Page:Airmobility 1961-1971.pdf/51

In mid-1963 the question of camouflaging the helicopters arose. Both camouflaged and uncamouflaged helicopters were used by U.S. Army units. Some pilots reported that the camouflaged helicopters were more difficult to see especially in mountainous terrain and a pilot spent an undue amount of his time keeping track of his other ships. Other pilots and evaluators expressed the opinion that the white Army markings and the yellow rings on the tails of the uncamouflaged helicopters were of value to the enemy gunners for the purpose of aiming and tracking. By and large, it was determined that the advantages of camouflage outweighed the disadvantages.

When the UH-1B transport helicopter was first introduced in Vietnam, it usually carried ten combat-equipped Vietnamese soldiers and at times as many as eleven. An investigation determined that the average helicopter was grossly overloaded with this many soldiers. A combat-equipped Vietnamese soldier averaged 167 pounds. When ten personnel were loaded into the Huey with a