The Last Marine AH-1 Delivered Marking Beginning Of The End Of The Huey Era
Dan Parsons - Yesterday 4:52 PM
The final AH-1Z for the U.S. Marine Corps rolled off Bell’s assembly line in Amarillo, Texas, on Nov. 2. The occasion marks the end of an era for Bell, which began building the UH-1 Huey 60 years ago, but is far from the end of the H-1's combat service with the Marines, who plan to fly them for decades. The military and Bell refer to both the AH-1 attack helicopter and the UH-1 Huey as the H-1 family of aircraft because the AH-1 was designed from the UH-1 and both still share a great deal of common parts, despite their different, but related roles.
Bell marked the delivery of the 189th AH-1Z Viper attack helicopter to the Marines on Wednesday at its Amarillo plant. The aircraft is headed to Marine Light Attack Helicopter Training Squadron 303 (HMLAT-303) with Marine Aircraft Group 39, 3rd Marine Aircraft Wing, at Marine Corps Air Station Camp Pendleton, California.
That helicopter completes the service’s program of record for the latest version of the H-1 aircraft that entered service in 1962. The final UH-1Y Venom – the most advanced member of the Huey family – was delivered in 2018, bringing the combined program of record for the two aircraft to 349 helicopters. Bell continues to capitalize on the H-1/Huey brand though both the attack and utility models have evolved substantially since famed usage in the Vietnam War.
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/the-last-marine-ah-1-delivered-marking-beginning-of-the-end-of-the-huey-era/ar-AA13FHJX?ocid=msedgntp&cvid=5a3861e4f5974d36b13771badb67dc2a
