Converted 212

[cap]

Vertical Mag ------- I never siad that the US Army signed a contract with Bell. Bell went ahead with the 210 in anticipation of a contract with the Army and with their encouragement. It was only at the last minute that Bell put forward the 412 EP for the LUH program.........the Army never even got a chance to turn the 210 down. Nothing has changed the reason either for the Army's encouragement of Bell for development of the 210 because they still have thousands of UH-1H sitting around that they'd dearly love to utilize in a different upgraded form.

 

If the 210 was to be an exact derivative of the UH-1H, then amongst other things, it wouldn't have a tail-boom baggage compartment and the skin thickness over the fuselage would have a .060 difference from the 205. You "mic" the forward bulkhead by the pedals on a 205 anywhere and you'll find out real quick if it is ex-military or ex-Air America. I suggest that when you check the 210 you'll find a tail-boom baggage compartment and the skin will measure-up to 205 thinknesses.

 

Whatever the case, the US Army is just ONE of the services to take a look at the 210.......not ALL of them. There's another 4 Services that get what they please and many times do exactly the opposite of the Army. Time will tell because there's a whole mess of UH-1H's around that the US Army don't have in their stables.

[Skidz]

Maybe Mike can clear this up, but I thought the whole idea behind the 210 program was to make surplus Hueys available for the commercial market. I don't remember there ever being a military aspect to the program. Didin't the US Army have a progrma where they upgraded Hueys and Cobras to the PW Twin-pack and 4-bladed rotor ?