Bell 214ST Walkaround

Bell 214ST Iraqi USMCAB Miramar 2014

This bird has quite a history! It was originally ordered by the Shah of Iran. When the Shah was overthrown by Ayatollah Khomeini, all deliveries of materiel stopped, including several of these Bell 214STs. They were then supplied to Iraq to be used in their war against Iran and the Ayatollah. In the first Gulf war, when Iraq invaded Kuwait, these helos were used to carry looted treasures out of Kuwait to Iraq. This particular bird was spotted by advancing Western forces abandoned on the ground. Seeing as it was unarmed, it was not deemed a tartget and was not destroyed. It was subsequently claimed by a US officer and sent back to the US as a war trophy and ended up on display at the museum. Having survived all that, it was nearly destroyed at the museum when a driver passed-out at the wheel of his pick-up truck, ploughed through the boundary fence and seriously damaged this helo and a CH-53 parked inside! Although the lineage can be seen, this is a very different airframe to the Huey.