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http://www.fairchild.af.mil/News/Articl ... ght-hours/
More atFAIRCHILD AIR FORCE BASE, Wash. -- A 36th Rescue Squadron UH-1N Huey number 6648 achieved more than 18,000 flight hours, here Jan. 11,
the most flight hours for this airframe in the Air Force.
UH-1N Huey number 6648 arrived at Fairchild Air Force Base in April of 1971 and has flown all of its missions from here since.
The first Hueys made their Air Force debut in 1970 as a search and rescue capability.
“Fairchild’s Hueys were built in 1969 and the first two arrived on April 3, 1971.
The 36th RQS was originally created as the 48th Aerospace Rescue and Recovery Squadron,
which started out with 140 Airmen and nine aircraft,”
said Lt Col. Chad Kohout, 36th Rescue Squadron commander.
“Since then, they’ve fluctuated in size and name to the present-day 28 Airmen and four helicopters with the name 36th Rescue Squadron.”
The Air Force has been trying to replace the Huey for decades,
said Master Sgt. Joshua Walker, 36th RQS NCO in-charge of scheduling.
It has yet to be replaced because the UH-1N continues to perform better than was ever expected
and various replacement programs over the years have not succeeded.
“There is a lot of significance about this helicopter,” said Walker.
“We have all been in different units flying different aircraft that have all been swapped around from base to base.
This is the only one that has been in service this long assigned to one base and has flown this much while there.”
http://www.fairchild.af.mil/News/Articl ... ght-hours/