Helicopter News & Discussion

Read the forum code of contact

Member for

12 years 3 months

Posts: 5,905

Bell 525 Relentless Makes Successful First Flight

It [..] is the first civil helicopter to be fitted with fly-by-wire flight controls.

Not something to miss ;)

Also:

ability to perform a wide variety of missions under challenging weather conditions

(raw power and a direct legacy of the "Y'ed" drive system and rotor)

Garmin G5000H [and] Best-in-class payload, cabin, cargo volumes, and passenger comfort

Bell-Textron (la petite Bell qui monte) shows once more that in the aeronautical industry, you don't have to be massively market dominant to be at the forefront of market innovation.

Member for

13 years 5 months

Posts: 9,579

Hm. Well Ansat has civilian versions too, and they flew with fly-by-wire before ;) .

In fact because of the lack of a certification process for a civilian fly by wire chopper, they had to make a traditional variant to get certified.

Member for

13 years 4 months

Posts: 3,381

Livefist: Airbus-Mahindra Announce JV for Indian Helo Goldmine

"Both companies will now get into discussions to finalize the formation of the joint venture which will act as the prime contractor for India’s military helicopter tenders including the Reconnaissance and Surveillance Helicopter, the Naval Utility Helicopter and the Naval Multirole Helicopter procurement programs. The resulting joint venture aims to become the first private Indian helicopter manufacturer under the ‘Make in India’ initiative. This will create hundreds of high-tech jobs locally and lead to a flow of cutting edge technologies to India should it be selected in the governmental helicopter tenders," a joint statement said.

Member for

18 years 1 month

Posts: 2,814

On the contrary to the Cougar earlier

Maybe it's because the Cougar was hit by a rocket-propelled grenade (a primary killer of helicopters these days) while the blackhawk was only hit by 7 bullets - it's written in the article given.

Member for

12 years 3 months

Posts: 5,905

I read that on BBC.com but no mention of the RPG was made in the press at the time. I am talking about the Cougar forced into a crash landing around Guadalajara by gang members using automatic weapon only:

"(The gunmen) attacked the military personnel with shots from firearms, hitting the Cougar helicopter, which conducted an emergency landing," the defense ministry said in a statement,

And

Officials say the New Generation cartel, led by Nemesio Oseguera, alias "El Mencho," has grown so powerful that it has produced its own assault rifles in makeshift gun assembly shops and has forged ties with gangs worldwide.

I don't understand how you can field a CSAR in such conditions with an aircraft based on a souped-up version of a civil Helo (just to hide the poor power to weight ratio of a vintage design). It's mind blogging to think that the guy that had to sign for this disaster might have assisted to the reception ceremony by stepping out of an... armored car.

Among other sources:
Yahoo: Gunmen hit army chopper in Mexico

Member for

18 years 1 month

Posts: 2,814

No, the article Tango posted (and you quoted) mentioned an RPG shoot down of the Cougar helicopter on May 1st - third paragraph from the bottom.
But here is another link confirming the RPG kill by Mexican authorities:

http://www.borderlandbeat.com/2015/05/jalisco-photos-ruins-of-military.html

edit - I see where the confusion lies. The Mexican authorities did initially describe the Cougar shootdown as a 'forced landing' - they pretty soon changed their story when the facts became clearer.

Member for

12 years 3 months

Posts: 5,905

Thx for the update. I was not sure if those were not two different events. Yes facts are a bit blurry. i would like to read some witness accounts but after a quick search with ggl.mx only found the same editorial here and there.