Recent content by Pinco Pallino

Recently a brochure for the AW249 was published by Leonardo: https://helicopters.leonardo.com/documents/16114711/0/BROCHURE+AW249.pdf?t=1694165110714 As always, brochures are just for marketing and the specifications shown are over-simplified, but they can be useful. I've pieced together some...

Reusing the exact main components (main gearbox, main rotor, tail rotor) is possible and has been done many times in history, but the end result will be a different helicopter type that will require its own development and certification.

Nobody has ever adapted an extremely expensive and complex attack helicopter into a firefighting one. And there's many good reasons why. (and no, the old AH-1 Cobra used by the US Forest Service do not count as they were used only for observation) This even without considering the attack...

This is completely nonesensical. I imagine whoever wrote that news misunderstood something.

Looks and subjective taste aside, what I've seen appears more like an "iron bird" (a rig for ground test only) rather than a proper completely functional prototype. I'd be perplexed if this will end up being an actual prototype used for flight testing.

Second prototype of the AW249 has flown last week https://theaviationist.com/2023/03/22/prototype-of-aw249-attack-helicopter-in-combat-livery-flies-for-the-first-time/

Developing a functional and relatively reliable hard-kill APS (flares are also technically an APS countermeasure) would surely be incredibly challenging and expensive. Possibly too much complex and expensive with current available technologies. Most Western nations apparently are investing in...

Thanks, I'll take as further confirmation that ATAK Faz-1 aicraft (and consequently the older and less capable EDH) didn't have LWR and RWR. Nice to see that the Turkish Army is planning not to leave "anything behind" by upgrading as many machines as possible to Faz-2.

Hello, I'm a new user. Recently I've been digging a bit about the T129 ATAK, but unfortunatly there's not that much detailed information about it in English available for free. May I ask if someone of you can clarify some doubts I have? The recently introduced T-129B Phase 2 variant of the...