The Restoration of a Vintage Viet Nam Era UH-1H Huey Helicopter

It all began with a little boy lying on his back in a grassy yard, watching jets from Grissom Air Force Base fly overhead. Living in a small town, this boy knew many of the Air Force pilots from the local military base and knew he wanted to grow up to fly just like those heroes.

At Indiana State University, Charles Walker received his Fixed Wing pilot's license and his dream of flying was just beginning to take wings. He did not intend to become a professional pilot; he studied pre-law at the University. Upon graduation, he came to intern with a large law firm where he realized the field of law was not where his heart was. Instead, this creative man chose to learn the trade of hand fabricating fine jewelry. As he began to establish himself in his career, flying was put on the back burner. As a hobby, private pilot flying is expensive and requires consistency of flying hours to maintain competency. But the dream continued to burn. When Charles met his future wife for the first time, he asked her what she enjoyed doing in her spare time and she replied that her hobby was, "Flying," Charles knew he had met his match.

After they married, Charles continued his trade of jewelry making and eventually purchased the venerable old jewelry store where he had taken his apprenticeship for 10 years. Flying continued to take a back seat as the Walker's began to build their family and develop the business. Raised with a solid Catholic foundation, Charles had always been committed to almsgiving. "Almsgiving" is defined by the New Advent Catholic Encyclopedia as, "any material favor done to assist the needy, and prompted by charity." The Walker family attended Mass weekly and Charles practiced small acts of charity on a daily basis with the homeless he came into contact with on his morning commute to the jewelry store. He often spoke to his wife of his dream of flying into foreign lands to do mission work. These dreams also took a backseat to the loving process of raising a family.

A 1953 Bell 47

One morning, Charles informed his wife that he intended to learn to fly helicopters! Doggedly, he drove to a small, rural airport early in the morning week after week and learned to fly a two seat Schweitzer 300 Helicopter. Finally, his passion for all things aeronautical burst forth and he again felt the joy of flying and the balance his hobby provided to his life. After purchasing "Blue Bell," a 1953, M*A*S*H style Bell 47 Helicopter, he was able to fly for fun on a regular basis.

Anyone who knows Charles knows that big dreams are what keeps this man moving forward with a purpose and Charles had BIG dreams! Because their Bell 47 was a vintage Korean War bird, Charles and his wife had the opportunity to fly their vintage Bell 47 into the Indianapolis Motor Speedway during Military Day before the big Indianapolis 500 Race in 2003. To soldiers in the Korean War, The Bell 47 was considered an "Angel of Mercy," transporting the wounded to medical treatment. After being given clearance to land, he landed his "Blue Bell" and put her on exhibition amidst a variety of other military helicopters: a UH-60 Blackhawk and a
UH-1 Iroquois (commonly known as the "Huey") from the Indiana National Guard and a Coast Guard HH/MH-65C Dolphin. This was when the dream of owning a 12 passenger Huey Helicopter began. Charles spoke to Tod Browning, UH-1 Iroquois crew chief in the Indiana National Guard. Charles told Tod, "One of these days, I want to own one of these!" at which point Tod handed him his business card and told him to call him when he found one.

A UH-1H Huey Helicopter

In 2004, just one year after that fateful meeting, the opportunity for Charles to own a Huey arrived! UH-1H 68 16563 sat patiently on the tarmac in Maine, one of a fleet of Hueys no longer flying, but instead being cannibalized for parts. This 1968 Helicopter was owned by Emergency Medical Institute (EMI). When the time came for EMI to sell this bird, it came to the attention of Charles, who refused to let this opportunity pass him by. After speaking with the Director of EMI, Charles realized he could begin to fulfill two of his lifelong dreams simultaneously! First, to restore and fly this remarkable workhorse and second, to have the opportunity to do charitable work by founding a not-for-profit Search and Rescue company! And with that, Indiana Air Search and Rescue IASAR.org was founded!

The Restoration of UH-1H Huey 16563

There was, however, one large dilemma! In order to fly, Huey 16563 needed a major restoration, qualified crew chiefs and hours upon hours of time. More importantly, IASAR.org would also need a great amount of almsgiving itself to fund this massive undertaking! Big dreams require big patience and loads of prayer. When Charlie attempted to contact Tod Browning, the Huey crew chief he met the prior year, he learned he had been deployed to Bosnia. Charlie spent the next year making contacts in the "world of Huey" and locating major components. By the time Tod arrived back in country, some components had been found and the restoration began to slowly take flight.

Tod and fellow soldier, Crew Chief Bill Senefeld generously donated many hours to begin the restoration. Charlie's brother-in-law, Brian Shera and nephew Mac were also involved from the beginning. Their job was to research and document the military history of Huey 16563 and to document the restoration via film and photos. Before long, word spread of the ongoing restoration taking place in a small hangar. Charlie spoke at a meeting of aviation war bird enthusiasts and encountered Skip Budney, Viet Nam veteran Huey pilot, who was excited to become involved. Tom Foreman, Tim Payne, Todd Graham, John Feeser and Steve, Sherry and Tyler Brown joined the group, each having unique talents to contribute to the mission. Soon, Viet Nam veterans Karl Kornafel, Alan Denmark and Richard Mueller were crew members.

The growing crew met weekly to work diligently on the Huey and locate necessary parts and components. Many "missions" ensued, with different crew members driving all over the country to retrieve rotor blades, major components and other donated parts that could be traded for what was needed by UH-1H 16563. These missions helped forge bonds between the crew and gave them the determination to carry on. At some point, it became apparent to all involved that this restoration had also taken on a new type of almsgiving, a sort of healing for the Viet Nam veterans that had been so giving of their time in her loving restoration and the many other veterans with whom she came into contact. This in and of itself became part of the calling of Indiana Air Search & Rescue; to educate citizens of the UH-1H Bell Helicopter and the important role it played during wartime and through its restoration to return in some small way a modicum of peace and solace to veterans who gave so much in the service of their country. One particular veteran who has given much of his time to 16563 is Richard Mueller. Richard was a Huey crew chief and door gunner during his Viet Nam tour. In a devastating turn of events, Richard was riding in gunner position when his bird went down. Richard lost both legs during this horrendous accident. When Richard first started to show up weekly at the airport, most of the crew had no knowledge of this fact. It wasn't until Richard had removed his prostheses and set them beside him inside the Huey while he was working in a particularly tight space did the crew come to understand exactly how much Richard gave to fulfill his duty to country.

Over the next three years, Charles preached patience and prayer when money was nonexistent and parts were nowhere to be found. It was important to keep the spirits of the hard working crew from becoming discouraged. Amazingly, the restoration of UH-1H was slowly but surely being done completely by donation!

Search and Rescue Training

As the restoration was occurring, it became necessary to begin training for the search and rescue piece of IASAR. Paramedic Jim Howard, held weekly classes at the Walker's home to train them to become licensed First Responders under the Indiana Department of Homeland Security. This would become important when the restoration was complete and the possibility of flying Search and Rescue missions became a reality. Six crew members successfully earned their accreditation and now stand ready to serve. In addition, crew member Aaron Pierce has his EMT certification.

The Dedication of UH-1H 16563

Coming into the summer of 2008, the restoration was getting close to completion and the Dedication of UH-1H 16563 went into planning! Jill Fewell, Derek Redelman and Tom Vielee planned the event with Charles. On September 27, 2008 Indiana Air Search and Rescue was honored by the City of Indianapolis by proclamation and UH-1H was dedicated with over 400 people in attendance!

At the Dedication, it became crystal clear the impact the restoration of this vintage Viet Nam War Bird has had upon hundreds of people! Medal of Honor recipient, Sgt. Sammy L. Davis spoke of the haunting sound of incoming Huey Helicopters during battle. Historian Mac Shera had successfully located Giles Portzer, one of 16563's pilots during its tour in Viet Nam. Giles came from Alabama to speak about a "Mayday, Mayday" situation that occurred while he was flying 16563 and how the trusty bird did not fail him in flight and allowed him to land her safely and without incident. Paul Goodwin, Crew Chief of 16563 in Viet Nam, was also located and he came to the Dedication from Illinois. At the end of 16563's service in Viet Nam, Paul was preparing the bird for her decommission and return to the US. He removed a small plate bearing her number 16563 as a token of his work on her before she returned home. He presented this original plate to Charles at the dedication. At that moment, there was not a dry eye to be found.

Note: as of June 2009, the restoration of UH-1H 16563 is complete and she is currently in ground testing, a precursor to her post restoration maiden flight. IASAR's restoration was made almost entirely by donation of labor, parts and money and with enormous amounts of love and prayer. Huey pilot Olaf Tessarzyk joined the crew after the Dedication and he has been instrumental in ground testing, along with Skip Budney. Charles is grateful to Joe Newkirk of Freedom Helicopters for providing him the opportunity to fly his Robinson to maintain his competency and remain current. After her ground testing is complete, she will be placed again into the service of her country's citizens as Indiana Air Search and Rescue's first search aircraft.

Source:

Indiana Air Search & Rescue
Walker, Charles, President of IASAR, 2009.