Hello Men,
I have been asked by myself to post after being off the forum for a while
BR71
Some of the contributors to this forum seem to give up too easily.
Gee, I really wish you would with all of this Pooie-II garb. Arguing with you is like wrestling with a pig in the mud, pretty soon you realise that he enjoys it. Your, anorak like, want for facts would be better off directed at utilising the AAAvn contacts you boast of and finding out some facts from the current drivers / commanders. Oh yeah, I noted in the latest Army news link that there are a couple of ex Brit Apache drivers on Tiger, who also fought in AFG, they might be able to educate you, but only if you promise to listen with a closed mouth and an open mind.
Your want for Pooie-II, may well be possible under the plans for a LUH/Trg acft that the army navy have a requirement for, but I doubt it. It has been around for a very long time and the only takers are a small element of the USAF for missile sight servicing and a few to Iraq, because the technology is so old and keeps Texans in jobs.
Maybe your youthful vigour, passion for RAAF aviation and upcoming minister meeting would be better utilised to ask the questions as to why Australian Soldiers do not have the requisite Helicoter support in theatre - eg ARH, more CH47 and maybe some S70's (by the way the designation is the S70A-9 Blackhawk, Australia's designation not mine) to carry 4 man sticks like the yanks are doing with theirs in AFG? Our current serving members need bastions, zealots and guardians, but ones who are on their side.
I am glad that you value the Australian tax payers dollars so nearly, more people should, but the old girl is gone for good and the ADF has some very capable kit. The Brits had a 5 yr delay in implementing Apache and many people (current serving, ex servicemen, AAC and other corps) were super critical of the decision. Luckily, HM Forces and HM Government saw the need for Apache in AFG and they have been serving the Squaddies very effectively and with great loyalty. No doubt Tiger will do the same if given the chance. Maybe, the ADF should have bought 35 Tigers and not 22. That would be a really good capability.
The MRH will be back flying soon enough and I look forward to seeing one in the skies, just like I look forward to seeing the UH1H in the museum. Both will be good sights. To have seen the Huey's scrapped into boot lace eyelets for the grunts would be money saving, but sad.
I don't have access to the Flight Manuals for ARH/MRH so I can't give you the figures for H&H, maybe you could use your contacts and obtain the information for yourself. However, given that the MRH and ARH have wheels, I bet they could hover and hover taxi WGE (Without Ground Effect!), get up to ETL, grow wings and fly away, without dragging the skids across the gravel.
"ARH Tiger" seems to indicate that the problems with the ARH are spares/contractual based - if that is true, maybe you could raise that with the minister? I have been to Darwin in the wet season and it is a pretty harsh environment - hot, wet and ****ty, like a jungle without the trees. I wonder how ARH is handling that? If it can work there, then she must be apples.
It has been fun in the mud with you, thank you. I hope that your contacts can provide you with information / access to the "current" serving members on ARH/MRH.
Doors Off