The US’ involvement in the Vietnam War relied heavily on helicopters as a means of transport and logistics as well as close air support. While helicopters had seen service in Korea, mostly as Medevac and utility vehicles, they were essentially untested in actual combat roles. The Bell UH-1 Iroquois, affectionately known as the Huey, had served with distinction throughout the Vietnam War in medevac, logistics, and combat roles, but was starting to show its age by the late 60’s. The US Air Force began drafting requirements for a replacement helicopter and named the program the Utility Tactical Transport Aircraft System.
The UTTAS’ requirements basically boiled down to “be the Huey but better”. As well, the aircraft was required to fit a pair of General Electric T-700 engines, which were being developed concurrently with the UTTAS project. Boeing Vertol, Bell Helicopters, and Sikorsky all placed bids for the project, with Sikorsky’s S-70 prototype snagging the win.
The Blackhawk has been a staple of the US military all over the globe, in no small part because of its modular nature. The UH-60 has an entire alphabet of models, allowing the user to configure a single helicopter to fit a myriad of missions.
The model on the table today is the HobbyBoss 1/72nd UH-60A Blackhawk. HobbyBoss is the Epiphone to Trumpeter’s Gibson; while most HobbyBoss models are well engineered and detailed very well, their smaller scale kits remain only kinda detailed. Nonetheless, this should be a quick and fun build. Let’s get started!
SOURCES
1. UH-60A walk-around photos taken by Stefano Madama: www.aircraftresourcecenter.com...
2. UH-60A HF antenna: www.b-domke.de/AviationImages/...
3. History of the S-70/UH-60/UTTAS submission, as well as nice photos of components: www.sikorskyarchives.com/S-70...
4. Bell Helicopter UTTAS submission: www.aviastar.org/helicopters_e...
5. VIP Blackhawk: www.ainonline.com/aviation-ne...
6. Technical Manual: apps.dtic.mil/dtic/tr/fulltex...
7. VOR/LOC Antenna: www.cobhamaerospacecommunicat...
8. Blackhawk variants in detail: craymond.no-ip.info/awk/avs70...
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23 июл 2024
