The final major variant, the UH-1H, arrived in 1967 with a 1,400-horsepower Lycoming T-53-L13 that allowed the design to carry 4,000 pounds of personnel or cargo as far as 285 miles without additional fuel tanks. Vietnam’s high humidity would necessitate continual improvements to the engine as the Huey became the taxi of the new “air mobility” school of warfare, with gunships escorting troop carriers into enemy territory and clearing landing zones with rockets and machine-gun fire before the less heavily-armed “slicks” inserted Marine or Army units and made a quick withdrawal. Initially conceived as a utility helicopter optimized for internal stretcher carriage, Huey variants became jacks of all trades thanks in large part to the reliability of its turbine engine, a revolutionary upgrade from the reciprocating piston design of earlier helicopters.
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