Vertical jacks (literally) of all trades.
Armada International › Vol. 29 Nbr. 3, June 2005
Linked as:
Summary
Aircraft: rotary-wing
See the full content of this document
Extract
Vertical jacks (literally) of all trades.
The risks in moving personnel and supplies by means of road vehicles in environments such as those in Iraq and Afghanistan have underlined the importance of utility helicopters. To be effective in such scenarios, these aircraft need hot/high airfield performance, substantial payload capability and a full range of defensive countermeasures. Manufacturers are responding to developing demands by upgrading existing helicopters and by projecting a new generation that will bring a range of technological advances.
The carriage of substantial payloads suggests helicopters with gross weights of at least four tonnes; hence this present discussion excludes light utility helicopters such as the Agusta-Westland A109 series and the Eurocopter AS555 Fennec and EC635. The classic utility helicopter is the Bell UH-1 'Huey', the first of which flew in 1956. Over 16,000 examples were built and approximately 5000 are still in use today in more than 40 countries. Some Hueys have achieved an incredible 30,000 flight hours. The original UH-1A had a gross weight of only 2.63 tonnes, but over time th...See the full content of this document
Sponsored links
