On Oct. 26, 2013, Vertical contributing editor Skip Robinson captured a truly historic military aviation moment on film: a formation flight of a 1950s Piasecki/Vertol H-21B, a 1960s Bell UH-1B Huey and a 1980s Sikorsky UH-60A+ Black Hawk, brought together for what’s believed to be the first time. In a special report Skip describes the behind-the-scenes process in putting together a once-in-a lifetime Vertical photo shoot.
Simply getting three generations of military tactical utility helicopters together in one place is a feat; capturing them flying together is close to impossible. Simply put, it took a lot of work from a lot of people — and a little luck.
The idea for the shoot came from Major General Robert J. Brandt’s co-piloting of a classic Piasecki H-21B, owned by Classic Rotors of Ramona, Calif., to Los Alamitos Joint Forces Training Base for Wings, Wheels and Rotors. Brandt is a master Army Aviator and Vietnam veteran who has accumulated over 7,900 flying hours in over 14 rotary- and fixed-wing aircraft during his 38 years of flying service. I thought it would be quite a coup to photo this extraordinary pilot back behind the controls of the H-21, and began making arrangements to do so (with civilian pilot Mike Slattery offering to use his AS350 B2 as the photo ship) — but we all felt it would be really cool if we could add another element to the shoot. How about a UH-1B Huey? I contacted Wings and Rotors Air Museum, and somehow persuaded museum director and chief pilot Pat Rodgers to delay a trip to Hawaii to take part. Still, something was missing.
As luck would have it, when Brandt’s daughter, Colonel Laura Yeager — a qualified Black Hawk pilot with the California National Guard — learned of the flight, she realized this would be a unique opportunity to capture history, and bring another generation of aircraft into the picture. As a former commander of the 40th Combat Aviation Brigade, she also knew that 1-140th Air Assault Battalion, located at Los Alamitos (the destination for the H-21’s flight), was the right unit to participate. Combat tested, the 1-140th’s mission requires precise multi-ship flight profiles and, in addition to offering a unique military photo opportunity, the flight could be incorporated into unit training.
With the four aircraft arranged, the crews met several hours prior to the event at the Ramona airport to finalize their thorough pre-fight crew briefing. Due to coastal weather concerns, the team decided to take an inland route to Los Alamitos. Once in the air, the aircraft joined up as planned, providing Vertical with the opportunity to take the historic photos on these pages.
The Pilot’s perspective
“There were many hurdles to overcome to make it happen, ranging from the cessation of all Army flights due to the government shutdown, to the weather preventing the flight following the preferred route,” said Yeager. “In the end, significant coordination between the private owners of the UH-1 and the H-21, as well as Vertical Magazine and the California National Guard, resulted in a singular opportunity for this photograph. [It] highlights the evolution of Army rotary wing aircraft as well as the privately and lovingly maintained aircraft which keep this rich history alive. Seeing the UH-1 in flight accompanied by the H-21 piloted by my father, my personal hero, was a very special experience.”
Brandt said the opportunity to fly in formation with his daughter was a dream come true. “It had been 47 years since I last took the controls of my favorite helicopter and I was eager to see if it felt the same as I remembered,” he said. “The sounds and smells of a large radial engine and the vibrations of the H-21 as rotors were engaged brought back many memories of those long ago days in Vietnam. The thrill of flying at 100 knots, on the deck across rice paddies was once again remembered. As we flew along I looked over my right shoulder and saw the Black Hawk with my daughter aboard — what a thrill and great memory. Not many people get to have this kind of experience.”
Aircraft Background
Classic Rotors’ H-21B (serial number 54-4001) was one of a special production run of eight U.S. Air Force aircraft that were built to service the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) early warning radar stations. The Air Force put this airframe into service during 1957, and it was decommissioned out of Langley Air Force Base in 1972. It was sold as military surplus, and after being bought by a civilian operator, was used to set telephone poles and other utility lift jobs. It was then bought by the Planes of Fame Air Museum in Chino, Calif., before joining Classic Rotors in 1989, where it became the museum’s flagship. It began flying on the local airshow circuit in 1992, and a few years later, was painted in its current Army livery.
The Wings and Rotors UH-1B (serial number 62-2084) was delivered to the U.S. Army in June 1963, and deployed to Vietnam the following year with the 101st Airborne Division. The aircraft was surplused from the Army in 1984, and converted into a mosquito sprayer in Lee County, Fla., where it flew until 2000. Wings and Rotors purchased it in 2002, and restored it back to gunship configuration. Since then, it has flown to Washington, D.C., to take part in a special Memorial Day flight, as well as being featured in two History Channel documentaries, and a U.S. Army documentary. These days, the Huey is regularly flown at local airshows and events.
