CH-53E History Correction
The Sultan wrote:
"E's were being lost left and right due to transmission/swashplate failures and even made "60 Minutes" with a crew chief sending a tape to his mom saying he was afraid of it."
Here is what I believe, after asking a few people who should know, is the actual history:
There was a single 53E in-flight main box failure, while towing, resulting in a water landing and a successful short swim by all of the crew. My source recollects a heat treat issue with a gear in the No. 2 ( center ) engine being the cause.
There were three swashplate overheat failures, the first being the one at Sikorsky during a production test flight and in a high hover, a second in the USMC fleet and a probable third in Japan.
May I observe that sometimes the verbage used in this forum could be on a higher plane. Certainly would tend to keep the quality of discussion at a professional and therefore more useful level.
Thanks,
John Dixson