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Hot new helicopter/rotorcraft news
- Thread starter Randy Daytona
- Start date
Major players pitch solutions for Navy’s next training helicopter
Unless it's funded, I think these plans still fall under the category of 'wishes'.
Unless it's funded, I think these plans still fall under the category of 'wishes'.
Ended up chatting with one of the Air Ops guys at Sun 'n Fun who was helping us move our aircraft. He is a retired Mud Hen driver who now works for Leonardo. Sounded like they were working to make the 119 IFR certified. Will be interesting to see where they go.
Leonardo is present all over NHA Symposium today - clearly full court press time.
Also relaunch of their website - not any less amateurish / cheesy : http://www.advancedhelicoptertrainer.com/
Also relaunch of their website - not any less amateurish / cheesy : http://www.advancedhelicoptertrainer.com/
And Airbus pitches H135
http://www.rotorandwing.com/2018/05/17/airbus-pitch-h135-us-navy-trainer-replacement/
http://www.rotorandwing.com/2018/05/17/airbus-pitch-h135-us-navy-trainer-replacement/
According to that site it's already IFR certified. This seems like a slam dunk. It's single engine, so the maintenance cost will probably be manageable, it can do full autos, has TACAN, GPS/WAAS, full AFCS, and you can even get a hoist and cargo hook off the shelf. I hear it even flies and hovers like a tiny 60. Hell it even has a hover display.
That would assume the selection will be based on logic and reason - politics and optics will play heavily I suspect. Hate to be cynical.
Why the Army went to the UH-72/Airbus 145 is still a puzzle - but some heavy duty lobbying was going on. I don't pretend to understand the acquisition process. They successfully operated the TH-67 Creek for less than half the lifetime the Navy has with the TH-57.
Leonardo has a ready to go airframe. And the company commits to building it in US.
Industry doesn't smell margin / profit on this program - which is part of the problem. So much for Bell being a "partner" ...
Maybe that will work in our favor for once, if no one is motivated to lobby hard and stick us with some problem child.
The EC/H-135 has two engines unless Airbus is building some sort of one-off version for the Navy. I can see that being a money issue versus a single-engine competitor.
@Gatordev I think @croakerfish was referring to Leonardo's 119. But I agree that a two engine trainer would be a stretch. If cost wasn't a problem it would be awesome for Naval Aviation.