Where the heck can I go?

[Never_Fits]

Ok, so there is mass juggling going on in the Navy Helo community. I know this. There are a mass of different things that are going this way, and that way? Just wondering if someone with more knowledge than me could attempt to clarify where exactly the navy is going with this, and what the plans are for the 53 as well.

 

[BACONATOR]

53's all going to Norfolk. The "idea" is that the 53's mission will someday be replaced by one of the 60 variants (R/S) but who the hell knows if that's feasible and when that would possibly go down.

The future is HSC (S) and HSM (R). If you go HS (F/H), or HSL (B), you will be transitioning in a few years (if that) to HSC or HSM respectively.

If you go HM, I imagine you'll be there for some time.

 

[Never_Fits]

I know the fashionable thing now is the new clean 60's. BUT, i have been rather intrigued by 53's. any input on the community?

 

[BACONATOR]

I know the fashionable thing now is the new clean 60's. BUT, i have been rather intrigued by 53's. any input on the community?

They're still selecting them. I'll defer to an actual 53 guy who actually knows what the F he is talking about.

-60S bubba

 

[Never_Fits]

Rog. Thanks for the help.

 

[lowflier03]

53's are still around and should be for a few years. Though HSC OAMCM (Mine crap) is in the works. All the new systems and tactics are still undergoing testing so it will be awhile before it comes online. And from the details I have seen that is one mission area that I plan on avoiding like the plague in the -60 platform.

 

[BigIron]

53s are available for selection. Both HM-14 and HM-15 are in Norfolk residing in new hangars. HM-15 handles 5th fleet. HM-14 handles 7th fleet. Both are land-based combat support (meaning we do whatever we can to support whatever effort). There is a mine-countermeasures mission and that's primarily why we are in 2 important fleet AORs. There's a few boat dets that do humanitarian and other support missions.

I don't know how often 53s are available for selection. 14 and 15 are some of the largest helo squadrons in the Navy (~600-700 folks each). As far as the future holds, I have no idea. Some ideas either for sustainment or a new a/c are on the table. There has been also some talk of divestiture. Chose what you want to fly.

 

[Uncle Fester]

The helo bubbas in my universe are saying that Big Navy is dithering at the moment whether to buy in to the -53K program. They don't really want to, and would prefer to go All 60's, All the Time, but they're not sure they can get away with getting out of the heavy lift and sweeping business altogether. Does that sound accurate to y'all?

 

[Pags]

The 53 is a monster. It can haul just about anything the Navy can put in it to include big jet motors that a 60 could never even fit. But I'd heard that it with the demise of the F-14, it's the most expensive airframe in terms of cost/flight hour.

 

[torpedo0126]

I spoke with a student who selected -53s a few weeks ago and he said the selection spots are ~12 a year. Not sure of the accuracy of that.

The 53 is a monster.

Can't it pull like 5Gs or something? I know they probably don't go that route...I'm trying to find where I read that...

 

[BigIron]

The 53 is a monster. It can haul just about anything the Navy can put in it to include big jet motors that a 60 could never even fit. But I'd heard that it with the demise of the F-14, it's the most expensive airframe in terms of cost/flight hour.

That's probably true about the program cost per flight hour, but you are only talking about a 30 or so a/c population in the entire fleet, so the total cost is remarkably lower than the F-14 which had many many more a/c.

 

[BigIron]

I spoke with a student who selected -53s a few weeks ago and he said the selection spots are ~12 a year. Not sure of the accuracy of that.



Can't it pull like 5Gs or something? I know they probably don't go that route...I'm trying to find where I read that...

It probably could right before the rotorhead departs the a/c.

 

[BigIron]

The helo bubbas in my universe are saying that Big Navy is dithering at the moment whether to buy in to the -53K program. They don't really want to, and would prefer to go All 60's, All the Time, but they're not sure they can get away with getting out of the heavy lift and sweeping business altogether. Does that sound accurate to y'all?

Pretty accurate. A lot of eggs were thrown into the 60 idea basket. The K will be exremely capable and an extremely expensive machine. I don't know for certain how much the big Navy is concerned about heavy lift. The USMC 53s can do it, but they are full time occupied with their mission. We'll see.

 

[hscs]

The helo bubbas in my universe are saying that Big Navy is dithering at the moment whether to buy in to the -53K program. They don't really want to, and would prefer to go All 60's, All the Time, but they're not sure they can get away with getting out of the heavy lift and sweeping business altogether. Does that sound accurate to y'all?

S-92 for all my friends......

 

[puck_11]

The 53 is a monster. It can haul just about anything the Navy can put in it to include big jet motors that a 60 could never even fit. But I'd heard that it with the demise of the F-14, it's the most expensive airframe in terms of cost/flight hour.

If that is true, I think the prowler is giving it a good run for its money. The prowler is getting to be F-14 like in its maintenance hours per flight hour and cost per hour. Think 80-90 maint hours per flight hour and plus 19.4k worth of gas to fill her up. They gave us an actual cost per hour but I'm not sure if thats appropriate to post here.