CTD said:
The argument that the Helicopter is close to it's operating envelope in Afganistan is the same as every other platform out there. They are all close to their envelopes. Even the mighty Chinook cannot carry as much as far as it would at sea level.
This one has been bugging me due to the fact that single Hueys are being used in Afganistan.
As for hiring out for Mi series helos for use, why not. Personally I would fly in one of those any day. At least they can handle the extreme enviroment. Plus they are easy to maintain whaihc is what is needed in todays battle fields. (that is what has always been needed on battle fields).
All helicopters are effected by high altitude, high heat and high humidity.
Actually, CTD, it is not.
1. The Merlin is strained
proportionately more above sea level than other helicopters in theatre. The BERP 3 blades were optimized for SL performance and degrade noticeably as altitude increases.
2. The Chinook operates very effectively, even at reduced gross weights, at increasing altitudes. Even a fraction of 24,000lb payload is still a lot (compared to Merlin's 7,000-9,000lb sea-level payload.)
3. Huey II's operated by DOS-INL in KB and KH are quite effective because two big blades are much more efficient in thin air than five (or more) smaller blades. The T700 engine packs way more punch than the original T53, as well. There is no lack of power or performance on the Hueys in that theatre.
4. I would not fly the Mi-8 or even the Mi-17. They are notoriously underpowered, amongst other things. Maintenance is simplified, yes, but primarily at the cost of limited lifetime of the airframe since there is generally a large pool of Hip's still around to draw from.
5. Re: effect of high alt/heat/humidity -- yes, so why operate a helicopter that is proportionately more affected?
my 2 ¢
G2G