I've been hearing a lot of talk about how underpowered the UH-1N is and how much crews are looking forward to the Yankee upgrade to restore the Huey to its former role as a true utility craft. One pilot told me that realistically it can only carry five personnel, crew included, and maintain a useful mission profile.
What puzzles me is how it came to be so underpowered. Clearly at some point it was capable of performing utility missions - in Vietnam the single engine Huey was the principal assault support and utility helicopter; and the Marines used them in a similar role some years back. How is it that they're now considered underpowered and can't utilize their full troop capacity?
Has additional gear compromised the lifting capacity of the Huey? Or is it simply that the expectations of speed and range have gone up, so the Huey is forced to carry a lighter load in order to keep up? Or has age simply deteriorated their performance?
What puzzles me is how it came to be so underpowered. Clearly at some point it was capable of performing utility missions - in Vietnam the single engine Huey was the principal assault support and utility helicopter; and the Marines used them in a similar role some years back. How is it that they're now considered underpowered and can't utilize their full troop capacity?
Has additional gear compromised the lifting capacity of the Huey? Or is it simply that the expectations of speed and range have gone up, so the Huey is forced to carry a lighter load in order to keep up? Or has age simply deteriorated their performance?