Discussion
Engineer1 said:
They'd get told to Foxtrot Oscar because those lovely aircraft parked in the desert are there to prove they have been decommissioned as per international treaty requirements.
I'm pretty sure the Rivet Joints we're about to lease have been under a dust sheet for a while; As was mentioned above they are mainly for spares, as most of the treaties revolved around Nukes, and they aren't carried on planes much any more.Tim-D said:
Hold on a mo... do I recall a procurement fiasco over some Chinooks bought for the SAS that the end product was so inept it couldn't fly in clouds and they ended up pushed to the back of a hangar somewhere??? then again might be my memory playing tricks...
problem was the americans wouldn't give us the source code, so we wouldn't use them or somtethinganyway they were refitted about 2 years ago to the same spec as the previous chinooks we bought.. so lots of money wasted, but they are now in use.
Engineer1 said:
LukeSi said:
I'm sure if the RAF/Govt. asked the Americans nicely
"Barack, I was wondering, is there any chance we could have / purchase for a low price, some of the aircraft you have got sitting out in the desert that you aren't using? "
They'd get told to Foxtrot Oscar because those lovely aircraft parked in the desert are there to prove they have been decommissioned as per international treaty requirements."Barack, I was wondering, is there any chance we could have / purchase for a low price, some of the aircraft you have got sitting out in the desert that you aren't using? "
You can bet where ever the army go next the Chinooks will be of limited use.
In fact, only some of them - B-52s mainly.
ninja-lewis said:
Eric Mc said:
Why are the Merlins being replaced so soon. Are they a bit rubbish at Jungly operations?
They're not being replaced/rid of - the RAF are simply transferring their Merlins to the Commando Helicopter Force (who need a replacement for the Sea King) and getting some extra Chinooks to make up for it.cpufreak said:
Tim-D said:
Hold on a mo... do I recall a procurement fiasco over some Chinooks bought for the SAS that the end product was so inept it couldn't fly in clouds and they ended up pushed to the back of a hangar somewhere??? then again might be my memory playing tricks...
problem was the americans wouldn't give us the source code, so we wouldn't use them or somtethinganyway they were refitted about 2 years ago to the same spec as the previous chinooks we bought.. so lots of money wasted, but they are now in use.
Eric Mc said:
Why are the Merlins being replaced so soon. Are they a bit rubbish at Jungly operations?
Merlin not big enough forthe role the RAF has for them ergo more chinooks, Merlins currently operated by the RAF and being displaced by the new chinooks move to Fleet Air Arm to replace Jungly SKs which are old and wearing out ...Tim-D said:
Hold on a mo... do I recall a procurement fiasco over some Chinooks bought for the SAS that the end product was so inept it couldn't fly in clouds and they ended up pushed to the back of a hangar somewhere??? then again might be my memory playing tricks...
these aircraft have been 'downgraded' to HC2 spec and are now flying I'll tell you what the biggest issue is. All three services fighting! The army won't say it, but the Lynx doesn't meet their needs and its only been upgraded to the 'super lynx' because procurement of something far more suitable like say the Blackhawk would push it more towards the RAF in terms of size. Also has anyone seen inside one of these Merlins? I don't know the costings but it can't be much less than us purchasing a far more suitable Chinook in its place? IMO it was a waste of money. Yes we have the new ones coming and yes we will be out of Afghanistan around then but Libyan style conflicts will probably become the 'bread and butter' of UK and French operations. It'll be interesting to see a little more about the Chinooks use in Libya once the conflict is fully over.
Personally I believe the flying should be left to the RAF (yes I'm biased I currently serve in it), the ship stuff to the Navy (although a boat tour of Portsmouth harbour is like a car dealers forecourt - everythings for sale!) and let the Army/Marines/RAF Reg get on with what they do best. If all three services didn't fight so much procurement would be far better value for the tax payer IMO. I wonder how much modifying these new Chinooks will require before being pressed into service. It must be a big enough headache with the current Chinook types without adding a third!
Personally I believe the flying should be left to the RAF (yes I'm biased I currently serve in it), the ship stuff to the Navy (although a boat tour of Portsmouth harbour is like a car dealers forecourt - everythings for sale!) and let the Army/Marines/RAF Reg get on with what they do best. If all three services didn't fight so much procurement would be far better value for the tax payer IMO. I wonder how much modifying these new Chinooks will require before being pressed into service. It must be a big enough headache with the current Chinook types without adding a third!
Lovely design but for what was paid per unit it was filling a gap that in reality needed to be filled by more Chinooks. The poor gut reaction to buy dutch spec Merlins just caused more headaches. Of course our wars/campaigns change each and every time. But the lynx is too small and a new helicopter sat between that and the merlin in size and cost is actually what is required. Rather like the old trusty Puma only a little bigger.
I was under the impression RAF Benson would become the Chinook Pilot training base (they have the dunk pool don't they?) and RAF Odiham the operation side. The Merlin fleet will head off to Cornwall? Culdrose?
I was under the impression RAF Benson would become the Chinook Pilot training base (they have the dunk pool don't they?) and RAF Odiham the operation side. The Merlin fleet will head off to Cornwall? Culdrose?
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