HVAC guy was here yesterday. His Dad flew Cobras in VN & had two shot down. I flew Hueys and was more fortunate.
Helicopters have always been vulnerable to small arms fire especially in slow flight.
A close friend of mine shot down his own Huey, while he was in it!
I was on the first operational flight of a brand new Huey. About 40 feet off the ground, the main rotor and gearbox locked up. It didn’t fly very well after that. A wild ride.
You got two Huey stories there. Small arms going off inside the aircraft, that could happen. Keep muzzles pointed outside was the rule.
But that initial maintenance test flight! When you say rotor & gearbox locked up, do you mean the transmission or the 90 degree/45 degree gearboxes?
Did someone forget to check the sight gauges on the trans & tail rotor? How hard was the landing? I would like to know even though you must have made it out safely.