By Randy Malmstrom
Since his childhood, Randy Malmstrom has had a passion for aviation history and historic military aircraft in particular. He has a particular penchant for documenting specific airframes with a highly detailed series of walk-around images and an in-depth exploration of their history, which have proved to be popular with many of those who have seen them, and we thought our readers would be equally fascinated too. This installment of Randy’s Warbird Profiles takes a look at the Flying Heritage & Combat Armor Museum‘s Bell UH-1B Huey.
Bell Helicopter Company UH-1B Iroquois “Huey” c/n 763, U.S. Army serial number 63-08541. This particular aircraft was completed on January 24, 1964 in Fort Worth, Texas and accepted by the CCAD (Corpus Christi Army Depot) on January 27, 1964 and was shipped to Europe and assigned to D Troop, 4th Armored Division, United States Army Europe (USAREUR), where it flew 832 hours up until March 1966.
In April of that year, it went to the Seventh Army Aviation Training Center (USAREUR) at Schleißheim Army Air Field northwest of Munich (this was the location of a Luftwaffe night fighter training school during World War II and became the base for Night Interceptor Squadron 6 and the current sight of the Air Museum of the Deutsches Museum – I have been there).
By 1969, it became part of the 66th Aviation Company, 18th Aviation Battalion. At the end of 1969, it was assigned to the 2nd Armored Division and then the 1st Armored Division at Foot Hood (near Killeen, Texas). It is then listed as being with B Troop, 1st Squadron, 9th Cavalry. It was transferred numerous times and it appears that the last assignment was with the U.S. Property and Fiscal Office (USPFO) from December 1975 to June 1976.
It was then donated to the Aviation Maintenance Technology program at Columbus State Community College. After 1990, it went to civilian owners, and in 2014 it was acquired from Jet Aerospace Technologies for static display at the FHCAM on Paine Field in Everett, Washington. That collection has been acquired by Steuart Walton’s Wartime History Museum to be located on the same airfield.
The restoration work on the aircraft was done by Patrick Rodgers and the staff of Aircraft Restoration Services in Murrieta, California (associated with the Wings & Rotors Museum). It is painted with the markings of the 1st Cavalry Division, 9th Cavalry Regiment, A Troop (A-1/9), with the “Scorpions” such as found on the gunship of gunship platoon leader Captain Bernie L. Young with the yellow “Delta” tactical designator for A Troop on the door. My understanding is that certain components are timed-out on this aircraft and, coupled with the possibility of intense maintenance needs (i.e. “four hours of maintenance for every hour of flight”), it will likely not fly.
About the author
Randy Malmstrom grew up in a family steeped in aviation culture. His father, Bob, was still a cadet in training with the USAAF at the end of WWII, but did serve in Germany during the U.S. occupation in the immediate post-war period, where he had the opportunity to fly in a wide variety of types which flew in WWII. After returning to the States, Bob became a multi-engine aircraft sales manager and as such flew a wide variety of aircraft; Randy frequently accompanied him on these flights. Furthermore, Randy’s cousin, Einar Axel Malmstrom flew P-47 Thunderbolts with the 356th FG from RAF Martlesham Heath. He was commanding this unit at the time he was shot down over France on April 24th, 1944, spending the rest of the war as a prisoner of war. Following his repatriation at war’s end, Einar continued his military service, attaining the rank of Colonel. He was serving as Deputy Wing Commander of the 407th Strategic Fighter Wing at Great Falls AFB, MT at the time of his death in a T-33 training accident on August 21, 1954. The base was renamed in his honor in October 1955 and continues to serve in the present USAF as home to the 341st Missile Wing. Randy’s innate interest in history in general, and aviation history in particular, plus his educational background and passion for WWII warbirds, led him down his current path of capturing detailed aircraft walk-around photos and in-depth airframe histories, recording a precise description of a particular aircraft in all aspects.
