How Much To BUY a Huey Helicopter In THAILAND 2022 ? (Bell UH-1 Helicopter) 

Hi guys, it's rotor blades, not propellers and got my copilot/pilot chairs mixed up, oh well. Would be great to hear any stories/experiences regarding this aircraft. All the best.👍🍺

As I'm writing this, I'm standing in a spot at the Bell Helicopter plant in Hurst (Fort Worth), Texas, where every Vietnam-era Huey came off the production line. Cool video. Thanks for sharing!

My dad was a Dustoff pilot in Vietnam, 1965 - 66. He rarely spoke about it, but I'll never forget how shaken up he seemed after we went to see "Apocalypse Now" in a theater the first month it came out. He was kind of pinned to his seat, even after the credits ended and the lights came up. Of course, he stoically shook that off and carried on...

I crewed Hueys for 11 years in the US Army in Germany, the US and during Operation Just Cause in Panama and Desert Storm in the middle east. Working on UH60 Blackhawks now for the Army as a contractor. Helicopters are still paying my rent. 😎

Brings back fond memories. I never felt unsafe riding in a Huey, unlike the early days of the CrashHawks. They fixed the BlackHawk issues and now it has proven very safe and reliable. My last flight in a Huey was in 1986 from Fort Knox, Ky. Went on to ride many more missions in the BlackHawks and Chinooks till the mid 90s. Still love the sound of Huey it is so distinctive. Thanks for sharing.

Best Vietnam combat helicopter book I ever read was "Chickenhawk" by Robert Mason. FLY NAVY!!!

I worked on the UH-1H in Vietnam. The man pointed to the area of the transmission in the aft part of the cabin, and said that is where the engine goes. Wrong. The engine sits above on the enclosed deck and behind the transmission. It would be a Lycoming T53-L14A with 1400 horsepower. The other helicopter is an Enstrom.

There was a National Guard Huey Medical Squadron on the base I was stationed at in California, back in the late 70's. They use to let me ride with them all the time. Used to sit in the side gunner seat(no guns mounted) with the side doors open. Great fun.

My father flew these in Vietnam. He has some pretty cool stories about flying in general. We don't discuss the war much though but I don't blame him, I doubt it's something any veteran of that war likes to do. God Bless all who had to fight in that war. So many of us appreciate you.

I flew them in US Army flight school ('83). Amazing this one still has all the instruments and avionics, although no engine. Cool find!

The helicopter on top of the bus is an Enstrom F28 Falcon. It has the "smooth" top and the wide air fins below and behind the exhaust port which seems to be covered. The 280FX will have the duel scoop air intakes on top that kind of dome it and they have a longer set of finely spaced air fins on the side

"The engine goes there", nope, the transmission goes there, old Huey crewchief here, 67-69, I worked on them mostly in field maintenance, took them apart and put them back together. 50 years later I could still take one apart just from memory.

Interesting to learn that Thai soldiers also fought in Vietnam. Thanks for the research.

Tune in to next weeks episode where we find out how much it costs to buy a Black Hawk helicopter in Afghanistan!

Paid $91,000 for mine in 2003,thats for a well used one,but still serviced with log books and flyable.😮

Mate in 1993 whilst I was making a documentary film in Vietnam I was offered a crashed Huey with no engine for $5,000. I seriously considered it to try to ship it back to UK but money was too tight then so didn't take the bargain. Great vlog again.

62,000 Australian's served in Vietnam , 514 KIA.

I met an American Vietnam vet in Thailand back in 2009. It was at the border near Cambodia, he went gambling there, was married to a Thai wife, he lived in Bangkok since the war ended

I’ve always wanted to fly a Helicopter! The coolest machine ever invented!

spent many happy hours in these at 5sqn , happy days. did not know back then how i would miss them now.

I used to work on the UH-1N and UH-1Y back in the Marine Corp days. It was very cool. My OIC gave me a ride once in Iraq. Such a blast.

James we like you’re videos . Keep going.

I flew in these on several different occasions while in Viet Nam as a grunt in the USMC 1968 -1972. The distinct pop pop pop sound of the rotors was a welcome sound since it meant help was coming or we were getting the hell outta dodge. Yup, I was boocoo dinky dau back in those days as the Vietnamese use to say.

You would not to want to buy one unless you have deep pockets. If you do then you would buy a flying one. I worked army depot for awhile. To make it safe to fly it has to be torn apart and all the metal structure would need inspection and repair. Many man hours and you still have to get the critical parts like a engine and the avionics. For us poor people just a fantasy.

I was with the 7 th infantry divisions at Fort Ord in the early 70’s and we used to love flying in these baby’s especially after walking 12 miles with a full rucksack 🤣🤣 the sound of these babies coming to get you was the best sound at the time.

I had a '57 Willy's Jeep years ago when I lived on Koh Chang. Loads of fun.

Given the fact that it has been residing in a somewhat tropical area for what would be a quantity of years ,short of a near complete airframe teardown and inspection , about the only thing this machine would be worthy of now is display /museum piece, I dare say corrosion would be lurking in some not easily accessible places

That's awesome! you speak great Thai too by the way. And I had no idea Thai forces also fought in the Vietnam war 👍🏼 I have a military surplus Army HMMWV but had to leave it behind. Can't get it into Taiwan, yet there's a guy that has one for sale in Taiwan at his offroad dealership, he won't reveal how he go it though. The US gov sold about 500 HMMWVS to Taiwan over the years, though I have no idea how you'd navigate their twisting mountain roads in one

I love the thump thump sound of the huey

Great video James surprising what you can find here in Thailand

As iconic as the Willy's Jeep, nice find 👌

amazing what one finds in breakers yards!!!!...............great find and nicely compiled vid....................................... small one on the bus roof reminds me of a legless locust..!!!.............................do love a bit of random.....................

Cool Video Mate, "Thankyou"

Masterpiece Presentation

Entertaining and amusing. What fun. Thanks.

Good video and info about the war

Nice video. I was born in 69' I love flying these birds. Maybe I died in one over there. But DCS a flight Simulator, I fly one every day. And of you guys want to fly in a simulator, Digital Combat Flight Simulator is the way to go. Much fun. And there's a SAR server too in caucuses, kinda lazy on updating it, but when it's up you can rescue people and also supply and also fight fires. I use same name there. Maybe we will see you guys. Thank you for your service gentlemen.

Almost 13 years on flight status as a crew chief in the national guard. 1000 hours all in Hueys. What a great bird to fly in.

I miss that bird we in the US Army used them all the way up to the Gulf War, not sure how long after they were decommissioned. Mark19 Grenade Launchers worked really good in the gun door mounts, along with MA Duces (M2 Machine Gun)

The Tank and Chinook shown at 2:34 are actually in the Vietnam Military Museum in Saigon (Ho Chi Min City). I have walked around them both.

The small copter on top of the bus looks like an old Enstrom trainer. Maybe an early ‘70’s F-28. The second helicopter I ever flew in after the Bell 47G

After the war in Vietnam Thai still have to fight with Communist within Thailnand until mid 80's. We have communist that took control of many areas especially in the mountains. A lot of people dies. The King of Thailand always go with the army and help develope something helping the people in order to change them and it became very success a lot of Communist converted. That's why we have school, hospital, free land for farming, almost everywhere.

Will they take a company check?

Another great vlog, I,ve passed a few similar places across Thailand and often wanted to find out more..I was hoping to see the land rover but it looked more like a jeep..at one point was keen to buy an ex military jeep from a dealer in Yasothon until I drove it and realised just how uncomfortable it was..

That has to be the 1st "huey for sale " (in Thailand) vid on the interweb, mate you're a genius.

In Alaska we had the old Chinooks stress cracks and all on the glacier

I worked for Cal Fire we used them for fighting wild fires in California we refurbished everything and now they are UH-1H Super Huey’s I was a structural repairman I performed heavy work on the Huey’s I also did 27 years active duty military

Looks like it’s actually in pretty good shape

I also enjoy stopping and looking around at these eccentric collections in Thailand. The wife not so much. Found an old US Navy bus in P-lok.

The helicopter on top of the bus is an Entrom... It was the first helicopter I personally flew and trained in...

When I was young I had many trips in these old Huey’s out to offshore oil rigs. 🚁

The little one on top of the bus is an Enstrom f-28A.

The small helicopter is an Enstrom. Made in Menomonie Michigan. They still make them too.

In US aircraft the Pilot's seat position is on the left as you enter the cockpit. Being Australian or British your pilot is on the right seat.

The best sounding chopper ever. 🇬🇧

I was 67N Huey Crew Chief in Central America during the Iran Contra wars.

Hi James. The yellow one looks like an Enstrom F-28F or 280FX

the radio panel has one of the radio heads in upside down lol.. but i worked on the avionics and comms on many of those in the army while stationed in germany in the late 80's and early 90's. Shame its missing the engine and a lot of other equipment that i could see

Fantastic content, keep up the good work....🙂

Our FD (Ventura Co.) bought 4 Huey's from government surplus in the mid '70's for $1 each.... and an operational Huey from the Utah National Guard for $300. That was the beginning of a now 6 ship air fleet that flys SH70 Firehawks.

I flew UH-1H’s in Vietnam, 69-70. The same model here. The other helicopter is an Enstrom F-28A.

Flew in one of these while in the Navy, I think you will find the turbine is missing in that one lol. The one I flew in scared the heck out of me, we'd be flying sideways of a cliff and the pilot is hitting the main console trying to turn off the warning lights for main rotor gearbox and turbine failure.

As N ex Army aviation maintenance officer, I assure you that the 60+ K one is no bargain. The airworthy one at 90+ K is the much better deal.

I think it's a '69. Crewed those for MANY years. Was seriously a sad day when they finally took our last one away.

It was made in 1969. The left jump door is open so you can't see the stenciled writing for the year and aircraft #, but it's on the dash. 69-15885. Army 885. Someone should be able to track down which units it was assigned to.

I flew 1,955 combat hours in Huey's (and gunships) in Vietnam - 1968~1970. Prior to that, I was a qualified helicopter mechanic. The one above has no engine. The price he's asking is nonsense. What condition are both the main and tail rotor blades? Is there still a transmission inside the housing? Beyond some missing circuit breakers, the instrument panel looks complete - But. Do any of the instruments and radios still work? Having a "shell" is one thing...a flyable helicopter another. I would tread very carefully on this one. John

How'd that guy end up with an in tact huey to begin with? Lol usually they are completely picked clean including the avionics. Im not sure what the flight worthiness of it is but it'd definitely be cool to own or turn into a simulator.

I used to have an old 54 power wagon like one next to huey

cheapest flying condition in the u.s is $340k

I would buy it, motorise the blades so they spin slowly then and put it on top of a bar / backpackers and call the place "The LZ". Add couple of spotlights and an external speaker to play music out of, as in Apoc Now, it would look amazing, what an eye grabber!

If you like Hueys, you MUST read Chickenhawk by Robert Mason. It’s a harrowing account of the life of a Huey pilot in Vietnam.

I used to fly a Kawasaki kh4 that was a Thai police training helicopter

Would love to be able to acquire one of these!! My father spent 45 years in the military and spent some time on these aircraft

The helo on top of the bus is an Enstrom

Video is good , if there is close captions

Looks to be in rough shape take lot of work, and money to make it air worthy again. Might make a good static display.

Aside from the engine missing, no soundproofing and the wiring hacked out, it would take you a month to get that thing ready to crash. Mr. Cheun was taking advantage of the farung. Kao chai mai?

It all depends on the engine condition and time… and time on parts, like blades. Helicopters prices cannot be determined by just looking at them… to get it safely flying could cost $1 million.

Cool he made Quonset huts from airplane airframes.

No engine, that’s a big chunk of the value. Co pilot does sit on the left. It’s a cyclic not a stick. The other control is the collective. These aircraft were mostly retired due to low remaining component times.

The other helicopter is a very early Enstrom Shark. The only thing that Huey is worth is scrap Aluminum, unless you have a couple million dollars to throw at it. It would have to be completely restored. Too many old, life limited parts that need to be thrown in the trash, although it already looks pretty stripped.

The helo on the bus is an Enstrom American made

Please someone buy this and restore. It will make one hell of a documentary.

I think it could be good for a museum

The helicopter on top of the bus is an Enstrom F-28 & 280FX (piston engine).

And the problem with buying anything like that in Thailand is you can't get them out of the country.....My friend has 2 WW2 jeeps...and he can't sell them because of issues getting them out..

The one on the roof is an Enstrom.

The one on the bus is an Enstrom.

2.9 million bart £65,000 oooohhhh think some severe haggling needed with mr Cheung there - crazy high price !!!!! Good video though

I could fire that thing up, looks in good shape. We flew incredibly beat Huey’s in El Salvador, Honduras 86.

The one on top of the bus I think is an Enstrom Helicopter

Pass on the Huey, but I'd jump on that baby blue Honda C90 SuperCub to take back to the states. 3:29

Can you use an old helo mechanic?

The sad part is the US government started the Vietnam war in the gulf of Tonkin, and how many people died on both sides so sad🙏🏻

I think the one on top of the bus is a Bell 470

I always wonder how much importing things like this would cost? ,I am pretty sure these are a ITAR thing .

I'm an aviation mechanic and know some about operational aircraft and this is so far from being ready to fly. I think it could be worth around 300,000 THB at best.

For what it’s worth, the Thai Army still operate 48 UH-1N Twin Huey.

Back in NZ the local anti drug department used a Huey to aerially patrol to country side in search of marijuana then haul it to disposal once found. I believe they're still being operated

Nice old German MAN fire truck on the property