Bell AH-1F Cobra
The Bell AH-1 Cobra (also called HueyCobra) owes its existence to the Vietnam War. While the proof of the air cavalry concept was being proven every day, the US Army was also losing huge amounts of helicopters to ground fire. Equipping the troop-carrying “slicks” with door guns helped, and arming the UH-1 Iroquois/Huey with weapons was another interim solution. Clearly, however, the solution lay with a dedicated attack helicopter that could defend the troop carriers.
Bell, the manufacturer of the UH-1, had been also experimenting with a concept of a heavily armed, turreted, and thin fuselage helicopter. The US Army awarded a proof-of-concept contract to Bell, which replied in a heavily modified Model 47 called the Sioux Scout. It failed to win any orders, but Bell kept at it even as the Army pursued the far more complicated and expensive AH-56 Cheyenne. This resulted in the Model 209, based on components of the UH-1 and the original conceptual design.
With the Vietnam War intensifying and the Cheyenne going nowhere, the Army issued a requirement for an interim solution, which the Model 209—built and tested in only eight months—won easily. The Army ordered 110 AH-1Gs in April 1966 and the type was in action in Vietnam a year later. It was highly successful there, and successive marks of the Cobra would continue to fight in America’s wars since—Grenada and both Gulf Wars. US Army Cobras were upgraded continually in the 1980s, resulting in a dizzying number of variants: the AH-1S (with upgraded engine), AH-1P (with flat glass windscreen), AH-1Q (with TOW missile system), AH-1E (with 20mm gatling cannon in nose turret), and AH-1F (with laser rangefinder and countermeasures). In 1988, the Army finally gave up and redesignated the whole lot as AH-1S.
US Army Cobras were finally retired in 2001, but USMC Cobras remain in service, with the fleet being converted to AH-1Z Kingcobras. Israel, Iran, and Pakistan likewise have used and continue to use their Cobra fleet, and it is generally considered to be the most successful and prototypical attack helicopter.
As is usual with most helicopters, very little can be found of the career of this AH-1F, 68-17063. Given its delivery date, it probably was originally built as an AH-1G and was later upgraded to an AH-1F in the 1970s; as such, 68-17063 might have seen combat in Vietnam. It is known that the helicopter's last assignment was with the 278th Armored Cavalry Regiment (Tennessee National Guard), and it was retired sometime after 2000. It was then donated to the Veterans Memorial Museum at Chehalis, Washington.
68-17063 retains the older overall olive drab finish of US Army helicopters, along with the markings of the 1st Cavalry Division and the 7th Cavalry Regiment; the infamous 7th Cavalry was attached to the 1st during the Vietnam War, though the 7th may not have gotten Cobras until after Vietnam. The elaborate sharkmouth was probably not Army regulation, but some AH-1Gs did carry sharkmouths this large--plus it looks cool. I got this picture on a cloudy Washington morning in May 2024...the clouds having just robbed me of a chance to see Mount St. Helens.
Bell AH-1F Cobra
The Bell AH-1 Cobra (also called HueyCobra) owes its existence to the Vietnam War. While the proof of the air cavalry concept was being proven every day, the US Army was also losing huge amounts of helicopters to ground fire. Equipping the troop-carrying “slicks” with door guns helped, and arming the UH-1 Iroquois/Huey with weapons was another interim solution. Clearly, however, the solution lay with a dedicated attack helicopter that could defend the troop carriers.
Bell, the manufacturer of the UH-1, had been also experimenting with a concept of a heavily armed, turreted, and thin fuselage helicopter. The US Army awarded a proof-of-concept contract to Bell, which replied in a heavily modified Model 47 called the Sioux Scout. It failed to win any orders, but Bell kept at it even as the Army pursued the far more complicated and expensive AH-56 Cheyenne. This resulted in the Model 209, based on components of the UH-1 and the original conceptual design.
With the Vietnam War intensifying and the Cheyenne going nowhere, the Army issued a requirement for an interim solution, which the Model 209—built and tested in only eight months—won easily. The Army ordered 110 AH-1Gs in April 1966 and the type was in action in Vietnam a year later. It was highly successful there, and successive marks of the Cobra would continue to fight in America’s wars since—Grenada and both Gulf Wars. US Army Cobras were upgraded continually in the 1980s, resulting in a dizzying number of variants: the AH-1S (with upgraded engine), AH-1P (with flat glass windscreen), AH-1Q (with TOW missile system), AH-1E (with 20mm gatling cannon in nose turret), and AH-1F (with laser rangefinder and countermeasures). In 1988, the Army finally gave up and redesignated the whole lot as AH-1S.
US Army Cobras were finally retired in 2001, but USMC Cobras remain in service, with the fleet being converted to AH-1Z Kingcobras. Israel, Iran, and Pakistan likewise have used and continue to use their Cobra fleet, and it is generally considered to be the most successful and prototypical attack helicopter.
As is usual with most helicopters, very little can be found of the career of this AH-1F, 68-17063. Given its delivery date, it probably was originally built as an AH-1G and was later upgraded to an AH-1F in the 1970s; as such, 68-17063 might have seen combat in Vietnam. It is known that the helicopter's last assignment was with the 278th Armored Cavalry Regiment (Tennessee National Guard), and it was retired sometime after 2000. It was then donated to the Veterans Memorial Museum at Chehalis, Washington.
68-17063 retains the older overall olive drab finish of US Army helicopters, along with the markings of the 1st Cavalry Division and the 7th Cavalry Regiment; the infamous 7th Cavalry was attached to the 1st during the Vietnam War, though the 7th may not have gotten Cobras until after Vietnam. The elaborate sharkmouth was probably not Army regulation, but some AH-1Gs did carry sharkmouths this large--plus it looks cool. I got this picture on a cloudy Washington morning in May 2024...the clouds having just robbed me of a chance to see Mount St. Helens.