Spoof of Aging Sea King Helicopter

[Vie en Rose]

Check it out here : http://www.cbc.ca/stories/2002/11/06/canada/seaking021106

I think it's kind of funny, but at the same time, somewhat disrespectful. And unfortunately Martin doesn't seem very forthcoming with the funding for NEW military equiment.

[Neo]

I think to connect this story to the Martin Gov't is a tad unfair, seeing that he wasn't Prime Minister in 2002...

And, thankfully the Martin Gov't seems a bit more focused on the CF, I think I just read an article about us purchasing new supply ships to replace the Preserver and Protecteur, which is a good thing.

You can't expect an overnight change in the CF, things will take time.

Throwing money at a problem isn't the only solution....

[KarlSchultz]

I've got problems. someone throwing money at me would certnainly fix a few...................... :p j/k

I don't know. Iam not a fan of helicopters (I prefer my wings to stay in one place) and seeing a Sea King Land at Calgary Intl was an interesting experience.

[condor888000]

Anything in which the wings move faster thatn the fuselage is a helicopter and therefore unsafe! :D

If something hasn't broken your helicopter, it's about to! :D

[ChrisD]

Now come on helicopters are not that bad :P

I have been in the Sea Kings many time, and i'm still here.... LOL

[Flyguy]

You are a braver man than I Chris...I've ridden the Griffon's a couple of times, which was a rush and a half, but I don't expect one of those to come crashing down any second.

Time to replace the whole Sea King fleet with something else...maybe SA Internationale will sell us some cheap Puma's...or maybe we can grab some more of those Cormorants... (which are restricted to critical SAR Ops only at the moment for engine issues)

[jhunter]

And, thankfully the Martin Gov't seems a bit more focused on the CF, I think I just read an article about us purchasing new supply ships to replace the Preserver and Protecteur, which is a good thing.

Don't count your chickens yet. The last time that Sea Kings were going to be replaced, it became a campaign issue, and the average taxpayer paid a lot of money to cancel that contract. Although I doubt any party would argue that the Sea King doesn't need replacing, I could see other parties thinking of backing out of the other big money items. If an election is coming up, the conservatives might make the issue bipartisan.

[Bos'n101]

The decision to replace the Sea Kings was made, they chose the Superhawk over the Cormorant. I got that out of a CF magazine, I forget the name. Cormorant has a problem the the fuel lines, so they have been restricted to S & R Ops in Canada.

[M. Ward]

Was it the Maple Leaf, by chance? And, I also heard the Cormorant was a bit big for some of the decks on our ships. Is that true?

[Bos'n101]

No, Maple Leaf is a Newspaper, this was a magazine. It said Canadian Forces on the cover.

[piper]

As was said above, don't count those chickens. The military seems to be a great whipping boy for the government around election time, especially for the liberals.

[LCdr Gene Fedderly]

The decision to replace the Sea Kings was made, they chose the Superhawk over the Cormorant. I got that out of a CF magazine, I forget the name. Cormorant has a problem the the fuel lines, so they have been restricted to S & R Ops in Canada.I'm afraid that no contract has been let for the Sea King replacement; the request for proposals was only released 17 Dec 03.

http://www.forces.gc.ca/site/newsroom/view_news_e.asp?id=1283

WRT the size of hangar in the HALIFAX class frigates, a Cormorant/EH-101 will fit in, just.

[Bos'n101]

Ok, it seems I misread. Anyway, here's the company page for the Superhawk. (supplier, not manufacturer)
http://www.gdcanada.com/company_info/maritime_helicopter_project.html

[KarlSchultz]

[

WRT the size of hangar in the HALIFAX class frigates, a Cormorant/EH-101 will fit in, just.

I was under the impression that they fit 2 sea kings onto the frigates

[LCdr Gene Fedderly]

I was under the impression that they fit 2 sea kings onto the frigatesThat would be the IROQUOIS class DDHs, although I think it's been a long time since any sailed with two birds.

[ChrisD]

Yeah it has been a long time since they sent 2 of them out with a ship.

I was hoping they would go with the NH-90 but oh well the H-92 will do ( I might be flying these things in the future):D

[Bub]

How could any military (or any one else) justify 30hrs maintenance for 1hr of flight time...

[LCdr Gene Fedderly]

How could any military (or any one else) justify 30hrs maintenance for 1hr of flight time...That figure gets bandied around a lot, but I really don't know how accurate it is. Even if it is, one does what one has to to keep the birds flying safely. It's not like there wasn't a contract to replace them that was abruptly cancelled 11 years ago as the one election promise our former PM actually kept.

[Bub]

But if you did a 3hr S&R flight that would be 90hrs work required which works out to be 3.75 straight days working on it, or 11.25 8hr days. I find that figure very hard to believe thinking about it.

[Earlam]

Like Lt F said, the figure isn't a solid fact.
The scary thing is that it's close enough that it hasn't dropped out of the sky (why use 'shot down' when this is so readily available?).
I think it's a slight exaggeration, but only slight. The helicopters are 40 years old, not the 20 year old aircraft other countries are using. There have been updates, of course, but there comes a point where things just...... stop working.
It is kinda hard to believe how much maintenance has to be put into these things to keep them safe. That's why we need new ones a decade ago.