To: Lu Z
Could you think of the amount of man hours the cheyenne would need just to keep it in the air? Complex gearboxes that shift the amount of power available to each of its rotating blades. The gyro head. The spring loaded control levers. All this covered in armour and sheet metal. The large avionics and weapons systems. All these componets being made by the cheapest bidder. And most of this technology being designed at the same time as the helicopter.
Like most hi tech military objects, bean counters get involved and prune designs before they become mature. I'm sure you have feelings about the Arrow and Iroquois.
I must admit that it would have been one mean machine.