VN183(SE) ‘U.S. Army ‘Dust-Off’ HUEY’
During the Vietnam War aeromedical evacuation units, commonly called ‘Dust-Offs’ evacuated a staggering 900,000 casualties from the battlefield.
The vast majority of these ‘Air Ambulances’ were reconfigured ‘HUEYS’ which were unarmed ‘Dust-Offs’ and could be airborne in just 3 minutes after receiving an emergerncy call and have their patients back in a field hospital with in 15 minutes from taking off from an LZ (Landing Zone).
Despite large and prominent red-crosses on the aircraft they often faced intense groundfire when trying to extract the wounded.
Although usually escorted by flying bodyguard ‘Gunships’ who would provide suppressing fire. ‘Dust-Offs’ would often still fly into hostile fire zones without escort when emergencies demanded it.
Time after time, these life-saving crews and their ‘HUEYS’ performed miracles in the most difficult of conditions and situations. This particular ‘Special Edition’ model is our tribute to them!