New Vanguard 87: Bell UH-1 Huey 'Slicks' 1962-75

Brought back memories to an old Huey crewchief

This book was exactly what I was looking for! I am a Vietnam vet and wanted to know more about the vehicle that was an intimate part of my life for a year. This book has increased my understanding and respect for the workhorse that the Huey was, and the genius of it's design. As someone I know who flew the "slick" said,The Huey was a basic utility aircraft which took a beating but could be depended on to get the job done (It has been compared to the jeep in WW2). The same could be said for this book: It is a short but sweet tribute to the UH-1 in its many incarnations. I enjoyed getting to know the bird which I remember more for getting us out of trouble than for putting us into it.

This New Vanguard #87, Bell UH-1 Huey 'Slicks' 1962-1975, is an okay account of the helicopter that became the symbol of the Vietnam conflict.Firstly the positives: The author does a good job of recounting the back-story of helicopters in the US military as well as the development of the Huey and the turbine engines that allowed larger, heavier and more powerful helicopters. The author gives a very good chronology of the different versions of the Huey including gunship and night-flying versions. The author does a good job of showing how the Huey could be advantageous for US forces in Vietnam. There are tales of bravery by Huey crews in action and exploits of certain units. As can be expected for an Osprey book, there are a lot of excellent period photos though I thought the color plates were crudely drawn.The negatives: The author tends to praise the Huey while ignoring completely the disadvantages of this weapon system in combat. For instance, the author glosses over the inherent fragility and vulnerability of this aircraft. They could be brought down by small arms fire even without dedicated AA guns or missiles - the US lost about 2700 Hueys during the Vietnam conflict. The author states that the helicopter gave Americans great flexibility. Unfortunately, it was also a restrictive force - we were restricted to clearings large enough to land a number of helicopters at once. In the heavily forested/jungle environments of much of the country this limited where we could attack. The Vietnamese communist forces knew where we would land and simply watched the larger clearings for activity. These craft were also very loud and made a distinctive sound that could be heard miles away, wasting any possible surprise.The author writes about the Ia Drang battles in which the first "Airmobile" division fought in Vietnam. He states, correctly, that at LZ X-Ray Hueys were able to land, supply and retrieve wounded to make a victory possible. He, unfortunately, fails to mention that the other battle of Ia Drang - LZ Albany - was a disaster for the US unit involved and clearly an NVA victory (for more, see  We Were Soldiers Once...and Young: Ia Drang - The Battle That Changed the War in Vietnam  ). This is this book in a nutshell with a stilted view of the weapon system in the maelstrom of combat.There were good things about the book, but it left a lot out and was just okay. Three stars.

Having served in helicopter units in the Mekong Delta in 1968-69, I have many books about that conflict, especially the air war. I bought this, read through it and sent it to a friend who survived being a Huey pilot. He enjoyed it as much as I did.

Not as detailed as I expected, but delivery time was great.

It was ok but was not exciting as I anticipated

Don't have much to say about this product. Not that it wasn't good...it's just that I bought it for a friend who's a history buff. He was thrilled to get it!

Not as detailed as I expected, but good reference.

avoid this unless you are comopletely new to the UH-1, there is too little about the design (who designed it?)and development of the ship, and too much general and fundamental infomation about the war. Photo captions repeat the text, the photos are unexceptional.The diorama color drawings look like a kid drew them, and the 4 pages of clour views of different ships show only 5 ships in total - why? because they even show the undersides in some cases. In 4 pages there could have been 16 ships illustrated.Finally, no detailed interior views, there is a small colour view of the instrument panel, but no explanations, they should never have allowed this out; their own 'helicopter pilot in vietnam' is in some ways more informative about the huey than this book

Could of been a lot more interesting, should have covered gunships versions as well.

A superb book full of great illustrations and information. Highly recommended.

very inforative

Livre superbe sur le huey, riche en informations historiques et techniques. Seul regret, très peu d’illustrations en couleur hormis quelques photos et dessins (quasi les mêmes que la couverture)… sinon, il s’inspire dans la lignée des osprey publishing qui reste une référence en la matière