US Helicopters

The Comanche was an Army program. There are as many Air Force and Navy Comanches planned as there are Air Force and Navy Apaches: Zero.

I was talking to a MARINE Corp. Officer the other day on the commanche, he told me he was a mechanic who worked on Helicopters. I told him it was a shame that the Commanche was scrapped and is no longer in use, but he corrected me by saying that there were 17 that were built and were transfered to the Air Force for their use.

He told that it was true that the program is no longer being continued, but sending the commanches to the scrap heap, would be a waste of the money spent, and it would only make sense that the commanches were kept, because they cost alot of money, and they are fine helicopters.

Shattered OUT...

Originally posted by Thomas Crowne
www.naval-technology.com...

Well, that's definitely not the kind I saw! (thx for that link) The one at Ft. Campbell is more like the Cobra (with two pilots stacked).

any pictures of the two helis that are up for the bid?

I was wondering what the army was doing in the field of helis since the chamench was canned since I dident hear about anything going to fill the void. thanks

Originally posted by ShatteredSkies
I was talking to a MARINE Corp. Officer the other day on the commanche, he told me he was a mechanic who worked on Helicopters. I told him it was a shame that the Commanche was scrapped and is no longer in use, but he corrected me by saying that there were 17 that were built and were transfered to the Air Force for their use.

He told that it was true that the program is no longer being continued, but sending the commanches to the scrap heap, would be a waste of the money spent, and it would only make sense that the commanches were kept, because they cost alot of money, and they are fine helicopters.

Shattered OUT...

I would think an officer would know more about it then me...but appartently not.

It never made it to a low-rate-production, there weren't 17 even made. I beleive threre was 2 made...under a hand full, deffiniatly not 17.

Shattered OUT...

No offense, But what the hell are you talking about?, it got cancelled early last year, none are in use.

Yeah... Besides the Apache is good right... And the commanche program will continue, believe me...

Confirmed, not by some Marine officer commenting on Airforce inventory, but by the manufacturer: No 17 Comanches, none in A-F inventory.
It wouldn't make sense, anyway, in either dollars or logic, for the A-F to have these A/C.

Kid, might you be referring to the Cheyenne? It was a X-bird, didn't make it because of technical issues that were deadly. The concept, though, was awesome.

Originally posted by Off_The_Street
The ARH procurement is nearing completion. Since I'm involved in it, I can't go into a lot of detail, but this much is out on the street anyway.

There are only two serious bidders, Bell and Boeing. One of the requirements is that the chosen aircraft should be as close to off-the-shelf as possible. We are proposing an MD Helicopter Little Bird (MD530), since the Army already uses them for their 160th SOAR people, and some other Secret Guys. There will be some additional packages, of course.

Bell is bidding one of their JetRanger variants, undoubtedly with some of their extra packages as well. Although the JetRanger variant lacks (in my opinion) certain characteristics the Army would like, Bell has one of the best logistics "tails" in the world, and this is an extremely important selection criterion.

Both proposals have been submitted, and the customer will probably be requesting a BAFO (best and final offer) with the final downselect and subsequent contract award in a couple of months.

Given the high number of aircraft, this procurement is extremely important for both companies.

The real winner, of course, is the US Army, since they will finally be able to get rid of the OH-58 Kiowa, one of the most horrid aircraft ever to disgrace the inventory of any military in history.

i mean is there picture of these two aircraft?

Yes there are, but inasmuch as the solicitation is still underway and the customer might require certain changes, it probably would be best to hold off with the real pictures until the downselect takes place and we're permitted to do so.

I will post them as soon as I can.

[edit on 5-6-2005 by Off_The_Street]

Originally posted by Off_The_Street
Yes there are, but inasmuch as the solicitation is still underway and the customer might require certain changes, it probably would be best to hold off with the real pictures until the downselect takes place and we're permitted to do so.

I will post them as soon as I can.

[edit on 5-6-2005 by Off_The_Street]

cool thanks when are they selecting and can you get pictures of both?

Originally posted by Thomas Crowne
Kid, might you be referring to the Cheyenne? It was a X-bird, didn't make it because of technical issues that were deadly. The concept, though, was awesome.

Betcha money that's what it was. Looked badazz, but like I said earlier, my senior told me too many pilots died violent deaths testing 'em out.

Just a few things to point out!

Someone talked about the Ah-56 Cheyenne:

Here are some pics:

www.globalsecurity.org...

www.studenten.net...

and a few links to sites talking about it:

avia.russian.ee...

www.helis.com...


Pretty interesting plane, as it is almost unknown exept by fans...

Someone was proposing the Mi-24H Hind as a replacement for the US Army Air Corps? That would be a cool idea as it's a pretty good aircraft...

I would say the US had better to take a Tigre HAP or some of its variants!

avions.legendaires.free.fr...

www.helicopassion.com...

My Sgt. grabbed me and pulled me outta the hangar one day (at Campbell Army Airfield, KY) and pointed to the sky - there was a Hind flying over and around our airfield. Sgt. said it was one a communist deserter landed and handed over to us down in Hondo.

It's cool that I've seen one in person.

Touched one in the Bourget Salon 2003, It is pretty impressive... Armored like a tank!!!

Originally posted by Element
Touched one in the Bourget Salon 2003, It is pretty impressive... Armored like a tank!!!

Was it desert camoflouged? The one buzzing us was.

I got an opportunity to climb into the cockpit of a HIND once. There was tape on the flight instruments with the english translation of the original russian. I'm not tyring to "one up" anyone here.

Fielding teams are being assembled now to help the Army convert over to the McDonnell Douglas aircraft "little birds", so I think it's safe to say that the decision has already been made, if not officially.

[edit on 6-6-2005 by Telly]

need pics need pics need pics

the helicopter meseum in britain, down at western super ...whevere has a hind, pretty impressive, and big for a attack helo, and like everyone said here, impressive, it was when i was young though so i sat on the the gattling gun without realzing what it was!

The coolest thing about seeing that hind live, buzzing about, was that at that time, we had only a few in our (western) hands. Don't know how many we actually possess now, but..

Remember that scene in, was it "Red Dawn"(?) when that Apache came up over that cliff out of nowhere, hovering there like a demon from hell, ready to blow the hell outta someone? Chills......

That hind was just as tough lookin.

The largest operational Hind unit in the world is, interestingly enough, in Louisiana, where the US Army has 12 or 13 of them.

Back in 1999 one came by for a visit at then-McDonnell Douglas Helicopter Company (now Boeing) and was in a hangar for all to see, crawl over, and actually get into a seat. Its arrival and subsequent departure from Mesa (it was stationed at Ft. Hood in Killeen TX) sparked many panic calls to the local talk shows and TV stations.

Two things that struck me about the Hind (which our drivers call the "dirt-floor helicopter" because of its relative primitiveness) is that it has a crew of three, not two -- a crew chief in a very cramped seat below and behind the pilot and CPG, and, in the passenger/cargo compartment, a row or oarlocks (like in a row boat) at the windows so that the Spetsnaz or whomever else can rest their AKs to fire out at ground targets.

The Hind is quite fast, but not very maneuverable; and, at least in Arizona in the summertime, cannot hover OGE. Sometimes they actually have to have a rolling takeoff! One of my colleagues who actually got some stick time compared driving the Hind to driving a tractor trailer down a long hill.