How Many Flight Hours has the Huey Helicopter Flown? Take a ride in a Huey!

Do you know how many hours the famous Huey has flown? That may be a question that no one really knows the true answer but there are some good calculated guess!

Hopefully, these estimates are based on some type of calculation from flight logs and number of aircraft that actually were in service.

From www.helis.com:

The Bell Huey was the first mass-produced helicopter powered by a jet turbine. With its distinctive "whomp-whomp" sound that could be heard miles away, the UH/AH-1 aircraft have totaled more than 27 million flight hours since Oct. 20, 1956 when the "granddaddy" of all H-1's, the XH-40, made its first flight. Since then, more than 16,000 H-1 helicopters have been produced by Bell and its licensees -- making it the most successful military aircraft in aviation history.

Officially the UH-1 series is the Iroquois. But its unofficial name, Huey, became so commonly used that the AH-1 attack version was officially named the Huey Cobra.
The Huey story traces back some four decades. In 1955, with an interest in a utility helicopter designed around a turboshaft engine, the US Army had the US Air Force develop a new helicopter for its use. At that time the US Army did not have its own aircraft development capability. The design selected, Bell's Model 204, was to be powered by a new Lycoming T-53 engine of some 850 shaft horsepower and featured a typical Bell two-blade teetering rotor.

So did you ever come close to guessing  over 27 Million flight hours! Wow! That is amazing and really explains why the Huey or H-1 is so revered in aviation circles. It also explains why so many people have a place in their heart for the old bird!

Check out this very cool Huey helicopter video! Take a ride in a Huey!