123 Yankee Hueys by 2015, along with 150 AH-1Z Super Cobra attack helicopters, which will replace the AH-1W models currently flown. Both Bell-built aircraft will share about 85 percent of the same parts, including the four-blade rotor system and crashworthy seats, which will reduce the logistical and supply load on squadrons.

One of the new “Zulu” Cobras sprung to the air and joined Dean and Chown’s Huey for a demonstration of aerial attack and assault over Pendleton’s scrubby hills and oak-dotted canyons. When it goes operational, the Zulu Cobra will carry more firepower — as many as 16 Hellfire missiles, for example — and fly at faster, more maneuverable speeds.

In the Cobra’s rear pilot seat was Capt. Scott M. McGuire, an AH-1 instructor pilot. Like the new Huey, the Zulu Super Cobra “is a significant improvement in handling characteristics,” he said. “… You could fly it single-handedly.”

He called the new Cobra “a smoother” helicopter.

“The aircraft,” McGuire said, “wants to fly fast.”