It appears that there is much activity within the organization as to how such a damaging story could ever have appeared - watch for some clarification in the near future.
Carson blades may happen yet from the factory!
S61 is not a lost cause!
Maybe some of the big parts will be available again when you need them!
In the meantime, a new story today from
Rotorhub pleads the case for the dangers of the current joint ventures between European helicopter manufacturers and US defence manufacturers.
My only comment to this would be to look at the example of other manufacturing industries that failed to deliver on product, price, support and value - all of which the
customer takes into account whenever any elective decision is made.
Whilst the management of Sikorsky seemingly undergoes regular massive changes, the core strengths and knowledge of the operators do not - the customers know the product and the company. They also know what to expect and can gauge that performance to 2, 5 or 15 years ago - maybe internally that capability has been lost?
Incidentally, I heard that one operator had 4 S61's down at one point this summer due to a shortage of Main Rotor Masts!
