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I want to be a professional (non-airline) pilot when I grow up
- Thread starter Gatordev
- Start date
How much does a commercial H-60 cost? Asking for a friend with gold wings.
More than a premium sword.
Common misconception- I think maybe one or two airframes were sourced from existing UH-1N’s. Didn’t work out so well.
USMC UH-1Y’s are 100% new production. NAVAIR, HQMC, and Bell “spun” the “upgrade” myth for the optics. New. New. New.
Pags has already responded. There's different levels of "existing airframe." I visited a Sikorsky depot site about 10 years ago and they had two factory new FMS HH-60H sitting on the floor that were completely destroyed. However, the frame behind the pilot and the data plate were in tact. Everything was going to be rebuilt around that frame number. At the end of the day, they would have two essentially new airframes going back in-country (probably to be shot down again), but technically they weren't "new," they were just rebuilt.
Looks like reserve is 1.3 ish
AIRCRAFT, UH-60A BLACK HAWK S/N: 79-23310
Aircraft, 1 each: Sikorsky UH-60A Black Hawk Medium Lift Utility Helicopter: S/N: 79-23310. Please see
gsaauctions.gov
I think some have gone for as low as $200K
Then of course you need to add another $1 mm to modify to meet FAA airworthiness for whatever type of operation you plan on doing
I am aware of this. Been around warbirds rebuilt from a data plate and rusted engine.
Someone needs to service the rear strut on the blue one. I'll bet it bucks like a bronco taxiing in with nearly empty fuel cells.
FWIW, the Army 60Ls and 60As have had the drag beam upgraded, as well as an increase in the number of lugs for the MLG wheel.
Is it a fair statement to say that the Army -60s have gained weight over the years with the added systems as the GWOT continues? If so, it seems like a smart reason to upgrade.
Any idea if those Alphas that were decommissioned also got them (like the upgrade was done some time ago)?
Big difference between a warbird that will have meticulous maintenance and a non-aggressive schedule and life and an airplane that will be put to work flying lots of hours in austere locations doing things that the airframe wasn't necessarily designed for when the structures folks developed their fatigue models.
Back to my 60S vs 60L analogy. Part of the reason the 60S had cracks was attributed to high cycle fatigue on the 60s due to loading/unloading of the airframe from a high # of externals and high number of landings that were different then was predicted for the 60L.
So if you buy a 60A and then go and use it for logging or firefighting there's a chance that there may be some new failure modes that may crop up. Essentially, you'd be working in discovery mode because you're outside of the predictions that all the numbers were based on.
Or, in other words, buyer beware with a reworked airplane
Severe talent shortage of experienced guys to fly downrange - probably decent pay and benefits - not to mention exciting and fun work
helijobs.net
B234/107 Copilot - Afghanistan
Co-Pilot Overseas / Afghanistan Pilots COPIL01209 Posted: February 19, 2019 Full-Time Field (Afghanistan) Job Details Description We are recruiting for our Co-Pilot position located in Afghanistan. The work location for this role is primarily Afghanistan
helijobs.net
I offered no opinion on reliability or safety with my warbird comment. The point was that I am familiar with extreme rebuilds that actually involved many new manufactured and re-engineered parts and sub assemblies. I recently got an update on a FW-190 project. Owner demanded the exact same rivets as used in the original. No longer available, they were remanufactured from specs and built by the same German company as during the war. Cost $55,000 versus maybe $5000.
I don't think any of those types of professionals are unaware of that. It isn't like they have any experience with repurposed war birds in those missions. In the 70s I personally worked on B-17s, Hudson's, and Super Connies for a conversion company. We even had TBM Avengers. Since then we have seen P-3s, S-2E/T, and P-2Vs. Plenty of mil veteran helos working in LE, logging, fire service, forestry, fisheries, etc. I think the price of repurposed military aircraft reflects the risk and added cost of frequent inspection. They can be operated safely by pros. It absolutely isn't like being a experimental test pilot.
While I’m not sure about the job being fun, if I were single I’d toss them an application.Severe talent shortage of experienced guys to fly downrange - probably decent pay and benefits - not to mention exciting and fun work
B234/107 Copilot - Afghanistan
Co-Pilot Overseas / Afghanistan Pilots COPIL01209 Posted: February 19, 2019 Full-Time Field (Afghanistan) Job Details Description We are recruiting for our Co-Pilot position located in Afghanistan. The work location for this role is primarily Afghanistan
I don't doubt your experience this was just additional discussion on the pros and cons of rebuilding an airplane. You made an earlier comment that alluded to the benefits of rebuilding H-1s and I just wanted to pull that thread and open up the discussion so it's more than "an 40yr aircraft that's essentially brand new!"
While the flying may not be experimental work, if the company that owns and operates that airplane doesn't do their due diligene to see where their ops fall in the approved ops and engineering history of the airplane and then follow up with a rigorous inspection policy they may be exposing themselves and their operators to risk of things like wings coming off of airplanes during firebombing runs.
Which I know you know, but some of what I post is for the larger group discussion and shouldn't be taken as a pointed rebuttal.