Courtesy Photo | Chief Warrant Officer Eads, a pilot with the U.S. Army Air Analyst Detachment at...... read more read more
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YAKIMA, Wash. – Few military aircraft can assert a legacy as illustrious as that of the UH-1 Huey, a helicopter that got its start spearheading the insertion and extraction of troops during the Vietnam War.
Nearly all of those familiar with Vietnam are equally familiar with the renowned Huey.
Amidst arguably one of the military’s most heartbreaking goodbyes, Central Washington State’s Yakima Training Center is preparing to part ways with the storied chopper, which the center has used for years as a medical evacuation aircraft.
As part of the Army’s efforts to relieve the UH-1 and other combat helicopters like the UH-60 Black Hawk currently tied down with training missions, Hueys all over are stepping down from their thrones as the novel UH-72 Lakota helicopter begins to take the reins.
Introduced to the Army in late 2006 and slowly dispersed to several military posts thereafter, the twin-engine Lakota began to replace the single-engine Huey; two of the newest Lakota aircraft produced recently touched down at Yakima just three weeks ago.
Still undergoing painstaking testing and inspection, the new helicopters will assume their position in medical evacuation missions to support training operations across the installation.
Maj. George Johnson, commander of the U.S. Army Air Analyst Detachment at Yakima, said the Lakota possesses a few innovative features that distinguish its performance.
He explained that the helicopter can fly at higher altitudes than the Huey and travel at speeds in excess of 140 nautical miles per hour, surpassing the capabilities of the Huey, which reaches its peak at around 120. The Lakota also has a cockpit constructed mostly of glass, making navigation easier for the pilot, and an external hoist with the same lifting abilities as the Huey’s internal hoist.
Having an external hoist, Johnson explained, is convenient since it allows for more room in the cabin.
Yakima’s new Lakota are sleek. They bask in a fresh luster that ages the elderly Huey next to them.
The bright red cross of still-fresh paint on the Lakota’s side foreshadows its near-future mission, one at which Johnson believes the Lakota will upstage the Huey.
Johnson says it flies smoother, faster, higher and more stable. “It makes flying a dream,” he says.
The dependable traits of the trusty Lakota will only make it easier for the USAAAD to evacuate casualties in training.
In spite of its splendorous traits, however, the Lakota can’t actually stand up to firepower of any caliber; in fact, it has no armor protection at all. It also has no flare system. But, it’s not designed for combat.
“The Lakota is strictly for use in permissive environments,” Johnson explained. “It’s designed to stay more in the national airspace.”
The significance of the Lakota’s mission lies primarily in its ability to free up helicopters like the UH-60 Black Hawk that are created to withstand hostile war environments.
“It frees the Black Hawks being used at certain locations such as the National Training Center at Fort Irwin, Calif., for areas where these air frames are needed in the war fight,” Johnson said.
Chief Warrant Officer Randall Tatum, the standardizations pilot with the USAAAD, said the Lakota is actually going to save the Army both time and money.
Tatum explained that the Lakota is certified by the Federal Aviation Administration, so repair parts are supplied under the FAA’s internal parts pool. Ultimately, this saves Army maintainers the trouble of chasing down the parts.
While Johnson admits he’d much rather take a Black Hawk into a combat zone over a Lakota any day, he’s glad to have the stable Lakota on board on the home front.
“If I’m going downrange, I want to be in my comfortable Black Hawk with all my protection equipment that I have on board, but for flying in the national airspace, [the Lakota] is a very, very nice aircraft to fly,” he said.
In the grand scheme of things, the Lakota is doing just what it was made for. It’s giving the Army the best of both worlds. Troops deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan get additional air support, stateside installations like Yakima get more efficient aircraft for training.
The Huey, on the other hand, which Tatum said will be greatly missed, will still maintain its longstanding reputation tucked safely away in Army history.
Yakima will receive six more Lakota aircraft in pairs by the middle of next year. Sometime between now and then, the Huey will leave the flight line of YTC for the last time and hang up its hat.
Not leaving, however, is its story.
| Date Taken: | 09.16.2010 |
| Date Posted: | 09.16.2010 21:22 |
| Story ID: | 56436 |
| Location: | YAKIMA, WA, US |
| Web Views: | 423 |
| Downloads: | 3 |
This work, Yakima Training Center says goodbye Huey, hello Lakota, by SGT Christopher Gaylord, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
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