Bell AH-1G Cobra attack helicopter gunner's instrument panel and flight instruments

Introduction

The AH-1 Cobra attack helicpter was developed by Bell Helicopter Textron Canada Limited (Bell model 209) in 1965 as a successor to the UH-1B and UH-1C Huey utility helicopters that served in Vietnam. It was the world's first dedicated armed attack helicopter and had a crew of two in tandem, the pilot in the rear seat and the gunner in the front. The AH-1 is a fast and heavily armed helicopter and has been built in many versions over the years. The AH-1G helicopter protected unarmed Bell UH-1 Huey helicopters during the Vietnam war and was first used in 1967. A flight also formed hunter-killer units together with scout helicopters. The Cobra was powered by a Lycoming T53-L-13 turbine engine. This engine, a new wide-bladed rotor and the slim design of the furselage gave it a maximum speed of 170 knots, which is about two times the speed of the Hueys it had to protect. This site shows the restoration of the gunner's instrument panel of an AH-1G helicopter.

The gunner's instrument panel

The panel shown below has several original instruments, but the torque, gas producer RPM, Exhaust gas temperature may have been different, and the course indicator has been replaced by a navigation instrument. The warning lights panel (lower right) is missing. The UHF control panel shown is used as a filler. The panel is stamped with the label/part numbers 209-070-111-19 and 209-070-111-21, where the 209 presumably indicates the model 209 helicopter.

This panel seems to be an early version and I would like to ask anyone who can contribute to improve this site with instruments for this panel, more information about the helicopter or instruments in this panel or pictures/images from the AH-1 cockpit (e.g. flight manual) to contact me at aviation@watergeek.eu.

Instrument close ups

	Internally lighted Airspeed indicator, Kearflex Engrg. Co, Warwick, RI., USA. Maximum speed for the helicopter was about 170 knots.
	Gyro horizon indicator, Bendix Aviation Corp. Eclipse-Pioneer Division, Teterboro, New Jersey. Powered by 115 V, 3 phase 400 Hz source..
	Altimeter counter pointer type AN5760-4B. This instrument was made by (Nutone) Kollsman Instrument Corporation, Clearwater, Florida.
	General Electric tachometer displaying engine and rotor RPM. This instrument was made by (Nutone) Kollsman Instrument Corporation, Clearwater, Florida.
	From top to bottom: Indicator pressure, torque (Bendix Aviation Corp. Eclipse-Pioneer Division), gas producer RPM (General Electric, may not be correct type) and exhaust gas temperature (Lewis Engrg Co) indicators..

Control panels

	C-1611D/AIC Intercommunication control panel, made by Rauland Borg Corporation, US.
	C1904/ARC-27 UHF radio control box, made by Aircraft Radio Corp., US.
	Misc - CHIP/DET control panel. Stamped with label starting with 209 indicating AH-1 helicopter part.

Links to other AH-1 Cobra sites

• The AH-1 Cobra site from Aircav with lots of pictures.
• The Global Securities AH-1 Cobra web site provides information about the development and different versions of the Cobra.
• Site of US Helicopters providing information on the weapons of the AH-1 Cobra.
  

Other links

• www.flight-manuals-on-cd.com is maintained by a collector who has a huge collection of flight manuals on CD for sale, including those for the RAF F-4 Phantoms.
  
• Excellent aircraft instrument panel site with lots of images from cockpits and instrument panels
• Airliners.net: commercial aviation center with lots of images
• Birth of the Cobra: Air Spavce Magazine article about the AH-1 HueyCobra helicopter;
• eFLIGHTMANUALS: Leader in CD-based flight manuals for the military Warbird community
• Essco Aircraft: Flight manuals for sale...