Been thinking about buying a UH1

[Bender]

I got to ride in a Citation II once in 1998. Only an hour or so... it was cool as fuk. I worked at an FBO and the owner had one that they hung a new engine on and the factory mechanic had to ride in it as part of the new install. Pilot asked if I wanted to go with..... um.... yeah!!!!!!

 

[_Windrider_]

I got to ride in a Citation II once in 1998. Only an hour or so... it was cool as fuk. I worked at an FBO and the owner had one that they hung a new engine on and the factory mechanic had to ride in it as part of the new install. Pilot asked if I wanted to go with..... um.... yeah!!!!!!

To this day whenever I have to do a flight test I always make the mechanic who signed off on the job come with. You aren’t willing to ride in what you did I’m not willing to to either.

 

[Bender]

To this day whenever I have to do a flight test I always make the mechanic who signed off on the job come with. You aren’t willing to ride in what you did I’m not willing to to either.

That’s exactly why Cessna made them fly it. Makes perfect sense.

 

[Bender]

I have tons of cool stories from working at that FBO. I’ll type up
The one when they asked me to buy wine for the jet tomorrow..... I’m a Troll in real life....

 

[sandwarrior]

To this day whenever I have to do a flight test I always make the mechanic who signed off on the job come with. You aren’t willing to ride in what you did I’m not willing to to either.

I'll ride in what I fix. Never had an issue with that.

 

[tnichols]

It’s all true. And just think, now we have these same idiots flying around in VLJ’s like the Honda jet.

Owner/operators . Fricken’ airway road blocks!

 

[Strykervet]

that's why I want an M1, pretty low maintenance, besides I can poke holes in a BRDM with 30 cal. I need chobham armor so I don't get dents in the walmart parking lot.

My man...

You'd LOVE the Stryker then. It's the Cadillac of armored vehicles.

 

[Supersubes]

If it flys, fucks, or floats....it’s cheaper to rent!

 

[Bender]

If it flys, fucks, or floats....it’s cheaper to rent!

Hookers on a float plane, sounds like a good b movie title.... I wonder if Samuel L Jackson and Alexandria Dadario would be interested......

 

[308pirate]

Never flew a V tail but I have more than a few hours in my logbook in A36s. I never thought they were dangerous or even twitchy. In fact, I thought they were quite docile for a high performance single and a joy to fly after stepping up from 150s, 172s, and Sundowners. But then, I've always been a by the numbers/very procedural pilot.

 

[Gunfighter14e2]

I was a maintenance test pilot when active duty. Getting your license will financially cripple you unless you are somewhat well-to-do. Upkeep on a rotary wing will assrape you....even something as relatively simple as a Huey. Fuel burn rate alone is roughly 70 gallons per hour if you DON'T do a lot of hovering/OGE maneuvering.

+200,...... but the real kicker is the insurance. I was about to buy a C model long ago had the money, price was right, but the killer was the insurance.

 

[Threadcutter308]

LISTEN to this man, he knows that of which he speaks.

If I were in your shoes I'd learn to fly in this order:
- Private pilot
- Instrument rating
- Buy a used Beech Bonanza, get REAL good flying it in all conditions
- Sell it
- Buy a Pilatus PC-12
- Take as much instruction as it takes to satisfy yourself and the insurance company.
- Travel like a king

Being a former Beech Aircraft manufacturing engineer, I am more than partial to the King Airs but they are double the maintenance cost, double the operating cost, and almost double the insurance of a Pilatus. Plus the PC-12 is a fucking NICE aircraft on its own merits

No shit!

Look up "Pilatus PC 12" on Youtube and watch some of the videos. Beautiful, amazing aircraft. It's a King Air killer. King Airs are beautiful, but with only one engine on the PC 12, it's a much more economical alternative.

For fun, you could go with a Pilatus PC 6. High wing, powerful, gangly taildragger (satisfying JRassey's comment above) and enough room for 9 of your buddies from the Hide. Isn't fast like the PC 12, but that just means more drinking time for your buddies. (takeoff roll is ~ 300' (or less)).

Both of them use the world renowned Pratt & Whitney PT6 series turbo prop engine. Amazing reliability/longevity. Unfortunately, Pilatus announced cessation of manufacturing of the PC6, this summer or summer of 2019, I think. I believe it has to do with Pilatus wanting to focus on manufacturing of their new (first foray) PC24 business jet.

Or, you could just stay @ Marriotts for an average of $150/night. Get 75 nights in a year, achieve Platinum status, get nice upgrades, perks and eat for free in their Concierge lounges. Get the Marriott VISA, use it to pay for your stays. It gives you 15 nights credit (now you only need 60 nights to qualify for Platinum), and pays you double points to be used toward future stays for free. (Sorry to sound like those guys on the disqus comments sections on Breitbart hawking "Google pays me $95.00 per hour, blah, blah", but I do all these things with Marriott and I have come out way ahead). The wife and I just stayed at the Marriott in Paris/Champs Elysees last week, on points, for free. It was a 3,500.00 Euro per night room. No dragging a motor home around behind us, no payments, no insurance, no maintenance, no breakdowns/dead on the side of the road, no driving while tired etc.

 

[ArmyJerry]

I don't do Marriott, I am a Hyatt Diamond Member, I hate staying with the masses at Marriott, Its Hyatt or camping, nothing between.

 

[Threadcutter308]

I don't do Marriott, I am a Hyatt Diamond Member, I hate staying with the masses at Marriott, Its Hyatt or camping, nothing between.

There ya go, it's Hyatt then. If you already have status at Hyatt, it's much easier to maintain there than to have to start fresh with someone else. I've never had status there, so I could be in the position of not knowing what I am missing. My point being, just take advantage of one of those programs. Seems like they all are quite good.

 

[ArmyJerry]

all kidding aside , owning a chopper si way out of line to what it should be, they are not that complicated, a mil or less I could swing but dam that only gets you a jalopy. I think I am going to get a tank instead.

these planes you guys are talking about are 6 - 10 mil.

 

[Maggot]

I found a few on Aerotrader:

https://www.aerotrader.com/--Aircraft----Bell-Iroquois-(Huey)-205--UH-1H-Aircraft-For-Sale/search-results?make=Bell|2236522&model=Iroquois (Huey) 205/UH-1H|244880166&sort=featured:asc&

Don't get excited at the one listed for $75k, it doesn't have a data plate or records, which means that as far as the FAA is concerned it's not actually a helicopter. One of the honchos at the oil company I worked for bought a surplus Huey for like $1,000 or something ridiculous with a plan of having our aviation division get it airworthy and registered for corporate use. Once they gave him a rough starting estimate of a million bucks and a full year minimum, with no guarantee it would be flyable, it wasn't such a bargain.

An average guy can afford a decent private plane if he's willing to prioritize it and save for it. Once the spinny thing is on the top and not on the front, there are almost no affordable options for the average man. Replace a piston engine with a turbine, and you're into another order of magnitude for price of the bird and it's upkeep. The reason you see so many Robinsons in private hands is that they're about the only ship normal folks could hope to afford and operate.

Check you pm.

 

[Maggot]

and many many ways of getting in trouble too..

I like your way of thinking....

 

[sirhrmechanic]

Funny, a few years ago, I had a similar fantasy... decided that I rely too much on my mechanical skills to fix old cars and bikes beside the road... and that I simply don't have the discipline for an aircraft. Of any kind.

That said, I run a great joke on Busenhalter-6... coming back from Michigan, I started posting pictures on her Facebook page of the Helicopeter 'restoration project' I just bought. Even showed it in a trailer... ready to come home. No, didn't buy one. But found great pictures!

My thought was to do a "MASH" helicopter. Bell 47 with the dead nuts reliable Franklin air-cooled piston engine. I loved those as kids because a neighbor of ours had one. His had pontoons and he would take it up to all the lakes around here fishing. Then land in front of his 'garage" and wheel it in on a big dolly. He and the garage are long gone. As are the days when you can land your helicopter in your back yard up here. But I loved his "Wopter Copter" as I called it as a kid. It was also the chopper of choice on a couple of programs I loved... "Skippy the Bush Kangaroo" -- sort of an Australian Lassie. And The Undersea World of Jacques Cousteau... he had one on Calypso.

Easy restoration. Easy to keep in certificate. Fun as hell. But I went down the live artillery route instead. And short of a barrel burst, I think I have a much longer life ahead of me as a result!

So follow your dream, Army! That said, I bet a UH1 would be unreal expensive to buy, maintain and keep in certificate!!!

Cheers,

Sirhr

 

[sirhrmechanic]

Yes, Skippy existed...

I think it affected me... and now I have the song stuck in my head.

Cheers,

Sirhr

 

[Gunfighter14e2]

I think I am going to get a tank instead.

M35a1 gun trucks are fun w/a quad in the bed, a 50 in the ring mount an a M60 at each corner on the ground. The trailer will hold enough ammo for about 8 minutes of full, for everything. Just think of the FSA you could remove of the EBT system!

 

[Veer_G]

Yes, Skippy existed...

I think it affected me... and now I have the song stuck in my head.

Cheers,

Sirhr

You gonna make me post up Skipinder again?

 

[ArmyJerry]

Problem with the quad 50 and m60 is they are NFA, a 120 mm smoothbore is not nfa

 

[_Windrider_]

Funny, a few years ago, I had a similar fantasy... decided that I rely too much on my mechanical skills to fix old cars and bikes beside the road... and that I simply don't have the discipline for an aircraft. Of any kind.

That said, I run a great joke on Busenhalter-6... coming back from Michigan, I started posting pictures on her Facebook page of the Helicopeter 'restoration project' I just bought. Even showed it in a trailer... ready to come home. No, didn't buy one. But found great pictures!

My thought was to do a "MASH" helicopter. Bell 47 with the dead nuts reliable Franklin air-cooled piston engine. I loved those as kids because a neighbor of ours had one. His had pontoons and he would take it up to all the lakes around here fishing. Then land in front of his 'garage" and wheel it in on a big dolly. He and the garage are long gone. As are the days when you can land your helicopter in your back yard up here. But I loved his "Wopter Copter" as I called it as a kid. It was also the chopper of choice on a couple of programs I loved... "Skippy the Bush Kangaroo" -- sort of an Australian Lassie. And The Undersea World of Jacques Cousteau... he had one on Calypso.

Easy restoration. Easy to keep in certificate. Fun as hell. But I went down the live artillery route instead. And short of a barrel burst, I think I have a much longer life ahead of me as a result!

So follow your dream, Army! That said, I bet a UH1 would be unreal expensive to buy, maintain and keep in certificate!!!

Cheers,

Sirhr

Could always register it as an expiremental and save some regulatory headaches. But either way the Huey in and of itself will cost a fortune to maintain. As military workhorses they probabaly had at least 8 hours of maintenance time per flight hour.

 

[Gunfighter14e2]

a 120 mm smoothbore is not nfa

The ammo is,

 

[Bender]

OK, this one time working at the FBO, The owner calls up and said he had some clients he wanted to pick up in the Citation II. He asked me to go get some nice wine and put on the jet. I went to the liquor store and grabbed a small bottle of nice something or other, and on the way out I saw this huge jug of Thunderbird, so I bought it as well and put them both on the jet. They showed up later that day and took off to go pick up the clients, when they returned hours later I was expecting an ass chewing or an asking of what the hell! I figured they probably forgot about it because they just got in their car and left me to put the jet away, I pulled it into the hanger and hopped on board to clean it out and I found the empty bottle of Thunderbird!!!! Lmao!!!! They never said a word!!! I never found the other bottle that I bought. Those rich guys will drink anything!

 

[sandwarrior]

Never flew a V tail but I have more than a few hours in my logbook in A36s. I never thought they were dangerous or even twitchy. In fact, I thought they were quite docile for a high performance single and a joy to fly after stepping up from 150s, 172s, and Sundowners. But then, I've always been a by the numbers/very procedural pilot.

I'd take conventional tail feathers on a Beech any day of the week. The D-35 I put back together for my instructor had a tendency to wallow. They say pitch is stable, roll not so much. But when we test flew it, straight and level flight was okay. Until you made a turn. It seems like it took a bit to stabilize. Like a ball bearing in a trough. There just isn't enough airfoil back there to hold what is needed. Gentle turns is what is needed with a V-tail.

 

[Yasherka]

I've always wanted something like a BRDM to drive to the store in.

They're actually pretty obtainable, its just the parts are always a crapshoot and at a minimum you need to be a diesel mechanic or your budget just went up exponentially.

I'd love to have one of those, or maybe one of the BTR series. However, I have a wife and would kind of like to keep her so....

 

[Gunfighter14e2]

I'd like a M114 or a M551 to play with.

 

[THEIS]

Hi,

Raptor Aviation out of Florida has this 1964 UH1 for $379,900 and is current on all inspections and certs

http://www.raptoraviation.com/aircraft spec pages/Huey UH1H 19CF.html

Sincerely,
THEIS

 

[bogeybrown]

Check you pm.

Received. Let me do some thinking and I'll get back with you on my best suggestion?

 

[bogeybrown]

Hi,

Raptor Aviation out of Florida has this 1964 UH1 for $379,900 and is current on all inspections and certs

http://www.raptoraviation.com/aircraft spec pages/Huey UH1H 19CF.html

Sincerely,
THEIS

Damn, that's really not that bad. Going purely from memory the MR hub and mast inspections were among the worst from our standpoint, having to totally strip them and send them out for NDT. IIRC we pulled turbines and gearboxes and had them sent out whole for inspection and overhaul, that shit wasn't cheap but not that much actual work for us knuckledraggers.

We had a ship come in for a massive maintenance cycle that we spent months getting back together. We got the new main rotor assembly on it, mast, blades, swashplate, balanced and tracked. A senior pilot and mechanic did a maintenance check flight on it, all great. They sent it out on a job with a pilot brand new to the company and he crashed it within 2-3 flight hours per the Hobbs. I was a helper and was losing my shit because I'd spent hundreds of hours working on that ship and knew that NTSB/FAA whoever was going to be digging through everything and I was panicked in the back of my mind that maybe I'd fucked something up.

The lead mechanic, who was insanely good and insanely antisocial, was having a smoke and a cigarette and I went and told him that the ship we'd sent out yesterday had crashed and should I be worried that I'd messed something up. I don't think he even looked up from his newspaper and said something along the lines of "there was nothing wrong with that ship, period." And went back to not caring.

At first I thought he didn't care, but I realized that that guy was simply that competent and that certain of the work he put into a ship, and the work that he supervised, that it simply wasn't in his repertoire to second guess himself. I really think that's the only way guys should do some specific jobs: with the unmitigated certainty that they've got that shit and anyone in the world can review their work without a worry.

BTW, the pilot survived that one, but didn't fly for us again.

 

[FS1]

Jerry put the cash into Muscle cars and Guns. If a boat is a hole in the water. Than a Huey is a hole in the sky.

 

[BoilerUP]

Actual GIF of an airplane owner:

A helicopter owner (even a Robbie) throws with two hands.

 

[Basher]

Jerry put the cash into Muscle cars and Guns. If a boat is a hole in the water. Than a Huey is a hole in the ground.

Fixed it for you.

 

[sandwarrior]

Hi,

Raptor Aviation out of Florida has this 1964 UH1 for $379,900 and is current on all inspections and certs

http://www.raptoraviation.com/aircraft spec pages/Huey UH1H 19CF.html

Sincerely,
THEIS

Something goofy with that. That is an "H" model. They didn't build those until 1970. "D" models are lon,g but not that long.

 

[_Windrider_]

"D" models are lon,g but not that long.

 

[sandwarrior]

Love you Lon,g time GI

 

[_Windrider_]

Love you Lon,g time GI

 

[cav has been]

Man i gotta go dig out some old pics. That cowl # sure tugs at some old memories.

Friend of ours who is a big pecan farmer and Viet Nam grunt bought and totally restored a LOACH. He flies over our house and surrounding orchards every weekend. Was a crop duster after the military and logged lots of flight time in fixed wing before getting interested in rotary birds. Started with a R22 and eventually decided to the Loach. He was helped with restoring the bird with the help of several VN pilots and mechanics who live in the area.

View attachment 6870187View attachment 6870188View attachment 6870189View attachment 6870191View attachment 6870187View attachment 6870188View attachment 6870189View attachment 6870191View attachment 6870191

 

[cav has been]

Something goofy with that. That is an "H" model. They didn't build those until 1970. "D" models are lon,g but not that long.

Sorry to contradict but "H" model production started in 67. By May of 68 there wasn't a "D" model left in the 1st Cav inventory unless there was a parts machine somewhere on the books

 

[Foul Mike]

Back in the 60/70/80 era there were so many rotary wing pilots that had great skills and many hours under their belts but were a dime a dozen courtesy of Uncle Sam and could find no jobs other than a select few who kept going on to be as great as they are now and they are now the OLD FARTS. There were thousands of them. Many just faded away or went fixed wing if they could fit in there.
A whole lot of talent that just went away after Uncle Sugar was done with them and just dumped them back out on the street.
Is that where "Kick em to the curb" came from?
I rode on those birds in the 1st. Cav. Div. and other than one bird shot down and 2 autorotations that I was in it was really neat.
I do understand Jerry wanting one and I want one too, I really do understand.
The only way I could come up with to get one was to send Love Letters to Oprah and swear my undying love for her and promise her all kinds of carnal delights and anything she wanted that I could do as she has the loot to put me in the air in my helicopter.
Well, that hasn't worked out so well for me, but I still try. At this point I have realized after 25+ year, It ain't going to work out for me, sadly. But I do keep trying, Never give a inch and stick to your guns.
Regards, FM
I was but a Grunt but did get to fly Peter Pilot with a neighborhood boy I was raised with from home that was a Pilot and on Ash&Trash missions close in. he let me hold the handles. It was a rush. He was shot down and killed about 2 months later on an insertion. RIP Dave

 

[bogeybrown]

Back in the 60/70/80 era there were so many rotary wing pilots that had great skills and many hours under their belts but were a dime a dozen courtesy of Uncle Sam and could find no jobs other than a select few who kept going on to be as great as they are now and they are now the OLD FARTS. There were thousands of them. Many just faded away or went fixed wing if they could fit in there.
A whole lot of talent that just went away after Uncle Sugar was done with them and just dumped them back out on the street.
Is that where "Kick em to the curb" came from?
I rode on those birds in the 1st. Cav. Div. and other than one bird shot down and 2 autorotations that I was in it was really neat.
I do understand Jerry wanting one and I want one too, I really do understand.
The only way I could come up with to get one was to send Love Letters to Oprah and swear my undying love for her and promise her all kinds of carnal delights and anything she wanted that I could do as she has the loot to put me in the air in my helicopter.
Well, that hasn't worked out so well for me, but I still try. At this point I have realized after 25+ year, It ain't going to work out for me, sadly. But I do keep trying, Never give a inch and stick to your guns.
Regards, FM
I was but a Grunt but did get to fly Peter Pilot with a neighborhood boy I was raised with from home that was a Pilot and on Ash&Trash missions close in. he let me hold the handles. It was a rush. He was shot down and killed about 2 months later on an insertion. RIP Dave

You're all too right about the Old Timers, Mike.

When I started (mid 90's)'every single line pilot the company I worked for had was a Vietnam vet, mostly crazy old Cav pilots that had kept in touch and recruited each other for jobs. Not one pilot had less than 20,000 rotor-wing flight hours and our really grumpy old bastard flew both Korea and RVN and was rumored to be somewhere around 50k hours. They were in a specialty niche flying long-lines and external loads under FAA part 133. They'd figured out that on the civvie side they could get good paying work if they gypsied around the world doing heli-logging, wildland firefighting, etc.

I remember when the Company got its first 500 and of course every single Cav Jock wanted it. "My" pilot got it on our job site and man did we have some fun in that thing doing "check flights" and "aerial surveys" of the terrain. What made it even better for him was that we were in the rice paddies of South La, so we were flying low enough that he had me helping him look out for 3-strand barbwire fence. That "old fart" was 21 again as soon as his ass hit the seat of that Hughes.

We eventually restructured the longline fleet around the 500/530 and moved our Jet Rangers and 407s over to the Part 135 side so longline remained the place to be: sitting around drinking beer at the end of the day soaking up antics and stories from the old Cav guys. God those were some fantastic men and some of the best sticks anyone will ever see, EVER!

 

[bogeybrown]

I should rephrase: those old Cav guys didn't sit in a 500, they strapped it to their backs and told that bitch to "watch this".

Flying low enough to wet a skid in the Atchafalaya Basin apparently brought back fond memories of the Mekong for them as well. Damn I'll say it again: a phenomenal group of men from a bygone era I was privileged to know personally.

 

[thejeep]

Ride your bike up to anchorage and find a deal on a dhc-2 beaver. Take your bike apart and fly your plane back with it. Planes are just laying around everywhere up there.

 

[_Windrider_]

Ride your bike up to anchorage and find a deal on a dhc-2 beaver. Take your bike apart and fly your plane back with it. Planes are just laying around everywhere up there.

a Beaver (or a Cessna Caravan) on floats is my dream.

 

[packratt]

Hookers on a float plane, sounds like a good b movie title.... I wonder if Samuel L Jackson and Alexandria Dadario would be interested......

Hand him a script. Sam Jackson never saw one he'd turn down.

 

[oneshot86]

Jerry, I have been sending bi-weekly love letters to Oprah promising to do anything she would like for over 25 years if she would just buy me a helicopter. No luck yet.
I think you have just as much of a chance as I do so hang in there.
Hell, maybe you will hit Powerball big time someday.

Ride your bike up to anchorage and find a deal on a dhc-2 beaver. Take your bike apart and fly your plane back with it. Planes are just laying around everywhere up there.

not cool enough, let me dig and spend the mans money...
pretty hard to beat the chopper. chopper, especially the uh 1, is overboard, i love it...
dont pay for parking in tampa, jerry. i have space in three countys to land your chopper, for free. and i know the fuel guys.
party on

 

[Threadcutter308]

a Beaver (or a Cessna Caravan) on floats is my dream.

(Turbine) Beaver on floats.......

 

[oneshot86]

i dont know why the above quoted foul mike, but hey, more the merrier

 

[ArmyJerry]

I think the sabot is non nfa.

[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/M829

QUOTE="Gunfighter14e2, post: 6882873, member: 91423"]The ammo is,[/QUOTE]