Similar arguments raised when JPATS became T-6.
We are not a resource constrained military.
The cost of twin vs single are small minded problems. There are resources to overcome that. Time to stop the company grade thinking. The undergraduate helo pipeline is broke - the solutions are not evolutionary steps.
We are ABSOLUTELY a resource-constrained military. ESPECIALLY in CNATRA, there is a largely fixed pool of dollars for acquisition and a fixed pool for flight hours. If you buy an aircraft that's too expensive, you'll buy fewer of them. If they cost too much to operate, you will eventually see flights getting cut from the syllabus. Is one of the problems we have today TOO MUCH flight time for junior pilots? You know that the first thing to get cut will be mission-type flights--SAR, TERF, etc., which would be the whole rationale for getting a big aircraft.
I'm not sure what capabilities a twin gets you or what it's teaching you that a single doesn't. The idea that it's teaching "engine management" is marginal at best. A good part of the HT syllabus is teaching students to not die.
Every aircraft will have a glass cockpit and very similar configurations. The vast majority of Advanced Helo is blocking and tackling. You want a reliable, cheap aircraft that starts up every time and is cost effective enough to get the sets and reps the SNAs need.
@phrogdriver What did Baltimore have you doing wrt autos? Did you ever hear or see the story being told by the Columbus OH PD pilot who had an engine failure at night unaided in a MD 500 (?) over the city? Awesome story. Came down in a preplanned area he had driven every month or so to become familiar with it. Just two lanes with street parking. Street lights on just one side of the street. He touched down on one side of the street to avoid the street lights, then directed the sliding aircraft to the center of the street spinning rotors just under the lights to avoid parked cars and a guy on a bike. Good story. Good lessons. He always flew nights. Practiced autos (power on) 2-3 times a week for years. His agency allowed full down autos at requals. Had pre-identified several forced landing spots along the patrol route he flew over the city. Routinely drove each one day and night to memorize the details. Saw the pilot present at a public use aircraft safety stand down about 5 years ago.
Full autos were the standard at BPD. You were required to auto the shit out of that aircraft on your annual reviews and checkrides. They had a power failure ending in a fatality several years ago, so they treated it very seriously. You had to be able to land 0/0. A power failure in an urban area is challenging, to say the least.
Knowing that you can consistently do full autos is a huge confidence builder in the aircraft generally.
