Irish Military Online is in no way affiliated with the Irish Defence Forces. It is in no way sponsored or endorsed by the Irish Defence Forces or the Irish Government. Opinions expressed by the authors and contributors of this site are not necessarily those of the Defence Forces. If this is your first visit, be sure to
check out the FAQ by clicking the
link above. You have to register
before you can post: click the register link above to proceed. To start viewing messages,
select the forum that you want to visit from the selection below.
I read an interesting snippet on another board yesterday that the RAF is having problems with it's future in SAR. The EH101 is unsuitable for SAR work apparently, due to excessive downdraft among other things, and their Sea Kings aren't getting any younger.
When the EH101 was evaluated for Ireland's SAR needs, did this same problem come up?
The Canadians dont seem to be having any trouble with their models,apart from fuel line problems earlier in the year.
Then again,they replaced the twin rotor Labrador,which I assume would have a pretty hefty breeze. Maybe the method needs to be adjusted?
While googling,i found this interesting reference to ourselves...
The potential for US Military sales is considerable, with new medium-sized helicopters needed by the USAF, US Coast Guard, US Navy and Marine Corps. The latter force undertakes the enormously prestigious role of transporting the US President by helicopter. Although impeccably maintained, the VH-3Ds used by HMX-1 in this role are in need of replacement. Potential candidates include the NH-90, which is politically handicapped by it's French and German 'old Europe' background; the S-92 again, which has lost every military competition it has entered (except for a distinctly dubious Irish Air Corps deal which was quickly cancelled), and the EH 101, which can offer three-engined safety, a full height cabin and the world's most effective active vibration damping system.
I see according to Defense-Aerospace.com, that the Canadians have grounded their EH-101s due to cracks at the tail rotor, apparently a similar problem caused the crash of a British EH-101 (RN? or RAF?).
It also states that the EH-101 rquires 22hrs maintenance per flying hour instead of the 7 hrs originally promised by the manufacturer (now the manufacturer says 12 hrs), I remember at the time of the MLH competition here many were convinced that the EH-101 was the best of the bunch but maybe the S/H-92 is better after all.
The canadians have contracted a private cmpany to do all repairs for them,and by all reports are less efficient and more expensive than if the Government had trained military personell to do the job.
Penny wise,pound foolish. See also mention of this in the "bad week for canada" thread elsewhere..
Catch-22 says they have a right to do anything we can't stop them from doing.
As said in a previous post this aircraft still has to prove itself.It was suppose to be called the EHI(european helicopters industries) 01,but due to some sort of typing error ended up with EH 101.Apparently our friends the far side of the irish sea are putting in 33 man hours of maintainence for every 1 hour it flies.It has three engines because it cant hover with two.A dodgy rotor brake,dodgy tail rotor.A big question mark hangs over how long it will be in service with the royal navy, if EHI don't sell enough of them it will end up just been too expensive to make spare parts for the few that are in service world wide.
It was the year of fire...the year of destruction...the year we took back what was ours.
It was the year of rebirth...the year of great sadness...the year of pain...and the year of joy.
It was a new age...It was the end of history.
It was the year everything changed.
We process personal data about users of our site, through the use of cookies and other technologies, to deliver our services, personalize advertising, and to analyze site activity. We may share certain information about our users with our advertising and analytics partners. For additional details, refer to our Privacy Policy.
By clicking "I AGREE" below, you agree to our Privacy Policy and our personal data processing and cookie practices as described therein. You also acknowledge that this forum may be hosted outside your country and you consent to the collection, storage, and processing of your data in the country where this forum is hosted.
Comment