Originally Posted by
JohnDixson
Lone wolf, the interest on the US side had to be real. In 1974 USN CAPT. Bill Stuyvesant ( RIP-Bill had the reputation of being Mr. Helicopter in USN circles ) and I were sent to Westland to fly the prototype Lynx and report back on what we found. We each flew it separately on a very rainy day in Yeovil and with weather at 300 and 3/4 *with Asst. Ch. Pilot Roy Moxam, who flew the first part of my flight as a vibration test flight. Some VFR on top, some in cloud. This was during development. It was certainly a very limited opportunity, as we each got about 45 minutes to fly the machine. It was 1974, so there wasn’t any simulator to practice in, nor did we have the clout to tell Westland we’d prefer to wait for nicer weather. Actually, doing an eval-cold, in not so hot weather perhaps said more anyway.
What we reported to our respective constituencies was that other than fixing their N/rev vibration signature ( which was Westland priority uno at that stage ) the Lynx had all the other necessary attributes to be a viable candidate. There were a couple of nits, but they were being worked on and not major issues.
* Westland had their own radar and they had arrangements with the nearby Yeovilton Royal Navy field control as to airspace etc, and so were able to perform certain types of test flights IFR, a huge advantage. I was impressed and with the approval of my SA Ch. Pilot contacted the FAA about setting up a similar arrangement in Connecticut. I can still hear them laughing. At least they didn’t call Oklahoma City to schedule me for a psych eval.
John, I am sure there was interest back when the SH-2D was the state of the art for LAMPS after DASH and its failure meant that the fish heads / black shoes had to deal with pilots instead of just some machine to take their torps out to drop on submarines that they found with hull mounted sonar. (All three of them).
My recollection is from people who worked in the Pentagon in the 70's, mid to late, who were in the bun fight for money for the follow on. the YSH2E didn't quite make the cut for LAMPS III. We used to call it LAMPS MK II ... that never quite got out of committee.
Whatever it was that you all reported from your experiences doubtless filtered its way up into their manilla folders in the offices and file cabinets of NAVAIR: when they were in Crystal City (and even before that) and before the move to Pax River.
You know the weirdness of the DoD acquisition process as well as anyone. It isn't just about the airplane. Put another way, it may not matter how well the Lynx flew on that trip. As one Captain put it during a brief "these are the same people (the Brits) who make the Jaguar. Nice car that spends all of its time in the shop."
LAMPS Mk III had a prime contractor who was not Sikorsky. The prime on that program was IBM, Federal Systems Division. (I know that you know that, some other people may have forgotten). The Lynx failed to impress the prime. It also failed to impress whomever at NAVSEA was who had a vote on that.