What Utility Helicopter

[andy]

That would be ironic if we got it, replacing the dauphin with........well, the dauphin

HAHAHAHA ja, it would

I noticed that the Evening Herald ran an article on the UH competition, citing the Blackhawk as the front runner & stating that the ARW had trained on them in New York.

I wonder where the author got all that info from?

:confused: Im confusted, do you really mean that the reporter is just basically relying on IMO for his articles :confused:

[FMolloy]

That's what it looked like to me.

[yellowjacket]

The Herald has a proud history of getting stories off this board. What was the byline on that item FM?

[FMolloy]

"Aircorp to get Blackhawks" or words to that effect.

[rod and serpent]

If we are not getting Black Hawk helis then I cuold take a stab and say that you are not getting them either. We cant have theBEST army in the world being out done by the not so best army in the world- yanks included -.

[mutter nutter (again)]

Originally posted by rod and serpent
If we are not getting Black Hawk helis then I cuold take a stab and say that you are not getting them either. We cant have theBEST army in the world being out done by the not so best army in the world- yanks included -.

I take it, that's more of that famous sarcasm I keep hearing about?

[andy]

To be honest, anything else other than the blackhawk for me is a sham. I cant see the Wing jumping up and down if they heard that.

[Rooster]

Originally posted by mutter nutter (again)
The Puma, we had one in the early 80's and I think the Merlin is too big, although it would be nice to have

Between these two, the puma fills the role much better not to mention the important cash question, besides merlin has a tendency to flip over when in the hover, three so far!

[Goldie fish]

BLACK HELICOPTERS FURY
A new study claims black helicopters have a better sense of rhythm than other types of helicopter. The report, commissioned by aircraft manufacturers McDonnell, claims that in terms of pitch, yaw and roll, black helicopters consistently outperform their non-black cousins. Race groups condemned the findings as "ignorant and pointless". Jo Steel, of the CRE, said "Years ago people thought that the black helicopter had a bigger bellcrank and a longer fuselage. Really, this crap is getting tiresome".
Samuel Noble led the report team "You can't argue with statistics" he said. "We found that across the board, black helicopters simply move better. Its a build thing".

[mutter nutter (again)]

It must be a 4am thing:D

[hptmurphy]

Intersting notice in Combat Aircraft this month that the RAF have taken delivery of 6 former south African Pumas that wre rebuilt in Romania.,,,Puma is a tried and trusted machine. The super Puma version is quite a good machine and is well able to fil the role of the meduim lift machine at a fraction of the cost of the UH60 Blackhawk.

In answer to goldies question on the MAG 80..it was some time in the late 70s as the AML fleet were originally equiped with a 7.62mm version of the french AA52 light machine gun. Some of the older cav guys from the early eighties rember the First AML 60s CS and HB cars to have been equiped with the AA52 on handover to FCA units.

As for equiping helos with the pods why not....the weapons in the pods are essentially MAG 80s which are interchangable.

Given the relatively small amount of helos required I would say that the Blackhawks are not an option as the amount required would be too expensive and the machine too specialised. The Puma would be realtively cheap of the shelf with replacements and spare s easier to come by. Plus the Euro factor will be taken in to consideration .The proximity to the point of manufacture will also be given a fair hearing and interoperability with the United states of europe being another major factor.

All in all I would rule out anything American ...in favour of something european built not because of any bias but because of the reasoning above.

Just an opinion looking at past purchases....

[rod and serpent]

What about the Seaking Heli used by 3 Commando brigade RM.

[hptmurphy]

Excellent machine but most air arms are now replacing seaking variants . Even one of the S61s operated by CHC for the coast guard is of 1960s vintage.