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Post by corsair67 on Mar 8, 2010 11:48:36 GMT 12
Suomi! From what I have read, Finland has had to wait a very long time to receive its NH-90 helicopters, 20 of which were due to enter service between 2005-08. Unfortunately, due to production delays, Finland didn't receive its first airframes in 2008, and will not receive its final examples until 2011. Anyway, I'm guessing that like the RNZAF, the Finnish Army will be quite happy to retire their Mi-8, and move on to something nice and new.
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Post by nhdriver on Mar 9, 2010 5:50:05 GMT 12
We got our first NH90 to Finland in March08. Type rating flights started May08. From the original scedule the first delivery was delayed some 3.5 years. We received compensation for that. 24/7 SAR support was ready from beginning of 2010. Saved two lives so far. Primary assets for SAR is Border Guard with AB412´s and Pumas. Army is just assisting when ever needed.
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Post by kiwiscanfly on Mar 9, 2010 13:52:06 GMT 12
So has there been an overall production delay for the NH90?
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Post by beagle on Mar 9, 2010 14:22:21 GMT 12
Do we know if #2 or others are on the production line almost ready to fly. Has the first one been painted in our colours yet.
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Post by beagle on Mar 9, 2010 14:36:43 GMT 12
aha found a photo of our first one fully painted. Word has it the Army sent the paint over there which seems the same colour as their trucks. this photo is not suppossed to be seen for another 23 days.
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Post by mumbles on Mar 9, 2010 15:03:55 GMT 12
aha found a photo of our first one fully painted. Word has it the Army sent the paint over there which seems the same colour as their trucks Oh jeeze, now they are going to have to paint 'Air Force' on it in big white letters like they did with one of the Iroquois so the poor bewildered public don't think the Army operates them.
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Post by Dave Homewood on Mar 9, 2010 15:28:36 GMT 12
Looks like Matchbox plastic kit tan, isn't it?
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Post by beagle on Mar 9, 2010 15:39:00 GMT 12
I mentioned to Dave the other month regards the position of the radar especially in the event of a wheels up landing. Now this is the version I thought we should have got. The Sweedish variant which has the radar in a higher position plus has a higher cabin giving an extra 24cm internal height. Are they going to pick crewmen or women who are only 158cm max tall or are we going to have a few hunch backs seen on base. With the higher cabin the tail boom is higher off the ground giving better access to the rear ramp which was another thing that was mentioned in the german report.
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Post by beagle on Mar 9, 2010 19:05:51 GMT 12
please note the comment regarding another 23 days
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Post by nige on Mar 9, 2010 22:43:32 GMT 12
April Fool's Day eh!
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Post by 30sqnatc on Mar 9, 2010 23:02:34 GMT 12
Oh jeeze, now they are going to have to paint 'Air Force' on it in big white letters like they did with one of the Iroquois so the poor bewildered public don't think the Army operates them. Just give up now or do you really trust the press to get it right Mind you I hear Army Air Force might be in the defence review ;D
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Post by caromeg on Mar 10, 2010 6:55:13 GMT 12
Army Air Force? I hope not. I am sure there are some real opportunities to be made in working together and saving money across the three services. As an example, I beleive that some form of joint initial basic training together in Waiouru would be good for everyone. This is the ideal place to learn MILITARY skills and increasingly Naval and Air Force people find it fashionable to go onto LAND operations ( with mixed results). Its also an obvious one. Aside from a few more gains in this sort of thing I would be very concerned if we downgraded the Air force to an Army Air Force. If Anything that drastic occurs it should go to the Navy. Our Army should not be allowed to have anything to do with aircaft at all in any shape form whatsoever - zip - but.. zip... but zip... zip..... If they do, watch the mass exodus from the "Army Air Force". This sort of thing just confirms to me that the recent tectonic rumblings in Haiti was Lord trenchard and Winston churchill rumbling in their graves.
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Post by Dave Homewood on Mar 10, 2010 7:32:27 GMT 12
An Army Air Force might not be so bad considering it looks like most of our Army will soon be Lockheed Martin staff, and they know aeroplanes.
Seriously though, I agree Hawkeye, combining the services is a stupid idea. They mooted the same thing in 1991 and studies then found it was a waste of time. I think they need to stop thinking up hairbrained schemes and simply get on with doing the real work of the NZDF.
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Post by SEAN on Mar 10, 2010 8:24:16 GMT 12
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Post by beagle on Mar 10, 2010 8:33:09 GMT 12
Yes I know but it looked like the colour the army uses and I put in the note regarding a certain date coming up.. Would be pretty hard to see sitting in the desert.
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Post by nige on Mar 10, 2010 10:01:09 GMT 12
Yup, I was immediately suspicious when I first saw that photo - seeing that grey is the air forces preferred colour there's no way I could see them painting their new helo tan and being mistaken as an Army helo!
Which is a bit of a pity, I actually like the Aussie MRH90 tan/green/green scheme!
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Post by barf on Mar 10, 2010 10:35:44 GMT 12
This so called report must have been written by desk jockeys with little understanding of aircraft manufacture. There are no "real" issues. Lets have a look at the so called problems.
Cabin seats that cant take 110kg+.____can be retro fitted with off the shelf stronger items.
Cannot carry heavier infantry weapons, such as the Stinger man-portable surface-to-air missile. ____Eh? If a grunt can carry it, shouldn't it fit in the aircraft? Obviously these things take up space so it will effect the total amount of troops that can be carried, but this is hardly a design fault!
Clearance is so limited that soldiers have trouble getting in and out of the helicopter.___ same issue with the old Huey, There are few helo's whit a 7 foot high cabin. This is why Grunts are issued with helmets, so they can bash their heads without increasing the already apparent brain damage. Even a three year old figures out how to duck after the first couple of cranial blows. That said, there is still a bucket load more room than the Huey.
Rear ramp is too weak to support fully equipped soldiers.___ fit stronger hinges, likely to have been done before we see them here.
Floor is so sensitive that it can be cracked by boots.____ What a supprise. No different to the Huey, we fitted them with plywood load spreaders decades ago. also prevents damage from dropped weapons/ammo tins and any other load. DUH!
The helicopter's winch is not powerful enough for the fast-roping of commando teams. Wew wont be using these winches as stated above.
The door gun mounting issue is being dealt with. The RNZAF engineers are building a swing out gun mount to suit our requirements, which we will probably sell to the aussies as well. Remember, the airframe has THREE cabin doors, so what if the gunner is using one, it will probably mean he can continue laying down cover fire without having to worry about the grunts running into his field of fire.
The dear old Huey has had hundreds of mods since she entered service. There would not be an aircraft in service today that is exactly how it was initially designed. Not even the Fletcher FU24 (a dog until New Zealand got hold of it) I am sure we will turn the NH90 into a more than capable weapon.
Barf
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Post by Dave Homewood on Mar 10, 2010 17:43:44 GMT 12
Great post Barf!
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Post by 30sqnatc on Mar 10, 2010 20:03:47 GMT 12
I really don't understand, If the cabin seats, rear ramp hinges, the floor and the winch are so easy to fix why haven't the manufacturers ( who unlike the desk jockey report writers, probably do know a little about building an helicopter) already corrected them? I hardly imagine the final design review went 'now lets make sure we have left a few faults in the design just to keep all our customers engineers busy for a few years'
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Post by lesterpk on Mar 10, 2010 20:05:01 GMT 12
Ours will look more like this, but without the yellow striping around the windows. Attachments:
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