EMU HELI RESTORATION

Flight Journal, Apr 2005 by Jones, Geoff

DURING THE VIETNAM WAR, the 135th Assault Helicopter Company's (AHC) call sign was EMU-short for Experimental Military Unit. The company combined Americans and Australians, and its motto was "Get the Bloody Job Done." An emu is also a flightless bird from Australia.

Today's EMU Inc. is dedicated to preserving the history of all Vietnam-era AHCs. One of its objectives was to obtain an M, or "Mike," model helicopter and restore it as EMU 438 American Woman, which served with the Taipans-the 135th's Gunship Platoon. Mike models are very scarce, but EMU Inc. was able to obtain UH-1H 6509870, which served in Vietnam for more than a year with two AHCs: the 117th War Lords and the 116th Hornets. It also served as a liaison and maintenance aircraft with the 504th Transportation Co. It was to be restored as EMU 309.

Geoff Carr, his son Brandon, Pete Olesco and other volunteers painstakingly took the helicopter apart one assembly at a time. Major subassemblies, engine, transmission and rotor blades were sent out to specialists for inspection, takedown and reassembly, as needed. The volunteers also disassembled and inspected the airframe for minor cracks and corrosion and then stripped paint and sanded the entire airframe inside and out. Starting with a primer coat, they painted the aircraft in its final EMU 309 colors. The complete restoration took one year.

For more details, go to EMU Inc.'s website at www.emuinc.org.

-Text and photo by Geoff Jones