# Vietnam War Huey lift capability **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [March 8, 2004, 9:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vietnam-war-huey-lift-capability/233189 "2004-03-08T21:53:26Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![c42](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a87d85/32.png) [@c42](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/c42)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2004, 9:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vietnam-war-huey-lift-capability/233189/1 "2004-03-08T21:53:26Z")
In the movie _Apocalypse Now_, Colonel Kilgore’s Huey actually lifts a patrol boat a short distance (from one part of the river to another if my memory is correct). This seems like an amazing feat to me and has given rise to a couple of questions: 1. Is this even possible? It’s do-able for a movie, obviously, but were Huey’s of the time able to lift things as heavy as boats significant distances? 2. If lifting was common, what was the upper limit - i.e, could they lift and move things as large as tanks? I’ve googled my heart out and had a look at some military history books I have at home but can’t seem to find anything. I did see one website (forget what it is now) that quoted 6 tonnes as the lift capability for a Huey, but this seems way too small…? ---
**Author:** ![Ale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f19dbf/32.png) [@Ale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ale)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2004, 10:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vietnam-war-huey-lift-capability/233189/2 "2004-03-08T22:12:58Z")
The Huey models used in Vietnam had a lift capacity of around 2 tons, maximum. BELL MODEL 205 / UH-1H HUEY (single engine): empty weight 2,365 kilograms 5,210 pounds max loaded weight 4,310 kilograms 9,500 pounds BELL MODEL 212 / UH-1N TWIN HUEY (twin engine): empty weight 2,720 kilograms 6,000 pounds max loaded weight 4,535 kilograms 10,000 pounds ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2004, 10:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vietnam-war-huey-lift-capability/233189/3 "2004-03-08T22:20:13Z")
I think that is an over-estimate. In July 1967 the arrival at Long Binh of the 45th Medical Com-pany (Air Ambulance), equipped with new, powerful UH-1H’s marked the end to the Huey’s propulsion problem. Headquarters, I Field Force, Vietnam, soon conducted a test of the engine power of the UH-1D, the Kaman HH-43 “Husky,” and the new UH-1H with an Avco Corporation T-53-L-13 engine. The study showed that the maximum load of an aircraft hovering more than about twenty feet above the ground (out of ground effect) on a normal 95º F. day in the western Highlands was 184 pounds for the UH-1D with an L-11 engine, 380 pounds for the Husky, and 1,063 pounds for the UH-1H with an L-13 engine. [http://www.ehistory.com/vietnam/books/dustoff/0069.cfm](http://www.ehistory.com/vietnam/books/dustoff/0069.cfm) Fully loaded weight includes fuel and crew. Granted, the air is going to be denser at sea-level than it is in the Highlands, but not THAT much. The lift in the movie was just that: a MOVIE lift. ---
**Author:** ![El\_Kabong](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/el_kabong/32/496_2.png) [@El\_Kabong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/El_Kabong)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2004, 10:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vietnam-war-huey-lift-capability/233189/4 "2004-03-08T22:20:43Z")
While you are waiting for someone with actual military expertise to reply, I’ll just mention a couple of things that I recall about helicopter lift capabilities: 1. The six-ton underslung load figure for a single-engine Huey sounds a bit high; I believe it’s more like 3 tons (6000 lbs); IIRC from my oilfield days, a Bell 212 (twin-engine Huey variant) could lift about 4 tons underslung. I once worked with a rig than could be broken down into components small enough to be lifted by a 212; the heaviest parts are the diesel engines and fluid pumps, which are smaller than on a conventional rig but still pretty hefty objects. 2. Again IIRC, the patrol boat used in _Apocalypse Now_ had a plastic hull (this is mentioned in the dialogue), and thus was considerably lighter than an equivalent steel-hulled vessel. Come to think of it, I’ve been wanting to check into the history of those boats myself; if I find a weight figure I’ll try to remember to post it. I have in my collection a photo of an Aerospatiale Puma (considered a medium-lift type) transporting one of my employer’s laboratory cabins, with dimensions 8 x 8 x 20 feet and weighing about 9,000 lbs all-up, so the boat lift doesn’t seem entirely unrealistic to me. ---
**Author:** ![El\_Kabong](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/el_kabong/32/496_2.png) [@El\_Kabong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/El_Kabong)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2004, 10:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vietnam-war-huey-lift-capability/233189/5 "2004-03-08T22:25:38Z")
Ah, I see someone already has commented. Their figures are no doubt more reliable. Now that I think about it, the lab unit I mentioned was more like 6-7,000 lbs. Sorry, it was more than ten years ago. ---
**Author:** ![Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/46a35a/32.png) [@Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tim_T-Bonham.net)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2004, 10:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vietnam-war-huey-lift-capability/233189/6 "2004-03-08T22:32:06Z")
There were several helicopters of that era that could probably do that. But these were generally designed specifically for cargo-carrying, rather than military patrol helicopters. The largest lifting helicopters were generally used in industrial & construction uses, rather than military work. According to [this site](http://tri.army.mil/LC/CS/csa/aadesc.htm#UH1), the Huey was designed as a fast & quick gunship, with capacity to carry a limited number (up to 13) of troops. Say 13 troops + equipment = 2 crew averaging 250 pounds each is just under 4000 pounds. So it would be very unlikely to have been able to actually lift and carry a boat. But any of these helicopters could probably have done that, easily: The Sikorsky CH-54A ‘Skycrane’, various models from 1948-present, lift capacity 20,000 pounds. [see here](http://www.aero-web.org/specs/sikorsky/ch-54a.htm) The Sikorsky S64, vintage c. 1966, lift capacity up to 25,000 pounds. or The Soviet Mil 26, lift capacity 18-32 tons (40,000-70,000 pounds). [see here](http://home.clear.net.nz/pages/henry/helcptrs.htm) ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2004, 10:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vietnam-war-huey-lift-capability/233189/7 "2004-03-08T22:46:11Z")
Well, after a little research… The MarkII PRB, which was the boat in the movie, weighs in at 15,550 lbs, w/o crew. So no way was a Huey, any Huey, gonna lift it. ---
**Author:** ![El\_Kabong](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/el_kabong/32/496_2.png) [@El\_Kabong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/El_Kabong)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2004, 10:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vietnam-war-huey-lift-capability/233189/8 "2004-03-08T22:50:35Z")
OK, found the boat represented in the movie: Patrol Boat River, Mark II. Hoisting weight is listed as 16,000 lbs., so well outside the capcity of a Huey. Doable, however, by the heli types mentioned by **t-bonham** , as well as by Chinooks, one would think. Reference: [![](https://www.rivervet.com/images/boats/PBRMkII1967.jpg) ](https://www.rivervet.com/images/boats/PBRMkII1967.jpg) ---
**Author:** ![c42](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a87d85/32.png) [@c42](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/c42)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2004, 12:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vietnam-war-huey-lift-capability/233189/9 "2004-03-09T00:06:27Z")
> [@t-bonham@scc.net](#): > > But any of these helicopters could probably have done that, easily: > The Sikorsky CH-54A ‘Skycrane’, various models from 1948-present, lift capacity 20,000 pounds. > [see here](http://www.aero-web.org/specs/sikorsky/ch-54a.htm) > > The Sikorsky S64, vintage c. 1966, lift capacity up to 25,000 pounds. > or > The Soviet Mil 26, lift capacity 18-32 tons (40,000-70,000 pounds). [see here](http://home.clear.net.nz/pages/henry/helcptrs.htm) Wowsers that’s a lot of lifting! I had suspicions that the scene in the movie migh have been innacurate, but I had no idea just how grossly innacurate it was! Thanks for all the responses guys; I’ve just realised that one of those big Russky ones did some bridge-work just down the road from me here in New Zealand.