LHX Program

[yasotay]

My all time least favorite LHX was the Boeing initial design. A very new helicopter pilot attending the 1985 Army Aviation Association meeting in Fort Worth, TX looked at the display model and asked "Where is the canopy?" To which the elderly engineering fellow who had noticed the befuddled junior pilot responded "There isn't one." The gobsmacked pilot said, "Well, I won't fly that!" The elderly engineer smiled and responded, "No, but your children will."
An insightful elder engineer.

 

[hesham]

From Technika Lotnicza 1985

 

[yasotay]

I have always wondered what of this plastic mini-S-76 might have become had there been vision beyond a test article. It did serve its purpose and helped validate non-metalic structures that would be used in RAH-66.

 

[hesham]

Hi,


here is a Bell JVX drawings,but in the lower drawing,I can't ID if this was air-cushion landing gear or not ?.

http://www.dtic.mil/dtic/tr/fulltext/u2/a159291.pdf

From Technika Lotnicza 1985

 

[Scott Kenny]

I have always wondered what of this plastic mini-S-76 might have become had there been vision beyond a test article. It did serve its purpose and helped validate non-metalic structures that would be used in RAH-66.

I mean, we did eventually see it, in the S97 Raider.

But civilian side IMO composite airframes have issues. They're a lot harder to repair. Military cares less, they just note that the damage needed to total out an airframe is X and plan to buy new ones, as the military is self insured. Civilian side has to deal with their insurance costs, and insurance on those easily-totalled airframes is super expensive. (See also any car with an aluminum frame or composite tub.)

 

[quellish]

I have always wondered what of this plastic mini-S-76 might have become had there been vision beyond a test article. It did serve its purpose and helped validate non-metalic structures that would be used in RAH-66.

It validated some metallic structures too! The canopy was coated with a metallic film. For.... reasons.