TH-67 Creek

Gateway to Aviation

First Impressions:  When you think of a “warbird”, you generally would not think of a helicopter built in 2001, but in the case of the TH-67 Creek, it is.  This ex-Army helicopter trained thousands and is now used to introduce youngsters to aviation.  Any time you have the privilege to fly a warbird, you should take a moment to remember the men and women who flew those machines.  In this case, they are the most recent generation of U.S. Army aviators and Air Force helicopter pilots who have defended us all around the world in the years since 9-11.  It truly is a privilege to sit in a seat where thousands of the nation’s finest rotary-wing pilots learned their trade. 

Background:  Other than the words, “United States Army” painted on the tail boom, the TH-67 Creek looks remarkably like a Bell 206 JetRanger.  The reason for this is because it basically is.  With merely a few differences, the TH-67 is an “off-the-shelf” Bell 206B-3.  The Bell 206 has its roots in the YHO-4 (first flight in 1962), an initial and unsuccessful competitor for the U.S. Army’s Light Observation Helicopter.  The YHO-4 lost out to the Hughes OH-6 “Loach” in 1965, but rewon in 1967 with the OH-58 Kiowa (after Hughes was unable to meet production requirements).  The original YHO-4 was un-aesthetically pleasing, with a bulbous glass nose and abruptly tapered fuselage.  It also lacked any cargo space.  A simple redesign incorporated a sleek tapered nose and rounded-out aft fuselage, solving both problems. The resulting design gave birth to the JetRanger family.   It is now the third most produced helicopter in the world with over 30 variants (including the seven-seat LongRanger and twin-engine TwinRanger).   

In the early 1990s, the U.S. Army began looking for a replacement trainer for their

UH-1 “Hueys”.  After exploring multiple options, they decided on a commercial “off-the-shelf” procurement of the Bell 206B.  Introduced in 1993, the TH-67 served as the Army’s primary trainer for 28 years, training thousands of U.S. Army and U.S. Air Force helicopter pilots. 

In 2021, the Army retired the last TH-67 trainer, replacing it with the UH-72A Lakota. Through the Federal Surplus Property Program, the Gateway Youth Aeronautical Foundation acquired a TH-67.

Joe Steimann (EAA#703173), like most of us, has loved aviation since he was a kid. Growing-up under the landing pattern for Lambert Field in St. Louis, he began building aviation models at the age of seven.  He served 12 years as a technician in the Missouri Air National Guard working primarily in sheet metal fabrication.  Along the way, he acquired a real Luftwaffe F-4F Phantom cockpit section (serial no. 721156) from a scrapyard in Alamogordo, NM, which he then refurbished and subsequently towed to airshows around the country.  He earned extra income by taking and selling photographs of children and adults in his Phantom cockpit.  One day, while at an airshow, he observed a boy whose desire for a picture of himself in the Phantom went unmet because his father did not want to spend the money.  Identifying with the lad’s passion, Joe not only offered the boy a free picture, but also made a profound decision. He determined to do his part to help young people pursue their passion for aviation. Thus, in 2019, he founded “The Gateway Youth Aeronautical Foundation” (a nod to “The Gateway to the West” slogan for St. Louis, MO).  Joe’s non-profit organization aims both to introduce and inspire young people (and adults) to the wonderful world of aviation.   

The Gateway Youth Aeronautical Foundation has an eight-week class for those aged 14-24 that includes a ground school and state-of-the-art Virtual Reality (VR) simulator lab. The goal of the training is to “solo” students in an ultra-realistic virtual airport environment.  Upon completion, they receive a graduation plaque and a $500 scholarship to a local flight school. To date, over 100 young people have graduated this program.  Gateway Youth also coordinates with EAA Young Eagles to provide these aspiring aviators with further opportunities to “stretch their wings”.  Their primary means of advertisement is the F-4 Phantom fuselage and, of course, the TH-67.  The F-4 fuselage is towed on a 28-foot trailer and the helicopter is flown to events and air shows across the central midwestern states.  Over 65,000 youth (and adults) have sat in the cockpits of the Phantom and the Creek.  These tangible props cannot help but stoke the flight dreams of many; for some, they serve as a life-vector change. 

Design Features: The U.S. Army acquired three configuration options for the TH-67: VFR, IFR and VFR with IFR provision.  Some options the Army decided on include a five-point seat harness, reinforced bulkhead, skid plates, air conditioner, an auxiliary electrical system, and an air particle separator.  Rotor brakes are only a big deal for shipboard ops, so the Army opted out for their training helicopter. A video system was initially included in order to enable a second student in the back seat to observe the instrument panel, but these video systems eventually fell into disrepair and were removed. 

Powerplant:  The powerplant is a Rolls Royce (Allison) 250-C20J rated at 420 horsepower.  A single fuel tank holds 82.6 gallons of jet fuel, providing about 3 hours of fuel at 25-26 gallons-per-hour with a 20-minute VFR reserve (different for rotorcraft). 

Pre-flight/Start-up: Certainly, a thorough pre-flight is critical for any aircraft - from a hot air balloon to a space shuttle.  As you inspect all the crucial components (that move) on a helicopter, this truth becomes even more imperative.  It’s been said that a helicopter is 10,000 moving parts spinning around an oil leak, trying to find a way to come apart! In addition to the engine, there are also gearboxes, transmissions, couplings, bearings, and pitch links.  Oh, yeah, don’t forget the rotor blades! For us fixed-wing pilots, it’s a whole new world.

When you’re buckled in, with blades clear, the checklist will have you engage the electric starter until N1 (compressor section rpm) is above 15%; then you “snap” the throttle to idle to introduce fuel.  You should see engine “lightoff” and monitor the Turbine Outlet Temperature (TOT) to ensure you don’t have a hot start.  By 25% N1, you should see the shadow of the main rotor start to spin overhead as you monitor the engine instruments.  Release the starter at 58% and let the engine stabilize for at least one minute before increasing the throttle to 70%.  At this point, you can then turn on the generator, avionics, and electrical equipment.  Dual tachometers allow you to monitor the percent of engine rpm and rotor rpm.  Twist and lock the throttle at 100 percent.  Cyclic checks are done with the collective full down.  You can watch the rotor disc arc pitch forward, back, left and right. Repeat the same check with the hydraulic boost pump off.  Even with small movements, you can feel the big difference that hydraulic boost makes.  Collective checks are done by pulling up 1 to 2 inches on the collective control and observing torque rise.  Set up squawks, freqs, and lights, because you need both hands and both feet as soon as you lift off.

Flight Characteristics:  Unlike an airplane, when it’s time to taxi a helicopter with skids, it’s time to fly! Roll the twist throttle on the collective until N1 reads 100 percent.  Under the excellent tutelage of CFI and Gateway Youth volunteer Nick Hisserich, this wanna-be helicopter pilot was able to experience what flying the TH-67 is like.  Flying any helicopter requires finesse that only comes with experience!  Every control input involves about three follow-on inputs (or so it seems).  Straight and level flying won’t be too difficult for fixed wing pilots to get used to but when it comes to the approach and hover, there are seemingly no transferrable skills! Nick’s advice for a ham-fisted, fixed-wing pilot was to not try and make a control input, but merely to think about it.  As funny as this advice is, it certainly helps in making the almost-imperceptible control inputs required to hover the Creek.  With renewed admiration for rotary-wing pilots, I was happy to unglue my sweaty hands from the cyclic and collective controls and let Nick gracefully whip the helicopter perfectly onto our grass landing spot. 

Wrap-up:  The Bell 206 family has accumulated millions of flight hours globally in every imaginable role that a helicopter can be utilized.  It is a reliable and proven workhorse with some airframes accumulating over 30,000 hours.  This TH-67 Creek has completed its mission of training thousands of Army and Air Force aviators in over 9,000 flight hours.  Thanks to Gateway Youth, it has found a new and rewarding life introducing aviation to the next generation.