AN AGING FLEET
In order to sustain the tremendous capability it provides in its helicopter fleet, the Navy produces approximately 500 helicopter pilots per year. For nearly 35 years, the Navy’s primary helicopter trainer has been the TH-57 (Bell 206). Believe it or not, many of the early trainers are still in service today. Systemically, the training fleet and structure for training helicopter pilots is just old. Over the decades, it has had to adapt three different models of aircraft (TH-57B-C-CNVG) in order to train helicopter pilots. Although pilots are safely trained, the age of the fleet combined with several models can create many inefficiencies in the system, e.g., training flights being cancelled due to aircraft breaking down.
The current modern U.S. Navy helicopters are the Sikorsky SH-60 (Seahawk) and the MH-53E (Sea Dragon). The U.S. Marines fly the H-1Y, AH-1Z, and the MV-22. Given the complexity of these aircraft and their systems, there seems to be a significant disconnect between the less sophisticated training aircraft and the actual aircraft that naval helicopter pilots will fly once in the fleet.
In an era of ever tightening federal budgets, the Navy, like other U.S. military branches, is faced with upgrading their training fleets to meet modern day demands, while at the same time doing so as cost effectively as possible. As current training helo’s age, the costs to maintain them rise exponentially as years pass. It is estimated that the Aircraft Conditional Inspections (ACI) that occur at the depot level every five years cost between $750,000 and $1.2 million. The current budgeted amount for each ACI (performed by L3) is $618,000. Since many of these aircraft are over 30 years old, the cost curve is expected to steepen even more as they age. Essentially, as the aircraft get older and the cost of the ACI continues to climb, the Navy will essentially be paying the full value of the TH-57 several times over.
26 January 2015
The proven Pratt & Whitney 1000 HP PT6 engine gives the AW119 Kx a high power margin, which provides a forgiving environment for new pilot introduction to rotary-wing flight.
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