V-22 Osprey: Wonder Weapon or Widow Maker?

[Coota0]

Fancy? Are you joking? The ARH-70 is a Bell 407 with some additional avionics and hard points on the skids. It's NOT fancy. The Army is not getting a state of the art helicopter out of the deal. The ARH-70 will be a solid addition to Army Aviation and replace the worn out OH-58D's - but depending on who you talk to the ARH-70 doesn't measure up to what the 58D's can do.

Nothing fancy about it!

I thought the smiley would imply a facetious tone. Guess I was wrong. :

 

[Coota0]

I thought LUH was just supposed to be a bare-bones helo... did I get that wrong?

You're correct the LUH is the barebones model, but it's a seperate program from the ARH-70. The LUH is for the Army National Guard and is meant to ferry folks around in low threat enviroments and to do rescue work for the National Guard (think Katrina). The idea is to free up the Blackhawks for overseas stuff.

 

[squorch2]

You're correct the LUH is the barebones model, but it's a seperate program from the ARH-70. The LUH is for the Army National Guard and is meant to ferry folks around in low threat enviroments and to do rescue work for the National Guard (think Katrina). The idea is to free up the Blackhawks for overseas stuff.

Gotcha... confused my army acronyms.

 

[phrogpilot73]

Ughhhhh.. litter stanchions. Anyone who has ever flown or maintained a '46 knows what an aggrevation those things are!

So what happened to all the sound proofing/insulation blankets? Gotta love the fancy interior of wire bundles and hydraulic lines.

WTF is sound proofing?!? Nothing but dead weight, that's what...

 

[Lawman]

WTF is sound proofing?!? Nothing but dead weight, that's what...

Yeah and we all know how the Phrog cant afford to be carrying any of that.

 

[phrogpilot73]

Yeah and we all know how the Phrog cant afford to be carrying any of that.

It's true, we can't... Can't expand because of OPSEC, but the Phrogs are doing more than any other USMC assault support platform in theatre. And, she's 40+ years old... I don't mind whining about the weight...

 

[aircav06]

You're correct the LUH is the barebones model, but it's a seperate program from the ARH-70. The LUH is for the Army National Guard and is meant to ferry folks around in low threat enviroments and to do rescue work for the National Guard (think Katrina). The idea is to free up the Blackhawks for overseas stuff.

I would call it off-the-shelf, but not exactly bare bones. Its single pilot IFR certified (even has DME, Mode S xponder & twin Garmin 430s) and has an excellent civil commo package. Its not just meant for National Guard--some active duty TDA units will get it as well. Only frees up a handful of UH-60s and is meant to be operated in "permissive" environments, not "low threat". Barebones are the ancient OH-58As and UH-1Hs its replacing.

 

[aircav06]

Fancy? Are you joking? The ARH-70 is a Bell 407 with some additional avionics and hard points on the skids. It's NOT fancy. The Army is not getting a state of the art helicopter out of the deal. The ARH-70 will be a solid addition to Army Aviation and replace the worn out OH-58D's - but depending on who you talk to the ARH-70 doesn't measure up to what the 58D's can do.

Nothing fancy about it!

It actually has Bell 407 and 417 components and a Rockwell-Collins CAAS cockpit. Its a new build airframe and not a modified OH-58A airframe. The new engine will restore it to Miata mode as opposed to the underpowered OH-58D. Revolutionary? No. New aircraft with modern avionics--yes. State of the art? If you consider the level 4 control of a UAV from the cockpit and its planned tactical networking capability--yes.

 

[nocal80]

the article mentioned 800 fpm as being too slow of a descent rate for a helo. out of curiosity what do phrogs/sh!tters normally land at as far as rate of descent goes? 800 fpm for fixed wing is pretty significant, and we target much less than that on VL's in the harrier.

 

[MasterBates]

700fpm max for "steep approach" and 720 FPM for the landing gear on level terrain.

This is for a 60B.

 

[skidkid]

we land at maybe 200 fpm. approach on a steep is about 400fpm or so and lessens in ground effect to 200ish.

800 fpm would almost definitely put a smile on our skids.

 

[MasterBates]

700fpm landing WILL get your attention, and knock the computers offline.

 

[nocal80]

thanks gents, that's what I figured. sounds like the part of the artice about the 800 fpm max rod being insufficient is nonsense. I loved the next sentence that said "that's only 9.5 mph" or something like that. I wonder how the author would enjoy hitting the ground in a 20,000lbs+ aircraft at a bit faster speed, say 1600 fpm, which after all would only be 19 mph.

 

[nocal80]

800 fpm would almost definitely put a smile on our skids.

simulated smiles or real ones?

 

[Brett327]

simulated smiles or real ones?

Simulated rep!