Army: $2.6 Billion Helicopters Unsafe To Fly On *Hot Days*

http://www.nbc11.com/news/14553593/detail.html

SACRAMENTO, Calif. -- The Army said Friday it is spending $2.6 billion on hundreds of European-designed helicopters for homeland security and disaster relief that turn out to have a crucial flaw.

An internal report obtained by The Associated Press said the choppers aren't safe to fly on hot days.

The Army said it was scrambling to fix the problem -- potentially adding millions to the taxpayer cost.

During flight tests in Southern California in mild, 80-degree weather, cockpit temperatures in the UH-72A Lakota soared above 104 degrees, the point at which the Army says the communication, navigation and flight control systems can overheat and shut down. <--- ON EDIT-I am not a pilot but that sounds like it could be important, in a helicopter.

as is Iran?

so much for our whole "night time advantage" thing

At least they'll keep an eye on those poor, hungry Canadians crossing the northern border...:rofl:

Every 30 minutes *DING* time to flip over (suntanning)

we spent how many billions on it, then changed the specs to match the plane, rather than have the plane match the specs, and it still has major problems.

I have heard of no missions, probably due to weather concerns, maintenance, repairs, and inherent weaknesses of that ungainly bird.

God knows we can't have the welfare of the military get in the way of a government contract!!!

I know this may be a real shocker but
http://tech.military.com/equipment/view/120629/uh-72a-lakota.html

History

In June of 2006 the United States Army selected the Eurocopter EC-145 as its choice for a pre-existing off the shelf FAA certified helicopter to fufill the role of light duty utility helicopter, designating its version as the UH-72A Lakota. The UH-72A will be manufactured in the US at the American Eurocopter facility in Colombus, Mississippi


http://www.eurocopterusa.com/home/default.asp

WALDEN, DAVID ERIC (AMERICAN EUROCOPTER/PRESIDENT OF SA), (Zip code: 76031) $1000 to SENATE VICTORY FUND PAC, THE on 04/26/04
http://www.city-data.com/elec/elec-CLEBURNE-TX.html

SENATE VICTORY FUND PAC
http://www.opensecrets.org/pacs/lookup2.asp?strID=C00202861&cycle=2006
Senate Victory Fund
Affiliate: Thad Cochran (R-Miss)
2006 PAC Summary Data

Rep. Roger Wicker (R) Miss. 1st district
http://www.house.gov/wicker/

I don't think anyone could have foreseen that the enemy would reside where it's hot. Give the poor defense contractor a break once, wouldja? Besides, there's a fix: Throw more money at the problem. Works every time for military hardware; not so good for roads and schools and such, so we don't use it for things like that.