Re: [High-Tech/Vehicles] Rugged, Simple SAR/Medevac Helicopters
 

Thanks.

Of course, PCs are rather more likely to be in a situation where they are smuggling the weapons and gear to carry out a covert mission inside Venezuelan waters/borders and being transported by former SWCC, SEALs, etc.

Re: [High-Tech/Vehicles] Rugged, Simple SAR/Medevac Helicopters
 

Updated Huey derivative, the Griffon:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bell_CH-146_Griffon

Re: UH-1 Hueys
 

I think I remember (don't feel like digging up the book right now) that Vietnam surplus aircraft are sometimes used for wildfire control. Handy things for dumping some Hotshots on an LZ or dropping a giant bucket of water or chemicals on the really nasty parts. And for medevac too of course.

Wildfires in the West can be so big you would think Curtis LeMay's ghost is making mischief. They're not as bad in the East from what I remember, something about climate. That is not implausible as Americans move so much they are practically seminomadic. Dealing with them can require a small army (it's actually something of a hodgepodge so it's more like a feudal levy than an army). Some people just either get really good at the job or get drunk on testosterone and re-up whenever they start drumming up recruits in the summer. A Huey pilot might be doing that sort of thing several years in a row.

Re: [High-Tech/Vehicles] Rugged, Simple SAR/Medevac Helicopters
 

Just some quick notes, in no particular order:

Salt water ingestion is the primary maintenance impact on turbine helicopters in over-water operations. Since the alloy surfaces that are most vulnerable to corrosion are also the ones that have to be exposed for heat control, etc., the only solution is to wash the engines down with fresh water on a frequent basis. (This also applies to operating in volcanic ash, which might be a thing in a supernatural campaign.)

Twin engines are the most important feature for over-water operations. This is why the Marines use UH-1N's and SuperCobras.

Skid-equipped helicopters have ground handling wheels that attach to the skids and raise them off the deck using hydraulic hand pumps or levers. They get used all the time for things like pushing in and out of hangars, so deck handling is not significantly different.

A two blade, semi-rigid rotor system (like a Huey or a Jet Ranger) is relatively easy to tie down and stow. It's only when you get into four-blade rotor systems that you have to worry about folding blades.

Most of the helicopters flown to oil rigs in the Gulf are (or were) Bell Jet Ranger variants. For special ops, don't forget that 160 SOAR uses MH-6/AH-6, which are military MD500 variants and have a lineage going back to the LOH in Vietnam.

Even with auxiliary tanks, helicopters based on the US gulf coast aren't going to be able to reach the Caribbean islands. You're probably better off basing in Puerto Rico or the US Virgin Islands, or even Haiti (if it doesn't have to be US territory). Great Circle Mapper has some useful tools for showing operational ranges from airports (which it will also find for you) or geo coordinates.

Any ship with a flat, unobstructed deck can work as a tender. An old LST is ideal, but I'd suggest looking for an open-deck, ocean-going ferry -- one with most of the superstructure to the rear. There are usually a half-dozen suitable ones for sale used at any given time worldwide, for a couple of million dollars (depending on size and condition). This also allows you to carry and deliver ground vehicles in shallow water or to minimally prepared docks.

Basing
 

I'll address the rest later, but note that the base on Beaumont, TX, is for supporting operations in East Texas and Louisiana, not in the Caribbean islands.

I have bases on Trinidad, St. Lucia and the Bahamas, and I probably want a base on the Virgin Islands, either US or British. There are also offices on some other islands and a pilot with a seaplane, so it might make sense to base a single helicopter on some of them, say maybe some of the French Overseas Territories.

To some degree, it will depend on where, if anywhere, I can get the Soviet helicopters acquired in the early 90s type certified. At some point, the PCs are going to want an Mi-14 or M-8 to be part of their planning.

Re: UH-1 Hueys
 

Wildfires in the East may not be so frequent but they can be plenty bad. In California you get fire season in the fall after a long dry summer. In Florida you get fire season in late spring after that season has been too dry and the summer raisn don't arrive on time.

In 1998 things got so bad we ended up with lots of firefighters from other states and (I heard at the time) 90% or 95% of the firefighting helicopters in the US They were a favorite thing for filming by the local news teams and there were Hueys but there were Chinooks, Bell Rangers, Aerospatiales and everything else with rotors that could haul a "Bambi bucket". Florida was a good place for helicopter bucket dumpijng as you usually did not have to go far to find a water source.

Re: UH-1 Hueys
 

Hmmm... yeah, firefighting sounds like a good experience to have for Huey pilots in the years leading up to the first hires.

Re: [High-Tech/Vehicles] Rugged, Simple SAR/Medevac Helicopters
 

I'm creating an NPC pilot who got her experience flying those for the Canadian Air Force; Anne-Tamara Gauthier (b. October 2, 1983; Montreal, Quebec, Canada). Served in the 427 SOAS from 2008-2016.

For Kessler's people, she'll fly a modified Bell 212, which is a more primitive version of what she flew in the service.

Re: [High-Tech/Vehicles] Rugged, Simple SAR/Medevac Helicopters
 

Sounds good - and good to see you here.

Re: [High-Tech/Vehicles] Rugged, Simple SAR/Medevac Helicopters
 

Thanks.

No good explanation. I'm just so unsuited for anything remotely 'social media' esque that once I stop using something daily, I stop even remembering how. Fortunately, the thingy knew how to autofill my password.