Originally Posted by
Doors Off
Stabilator issues on Mike models causing fatal accidents.
Really?
Did someone change the procedures in the flight manual for that? I'll see if I can get ahold of John Dixson to explain some of the nuances there.
Multiple engine failures.
There are procedures for that. T-700 reliability is impressive over its 40+ year life.
I'll take a look at the links, thanks.
Perhaps with the 1979 - 2022 maturity of the Blackhawk family, you would expect their issues would be less and have basically disappeared?
Only if you don't understand helicopter aviation.
I hope that you are aware that pilots change, and that there is turnover?
We have yet to perfect the Vulcan mind meld such that every thing I learned before I hung up my flight suit is absorbed by the next nugget to strap into a helicopter.
In other news, most of the A's have been converted to L's or have left US Army service, and most of the L's are undergoing mods to become the new V model (glass cockpit, like the M, as I understand it) and it looks like the Air Force got some HH-60W recently as the HH-60Gs, that have served long and well, slowly get put out to pasture.
Why I feel that the T-700 has gotten progressively better over the years.
About 30 years ago our Seahawks had some real troubles with uncommanded engine wind downs (usually roll backs, but on a few occasions the engines shut down) which curtailed some of our training until that rather complex set of problems were solved one at a time. (Aircraft to Engine interface was a root issue: Marconi, Sikorsky, and GE all took turns pointing fingers at each other). Two of the problems that I remember were floating grounds, bad diodes, and sometimes an HMU seal that would harden and fail (which IIRC was resolved at AIMD with a seal made by a different vendor, but I am really reaching here in terms of memory). Last time I talked to my Seahawk brethren (a bit before the SH-60B was sundowned in San Diego) I asked about that family of issues and it hadn't cropped up in years.
I still got some gnashing of teeth about main rotor dampers, viscous damper bearings, and HUMS from the operators
For Jack Carson: well howdy, glad to see that you are still among the quick!
As to the NH-90: I am sad to see it go from a neat idea (ah, the halcyon days of the 1990's) to 'having a few problems along the way' but if there are 500 of them up and flying, still, I'd say it's a successful model that, like any helicopter, has its quirks.