This article appears in Dec 18-24, 2008.
Sea King Madness
Were I a Taliban soldier crouching by the side of the road nothing would terrify me more than the approach of a Canadian Sea King helicopter, for, by now, the news that these 46 old wrecks are at risk of dropping out of the sky at any moment must surely
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So, have you ever been in the air force? Have you actually seen them do maintenance on these aircraft?Or are you just basing your assumptions on the fact that the aircraft are ‘old’?
Yeah, you do know that even though these rigs are “old” the maintenance done on them makes them “new”. Like brand new.But, lets just say that they are old and decrepit, just for kicks. I’m think that would make them the LAST thing I want being used in an actual life or death emergency. But that’s just me.
I got to watch one once as it was being driven back from Hartlens Point to Shearwater because it broke down on its flight around EP. They had to shut down the street because the flatbed they had to haul it on took up both sides.
Viego- LOL read this (wiki’d Sea King”):”…A Sea King is used as one of the official helicopters of the President of the United States and is operated by the United States Marine Corps. It is known as Marine One when the president is actually aboard.”
Good point Guyute,,,Sea Kings are actually still made and the ones that are being produced now are one of the most technologically advanced helicopters in the world. The US uses them, the British military as well.
This froma recent article about our Sea Kings.”…The Sea Kings require 30 hours of maintenance for every hour of flight, and they are unavailable for operations 40 per cent of the time. …” I do not think the OP is saying this because they are old, I think the OP is saying this because these Sea Kings are Pieces of Shit. It does not matter how many times you rebuild them. These old Sea Kings are wore out. End of Story.We would not even have them;they would have been replaced by now if Politicians would stop over-riding each others decisions when there is a change in Government.