Huey Reaches 15,000 Flight Hours

June 15, 2011

A UH-1 Huey helicopter assigned to the 58th Special Operations Wing at Kirtland AFB, N.M., eclipsed 15,000 flight hours. It’s “only the second UH-1 to surpass that number of flying hours,” said Lt. Col. Curtis Wichers, 512th Rescue Squadron assistant director of operations. This 40-year-old airframe, tail number 69-6650, entered the Air Force’s inventory on March 19, 1971. The wing’s most senior UH-1 pilot, contractor Ken Witte, flew the helicopter on the milestone mission on May 25. A maintenance test pilot and retired Air Force pilot, Witte said he was impressed with how smooth the helicopter felt during the flight. Wichers said this airframe’s longevity is “a real tribute to the wing’s maintainers who have spent countless hours ensuring it was ready to perform its mission.” The Air Force intends to replace its venerable Hueys starting in 2015. (Kirtland report by Carl Grusnick)

Related Content

Burt: Space Force Needs to ‘Get Out of Our Own Way,’ Enable Companies Instead

Sept. 23, 2022
Unlike nearly every other innovative technology throughout history, Maj. Gen. DeAnna M. Burt believes the space enterprise emerged backward. “Every other domain started with an entrepreneur who built something,” Burt, the special assistant to the Chief of Space Operations, told an audience at AFA’s Air, Space & Cyber Conference.

Russia Increasing ‘Very Concerning’ Behavior in Syria, AFCENT Commander Says

Sept. 23, 2022
The U.S. and Russian militaries have operated in an uneasy coexistence in Syria since the Kremlin sent forces there in 2015 to support Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. But in recent months, Russian transport planes have flown near Al-Tanf Garrison in southeast Syria—where U.S. troops have been working with Syrian fighters…

Early Focus on End Product Led to Hypersonic Missile Contract Win, Industry Officials Say

Sept. 23, 2022
Aiming to build a usable system throughout the experimental and prototyping phase of the Hypersonic Attack Cruise Missile program led to Raytheon and Northrop Grumman’s win of the program, company officials told reporters. The partners have already invested in production capacity in 14 states, they said. The Raytheon-led team focused…

Acquisition Inflation Being Managed on a Case-by-Case Basis, Hunter Says

Sept. 23, 2022
Despite inflation at levels not seen in decades, Air Force primes have yet to demand major adjustments to existing contracts, but there are concerns about lower-tier vendors, Air Force service acquisition executive Andrew P. Hunter said. Speaking with reporters at AFA’s Air, Space & Cyber conference, Hunter said the structure…

Raytheon Wins Hypersonic Attack Cruise Missile Contract

Sept. 22, 2022
The Air Force has awarded Raytheon Missiles & Defense a $985.3 million cost-plus-fixed fee contract to develop and build the Hypersonic Attack Cruise Missile, or HACM, an air-breathing cruise missile intended to launched from fighter-size aircraft. Raytheon bested teams led by Lockheed Martin and Boeing for the work.

Top USAF, USSF Couples Talk About Military Families’ Quality of Life

Sept. 22, 2022
The senior-most officers and enlisted members in the Air Force and Space Force and their spouses took part in a panel discussion at AFA's Air, Space & Cyber Conference. Each iterated a common theme: The well-being of Airmen, Guardians, and their families is tantamount.

Air National Guard Embraces ACE Amid Tensions in Europe, Pacific

Sept. 22, 2022
With the Russian army pummeling Ukraine in Europe, and China increasingly threatening its neighbor Taiwan militarily in the Indo-Pacific, the Air National Guard has embraced the culture of can-do innovation at the core of agile combat employment.