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Looking for Huey

R

redsys

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Where can I purchase a salvageable huey in which I can restore to airworthiness? How much would it cost, and how long would it take to restore?
 
Scar59

Scar59

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Get a copy of Trade -A- Plane. best source for that kind of equipment. You would do better to purchase an airworthy aircraft. It will cost millions to restore a "salvageable" unit.
 
SCSG-G4

SCSG-G4

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To restore something to airworthiness will mean a complete teardown, inspection and rebuild with certified parts BY a registered aircraft mechanic certified to work on that type of craft. Even if you do all the work yourself, it still has to be approved by an FAA Certified Mechanic, every step along the way. You might be talking about $250,000 or more for all the tools to be able to work on it. And you do realize there is about 20 hours of maintenance that must be done for each hour or so of flight. A flying aircraft would make a lot more sense, but you better have deep pockets. It's kinda like the old stock market saying ' How do you make a small fortune playing stocks - start with a large fortune".
 
R

redsys

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I was looking at another post on this forum, and I saw someone talking about finding a decent condition one for 20k, he said it was missing some things such as seats and some avionics, and it did come with the main rotors, however they were disassembled. Pretty sure he said it had all the other parts.

I would be interested in something similar to this for 20k, I don't know where to find things like this.
Yes, I am aware it would take a lot to get things like this up in the air again, but it would be **** a lot of fun. I don't really know the exact cost on a restoration for one, I guess it depends on the condition found.
 
Scar59

Scar59

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Red,
Every moving part on a helicopter is life limited, after a specified flight hours in service, the part is deemed unserviceable, even if it still is intact. That includes the rotor head and blades, engine, transmission, and tail rotor assembly and all attaching hardware. The life limited parts become condemned, and cannot be returned to service. Any serviceable parts ( life remaining)that are included with the craft you are interested, would have been returned to service and sold to support an airworthy aircraft. Decodeme2's Huey is a beautiful static display, it may start and run but it is not airworthy. Meaning it could come apart in an instant once airborne. Find a Trade-A-Plane publication, there a airworthy hueys listed.
 
D

DrillerSurplus

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And the fuel consumption is 80 gallons/hour + or - a little depending on load, etc.
I did a lot of helicopter work moving small exploration drills in Alaska. By the time we got fuel out to a camp in the Brooks Range it was about as expensive as helicopter fuel in Afghanistan. (well maybe not quite) We liked the Huey because we could sling 3,000+ pounds, but we could rarely justify the extra costs compared with smaller helicopters like the Hughes 500D (military versions MD500E, MD520N, & a few others).
 
M

Maple Leaf Eh

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Ontario, Canada
As others have mentioned, aircraft are incredibly maintenance intensive. Everything has to be traceable as aircraft grade and signed off as serviceable. Once a part is time-expired or past inspection, it cannot be returned to service after a once-over with the Mark I eyeball. If the historic military vehicle community had to operate under these same conditions, no one would turn a wheel and we'd all be doing something else.

A Huey is the iconic Vietnam helo, but a military contract aircraft will come with many restrictions. Regardless of what "someone" says, the State Department has a lot of authority to pull your strings. You will be much further ahead to buy a 1960's contemporary civilian contract Bell 204 or 205 single blade helicopter and paint it green.

( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bell_204/205 )
 
Tracer

Tracer

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The Munitions Museum here in Hawthorne just picked up 2 Huey's for static display from White Sands New Mexico.
 
J

Jakob1944

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Warthog said:
I just want one to sit in and go "Thuuuump, Thuuuump, Thuuuump".

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r0OfSyj-dhY
Click to expand...
Sounds funny not hearing M60 door gunner fire and troops yelling above the rotor thump.......kinda like something is missing on the sound track

1/Sgt US Army retired.......RVN (the nam) class of 65-69.......CoA, 1/27 (Wolfhounds) Inf Bde, 25th Inf Div.......11B (grunt)....Cu Chi.....

.
 
M

mthullm54a2

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tonasket wa
There is a place in Olympia Washington that reconditions hueys and yes in order to get an airworthiness certificate it needs to be inspected by an airframe ,powerplant who is certified to sign off and inspect. Over the the life of an aircraft different safety inspections and modifications are made by the manufacturer and FAA these all have to be verified also what you are suggesting can and has been done it takes time and money I was an air force aircraft maintenance technician and have friends that buy old plans and reconditions them and unless you can do the work yourself and sign it off yourself it's usually cheaper to buy one that's airworthy already but if you have your mind set good luck it can be done but not cheap
 
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