Apache helicopter spotted over Perth ?

[anonymous-user]

Ok. I am by no means a helicopter expert but could have sworn i saw the above mentioned helicopter over Perth last week about lunchtime? Is there a base up this way ? Assuming it wasn’t from Errol “international “ aerodrome lol.

[ninja-lewis]

Couple based out of Leuchars recently for low flying training in the Highlands.

https://www.forces.net/news/apache-pilots-practise...

[Meeten-5dulx]

I thought I heard something unusual but didn't get to see what it was.
Gutted as it would have been impressive to see.

[anonymous-user]

So I probably didn’t imagine it ? Lol. Think it would have been last Thursday or Friday. Thought at first it was the air ambulance from Errol but as it flew over the North Inch park could see it looked like a Apache.

[Scaleybrat]

I could hear Apache activity but couldn’t see them from my viewpoint on Kinnoull Hill. BTW, you are confusing Errol with Scone, from where the Air Ambulance operates.

[anonymous-user]

Scaleybrat said:

I could hear Apache activity but couldn’t see them from my viewpoint on Kinnoull Hill. BTW, you are confusing Errol with Scone, from where the Air Ambulance operates.

Isn’t the airport called or was called Errol though ?

[anonymous-user]

Meeten-5dulx said:

Gutted as it would have been impressive to see.

They’re really not.

[Meeten-5dulx]

Crossflow Kid said:

Meeten-5dulx said:

Gutted as it would have been impressive to see.

They’re really not.

The Apache AH1 Attack Helicopter is one of the most advanced bits of kit in the British Army - carrying a mix of weapons, including rockets, Hellfire missiles and a 30mm chain gun


Perhaps my existence is more boring, but that sounds pretty impressive to me

[anonymous-user]

Still slower than a Chinook.

[loskie]

A rally car is slower than an F1 car but I know which takes more skill to drive and is better to watch.

First saw an Apache at Farnborough in 86 maybe. Fantastic piece of kit.

[ianrb]

Iwantafusca said:

Scaleybrat said:

I could hear Apache activity but couldn’t see them from my viewpoint on Kinnoull Hill. BTW, you are confusing Errol with Scone, from where the Air Ambulance operates.

Isn’t the airport called or was called Errol though ?

No, Errol is in the Carse of Gowrie, right by the Tay. Scone airfield, which also seems to be called Perth Airport, is just north of the A94 between Scone and Balbeggie.

[anonymous-user]

loskie said:

A rally car is slower than an F1 car but I know which takes more skill to drive and is better to watch.
.

It’s all relative.
Aspects of Chinny ops make Apache pilots’ toes curl, and vice versa.
As a package, one Chinny and an Apache pair is pretty much unbeatable.
Ask MERT.
Course the main thing is to maintain a sense of humour, manifesting itself as rivalry, at all times.

[Evanivitch]

But can an Apache carry troops? (Internally...) And can a Chinook fire missiles!?

No. But a Wildcat can...

[anonymous-user]

ianrb said:

No, Errol is in the Carse of Gowrie, right by the Tay. Scone airfield, which also seems to be called Perth Airport, is just north of the A94 between Scone and Balbeggie.

Ah i see now !
I drive past scone airfield everyday too lol. Too busy thinking about the food at touchdown cafe to look at the name I guess !

[anonymous-user]

Evanivitch said:

But can an Apache carry troops? (Internally...) And can a Chinook fire missiles!?

No. But a Wildcat can...

I’ve heard all the troops on a Wildcat think it’s rubbish though?
Both of them.

[Evanivitch]

Crossflow Kid said:

Evanivitch said:

But can an Apache carry troops? (Internally...) And can a Chinook fire missiles!?

No. But a Wildcat can...

I’ve heard all the troops on a Wildcat think it’s rubbish though?
Both of them.

Yeah, I've not heard a good word from anyone in green. I think that's a bit of an early reliability issue and a lack of proper systems integration when it first went to service.

[Tony1963]

I’ve been working on Apaches for nearly 12 years. They still impress me, but if one is just passing over at 1,000ft it won’t get the heart racing!

The E model should start arriving in the next two months.

[anonymous-user]

Evanivitch said:

Crossflow Kid said:

Evanivitch said:

But can an Apache carry troops? (Internally...) And can a Chinook fire missiles!?

No. But a Wildcat can...

I’ve heard all the troops on a Wildcat think it’s rubbish though?
Both of them.

Yeah, I've not heard a good word from anyone in green. I think that's a bit of an early reliability issue and a lack of proper systems integration when it first went to service.

I think it’s even simpler.
What use is a Wildcat with a whopping four passengers, and a variety of fairly role-specific munitions (not all at once) when balanced against a Chinny that can stretch to triple figures for trooping if needed, plus an underslung load or three, accompanied by a pair of Apache with dozens of Hellfire, lots of rockety things and several billion rounds of 50-cal?

[Evanivitch]

Crossflow Kid said:

I think it’s even simpler.
What use is a Wildcat with a whopping four passengers, and a variety of fairly role-specific munitions (not all at once) when balanced against a Chinny that can stretch to triple figures for trooping if needed, plus an underslung load or three, accompanied by a pair of Apache with dozens of Hellfire, lots of rockety things and several billion rounds of 50-cal?

It's a parallel scenario to why use a IFV Warrior when you could use a CR2 with a few busses of troops

As an expeditionary force, you can get a few wildcats into a transport and into theatre quickly, providing both transport and fire power, without the same burden of the Chinook and Apache.

I think that's likely why you'll see the revised Commando structure making better use of them, even if that's not what the original plan was

[anonymous-user]

I’d say the “burden” of CH47 or AH64 is marginal. Both of those can be stripped and inside in a C17 in under 24hrs, just like Wildcat. Post 9-11 the first U.K. Chinooks were flying in-theatre in a couple of days.
Or on a flat topped war canoe.
The benefits of a dedicated medium lift trooping asset in the company of a dedicated multi-weapons platform are exponential compared to a smaller platform that claims to do both.
Wildcat is fine for carrying small torpedoes around, strafing a RIB full of Somalis or cross-decking the mail.
Anything else, the answer’s a Chinook and two Apache.