Huey rededication set for Saturday at 10 a.m.

After a team of volunteers worked for more than a year to completely renovate the city of Williamson’s Vietnam-era Army UH-1 Huey, a rededication ceremony will be held this Saturday, May 12 starting at 10 a.m. and including helicopter flyovers at 10:30 a.m. The rededication ceremony will include a flyover of a former Army Huey and a former Army Cobra Attack Helicopter from the same era. The historic helicopters will be flown by Sky Soldiers from the Army Aviation Heritage Foundation in Hampton and will land at Alexander Memorial Airport where helicopter rides will be offered at a discounted rate starting at 11 a.m. following the rededication ceremony. One of the main volunteers who restored the Huey is a life member of AAHF – Bill James. ’The Army Aviation Heritage Foundation is an all-volunteer organization and they rely on selling rides to support their activities,’ said James. ‘The AAHF honors all the men and women who have served in the U.S. Military and Army Aviation.’Bill James and Joe Stewart led efforts to restore and have the Huey repainted with era-specific signage, but many others were a part of the lengthy and well-executed renovation. ’We were able to get everything back to how it would have looked in its day,’ said James. ‘Even the red and green navigation lights and the white tail light on the outside work now.’ The two men recruited others to help them ready the Huey for paint, disassemble the blades, transport it to DeltaOps in Atlanta, store it, find parts to replace items that had been damaged or stolen over the years. Some of the many volunteers include Todd Thaxton of Atlanta Air Salvage, Delta technician Mike Gentry of Williamson, Debbie Stewart, Delta technicians Tim Powers and Dave Keaton and others.The city built a pavilion to house the helicopter and prevent sun damage and vandalism. Meet the volunteers and check out the helicopter at this Saturday’s special event.