service life of miltary helicopters

[widgeon]

What is the retirement life for the new generation of miltary helicopters ? . I recall reading somewhere that the UH60 was designed for 10,000 hrs and that quite a lot has been invested in Service Life Extension Programs to keep them flying past 10K hrs until the newer versions become available .

[ShyTorque]

Can't help you with the actual figures, but yesterday I reviewed a video of the last RAF sponsored formal flypast of operational Spitfires, Mark 19s and Mk 24s - in April 1955, which was less than 19 years after the first flight of the type.

An interesting comparison with the RAF's Puma HC1s which have now been in service since 1971. Thirty four years isn't bad for a "Plastic" aircraft that was highly criticised for poor serviceability and an alleged lack of robustness in its early days. :ok:

[Jack Carson]

The blackhawk was designed as a 10000 hours airframe. Typically, the US fleet very rarely sees 10000 hours in a 30 year life. As an example, the CH-53D that Heavy Lift Helicopters recently procured from the USG was built in the early 1960's and was retired to the desert after thirty years of service with only 6500 flight hours on the airframe. Improved reliability and availability of the newer machines has resulted in more flight hours being accumulated in a shorter time span.

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widgeon - I think 10,000 hrs is a sort of industry standard when talking about military helicopters, everything regarding costings, servicings, spares etc is calculated based on that in-service life.
The problem comes when you want to extend that life as it is outside the manufacturers 'guarantee' period and they will usually charge you more money to agree to support it.

[widgeon]

Thanks for the input .