The AH-1 Cobra assigned to D Troop had small stub-wings that carried several armament systems, which included folding-fin rockets (7 or 19 rockets) or minigun pods (XM-18) and was fired by the pilot from the rear seat.
Other, crew chief, maintenance, and weapons personnel were assigned to fill out the TOE requirement over the following months. The Cobra platoon’s first AH-1G crew chiefs supervisor was Specialist Warren Waite. The maintenance crews began arriving just before and at the time of receipt of the aircraft. D Troop’s first AH-1G pilots were 1LT Bruce Powell and CWO Tom Meeks who were transitioned earlier in country at Bien Hoa, Viet Nam by the AH-1G New Equipment Transition Team (NETT). The Troop originally received six aircraft with the remaining five being sent to B Company, 25th Infantry Division Diamond Heads. I have never been more excited in my life then those first few weeks with my beloved Cobra. SP5 Warren Waite and I had #540 up and flying unauthorized missions in a few days. We ended up with six Cobras and the Diamond Heads (25th Div, Aviaton Battalion) got 6. Damn near wrecked the thing trying to do all those test pilot maneuvers. I test flew it after it was unloaded and assembled from the Corpus Christi Bay ship. I went to Vung Tau and picked up the first Cobra to arrive for the Division on 30 May. There were initially nine on the list, but political battles were being fought over how many of them D Troop would receive. The AH-1G Cobra was introduced to D Troop, 3/4 Cav in June of 1968.īruce Powell: We received word that our new Cobras were due in on. The Bell company was one and it’s model Bell 209 was ultimately selected. Several companies were competing with design submissions to the selection team. 1965 was also the deadline for Army’s selection for a new attack helicopter. Attacks on US forces were increasing, and by the end of June 1965 there were already 50,000 US ground troops in Vietnam. In Vietnam, events were also advancing in favor of the Army purchasing the Model 209. Less than six months later, the Cobra prototype, known as Model 209, made its maiden flight at Fort Worth’s Amon Carter field, launching a new breed of military helicopters. After Bell lost a contract to Lockheed for production of an attack helicopter, Folse started working on a conceptual sketch of a new warbird. Video of Mike Flose, inventor/developer of the Cobra. On 3 September 1965 Bell rolled out its Model 209 prototype, and four days later it made its maiden flight, only eight months after the go-ahead. In January 1965 Bell invested $1 million to proceed with a new design for an attack helicopter mating the proven Huey transmission, and the "540" rotor system of the UH-1C augmented by a Stability Control Augmentation System (SCAS), and the T53 turboshaft engine of the UH-1. It was developed using the engine, transmission and rotor system of the Bell's UH-1 Iroquois. The AH-1 is also referred to as the Huey Cobra or Snake. The AH-1 Cobra (company designation: Model 209) is a tandem seat, two-blade, single engine, attack helicopter with a crew of two manufactured by Bell Helicopter. Note: There were 824 AH-1G's sent to Vietnam 303 were lost 235 pilots & 12 crewmen were KIA (VHPA) See AH-1G Tail Numbers & Photos.also see Cobra War Stories at bottom, and Cobra inventor Mike Folse