I'd be interested in hearing any experiences from the many people in the U.S. service or non U.S. customers of any experiences where a Seahawk or Blackhawk made a difference with an eye toward passing the story on at work. I can't say everyone feels this way but many I interact with want to make a difference to those our product serves and any experiences we hear through word of mouth, email, news helps drive that home when passed around and anything you post will probably be shared virally at work.
Well Roosie, Allow me to be the first to contribute....
Although we referred to them as a "Crashhawk" (back around '87-'88) and for good reason(i'll post pics ASAP, ones I took personally, not off the internet) I have to admit that not one of them ever killed me or crashed while I was doing a STABO, insertion, helicast or fastrope. Nice chopper by my standards. You got to love those things that didn't kill you.
I'm having a prob right now uploading stuff. will post here ASAP.
To the best of my knowledge, I've only lost one friend to a Blackhawk crash.
This is what happens when you try to land one on top of the other during night ops. This was Ft Sherman Panama summer of '88. I was in a LPOP just off the edge of the jungle past the wreck. Saw the whole thing through NVGs, couldn't believe it. They were both loaded with troops and i think the worst injury was a broken arm out of I think 20 or 22 guys on board. Both choppers were totalled.
I am sorry for your loss Jimmy. 7th, glad you made it....did the "top" pilot ever live it down? We do get some stories in plant as well as vids on occasion. If it isn't listed as proprietary I'll ask personel if sharing a vid of the x-2 flight from inside the cockpit ( instruments were blocked) that we all recieved is kosher as well as any future ones we recieve. I wish I'd saved all the ones that showed up in my email over the years of Pilots making Helicopters as well as Jets do things they probably aren't supposed to be able to do. We've been told your experience is how it's supposed to work 7th because of the emphasis on survivability in the intial design requirements and every subsequent generation.
I did meet someone who had to release and drop while performing a rescue due to weight problems at altitude and got pretty messed up. I felt sick but he made it clear the high altitude not the ship was the problem. I am told that dual rotor x2 tech if perfected eliminates the loss of lift at altitude and there is some push to jack up the required performance at altitude on the next gen light helicopter which given the terrain of regions unstable or openly hostile to us makes sense. I assume there is a surety about this concept for the company to make the long term investment to bring it to fruition without tax dollars New Rotorcraft 2011: AINonline I'd be full of crap if I claimed special knowledge in aviation about the tech or any other tech but a company like UTC doesn't gamble.
We had a Col. come through my area a few years ago in part because we were the first manufacturing area certified as a UTC benchmark in our division as well as to hand out a few simple blackhawk collar pins in thanks for creating some kits for a fix overnight. He told us at that point the new medivacs hadnt lost anyone who made it to the ship. The fix hadn't been for that line but at the time everyone visible from the narrow lens I see treated that product line with urgency. I'd imagine it probably isn't different at Bell or Boeing or any of the other established providers of equipment.
I never found out what they finally ruled the cause was. Probably the shitty night vision devices we had back then. If you ever want the ultimate ride on(or rather under) a Blackhawk, do a STABO at the crack of dawn over the Panama canal...makes morning chow taste better.
man, can you imagine the guys whom survived that crash having to soldier up and get back into the next helo again??? that's the stuff of nightmares!
The human mind cannot grasp the causes of phenomena in the aggregate. But the need to find these causes is inherent in man’s soul. And the human intellect, without investigating the multiplicity and complexity of the conditions of phenomena, any one of which taken separately may seem to be the cause, snatches at the first, the most intelligible approximation to a cause, and says: “This is the cause!"
-Leo Tolstoy
War and Peace
YouTube - Sikorsky X2 Technology helicopter achieves 250kt - Sep 2010
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VTM6S7kh48o
YouTube - Sikorsky video hints at X2 helicopter's military potential
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7gaPVkAb9Z0
I discovered these were already widely available and distributed. Enjoy if you haven't seen these and have an interest. I don't mean to be a fanboy but , the culture change over the last 30 years there has been extraordinary. It's great to work somewhere innovation is highly valued. 30 years ago ideas only flowed one way.
Last edited by Roosveltrepub; 26 Feb 11, at 19:23.
I never liked black hawks (we called the crash hawks). I am a huey guy.Originally Posted by Roosveltrepub
That being said, my sister was a crash hawk medevac pilot, and i am sure that many of her passengers would sing the bird's praises.
^Agreed. The blackhawk isn't such a horrible helicopter but is yet another example of being designed for a different environment than it operates in. I once read a book about one flying at real high altitude in afghanistan. Apparently up there it's engine is so anemic it has to fly purely on ground effect.
Of course the helicopter ended up turning turtle but the PJ's got out. That being said the UH-1Y is a fine looking aircraft which will carry on the huey legacy. (no change that: huey tradition)
Can anyone translate this for me????^Agreed. The blackhawk isn't such a horrible helicopter but is yet another example of being designed for a different environment than it operates in. I once read a book about one flying at real high altitude in afghanistan. Apparently up there it's engine is so anemic it has to fly purely on ground effect.
Of course the helicopter ended up turning turtle but the PJ's got out. That being said the UH-1Y is a fine looking aircraft which will carry on the huey legacy. (no change that: huey tradition)
Not sure but I think Porsche917LH is making some comparison between the UH-60 and the new UH-1Y that the USMC is upgrading from the UH-1N.
"This aggression will not stand, man!"
Jeff Lebowski
RR,
If you want to get some good info try contacting GF0012. He has probably heard a lot about how they were viewed in Australia. From reading stuff on other boards I know that they had a poor reputation in Australia. I think there were at least 2 fatal crashes during night time training costing the lives of a numner of SAS troopers. GF could also give an idea how the company is percieved in defence circles.
Win nervously lose tragically - Reds C C
no shortage of uniforms who want romeos rather than MRH-90's. no shortage of people questioning the NH-90's
there was some irritation with advice received from Sikorsky in the early days about maint schedules but those days are gone.
nice piece of kit.
(and I'm not on any of the evaluation teams for any rotor programs - so no conflict of interest.)
caveat: IMHO, not official view etc etc etc
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