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| Science & Technology |
| Denel SA rolls out new Rooivalk (Red Falcon) combat support helikopter |
| 2011-04-03 |
| Posted by:Besoeker |
| #11 Steve, your right about keeping the money at home. |
| Posted by: 49 Pan 2011-04-03 22:45 |
| #10 The great failures of aviation = "funnies" deserve our respect, as they physically dev + tested various concepts which at the time appeared inviolate ["cutting edge"]to many Perts + Believers, etal. but ultimat proved to be defective, due mainly to misunderstandings of the intricacies of Aerodynamics, Power-Energy + Material Science. As for the ROOVIAK gunship, the on-going BATTLE FOR LIBYUH = BATTLE FOR EGYPT + EAST AFRICA = BATTLE FOR CONTROL OF THE SUEZ CANAL + TRADE FLOWS. The Jihad will duly come to SOUTH AFRICA soon enuff. |
| Posted by: JosephMendiola 2011-04-03 20:10 |
| #9 The first one, that I pictured, was the PA-39 system. The video showed the Piasecki PA-97 Helistat heavy vertical airlifter. That basically was the PA-39, attached to an airship. But even laymen could take one look, like the voices in the video, and tell it was stinker. As far as the PA-39 goes, about anyone should have been able to tell that the same thing would happen, that is, it would vibrate apart; or just as bad, the helicopters would set up a harmonic--to much the same result. |
| Posted by: Anonymoose 2011-04-03 19:28 |
| #8 Good grief, Ret - that's even worse. What were they thinking? |
| Posted by: Barbara Skolaut 2011-04-03 19:12 |
| #7 Barb: Moose's picture may be only a computer concept, but here is a link to a video of the real thing. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_7jENWKgMPY |
| Posted by: USN,Ret 2011-04-03 17:40 |
| #6 "USN, Ret: I can see why it failed." Good lord, 'moose, is that picture real? Looks more like a joke, or something from a bad sci-fi movie, or a Rube Goldberg failure. |
| Posted by: Barbara Skolaut 2011-04-03 16:06 |
| #5 USN, Ret: I can see why it failed. There is no way a cheap and cheerful version of that could work. It needs an organic design with computer airflow analysis that they couldn't have had back then. They followed it up with a scheme to lash it to an airship that just had FAIL written all over it. A reasonable alternative might be to use centrifugal fan pods for additional lift and stabilization during VTOL. But no matter how you slice it, a 70 ton lift isn't easy. |
| Posted by: Anonymoose 2011-04-03 14:30 |
| #4 49 Pan, part of the idea here is to maintain a domestic helicopter industry (I think). They'll build the Rooivalk even if it's beaten six ways to Sunday by an Apache Light just to keep their arms industry going. |
| Posted by: Steve White 2011-04-03 14:09 |
| #3 The "heavy" cargo version would likely be a quad rotor helicopter, much like two Chinooks in tandem Several years ago, the Piaseki Helicopter Company (a newly formed one, not the one bought by Boeing/Boeing-Vertrol many years ago) had a flying 4 helo lash up; using a rigid airship as the central point, 4 S-58's (minus tail boom and tail rotor) were bolted up to it. it actually flew but was too complex/cumbersome and eventually crashed, killing the pilot. progect abandoned. |
| Posted by: USN,Ret 2011-04-03 11:34 |
| #2 Good money after bad. This aircraft has been around for 20 years. It has never proven to much more than a problem to SA. It has never had the R&D necessary to get into the hunt. They would have better spent the money on what Boeing is caling the Apache light. |
| Posted by: 49 Pan 2011-04-03 10:33 |
| #1 They have a different definition of "combat support", by which they mean "combat". Personally, what I think is needed more is a whole range of "workhorse" transport and cargo helicopters. The "light" version would be able to transport a fire team and their equipment, so two would be able to transport a squad. Like a somewhat larger version of a Huey. It would also need Medevac accessories. The "medium" version would be almost exclusively cargo, up to I'd guess a 6 ton (12,000 lb.) lift. This is asking a lot, so it might have to be a dual rotor, like a Chinook, which has a 14 ton (28,000 lb.) lift. The "heavy" cargo version would likely be a quad rotor helicopter, much like two Chinooks in tandem. It would shoot for the 'magical' 70 ton lift that could boost an M1 Abrams. To be able to move a tank company over a mountain range in one day is a game changer. |
| Posted by: Anonymoose 2011-04-03 09:50 |
