Originally Posted by
Autonomous Collectiv
Is that apart from having to replace all the carbon fibre floors as the soldiers rifles were wearing holes through as they were having to transport with dangerous end on the floor?
Even in my days on Hueys, you ALWAYS had grunts put the pointy end down. I'd rather a bullet go through the fuel tank than the rotor system. And from the Huey days.... If you didn't have load spreaders on the floor, guess what. Grunts would wreck the floor with stones stuck in their boots and from the pointy ends of their rifles. Delams and punctures in the honeycomb and patching or replacing floor panels. Don't think that this is a carbon fibre problem. This is a floor protection problem. Solved in the Hueys with sheets of plywood with holes drilled to line up with seat mounts etc.
The politicians who complain about these machines are the same people who are surprised that a twin engined fly by wire helicopter is more expensive than a UH-1 to operate. (Stuff Apr 21 2017). Now there's a surprise.
So they went from mechanical flight controls with no autopilot and all metal structure, to fly by wire with 4 axis advanced auto pilot, composite structure and a whole heap of other technological advances and they think there won't be any issues. The RNZAF didn't even teach their Aircraft Tech's about composite repairs. That's because it was the Wood Worker trade who did all the composite work. So it's no wonder that a 40+ year leap in technology almost overnight has caught them napping.
Apart from spares issues, how is the dispatch rate now? Spares are another issue entirely and if you have a tight contract, you can get compensation for a lack of spares availability.