Iroquois helicopter in the Cold War Gallery

The Vietnam gallery has as its centrepiece an Iroquois helicopter, complete with a multimedia experience of a ‘helibourne assault’ – a landing with soldiers disembarking.

The Bell UH-1B Iroquois A2-1019 was among the first such aircraft deployed to Vietnam, arriving in May 1966. Over the next two years it carried out 489 missions, including casualty evacuation, troop insertion/extraction, logistics supply and freight carriage, and reconnaissance. It was crewed by 9 Squadron RAAF.

Following the war, the Iroquois was used for training and operations while based at Williamtown (NSW), Butterworth (Malaysia) and later Pearce (WA). The Memorial acquired the Iroquois in May 1985, and the aircraft has been extensively conserved and refurbished by Memorial and volunteer staff to bring its back to its operational appearance in early 1967.

Iroquois helicopter sound-and-light show

• 'Helibourne assault' starts 15 minutes past and 15 minutes to the hour

Book your free ticket to visit to get a close-up look at the helicopter.