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

[phayman53]

Originally Posted by johndallman

Take a look at the HH-52, which was a USCG rescue helicopter for decades. It's like a smaller version of the Sea King, definitely handles seawater, uses the same engine, and should lift ten people without problems.

A suggestion for a cover for helicopter operations: an aircraft preservation group, like a smaller-scale version of the Commemorative Air Force.

There are several of problems with using the HH-52 though:

1) They are really old. The last one was built in 1969. While that doesn't mean you couldn't get one flying reliably, helicopters age significantly worse than fixed wing aircraft. You could get UH-1s that have much younger airframes. There is also a difference between getting sobering ready for occasional historical flights and combat operations.
2) Only 175 were ever built. That is a pretty small number compared to the more than 16,000 UH-1s of all variants. Finding surviving ones that can be made air worthy and cannibalizing parts will be much more difficult.
3) It's performance was not great. It's speed topped it at 95 knots and it cruised at 85 knots. Even for a helicopter, that is a bit on the slow side. By comparison, the UH-1 cruises at 109 knots and tops out at 117 knots.

It does have the not insignificant advantage of being able to actually land in the water though, and it has 1.5x the range than the UH-1, so there are advantages.