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

[Icelander]

Originally Posted by phayman53

I like your focus on realism, but I think you are misunderstanding why the Navy and Coast Guard use different helicopters than the Army and Air Force. The difference in Navy/Coast Guard equipment and Army/Air Force is not because the land based services' helicopters are not seaworthy and resistant to salt water, but rather because of other mission specific issues. The salt water problem specifically, as far as I know, really only became an issue with its possible corrosive effects on fragile stealth aircraft skins, and that is definitely not something you are worried about. The reason Navy helicopters are different come down to probably 4 reasons from what I can tell (though I am NOT an expert):

It's entirely possible.

I'm mostly basing my concern for the effects of salt water on aircraft on the research I did for amphibious aircraft or seaplanes, where the maintenance issues caused by landing in seawater instead of lake water were frequent topics of discussion on forums dedicated to such things. And there exist specific models of amphibious aircraft designed for use at sea.

I realize that helicopters don't actually land in the water, but from my limited experience of rescue operations at sea (exercises only), a helicopter picking up a patient from the deck of a ship or rescuing someone in the water will throw up a lot of water with its rotor wash. So, I thought that salt water might play havoc with maintenance of helicopters as well as seaplanes.

Originally Posted by phayman53

1) Wheels to move around the deck of aircraft carriers and other shipboard hangers without having to air taxi
2) Folding or compact rotor blades for shipboard storage
3) Ocean specific radars, sonars, and weapons for engaging surface and/or submerged ships
4) Preference for more than one engine for over-water redundancy in case of engine failure

For a monster-hunting organization using yachts and other single-helicopter pads, #1-3 are not important. #4 is definitely useful, but the UH-1N Twin Huey started seeing service in 1970, so they could always use those if they are worried about being over water with one engine.

Compact-ness matters a lot, because we want to be able to refuel at least the smallest type of helicopter used from ships small enough not to draw too much attention.

Originally Posted by phayman53

Also, most Navy and Coast Guard specific helicopters that would still be operational today are much heavier than the UH-1 or even the UH-1N (which top out at 9500 lbs and 10500 lbs respectively). You can see a list of US Navy helicopters here to check this:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_o...ry_helicopters

The Sea King, for instance, was twice as heavy as the UH-1, and the current SAR helicopters for the Navy and Coast Guard are also pretty much as large as the Sea King. The exception to this that I can tell is the current light helicopter for the coast guard, the MH-65 Dolphin. It is about the same size as the UH-1 and would probably be great, but it is a 1980s design and I think that may be newer than you want. [EDIT: If you are trying to operate from a very large yacht, I think 10000 lbs is probably about the largest you want your helicopter to be. Even then, that may be a stretch.]

These are all excellent points.

Especially when it comes to size and weight. I want helicopters that are TL7, can carry about as many as the Huey, but weight as little as possible, so that the size of the ships required to supporting them is as little as possible.

Originally Posted by phayman53

Another advantage to using UH-1s from this organization's boats is training and parts commonality, which is a BIG deal for a private organization with (compared to a military) limited personal and logistics. If they are already using them for shore-based operations, it would make sense to also use them from their boats unless there is a reason they would not work.

Training and parts commonality works somewhat differently when you have a Patron that controls stakes in many multi-national corporations. In that case, you might have many charter companies and logistics firms that can provide aircraft services, but only a few individuals with each company are aware of the occult and provide special aircraft services.

So, for example, if ERA Group Inc. has a fleet of Agusta A-119s, Eurocopter EC-135s and Sikorsky S-61s, even if only one of those helicopters is routinely used to support Night Rider (Monster Hunter) operations, you still have parts commonality with the rest and while your read-in mechanics might have to fix some kinds of damage (or disguise it, at least), generally, you use uninitiated company staff for all kinds of maintenance.

There are some charter companies that are, officially at least, entirely unconnected to any of the Patron's businesses and these may exist for no other purpose than to operate archaic aircraft for entirely illegal services to monster-hunting vigilantes. Some of them might also run other charters, to provide camouflage if nothing else, but their reason for existing is to shuttle Night Riders out of dangerous situations.

I've provided one such company with four UH-61 Iroquois 'Huey' helicopters. For them, yes, this means parts commonality, but it won't really impact another charter company set up with clandestine funding, in some other part of the country (or in another country entirely).

So even if the helicopter of choice in Louisiana and environs is the Huey, that doesn't mean that whatever operation is set up in Florida has to copy it. After all, there is no pressing reason that the people in Florida even have to know about the charter company in Beaumont, TX.

And as for whatever is set up in Nassau and in other places in the Caribbean, it won't share any traceable connections with the charter companies in the US that provide illegal services. They might have maintenance contracts with legitimate logistics firms in the field of offshore oil or yachting, but they won't have any connections to the company in Beaumont that operates Hueys.

That being said, I'm not ruling out using Hueys. They are iconic helicopters that are exactly the right technology level and size for what I want. They also come with a pool of qualified pilots with military and security experience that is probably the largest we can get. Those are real advantages.

But I thought I'd explore what other options there were.

Originally Posted by phayman53

I really do think you should just have them use their Hueys from boats as well unless you need them to be able to do other Navy or Coast Guard things like tracking and sinking surface ships (and even then, adding a sea track radar pod of some kind would do the trick). But my understanding is you want insertion, extraction, and possibly rescue. I think the UH-1 or possibly the UH-1N would be great for that, even from boats.

I agree that they make great options, especially in terms of size. And tracking surface ships is theoretically something that might be done (but more probably by a drone), while sinking them won't be.