1/72 Italeri H-19B Chickasaw - VNAF

Gallery Article by Danny Dinh on Mar 8 2010 

 

Here is some history of the H-19B in Vietnam.  In January of 1963, a sixty-man USAF advisory detachment arrived at Tan Son Nhat airbase to train VNAF H-19 pilots on the H-19.  A total of fifteen cadets were pinned with flying wings on the 1st graduating class.  Some of these graduating pilots were later instructors themselves or became top leaders of the VNAF.

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I have built this kit straight from the box except for the home-made Vietnamese national insignia and serial numbers.  The hoisting mechanism was modified from the H-34 kit.  I like this particular H-19B because it already carries the Vietnamese national insignia although still marked with U.S. Air Force.

Last but not least, I would like to dedicate this H-19 to all the VNAF pilots who flew the H-19’s, all the USAF instructors/advisors who taught the 1st VNAF H-19 class.  In particular, a special thanks to Mr. Lou A.

Danny Dinh

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Photos and text © by Danny Dinh