Evidence of history repeating itself?
Originally Posted by
Fareastdriver
I beg your pardon. The 330 was a pure military development. It was only when it was a success the Sud went for the civil version. Even then they had to get the cooperation of the RAF and the French Army to release aircraft for main gearbox reliability trials in 1974. It was called the Components Advanced Ageing Programme to prove that the gearbox could be TBO'd to 1,500 hrs instead of the military 800hrs. 33Sqn's was XW 203 which was required to fly 100 hrs/month to meet the programme.
It crashed during the programme whilst trying to do a self innated barrel roll.
From the EC175 thread and reference to an AAIB report on a contemporary EC175 MGB issue;
EC 175
The (EC 175) helicopter was undergoing scheduled maintenance to replace the main gear box (MGB), which had reached its overhaul life of 800 flying hours.
Did we just go back 50 years in time?