I had one mission in a Huskie out of DaNang circa 1966 or 7. Was assigned to document the remains of a F-4C ( I was an Air Force combat photographer, 600th Photo Squadron, Detachment 7, DaNang) that had gone in a few klicks West (I think it was West) of the base. The crew survived and was picked up OK, I believe the day before. The Phantom put a large crater of about 60-80 feet across and about 20-25 feet deep in the red clay. There were only a few parts visible. The fighter was limping home after receiving battle damage. I understand it was leaking fuel and ran out less than 5 minutes out. I was escorted by two Air Police or Air Rescue guys (sorry, can't remember). We landed at the crash site and were on the ground for less than 15 minutes. Then we then took off and recovered both of the parachutes used by the F-4 crew, because we didn't want the chutes to be used as decoys to lure some future S&R team or Marines into a trap, thinking there might be some of our pilots in need of help. The escorts were careful to put several M-16 rounds through each chute before landing to reduce the chance of them already being booby trapped. They weren't and our return to base was uneventful. The Huskie performed flawlessly. I was the object of some minor envy by some of my COMDOC team because it was not easy to get a ride on a HH-43, and most of us kept an unofficial list of all the aircraft we had ridden on. Combat Photographers, because of the nature of our jobs, had open orders authorizing lifts on many aircraft, be they Air Force, Navy, Marine or even Air America (aka CIA). At the time, I wasn't a pilot, so didn't appreciate the uniqueness of the 43. I did see it (or a sister ship) doing its main job of fire suppression with a suspended fire bottle (probably not the right equipment name) while at DaNang. They (it) was always fun to watch, even by a non-pilot, because it didn't have a tail rotor. I remember being impressed by how much apparent payload such a small aircraft could carry. Sort of sad to see this AV of the last one known to be operational....

If KitchenAid made a helicopter

I was an FE, flying on the HH 43 for 3years, Long Island NY, PhanRang AFB-Vietnam, & Cham Ran AFB Vietnam. It was sweet seeing “Pedro” take to the air again. Her rescue missions brought a lot of people home to fly another day, that was anther life time, I miss it. Wilber

My brother flew one of those somewhere in southeast asia circa 1970 on rescue missions. He never said where he was stationed and that he quickly learned how to descend and get onto the ground fast. Thanks for the memories.

Brought back memories of visiting my dad at work when I was a kid. He worked and built these for over 20 years at Bradley field for kaman aircraft.

I’ve always loved the Huskie! Built a model of it as a kid. It’s shown a couple of times in the movie ‘’Hellfighters’’. Designed for airbase fire suppression and crash rescue but they were used in Vietnam for downed pilot rescue as well. ‘’Pedro’’ made rescues far into North Vietnam well beyond what is was intended for. Crews used to place fuel drums inside the cabin and top off the fuel tanks in flight to extend their range. All while suspended under wooden rotor blades! Amazing aircraft. The crews that manned them were some of the best in my opinion. There are some videos showing the firefighting techniques employed using the HH-43 that are very enlightening. Thanks for sharing this video.

Very cool - thanks! I flew Hueys back in the day and heard the Huskie described as looking like "two flight engineers standing on a CONEX box dueling with banana trees."

One of the most underappreciated workhorses in the AF inventory. Many airmen owe their lives to the dedicated Pedro Drivers & Crewmen.

What a sweet design concept. Kaman knew his stuff.

We Had the HH 43 B in Thailand at U-Tapoa Where I was a Fire Fighter With the U.S. Air Force. We were there Supporting the B-52 Missions Over North Vietnam and Other areas. Seeing this Bird Brings Back a lot of Memories, some good, some not so good. Too all my fellow Veterans, Have a good 4th of July... 57150

Kamans are like Harley Davidson motorcycles in the sky. I never get tired of listening to that rotor blade sound.

this is the coolest thing ever. never thought anyone still flew these. I am very impressed. The engineering that went into this craft is amazing.

I remember back in the mid to late 1960's while living in Niceville, FL (near Eglin AFB where my dad was serving his final years with the USAF before retiring) we'd see one of these flying over the base area from time to time while visiting the base for errands (shopping at the commissary, haircuts, etc). I thought it was very unusual design from a traditional helicopter. Really stood out from the other military aircrafts we'd see daily at Eglin. Thanks for posting this video. Unforgettable days.

As a kid in the early 60’s I checked out the same book of amazing helicopters dozens of times from the public library. The Kaman “eggbeater” seemed strangest and most fascinating of all. Until now, I never saw one actually flying. Thank you.

So cool to see a Huskie in flight again.

My goodness . What a treat that was. As a small boy in the '50s in UK I knew these existed. I remembered being tempted by the Hawk plastic model. As an American kit it was an exotic piece. This is the first time I've ever seen the real machine ! What a treat . Thank you very much indeed. Kind regards . Pete

An incredible piece of history. What a beautiful little bird she is.

When I was a boy , I saw this helicopter hovering in John hay airbase and unloading supply from Clark airbase Philippines this made me an enthusiast in aviation I believed that was the time of the Vietnam war when I enlisted in the Philippine armed forces in 1972 we usually used the Huey in operating in the mountainous area in the cordilleras one time when I’m still in the active service one of our passenger of course member of the operating team we are transporting was chewing beetle nut suddenly spit out in the open door chopper causing his sputum to swirl around inside the chopper painting all of us Including the pilots so much so that we dropped the operating troops short of the target. What an unforgettable experienced I am now 73 years old still kicking and retired

What a magnificent piece of history and engineering from the past.

Love it! This looks like the Olympic Flight Museum in Olympia WA. Great air shows! Thanks much for sharing!

Fantastic! I remember seeing these flying back in my childhood. Never forget the sound they made when they flew out on rescue missions. Thanks for the upload.

I made a model of one of these as a kid. I had no idea they shook so much when they were started up!

Amazingly quiet too. Neat little bird.

I loved watching these when I was a kid in Newfoundland where my father was stationed in 1963. I never saw one again until this video. Thank you.

Bless it. The helicopter with looks only a mother could love.

And a rare P-38 Lightening in the back ground . . Two wonderful WWII aircraft that are super rare. . HH-43 and the P-38. . Fantastic.

In 1972 at U-Tapao Royal Thai Navy Base I was assigned to Detachment 12 of the 40th Air Rescue & Recovery Squadron as a Pararescueman (PJ). I flew in the "Huskie" for over a year until I was re-assigned to other duties in various parts of Vietnam. I loved the Huskie.

I had an uncle who worked for Kaman for 15 years. There was on or more of these on every US military base in the world. He did a lot of traveling. Lived over seas twice. Unique design allowed the down wash from the rotors to blow fire and smoke away from a downed aircraft. No need for rudder pedals, no yaw.

I remember crawling around in one of these as a kid. Love early jet age machines. The innovation and experimentation was so unique before computers told you everything.

I had several rides in the Husky at Kwang Ju Air Base, South Korea, in late 1969 and early 1970, including one up front in the left seat (pilot in command was/is right seat). Also, I watched them in numerous live-fire training exercises. The night exercises were especially fantastic! I got to know most of the people in the small detachment there. Outstanding, brave folks, all of them.

My Dad trained to fly these when we were stationed at Vance AFB in OK in the 1970s. We would ride our bikes over to the area near the flight line and watch them practice hovering over a simulated downed aircraft. Big Orange Fire! Way cool.

My father, Bob Lambert, was a tech rep for Kaman and traveled all over the southern US and later Europe troublehsooting issues with the Huskie. Lots of times he brought us, as children, to watch it fight fires. This film brought back so many memories!

We had one of these at Bien Hoa Air Base, 3rd tactical fighter wing, Vietnam in 1966. It was an air rescue and fire suppression aircraft. When there was an aircraft with an in-flight emergency coming in, it would take off with big red ball hanging beneath on a tether. The ball was a pressurized container of fire fighting foam. Very neat to watch. Thanks for the video. Brought back lots of memories.

Not sure I'd ever even heard of this thing before seeing it here, very cool!

Absolutely awesome! A piece of aviation history still flying after over 70+ years. Amazing!

Great bit of footage,very interesting rare aircraft! 👍👏

I first heard about the Huskie when i was a young boy from the book That Others Shall Live about the AF PJs in Vietnam... It was one of the main reasons I got into the US military doing rescue work.

I flew in one during the 1964 flood in Oregon. We flew on Mt Hood rescuing people stranded by flood waters and bridge failures I was a Deputy Sheriff with Clackamas County Sheriff's Office. I still have a pin given to us by Kaman Aircraft. It was a very stable aircraft.

I witnessed one of these crash at an airshow in the early sixties. I was at an airshow at James Connally AFB in Waco Texas with my father who flew P-47's in WWII and was a flight instructor after the war before he left the Army Air Corps. Two of these were doing demonstrations of how they could come into an area and make a hot landing, drop cargo and do a quick exit. On one pass, one of these came in really hot and did not pull up in time. He hit the tarmac, bounced back up and proceeded to flip on its left side and slide right up in front near where we were standing. After a small fire was put out the crew escaped suffering no injuries. I was about twelve at the time but will never ever forget that moment. This video is the first time I have seen one of these fly since then. I did find a model kit of it which I built, not laying on its side.

Thank you for uploading this. My grandfather worked for Kaman Helicopters a long time ago.

Was stationed at Kessler AFB in 1971 and used to watch these take off every morning. The reason I was interested and watched is because I put together a model of the Huskie when I was a kid. Great helicopter. Thanks for sharing this.

I was fortunate enough to have had a few flights in one of these. In 1968 when I was based in Phan Rang Sth Vietnam these aircraft used to fly base security each day and I was lucky enough to get several trips. The a/c were also used for fire fighting duties on returning damaged aircraft.

Wow!! That brings back childhood memories from living on Yokota AFB in the mid-60s and seeing these strange whirlybirds!!

When I was a kid, there was a movie from the late 50s or early 60s, and I believe it was called Starfighter. In it, one of the F-104 Starfighter pilots had to bail out over the desert. He was rescued by an HH-43 Huskie. As much as I loved the F-104 Starfighter, the Huskie was just as unique and interesting in its own right. I'm glad to see one still fully restored and operational. Long may it fly and continue to impress and amaze people.

Watching those blades barely missing each other never gave me that warm and fuzzy feeling about this particular helicopter.

Man, does that bring back some memories! I was a kid living on Andrews AFB in the early-mid 1960s and an HH43 was hangered across a field from our quarters. Every month they would do their fire supression/rescue drills in that field. They would hose an old F100 fighter down with fuel, light it off, then use the rotor wash to suppress the flames so the firefighters could put out the fire. Great entertainment for a 12 year old boy! Thanks for sharing.

Quite a famous machine from the Vietnam War days. There is one on display at the Air Force Museum in Dayton, OH. Thank you for sharing, great video!

Now that is a blast from the past! We had these at Shaw AFB IN 1970 when I was first stationed there.

Wow, didn't know any were still flying. I grew up around "Pedros", many fond memories. Thanks for posting.

Great video thanks. Brings back memories from the late 1960s early 1970s. I used to see one of these regularly when it was on patrol from Wethersfield Airbase in England.

My late father was a fire fighter/rescue specialist in this aircraft...his station was in the double-window area at the back of the aircraft...thanks for this.....

Wow! Wasn’t expecting to see this come across my feed. Simply awesome to see one flying

I remember seeing one of these on a naval air station my father was at in the 50's. Its was painted dark blue at the time.👍

I grew up on overseas bases in the 60's.... I saw these all the time back in the day! thanks for the great video!

One of the most underrated rescue choppers ever!

Boy that is a real blast from my past!

"A distinctive sound..." That and much more made the Huskie a rather unique aircraft, even for a helicopter. It was the first helicopter I became familiar with and the sound was just part of it. Another unusual aspect of the HH-43 was part of its firefighting duties, carrying around the ball-shaped fire suppression apparatus slung underneath. I hope the restoration continues with creation of a replica of that, seemingly inseparable in my mind, the son of a USAF officer stationed at Rando;ph AFB east of San Antonio, Texas from 1961 to 1963. At Randoplh, the HH-43 was kept busy ensuring survival if possible for student pilots and their instructors if they didn't quite make it back to base safely. I saw or heard them flying almost daily. Then we moved out to Williams AFB near Phoenix, Arizona for a couple of years., followed by a return to Randolph near the end of 1965. It soon sank in that the Huskies were gone! Where? Why? No one seemed to know. I only discovered years later. Before the memorable HH-3 made a name for itself as the Jolly Green Giant rescuing downed air crew in Southeast Asia, there was the Huskie. As the air war ramped up, so did the need for rescue of downed pilots.They didn't have much at first - except the Huskie. What happened was that most had been gathered up and sent to SEA. Despite their lack of range, armor and defensive weapons, the Huskie was soon saving lives. So that's where the Huskies went - and it 1965 it probably started off as a secret that a 4th grader wasn't going to stumble over. Thanks for the video of this singular helo.

Very interesting looking rescue helicopter. Even though it’s obsolete I’m glad they keep maintaining it and fly it around…

I was at this airshow with Civil Air Patrol, and on Sunday as the rain was coming down I got to wing walk her back to the hanger. Such an interesting craft!

As a helicopter mech/crew-chief in the U.S. Army, (mid 80's), just the sight of this thing gave me the chills.

Thanks for posting this video! I was a USAF firefighter in the early 70s and remember knowing about these rescue helicopters but never was stationed with any of them. The sound is totally unique, this is the first time I’ve heard one.

Thanks for uploading the video. As a child growing up near by US Air force base, I remember it flying. :)

Very level and straight flight, no need to tilt forward, tight turns, obviously a great design.

Super super cool to watch, TY for sharing!!

Growing up outside of Randolph AFB in the late sixties I remember these flying over our house

Thank you,Charlie Kaman.

Never seen one of these before Thank you

Brought back many great memories….flew it in the early 70’s at MacDill, also in Turkey and Thailand.

Thank you for uploading this. Really cool! 👍 Looks more dangerous than the chinook with those blades that close.

Cool to see such a rare machine. Thanks for sharing! God bless, Rob

It's baeutiful. I remember seeing those in a salvage yard near Luke AFB in AZ back in the mid 60's. Thank you.

Wow! I haven''t seen one of those in decades! Thanks!

Wow! I have seen lots of photo's of that helicopter, but never seen or heard one fly ... Thanks for sharing a great video.

I grew up in a town with a USAF flight training base, and I well remember these "eggbeaters" there! They had annual airshows, and there was always a demo of these, but they were firefighting choppers, not rescue.

We hjad 2 Pedros at U-Tapao, in Thailand in 1972. We were a B-52/Tanker base. I flew in one on a photo mission. Hung outside on a gunner's belt and had a great ride. I was told the counter rotating blades were made of wood.

I saw one of them putting out a mock fire at an air show in Albuquerque when I was about 10 years old and it was so cool. Mike

Oh boy! Thank you for sharing this!!!

OMG. That's a beauty. AH1F cobra crewchief 87 to 89❤❤❤❤❤❤

I can honestly say i have never seen one of these before, thanks for sharing.

Very cool! A Kaman model I'd never heard of. Thanks for posting!

Unbelievable! It's so crazy with double propeller! Wow!

Looking at those rotors turning, makes me want to run for cover. Amazing flying machine.

Viet Nam era veteran. I only saw one one of these aircraft on display during officer's school. Enlisted I only flew in UH-1, OH-58, and CH-47. I watched a piston driven Guppy/Polliwog fly at an airshow once. I was in a Cobra battalion with eighteen warbirds, Huey's, and several scout birds. We also had a transportation group of Chinooks.

I've been looking for a new video of this one for a while. Thanks for putting this together so we could see it!!!

my dad worked at the Kaman factory and had a painting of that aircraft. Nice to see one preserved.

I had a plastic model of the HH-43 Huskie Helicopter when I was a kid. Once it got really dusty and dirty from being on my model shelf too long, I filled it full of black ants and set fire to it. It burned up pretty good and several of the ants got away, but most perished in the fire. 😝

YAY!!! thank you for the footage!!! I had no idea any of these remained

Fascinating piece of history and machinery.

I like this ease of flying and I like autogyros

You guys sure did an excellent, awesome job restoring and refurbishing that helicopter. Congrats!

I love choppers but that one always amazes and scares me with those twin counter rotating blades.

Oh my goodness! You wouldn't believe how many operations of the Huskie I saw at Ton Son Nhut Air Base, Saigon during 1969 and 70! Lot of memories there!

Yeah, I remember these boys when I was stationed at Takhli RTAFB (Thailand) in ‘72. They’d bravely patrolled the launch operations ready to dash in and suppress any fires if a plane crashed on takeoff so the crew could escape. They normally carried a spherical tank of suppressant suspended below. A friend related to me that while he was at U-Tapao a B-52 crashed on takeoff and “Pedro” (as we called them), fearlessly flew in to suppress the flames to allow the crew to escape but the aircraft exploded and enveloped the helicopter in flames. The helo crew perished instantly. These guys were like guardian angels. Hand, Salute - to all those crews!

what a wild looking helicopter, ive never seen one of these before much less a working one, awesome thanks for sharing.

Most AFBs had a ARRS Detachment( from main squadron elsewhere) with two HH-43s. One was always kept on alert( standby for rapid deployment) in the event of an aircraft landing under emergency conditions. Carrying firefighting equipment underneath and two firemen the goal was to suppress a fire and rescue crew on crashed plane. The chopper would wait at landing end of runway and follow plane in question as it proceeded down the runway. In the event of crash/fire it would set down foam “bottle” and firemen and then hover using rotor wash to push flames away from cockpit as the firemen moved in with foam and extraction tools. I watched many emergency landings but fortunately never any crashes/fires etc. 31st ARRS Clark AB ‘68-‘69.

Thank you for sharing. My father flew these for most of his Air Force career! A unique sound. Most helicopters have a different sound produced by their blades. The HH43 was always more of a "soft" sound.

Now, that's an egg beater! Glad to see one still flying! 👍

I've never seen anything like this before, thanks for sharing, excellent show !!

I was in the USAF stationed at Goose Bay, Labrador, 1967/68. We had one of these, callsign "Pedro" for firefighting/rescue. Always enjoyed watching it in action, never thought I would see one flying again.

There was one of these at Myrtle Beach AFB back in the early 70"s. We used the Hanson Crane that we had in the bomb dump to lift the rotor for maintenance. LOVED hearing that helicopter fly over ! Very unique sound.