I'm thinking of doing a diorama with a 1/35 Blackhawk airlifting a humvee during the Gulf War and I have a couple of questions which I hope someone here can answer:

1.) What figures should I use for the crew? I hear the DML Vietnam Heli crew have the wrong torsos so I was thinking of using the crew from the MRC Kiowa - are they correct? Where can I find pictures of US Army heli pilots?

2.) What does the copilot do during flight? Specifically, where does he put his hands and feet? Are they on the controls or not?

3.) Similarly, what would the crew chief do during lifting operations?

4.) What personal weapons, if any, would the crew be carying and where would they be stowed?

5.) Would the troop seats in the cabin be installed, or would they be stowed away?

And now for some Humvee questions:

6.) Where is the Humvee's M2 / M60 MG stowed when it is airlifted?

7.) What is the suspension travel on the Humvee's front and rear wheels i.e. what is the distance between the wheel arch and the wheel when there is no weight on the wheels?

Thanks in advance
Ed

Most likely watching the load, ensuring it was not twisting or swaying too badly.



Helicopter crew would be armed with pistols in shoulder holsters.


HMMWV crew would be using the seats.



Most likely inside the helicopter. That way there is one less piece of sensitive equipment to find if they have to dump the load.

Sabot is right, generally speaking. An M60 MG would probably hand carried by a crew member of the HUMMV. I can be used dismounted, with ease. Just in event the HUMMV load has to be jettisoned!!!! An M2HB machine gun is extremely heavy (with tripod, over 100 lbs) and may be secured inside the vehicle. The M2 requires the tripod to be ground fired. Also if the barrel is removed from the receiver, it requires resetsing head space and timing - not a difficult task, but not something you want to do on a hot LZ.

I do not know how the pilots from the MRC kiowa looks like, but I do know that ADV/azimut from France makes a modern US helicopter crew set. You even get the choice between a normal helicopter helmet and the one used in the apache



I believe that it is normal practice that one person pilots the helicopter and the other one stays off the controls, so no feet and hands on controls

Generally when one aviator is controling the helo, the other is navigating and working the radios.

Thanks a lot for all your replies.




Any ideas where the crew chief would be watching the load - through a door / window or through the hatch in the floor?

Cheers
Ed