Eh-101 Merlin

[publicenemynumberone]

:confused: The rumor is that the MERLIN again has tail problems. Anybody out there who can confirm this??:confused:

[Triple Matched TQ]

...................not here!

[Devil's Aardvark 8]

Saw one flying yesterday! Took off with a tail and landed with it still attached.

[greenhaven]

All well at Culdrose........nothing to report as far as i know

[Talking Radalt]

The only problem I can see with the Merlin tail rotor is that it needs repositioning through 90degrees until roughly horizontal, and increasing in size to match the main rotor head.
Undercarriage also needs welding down and two extra hooks adding.

:E

[Jackonicko]

The lad flying one at the Benson Families Day just now didn't seem constrained.....

[Pilot Pacifier]

I heard a rumour the other day about the reason why the Merlin has three engines. Allegedly Westland couldn't fit a fourth one in anywhere... :E :} :E

[XV208 SNOOPY]

Just had a cracking display here by a 28 Sqn cab! :ok: :D

Nice day for the bash! Typhoon gave a good display, as did the Harrier.

Pity some of us still have to work, but I do have a view out over the pan!

:ok:

[jEtGuiDeR]

I heard a rumour the other day about the reason why the Merlin has three engines. Allegedly Westland couldn't fit a fourth one in anywhere
At least there is room for the chutes though!! :D

[WE Branch Fanatic]

Saw lots of them flying above above North Devon several weeks ago, think they were Green ones.

[publicenemynumberone]

:cool: The word was that it was a Merlin from Canada that had a crack in the tail section???:confused:

[Brit55]

XV208,

it was a great display wasn't it! Very quiet chopper too.
Jumped in for a pax flight later in the day and I have to say, it might not have the payload of a wokka but, it's much a more comfortable ride!!:D

Not too sure about the refuelling probe though, thats just asking for trouble!

[Jackonicko]

Public Enemy,

Journo? Or some other kind of troublemaker?

UK Merlins were grounded and had a long term rectification that fixes the problem.

Canada decided to inspect regularly and repair as necessary. Thus if they have found another cab with a crack it's neither surprising, scandalous, unexpected or shocking.

Brit 55,

It was a great display, wasn't it? And the Merlin is beautifully quiet too.

[Clockwork Mouse]

It was a great display, as was Typhoon. The Reds were outstanding too. The highlight though was the mass airfield attack by one Harrier!
CM

[Rakshasa]

"It was a great display, wasn't it? And the Merlin is beautifully quiet too."



Would've liked to have been there... Oh well. Now if only we could persuade cartain people from calling it the Yuppie. :E

[Brit55]

posted 4th September 2005 21:01
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"It was a great display, as was Typhoon. The Reds were outstanding too. The highlight though was the mass airfield attack by one Harrier!"

What else would you expect from a frontline RAF sqn on POETS day? A 4 ship, on a Friday afternoon?!?! What would the neighbours say?!?!

I had to laugh as Red 10 declared across the PA system, " Ladies and Gents, please look up to your right for the Harrier GR7 airfield attack by not 4, not 3, not even 2 but 1 aircraft!!" Cue a singleton which made a sharp exit to the south east, you could almost see the GR7 mate blushing!!!

:eek:

[publicenemynumberone]

:confused:
Last week I had a look at the Merlin which tailrotor disintegrated in a 15 feet hover at Culdrose.
I was very surprised to see the extention of the damages.
The reason for this disintegration is probably the construction of the main beams, alloy/composit.
Do you really feel comfortable flying on and off ships???
:hmm:

[Duncan Bucket]

The reason for this disintegration is probably the construction of the main beams, alloy/composit.

No my friend, the reason for its disintegration was that it crashed.

Were the same thing to have happened at sea, then unless it was right over the deck, the extent of the damage may well have been, well lets just say different.

[Talking Radalt]

What....mostly water-ingress you mean? :)

[Jackonicko]

I don't know if you're a Danish journo (JJ?) or a scared future Danish Merlin aircrew member.

Either way, relax. Move along, there's nothing to see here.

Far from being fragile, Merlin is quite the opposite. One reason that Merlin's payload if more modest than the Chinook's is that it is built to modern standards of crashworthiness.

You'll be aware of the Merlin accidents there have been. You may not be aware that on a number of occasions, people have walked away from crashes that would have been fatal in a Sea King or a Chinook.

The RN have ample reason to be critical of Merlin - the memory of a much delayed procurement is fresh, and the aircraft cost more than anyone expected. But that said, they have now got a superb aircraft in service, and so have the RAF and the Japanese Police. The type didn't win the Presidential Helicopter competition for nothing, either.

Denmark has made an excellent choice.

[Si Clik]

To those who doubt,

Everyday is better and better in Merlin land.

Morale exceptionally high and plenty to do (in the air).

Wouldn't swap my job with anyone!

Si

[ShovelFaster]

Well it is doing well in sandy places, taking a lot of the strain from the other platforms. Availability is high and the speed and range is popular with the customers, as is the cabin room. Who would have thought it!

[TURNBULL]

One reason that Merlin's payload if more modest than the Chinook's is that it is built to modern standards of crashworthiness.

It'll have nothing to do with the three engined miracle's MAUM of 15 tons v its zero fuel wt of 10.5 tons and the Wokka's 24.5 MAUM v 12.5 ton ZFW then?

Or did I miss something in basic helicopter design class. Is the R22 actually the safest helicopter flying because of its modest payload? Do modern safety standards dictate that a crap capablity equals high safety standards.

The type didn't win the Presidential Helicopter competition for nothing, either.

Jackonicko, are you really that gullable, how did it get AST 404 in the first place - politics!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

You may not be aware that on a number of occasions, people have walked away from crashes that would have been fatal in a Sea King or a Chinook.

What is the basis of this sweeping statement? Which fatal Chinook and Sea King accidents would have been survivable in a Merlin and vice versa? I'll be happy to go through all the RAF Chinook ones with you.


Well it is doing well in sandy places, taking a lot of the strain from the other platforms. Availability is high and the speed and range is popular with the customers, as is the cabin room.

Lucky the happy customers have a choice, Merlin or walk.

[Triple Matched TQ]

...........were gonna need some higher braking strain line.............

[tucumseh]

“One reason that Merlin's payload if more modest than the Chinook's is that it is built to modern standards of crashworthiness”.


Not wrong, but why compare Merlin with Chinook in the first place?

Am I correct in saying the RN first selected Merlin? They envisaged two roles from day 1. Primary – ASW, replacing SK5 and SK6. Secondary – Commando, augmenting, not replacing, SK4. This is 20+ years ago, but I recall the specifics hadn’t been thrashed out as to whether all (103!!) cabs would be ASW and a proportion supplied with role mods to convert, or whether some would be non-ASW from the start. I suspect the latter – the detail of the role mods was being worked out (in 1985!) and the time to convert was horrendous.

The RAF requirement came along later and that is where I believe the politics kicked in, not least because the RN buy was decreasing rapidly with every passing LTC round. Industry (not just Westland) had been encouraged to plan for 103 and, unusually, had been allowed to publish this detail. In simple terms, the MoD didn’t look too good when it cut the RN, so people viewed RAF Merlin as a political expediency to allow them to say the total Merlin buy was pretty close (or at least closer) to the original provision. I may not be wholly correct, but I'm not too far out.

[Toxteth O'Grady]

Original DOR(Sea) reqmt SR(S)6646 (circa 1989) was 114, all ASW.

Cut to 44, then with the addition of 25 Mk3s still falls way short of what WHL would have hoped for.

:cool:

TOG

[BossEyed]

Minor point, but the Mk3 buy is 22, not 25.

[OiOiOi Hoot Hoot]

Yet again we have "Bah Humbug Turnbull" having a pop at the Merlin, makes a change from not having a pop at the "gimmick filled display"!

Whats the matter, drafter not let you go and play with the new toy?

I bet the joys of the world just excude from your gaff.. Just accept its the new kid on the block and that its proving quite popular

[The Helpful Stacker]

Whats the matter, drafter not let you go and play with the new toy?

Hey, the Chinny lads have new toys to play with as well, they just don't work properly.:rolleyes:

[Huron Topp]

Canada decided to inspect regularly and repair as necessary.
Thats not quite true Jacko. We've been trying to get AW to fix the problem. The inspect & repair is because they haven't fixed the problems yet. Not sure what you guys did as a fix, but I'm sure our Cormorant guys would love to know.

The parts (half-hubs) on the tail rotor have a life of 1700hrs, yet have been showing cracks into the main structure at an average of about 35hrs.

Due to these problems, the Danes had been refusing delivery of their 14 EH101s.

As for the a/c itself, everyone here loves it.:ok:

[NR DROOP]

"To those who doubt,

Everyday is better and better in Merlin land.

Morale exceptionally high and plenty to do (in the air).

Wouldn't swap my job with anyone!"

Si

Get a Life !

:yuk:

[TURNBULL]

Oi toot toot or whatever,

Wow, sounds like the truth hurts and you've had to get personal.
:O

[OiOiOi Hoot Hoot]

far from it TURNBULL, not getting personal at all, just stating a fact that you are completely anti-merlin and slag it off at every opportunity. Its a free country so you are entitled to your opinions as I am entitled to mine of your posts.

Can you deny that you are anti-merlin?

[TURNBULL]

Whats the matter, drafter not let you go and play with the new toy?
I bet the joys of the world just excude (exude. sp) from your gaff..

Not personal?

[OiOiOi Hoot Hoot]

It'll have nothing to do with the three engined miracle's MAUM of 15 tons v its zero fuel wt of 10.5 tons and the Wokka's 24.5 MAUM v 12.5 ton ZFW then?

Lucky the happy customers have a choice, Merlin or walk

Loads of others over the months

Not anti-merlin?

[Two's in]

Sorry, wrong thread. I was after the "My Dad's bigger than your dad" thread and got momentarily confused by the banter...

[OiOiOi Hoot Hoot]

Sorry two's but too much negativity on here about all sorts of stuff

[Si Clik]

NR Droop,

Read it and weep matey.

Please visit us any time you like and ask anyone you like on the Squadron.

I have just had 2 years away flying my desk and have come back to a system that is working, making targets and has high morale.

Still if like your brains shaken out.

SI

[publicenemynumberone]

_________________________________________________
Either way, relax. Move along, there's nothing to see here.
_________________________________________________

:cool:
Sorry, but there is a lot to see here and discuss. I have two major concerns:

1. Can anybody explain me how the main beam's were constructed and how the strenght is compared with oldtime aluminum beam`s as in a Lynx? My consideration is the extreme deteroation of the Merlin crash at Couldrose!

2. As a simpel pilot I am conserned when people tell me that the major parts of the tail rotor construction is manufactered in Italie by hand and these parts vary in shapes and forms!!

I have no problems in noticing the great potential of the Merlin. It is an up to date helicopter, that have some flaws.

And no I am not "a scared future Danish Merlin aircrew member". I just have an interest in the matter. Why don't you guys try to tell me something I don´t know, instead of being the usual w... a..!!!!

:cool:

[NR DROOP]

Si Clik

Me thinks you have been inhaling too much MMMF, I hear there is a lot or it about at E site ! Get down sickbay and take some reality pills !

[zic]

PEN1

If you have real concerns and you are indeed in the RDAF why don't you just contact your resident UK-based RDAF QHI and ask him? Sadly all your fishing will get is half-truths and some ill-informed garbage.

Flew the green version for 4 years and whilst it has had a few teething troubles (name me an aircraft that hasn't) I believe it is a fundamentally sound machine, as indeed do NAVAIR who as you know have purchased a derivative for HMX-1.

Regards,

Zic :cool:

[N Arslow]

I, for one, am pleased to hear that Si is happy in his job. That is allowed because don't we do the job for the fun as much as anything else? Some people of course, get more enjoyment out of complaining than doing anything about it - shame.
Anyway, while all this "mine is bigger than yours" is going on can we discuss availability/downtime etc. It is a shame neither the chinook nor the Merlin come close to the EC with a flashing blue light... and surely that can't all be down to militarised equipment blah blah blah...
What is the story on that?

[Cyclic Hotline]

Search and Rescue helicopters temporarily redistributed

WINNIPEG, Sept. 29 /CNW Telbec/ - Two Search and Rescue (SAR) helicopters will be temporarily redistributed to eastern Canada due to the decreased availability of the CH-149 Cormorant helicopter. As a result, the Cormorants used in SAR operations at 8 Wing Trenton will be temporarily replaced by the CH-146 Griffon helicopter by mid-October. This is expected to remain in effect until at least the Spring 2006 timeframe.

This redistribution of aircraft will allow better management of the Cormorant fleet while availability challenges are being addressed. It will provide the remaining Cormorant squadrons with a sufficient number of available aircraft to better maintain air crews' skills and proficiency levels, while focusing the unique capabilities of the Cormorant on demanding coastal SAR missions.

The CH-146 Griffon will become the primary helicopter to conduct SAR in the Trenton area of responsibility. Three Griffon helicopters will provide SAR response in the area spanning from Quebec City to Thunder Bay and from Canada's North to the Great Lakes area. These Griffons, which frequently conduct SAR missions, will be reallocated from other locations. Griffon operations at their home units will not be adversely impacted.

The Commander 1 Canadian Air Division made this decision in order to provide the most effective and efficient use of available Cormorant helicopters across Canada. This was necessary because this fleet's availability has been affected by ongoing problems associated with cracks in its tail rotor assembly and a shortage of spares for various helicopter components, including main gearboxes and main rotor heads. This lack of available aircraft had the potential to impact the essential training of Cormorant air crews.

"After assessing the situation, SAR helicopters will be redistributed temporarily to allow us more flexibility to conduct essential Cormorant training and to utilize the Cormorant for demanding coastal SAR missions," said Major-General Charles Bouchard, Commander 1 Canadian Air Division. "I am very confident that our well trained and professional crews will continue to provide a high level of SAR service across the country."

DND continues to work towards developing a solution with AgustaWestland, the original equipment manufacturer, to determine the cause of cracking in the tail rotor assembly; and IMP Group Ltd., the aircraft maintenance contractor, to address spare parts availability.