SIkorsky UH-34D Seahorse
Though Sikorsky's S-55 (H-19) Chickasaw was a superb helicopter, the company believed it could do better. In 1954, it offered the S-58, which lengthened the fuselage into a low tail boom and rotor assembly. To compensate for the extra weight and give it more capacity, the engine was upgraded, though it remained mounted in the nose, with the easy maintenance of the S-55. It was first offered to the US Navy as an antisubmarine/search and air rescue helicopter, the HSS-1 Seabat; soon after, it was adopted by the US Marine Corps as a troop carrier with the designation HUS-1 Seahorse. Finally, the US Army took it on as the CH-34 Choctaw. In 1962, the H-34 designation was used for all types in service.
Whatever it was called, the H-34 offered the same reliability as the Chickasaw, but with better all-around performance. The longer fuselage not only meant it could carry more passengers and cargo, it also increased crew comfort. As in the Chickasaw, the flight crew rode above the main fuselage.
When American involvement in Vietnam began in 1963, the UH-34 Seahorse was the principal helicopter of the USMC, and several squadrons were deployed. Its rugged construction and bigger engine proved to be much more reliable than the US Army's CH-21 Shawnees. Its piston engine made it less fuel efficient than the UH-1 Iroquois "Huey," but it was so well-liked by the Marines that the "HUS," as it was still known, would remain in Vietnam into 1968.
As the American drawdown from Vietnam began, the USMC retired their remaining UH-34s; the US Navy had replaced their SH-34 Seabats long since with the SH-3 Sea King, while the Army quickly replaced theirs in the early 1960s with UH-1s. The last Marine UH-34 left service in 1971. H-34s also saw combat with the French in Algeria and Israel during the Six-Day War. It was also license-produced with turboshaft propulsion in Great Britain as the Westland Wessex, which persisted in service well into the 1990s. Finally, dozens of H-34s would make it into civilian service, as commuter helicopters and for firefighting.
This UH-34D is Bureau Number 154895, one of the last Seahorses to be delivered; it joined the Marines in 1967. It would spend most of a short career with H&MS-24 at MCAS Kaneohe Bay, Hawaii, operating as a utility helicopter. In 1970, it was transferred stateside to NAS Meridian, Mississippi to operate as the base rescue helicopter. After only five years in service, 154895 was retired in 1972. A short time after that, it was acquired by the US Army Aviation Museum in Fort Rucker, Alabama, but never went on display, instead remaining in storage for eventual restoration. That never happened, so in 1997 it was acquired by Planes of Fame in Chino, California. Planes of Fame never had a chance to restore it either, so in 2006 154895 was picked up by the Palm Springs Air Museum.
Palm Springs partially restored 154895 as a Vietnam-era Marine CH-34, but the long decades in storage had taken a considerable toll on the airframe, so it was completely refurbished and restored recently. It looks much, much better than previously, painted as a helicopter of HMM-362 ("Ugly Angels"); HMM-362's Seahorses, based at Soc Trang, were nicknamed "Husses" and used the callsign Shufly. The squadron had the distinction of the longest deployment to South Vietnam, beginning in 1962 and lasting until the squadron went home in 1969.
SIkorsky UH-34D Seahorse
Though Sikorsky's S-55 (H-19) Chickasaw was a superb helicopter, the company believed it could do better. In 1954, it offered the S-58, which lengthened the fuselage into a low tail boom and rotor assembly. To compensate for the extra weight and give it more capacity, the engine was upgraded, though it remained mounted in the nose, with the easy maintenance of the S-55. It was first offered to the US Navy as an antisubmarine/search and air rescue helicopter, the HSS-1 Seabat; soon after, it was adopted by the US Marine Corps as a troop carrier with the designation HUS-1 Seahorse. Finally, the US Army took it on as the CH-34 Choctaw. In 1962, the H-34 designation was used for all types in service.
Whatever it was called, the H-34 offered the same reliability as the Chickasaw, but with better all-around performance. The longer fuselage not only meant it could carry more passengers and cargo, it also increased crew comfort. As in the Chickasaw, the flight crew rode above the main fuselage.
When American involvement in Vietnam began in 1963, the UH-34 Seahorse was the principal helicopter of the USMC, and several squadrons were deployed. Its rugged construction and bigger engine proved to be much more reliable than the US Army's CH-21 Shawnees. Its piston engine made it less fuel efficient than the UH-1 Iroquois "Huey," but it was so well-liked by the Marines that the "HUS," as it was still known, would remain in Vietnam into 1968.
As the American drawdown from Vietnam began, the USMC retired their remaining UH-34s; the US Navy had replaced their SH-34 Seabats long since with the SH-3 Sea King, while the Army quickly replaced theirs in the early 1960s with UH-1s. The last Marine UH-34 left service in 1971. H-34s also saw combat with the French in Algeria and Israel during the Six-Day War. It was also license-produced with turboshaft propulsion in Great Britain as the Westland Wessex, which persisted in service well into the 1990s. Finally, dozens of H-34s would make it into civilian service, as commuter helicopters and for firefighting.
This UH-34D is Bureau Number 154895, one of the last Seahorses to be delivered; it joined the Marines in 1967. It would spend most of a short career with H&MS-24 at MCAS Kaneohe Bay, Hawaii, operating as a utility helicopter. In 1970, it was transferred stateside to NAS Meridian, Mississippi to operate as the base rescue helicopter. After only five years in service, 154895 was retired in 1972. A short time after that, it was acquired by the US Army Aviation Museum in Fort Rucker, Alabama, but never went on display, instead remaining in storage for eventual restoration. That never happened, so in 1997 it was acquired by Planes of Fame in Chino, California. Planes of Fame never had a chance to restore it either, so in 2006 154895 was picked up by the Palm Springs Air Museum.
Palm Springs partially restored 154895 as a Vietnam-era Marine CH-34, but the long decades in storage had taken a considerable toll on the airframe, so it was completely refurbished and restored recently. It looks much, much better than previously, painted as a helicopter of HMM-362 ("Ugly Angels"); HMM-362's Seahorses, based at Soc Trang, were nicknamed "Husses" and used the callsign Shufly. The squadron had the distinction of the longest deployment to South Vietnam, beginning in 1962 and lasting until the squadron went home in 1969.