Huey helicopters/Vietnam stuff...

Wasn't sure where to post this...
Do helicopters, particularly a Huey, have names for the front side and back of the craft? Like, if a gunner in Vietnam was being hit on the left or right side what would that be called? I was researching and couldn't really find a good site that explains like...aft, tail etc....
I'm working on a story, and I have a few scenes in my comicbook where the gunner switches sides....Not sure if this is the best place to post it...any direction or link would help out alot....or any faq about Huey's would be cool too.....

reply to post by JustinSee


I believe it's the same as Water craft for the cabin area!! Port and Starboard for left and right and fore and aft for front and back. The tail is a separate designation depending on type of aircraft!

Huey Info


Zindo

reply to post by ZindoDoone


Ah, thanks man. This is really my first time drawing extensive military hardware/craft. I pretty much have a soldier taking out a whole field of Vietnamese farmers, only to have more retaliate in mass with AK47's....

reply to post by JustinSee


I was a door gunner for a short period during the Gulf War. The calls were usually, Action Left! or Action Right! followed by a time (direction). Of course, you are always looking down.

Took the military bug back in the 60's. Joined in '76 and did a 6 yr tour of naval aviation, AWESOME. I remembered l-r, port-starboard in boot this way;Port wine is red, therefore port wing has the red light. starboard meant nothing so going for it was green; go.
Another was , being navy was to keep in mind never wanting to leave a GF at port so I came up with "left port=red"
You got no idea how true that became.

"

that is all extremely helpful...I have some banter going on and anything thats more "talky" as opposed to official is even better. Maybe I'll post some Vietnam pages here in a bit, almost done this particular scene, it'll prolly last a few pages...my pop was in Nam too, he has some shrapnel in his back....not entirely sure how he go it, otherwise he was an airplane mechanic. He has been kinda busy lately so I haven't been able to ask him any questions. He grew up in the Philippines, since his father was stationed there during WW2 and took a wife.

reply to post by LAUGHING-CAT


Thank you for your service. Thats a good way to remember the port side. Another way is port and left have the same number of letters.

No Im afraid that left is left and right is right in aircraft parlance.

Fore and aft are correct although you can be more specific and refer to the forward fuselage for the front and either rear fuselage, or if you want to include the tail area empennage, although as far as I know this is a term used for fixed wing as opposed to rotary wing aircraft. Port and starboard are sometimes used in reference to the wing lights but that is about it. However the poster referring to his Navy service is probably correct for the Navy as it is probably a Naval convention to avoid confusion between the "port side" of the ship versus the "left side/left wing" of the aircraft.

LEE.

Fore and aft may also, correctly, be referred to as the nose, or even just 'up front' and the arse end.

reply to post by waynos
.... And standing on a scissor lift the other night doing water drains from the THS (stabilizer fuel tank), I looked up and down the left side of an A-380 and turned to my colleague. "Man, thats a BIG arse!!" I said.

LEE.

Hmm....So my guy is leaving the right gunner position and going to the left side...he is shouting it to the pilot or another guy in the craft....so he can just say "I am going to the left gun"....I mean, I'm gonna put more personality into it and all, but what should he shout out?

I always remember the port side is left because both port and left are spelled with 4 letters. I kept forgetting which is which but that seemed to seal it for me.

Ah, I only asked again because thebozeian said left is left...should he say port instead?

reply to post by JustinSee


I think both are correct, but it might be the British forces that use port and starboard more.

Lol @ Lee

reply to post by JustinSee
I think you need to go with what TDawgRex said and he is better qualified than anyone on this thread so far in terms of Army chopper gunners in action (I assume your characters are Army not Marine?). In which case it would as he said be "action left", or "action right".

Truly Waynos 380's really do have a really big bum, err... empennage, aft fuse,..whatever you want to call it, just as long as it isn't called the stern.

LEE.

reply to post by JustinSee


If you only have four guys in the bird (Pilot, CP, Crew Chief and gunner) and you are under fire, then you never leave the gun. The bird gets outta there fast. If it's a SAR mission, then you have one of the PJ's or medics take the gun. If it's a C&C bird, the closest mans the gun. Choppers do not hunker down in a firefight. It's always a $#!t and Git situation. Always on the move. Harder to hit that way.

CrashHawks & Hueys are also have very confined Flight & cargo spaces, One guy laying on the floor can take up a lot of space. It is also difficult for the co-pilot to leave his station to assist. And do you really want that? What if the pilot is hit?

You'll have to give us the situation your character is in before we can offer possible verbage.

There is also a saying that once a Chopper leaves the assembly line, it is always trying to kill those who fly it.

Its an odd scene, I have this guy posing as a gunner in a Huey that only has 3 people....I have a convoy of Hueys that are really just transporting people. They aren't under fire, this guy just positions himself on the other side of the craft and just starts blowing away innocent farmers to provoke passengers in one of the other Hueys...Its sortof hard to explain here...Also, the whole scene sortof turns into an old Captain America comic....so not everything is too realistic, but some of it is.Lol, thats a terrible way of describing the scene without seeing the panels.

reply to post by JustinSee


Just a hint (you could be doing it this way already). Write the script first, like they do in movies, then draw the scene. It's easier to stay focused and gives you better idea what to draw for each particular panel. Good luck.

I already thumbnailed the whole thing. I make indie comicbooks, though this one is all full color and everything. I didn't really bother writing the dialogue for the Vietnam stuff as I wanted some more input. I only have to draw like 12 more pages or so for the first issue.

reply to post by JustinSee


See if you can get it posted to ATS Comics if you don't make a profit off it. Think of it as intern work. Getting your name out there.