VH-92A causes "discoloration" of South Lawn
 

https://www.nationaldefensemagazine....nal-capability

GAO said:

“The lawn is a highly visible, size-constrained landing zone where damage to the White House grounds needs to be minimized,” the report stated. “There is a possibility of increased cost and schedule delays if the program has to retrofit produced aircraft.”

Holy cow!

Probably the exhaust being directed down to the ground by the rotor downwash. Used to happen with our Lynx before they fitted the IR Reduction ducts.

If I recall, the APU exhaust has been known to torch the turf next to the helipad.

Hmmm. I wonder how the AW101 would have faired on the Whitehouse lawn. Probably no better. But at least it had a cabin large enough to meet the specification. LOL. AW must have been laughing all the way to the bank when they got paid off when they were cancelled. And now Canada is laughing because the Presidential 101's will become Cormorants. Or at least be used as parts in a mid-life update.

“There is a possibility of increased cost and schedule delays if the program has to retrofit produced aircraft.”

There it is.... Bend over taxpayers, you're about to get Donald Ducked!

Seems odd - never known the standard S-92 APU exhaust to be an issue and I don't think this is different. Only time I was aware of it was when I parked next to a large bush once, in a hurry, but that wasn't the norm!

Be a lot cheaper to replace the turf....

Must have been long grass for a Lynx to cause any damage.

I just spit my coffee through my nose!:D

I think Wrench might be talking about the APU in the H3. The 92 APU exhaust wouldn't reach lawn level.

I note also:
Wow, what a novel idea. Why did nobody else think of that?

No. A prolonged ground run, in excess of 5 minuets or so, would scorch short mown grass.

Never had the pleasure of an H3, but was around the 1st 92 production model(s) which spent a few hours on the pad each day in the beginning with the APU going. After a week or so each pad it was parked on, the grass next to the pad had a signature 92 burned spot. We wondered if it would ever cause a fire until one day there was a fire. Unfortunately, it wasn't the grass.

Yes - leaking hydraulic fluid at 4,000 PSI burns much better than grass!

I'm surprised nobody has mentioned the unsurpassed ability of R22's and R44's to leave beautiful burn spots on otherwise nice lawns. No, you wags, I don't mean because of the "inevitable" crash, I mean because when sitting there doing the 3 minute cool-down routine all that cold air that the squirrel cage fan is sucking in to cool the engine is being ejected, now burning hot, straight down onto the ground. It really does do a fine job of turning green grass brown, and can actually be a fire hazard when landing in tall, dry grass.

Got that right. I'm just glad it was on the ground next to the grass instead of airborne as it was 30-40 minutes prior. It was a sight to see.

Wouldn't the simple fix be to retrofit the lawn rather than the aircraft?