Quote:
Originally Posted by Icelander
Those are certainly serious issues.
Are there any other amphibious helicopters that might exist in greater (operational) numbers by 2018?
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I couldn't find any other smaller helicopters with a boat hull design besides the HH-52. Most seem to be in the size range of the S-61. The Russian Mi-8, for instance, is larger than the S-61.
However, if you needed amphibious ability in a smaller sized helicopter, you could apparently put floats on the skids of a UH-1 (which also probably means it is sufficiently resistant to salt water for ship board use):
https://www.flickr.com/photos/41910848@N06/34634527610
Actually, you can probably find a way to put floats on many helicopters with skids, but I am sure there is a performance hit.