View Full Version : USMC finally retires the Bell AH-1W
chopper2004
19th Oct 2020, 21:20
After 3 and half decades its final goodbye to the Whiskey model so Semper Fidelis.
https://news.bellflight.com/en-US/fffe8a34ea0899c59dfe11cdf85c9d9a11b8379cf0adbb24e458357ce412 cf28?fbclid=IwAR0TZYY5SnLqGtmCzKbEj_h2NTrYKRfsTpeTsRXuF2bKtw z3BGTUhEGXRlw
gulliBell
19th Oct 2020, 23:42
That works out at only 148 hours flown per year per helicopter on average. Not a very high utilization rate.
That works out at only 148 hours flown per year per helicopter on average. Not a very high utilization rate.
All 179 aircraft weren't delivered in 1986.
gulliBell
20th Oct 2020, 09:05
It still equates to 148 hours/year/aircraft which is a very low utilization rate however you dice it. If you add up the total cost of the program over 900,000 flight hours the $/hr would be a huge number.
etudiant
20th Oct 2020, 10:23
That works out at only 148 hours flown per year per helicopter on average. Not a very high utilization rate.
Probably not unusual though.
Afaik, the military do not use their planes that much, the high time B-52 has only about 25,000 hours after 60 years of service. Similarly, the life of fast jets usually only a few thousand hours over a few decades, so only hundreds of hours per year.
rrekn
20th Oct 2020, 13:55
Design life for the F-35 is only 8,000 hours... So an average life of 5,215 hours is on par for Military work