Bell AH-1 Cobra
The AH-1 Cobra was the first helicopter designed specifically for the ground-attack role. Entering service in 1967, the  Cobra quickly established an impressive combat record during the Vietnam War (1964–75). It has a top speed of 219 mph (352 kph).
The Cobra’s pilot flies the aircraft from the rear cockpit and operates the wing-mounted rockets. The gunner in the front cockpit controls the six-barreled 7.62mm mini-gun and 40mm grenade launcher mounted in the rotating “chin” turret. Because the spinning rotors make it impossible to abandon the aircraft during flight, neither crew member is equipped with an ejection seat or parachute. Although the U.S. Army retired the last of its Cobras in 2001, replacing them with AH-64 Apache helicopters, the Marine Corps continues to maintain several squadrons of the latest generation AH-1W Super Cobras.
This Cobra displayed on the flight deck is a Vietnam-era AH-1G model, restored with the wartime colors, markings, and weaponry of the U.S. Army’s First Air Cavalry Division. It is on loan from the United States Army.
Bell UH-1A Iroquois (“Huey”)
The Huey was the first turbine-equipped Bell helicopter to go into production. It first flew in 1955–56 and entered  service in 1959–60. The UH-1’s official name is Iroquois, following the Army tradition of using Native American names for helicopters. However, it is more commonly known by the nickname “Huey,” which stemmed from the original designation HU, later UH-1. The Huey has two pilots and can fly up to 141 mph (227 kph) at a height of 14,400 feet (4,388 meters). The Huey saw combat in Vietnam starting in 1962, first as a troop transport and medevac helicopter and later as an armed assault helicopter used to protect troop transports.
This Huey displayed on the flight deck is one of the original 183 “A” models produced and is believed to be one of only two remaining in existence. The helicopter is part of the collection of the Intrepid Sea, Air & Space Museum.
Bell 47 D/ H-13 Sioux
The Bell 47 is one of the most important helicopters in history. Created by inventor, philosopher and mathematician  Arthur Young, it was the first helicopter in the world to receive civil certification, and the first one to be truly mass produced.
The prototype for the model 47 first flew on December 8, 1945 and it earned certification on May 8, 1946. From then until 1973, more than 6,200 model 47s were built. The machine is perhaps best remembered as an ambulance helicopter of the Korean War (1950-53). The H-13 helicopter was nicknamed “Angel of Mercy” because it airlifted some 18,000 casualties in that conflict and pioneered emergency evacuation by helicopter which is commonplace today. The black and white photograph, courtesy Bell Helicopter Textron, shows its use as a medical evacuation helicopter.
This particular helicopter body displayed as a flight interactive in the Exploreum was said to have been a veteran of the 1970 MASH feature film before it was acquired by the museum in 2005.
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