As with the Co-pilots, they usually rotated among unit aircraft. Besides aiding the Crew Chief on the ground, the Door Gunner also assisted in loading and unloading the aircraft and manned the right door gun while flying. The Crew Chief and his Door Gunner would work many hours before and after each mission maintaining their helicopter. In addition, the Crew Chief was the only crew member personally responsible for maintaining his aircraft. In many units, the Aircraft Commander and Crew Chief were assigned a specific aircraft and Co-pilots generally rotated among unit aircraft. Most pilots began their tour in Vietnam as a Co-pilot and advanced to Aircraft Commander as they gained experience. The Co-pilot assisted the Aircraft Commander in the air and flew the aircraft as needed. The Aircraft Commander, as his name implied, was in command of the aircraft at all times while on a mission. In Vietnam the UH-1 had a crew of four: Aircraft Commander (A/C), Co-pilot or РІР‚СљPeter Pilot,РІР‚Сњ Crew Chief (C/E) and Door Gunner. If a Crew Chief or Door Gunner chose not to wear it, the chicken plate was often stowed under his seat for protection from enemy weapons fire from below. Body ArmorР”Р„ll aircrew were issued body armor, jokingly referred to as РІР‚Сљchicken platesРІР‚Сњ. These were used to mark targets for the Gunships when receiving hostile fire or to mark landing zones (LZРІР‚в„ўs). Crew Chiefs and Door Gunners always carried colored smoke grenades, often as you see them here on the seat posts. Because pilots were not issued M-16РІР‚в„ўs, they often carried other unauthorized weapons slung over their armored seats for personal protection. Secondary Armament:Р”В®ach Crew Chief and Door Gunner also carried a secondary weapon, usually an M-16 rifle but sometimes more exotic types. The large cans below the M-60РІР‚в„ўs held roughly 2,000 rounds of linked 7.62mm ammunition and were a typical field modification replacing the authorized can which held 500 rounds. The M-60D is a 7.62mm NATO caliber weapon with a cyclic rate of fire of 600 to 700 rounds per minute. Typical armament included two M-60D machine guns on fixed door mounts manned by the Crew Chief on the left and a Door Gunner on the right. Approximately 5,000 helicopters were destroyed there, of which all but 500 were U.S.

A total of 11,800 helicopters of all types served in Vietnam. In addition to the human cost, the helicopter РІР‚СљcasualtiesРІР‚Сњ of the war were staggering. Over 10% of all combat and combat support deaths in Vietnam occurred in helicopter operations, a combined total of 6,175 (2,202 pilots, 2,704 aircrew and 1,269 passengers). The utilization of helicopters dramatically increased warfare survival rates. During the Korean and World War II wars this time was measured primarily in days, not hours. The average time between field wound to hospitalization was less than one hour. Over 90,000 patients were airlifted (over half of them Americans). Vietnam Helicopter Pilots Association records show that 7,013 Hueys survived in the Vietnam War, totaling 7,531,955 flight hours. Many Vietnam Veterans describe the UH-1 РІР‚СљHueyРІР‚Сњ helicopter as the РІР‚Сљsound of our warРІР‚Сњ. It was returned to service in 2011 to operate as a РІР‚СљThank YouРІР‚Сњ to Vietnam War Veterans and has completed over 180 missions since then. Based at Cu Chi, it survived multiple small arms attacks and one RPG strike. This Huey served in the 25th Infantry Division in Vietnam, performing troop insertions and extractions, medical evacuations, helicopter crew recoveries, smoke, sniffer psyops, and firefly missions. These aircraft operated in the hostile environment of Vietnam for almost a decade. It is not fitted with external weapons to save weight and is only armed with the M60s used by the door gunners. This particular helicopter is a РІР‚СљSlickРІР‚Сњ, used for troop carrying. The РІР‚СљHueyРІР‚Сњ nickname stuck thanks to her early РІР‚СљHU-1РІР‚Сњ designation (it was later redesignated to UH-1 with the normalization of 1962). From 1965 to 1973, the Bell UH-1, officially named РІР‚СљIroquoisРІР‚Сњ was the most common utility helicopter used in Vietnam.

How much can a huey helicopter lift