Lockheed’s attack helicopter that almost changed Vietnam - AH-56 Cheyenne

this video is brought to you by Squarespace flying low over the jungles of Vietnam is a new type of helicopter the world has never seen it flies as fast as a plane carries as many Munitions as a tank and puts a be Kong in their place roaring into battle this aircraft was America's first official attack helicopter utilizing Technologies never built before incorporating Cutting Edge design ideas like a 3 60 Gatlin Cannon despite this prototype being so incredible the US Army would only build 10 of them and then cancel the entire project they wouldn't even have an advanced attack helicopter for another 12 years insane right so why did they do that why did America give up on its first attack helicopter and why today do we wish that they they never abandoned it the truth is much Stranger Than it might seem involving politics Rivals like Bell helicopters and the Vietnam War all playing a part to put a stake in loi's hard one dream this is the story of the Cheyenne ah56 L's answer to the helicopter if there was one thing the Army was excited about in the late 1950s that was the helicopter here was a new type of aircraft that was flexible could land anywhere and conquer any terrain it was the perfect logistical machine for transporting troops and medical Evac but back then helicopters were really kind of pathetic and not suitable for combat and this was something that the Washington government knew quite well with the Department of Defense directive forbing the Army from engaging and close air support with these machines and limiting helicopter empty weight to only £20,000 but the Domino that would set it all off would be one war that would change everything Vietnam by the start of 1962 the Army realized that the helicopter platform could provide close air support Beyond transporting troops and started to equip its uh H1s with machine guns and a few with grenade launchers but it was the invention of anti- armor missiles or particularly the tow system that really put the helicopter in the Spotlight as a game changer now it could be used to hunt enemy armor Bell helicopters the manufacturer of the uh1 saw the writing on the wall and approached the military in June of 1962 with a pure attack concept called The d255 iroy Warrior it would be based on the uh1b airframe but featured Dynamic components with a nose mounted ball turret a belly mounted gun pod and stub wings for mounting Rockets or anti-tank missiles but this kind of backfired for Bell because it only got the Army generals excited and they realized that they needed a fresh new helicopter design one's primary purpose that wasn't transporting troops but to seek out and engage the enemy and thus a competition began this helicopter was revolutionary it was fast powerful and was cutting edge compared to the competition but the engineers spent so damn long working on this design that they didn't sit down to figure out the marketing thinking that it would just sell itself If Only They had been smart like you and got a Squarespace website now I love helicopters especially ones like this that were almost the future of Aviation but it's a damn shame to see it not break through into its own proper use and it's something that I don't want to see happen to your own business or project that's why I choose Squarespace websites for my own website and store powered by the fluid engine Squarespace has hundreds of temp plates to choose from and it's super easy to spend more time making videos for you here and still have an amazing responsive website one that worked on both mobile and desktop without me having to do anything extra in fact it's what I use for my Channel's merch store found in explain DOD shop and it's one of the Squarespace e-commerce templates it's that easy that even I can do it but now I'll make it even sweeter for you for watching my little Channel and airplanes try Squarespace for for free for 14 days and receive 10% off your first purchase at www.squarespace.com sound so not only do you get my gratitude for making all of this possible but you also get a sick discount initially the military believed that Bell's idea was the solution and set the requirements for the new aircraft to be quite low they believe that a company like Belle could just provide a make do product for now whilst other manufacturers who mind you had no experience making helicopters could then spend a few years developing an actual proper attack helicopter concept but this idea didn't go over well with the secretary of the army who said look if we're going to spend this amount of money on our first attack helicopter we might as well go as advanced as possible something that would dramatically improve over current helicopter designs thus the new conditions were set and the Army wanted a rotary Wing aircraft with 100 95 knot Cruise speed a 220 knot dash speed and the capability to hover out of ground effect at about 6,000 ft on a 95° day all of this was based on the idea of a new type of logistical transport helicopter that the Army would need to escort with this helicopter an eventual CH 47a Chino the chinuk was so fast that it blew the Bell d255 out of the race immediately imately as well as the stop Gap uh1 oops so the real competition began in 1964 it was called the advanced aerial fire support system and The Usual Suspects piled in with some pretty crazy ideas first there was Bell with the d262 a modification of the d255 but still a conventional helicopter design by this point Bell had been rejected twice and they weren't going to take another rejection sitting down sakori submitted the s66 which featured a roto prop that would serve as a tail rotor but as the speeds increased would actually rotate 90° to act as a pusher propeller conve also submitted their model 49 a tail setting Colo copter that I've actually got a video all about here on the channel and it's possibly one of my most favorite helicopter designs but it's the last design that's the hero of today's story loed submitted the C L 840 design a rid rotor compound helicopter with both a pushing propeller and a conventional tail rotor mounted at the end of the tale soosi and loid were chosen to proceed with their Concepts a choice that would have massive ramifications for Bell yet again they were rejected a choice that would set them seething to their very core and they would go away muttering under their breath that they would get revenge against whoever won the contract but for now it was actually LED's time to shine as they won the contract to produce an initial production order of 375 aircraft thanks to being cheaper and more redundant than the other design and this is what they came up with Loy devised an aircraft as a compound helicopter melding a helicopter and a fixed Wing traits to enhance performance chiefly the speed the blueprint Incorporated distinctive elements like a rigid main rotor Wings position low and a rear Pusher propeller this setup allowed the helicopter to slow down or accelerate without pitching the nose up or down as well as being able to pitch the nose up or down at hover without causing the helicopter to accelerate forwards or backwards which was perfect for firing weapons and something unseen at this point in helicopter design its primary power source would be a general electric t64 turboshaft engine that would push most of its power to The Pusher propeller at the aircraft's rear at elevated speeds the wings lift and push from the propeller actually mitigated the rotor's aerodynamic load allowing it to fly steady like an airplane with the rotor only contributing up to 20% of the lift it's as if they could get rid of the rotor and turn it into an airplane oh would you look at that I'm getting ahead of myself again although the Prototype of attain speeds exceeding 200 knots its compound design precluded it from qualifying for helicopter speed records darn the helicopter boasted a tandem cockpit accommodating two seats and equipped with Advanced navigation in her Fire Control Suite the pight occupied the rear seat when the Gunner occupied the front notably the Gunner station featured a rotating setup incing the entire seat sighting apparatus and firing controls to maintain alignment with the controlled gun turret which was pretty unheard of at the time the Gun Site facilitated direct viewing from the turret via periscopic site while the pilot utilize a helmet mounted sight system for weapon aiming the weapon placements Endor the nose and midsection of the aircraft's underbelly the nose turret offered a rotation of around plusus 100° from the aircraft Center Line and could house either a 40 mm grenade launcher or a 7.62 mm minigun this ition on the belly the tart house a 30 mm automatic cannon with a 360° rotation although there were mechanical limits restricting it aiming at any part of the helicopter itself but it doesn't stop there because it also had six external hard points they would disperse along the helicopter's underside with pairs positioned beneath each wing and two on the fuselage beneath the sponsors the inner Wing hard points accommodated pods that carried three anti-tank missiles each while the other four hard points could house small Rockets either up to seven or 19 in pods or two external fuel tanks so pretty much with all these weapons this aircraft was a killer and on the 21st of September 1967 it took to the skies for the first time and was dubbed the ah56 Cheyenne loed was so embroidered by this aircraft that it actually started a development on a civil version as well called the cl12 6 it would have been a 30-seater helicopter and given access to that helicopter Market preparing a whole new division for LED's future there was also a proposal for a marine version and a Navy version of this attack aircraft and as I mentioned before there was also a cheeky design to turn it from a helicopter into an airplane that's right take the fuselage and make it a normal attack aircraft with two turbo Jets on each Wing which is something I admit I haven't seen before for loed this was the last happy day of the program for you see Bill had been waiting in the wings for their time to strike this new attack helicopter [Music] down you see Bel took the loss of the contract hard they were the helicopter people in America and they didn't like the idea of a new upstart locked coming into their territory and making the first official attack helicopter especially considering that their uh H1s had been so effective in Vietnam up to this point so they sat down and they said stuff it this time we're just going to make our own version of the attack helicopter on our own dime and without telling anybody about it using as many parts of the uh1 as possible they were quickly able to Build Together by 1965 their own version called the model 209 Bell would unveiled this model 209 prototype on September 3rd 1965 followed by its inaugural flight Just 4 days later marking a milestone achieved a mere 8 months after they lost that contract and slightly under their own budget approximately 20 US Army officials bore witness to this historical flight quite surprisingly considering they hadn't even heard of it until that day and it's this audacity that quickly spread the word about this aircraft with even US Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara reportedly visiting the site displaying Keen enthusiasm for the project Bell asserted during this phase of the project that production units could potentially even be prepared for service within a year this was a huge blow to loed Bell had built an attack helicopter right under their nose without contract and could start production of units within 12 months Loi themselves were still years away with production only to begin in 1972 and still another 2 years till their first prototype would take to the skies and with the war in Vietnam heading up and 50,000 troops on the ground the Army realized that they needed an interm attack helicopter yesterday so they quickly put together another contest for armed variant of a helicopter that already existed and wouldn't you know it that the Bell 209 the one that was currently flying in impressing generals won this surprise interm contract the US Army promptly signed the first production order getting an initial batch of 110 aircraft but by the end of the year they came back with a follow-up order to increase it up to 500 cobras oh that's right it was called the ah1 Cobra this was an absolute nightmare for loed who saw their production contract slipping from their fingers but this would only be the tip of the iceberg as the contest between the two Rivals just got [Music] deadly tragedy would strike the locked helicopter development when David a Beal a test pilot for the program was killed on the 12th of March 1969 when the rotor on the third prototype struck the fuselage and caused the aircraft to crash the pilot was actually testing to see how far back the rotor could tilt unaware that the safety had been deactivated resulting in the Tilt exceeding the safe Zone and chopping the rotor in half but this was not the only setback during the wind dunnel test another airframe wasn't secured correctly and the fuselage was again ripped apart by a similar rotor Collision on the April 10th of 1969 the Army issued a cure notice to loed highlighting 11 technical challenges and expressing dissatisfaction with the program's progress after all they already had an attack helicopter now operating in Vietnam and loed had yet to deliver a single production unit among the primary concerns of the technical issues was the vibration problems the rotor Collision issue and the aircraft's weight exceeding the program specifications in response Loy proposed an improved flight control system to mitigate the rotor oscilations and outlin measures to reduce the excess weight and address the other minor issues in production helicopters however the Army saw right through this and deemed that locki solutions to the Cure notice as potentially even further delaying the program and escalating costs even more no longer would this helicopter be the cheaper solution especially again with bell helicopters in full production due to loy's inability to adhere to the production timeline the Army decided to terminate the ah56 production contract on May 19th of 1969 this was a huge blow to the program with the military deciding to continue the Development Fund just in case that something fruitful would come from the program alas it would be a few more years that locky's number would be called so let me paint a scene for you as to why exactly the program was cancelled because it turns out that the truth is a little bit stranger the first criticism was the fact that it was behind schedule because of the Advanced Technologies in the ah56 Cheyenne the program ran into serious delays and cost overruns thus Congress was severely critical of the program however Advocates of the ah56 argued that the program was just about to succeed but it would still take several more years for this aircraft to actually go into the field and help soldiers on the ground eventually loed had eliminated nearly all of the issues with the program but it was languishing under an awkward procurement process put in place by the Secretary of Defense by the time the aircraft was ready for production in 1972 the Army was becoming interested in a helicopter with Knight and all weather attack capability a requirement that was not included in the original Cheyenne contract the Cheyenne's analog and mechanical weapon systems were becoming out of date as new digital systems were more accurate faster and lighter and being developed embarrassingly this came to a head in 1972 when the Army organized a weapons demonstration for the Senate armed services committee to showcase the Cheyenne's Firepower and rally support for the advancement of attack helicopter development to try and get this helicopter out the door during the demonstration the initial tow missile launched failed veering into the ground and not coming anywhere close to its Target however a subsequent missile fired successfully and actually hit the target but prior to this incident there had been 130 missile tests without any failures nevertheless the failure of the first missile in this critical demonstration became associated with the perceptions surrounding this helicopter so Congress thought that it was behind schedule and flawed but they also had another concern you see at this same time the Air Force was developing a close attack aircraft the A10 Thunderbolt and the Marines were negotiating to buy the Harrier so now there were three aircraft in development that relatively performed the same role at least in the eyes of Congress so why exactly were they funding this third version that had no evidence of success lastly the losses so far of helicopter aircraft in Vietnam painted a new picture of what the military needed by this time the ah56 with its single engine and complex systems was no longer suitable and the use of the ah1 had superseded any urgency for this locked helicopter in the end the Army realized that it needed a less complicated combat system with the ability of a lighter helicopter with the backing of Congress they decided to move ahead with an advanced attack helicopter initiative to realize all the new technologies being developed and to give it another go the Boeing Corporation through McDonald Douglas would eventually step in with what was to become the recognized ah64 Apache series Loy did offer the CL 1,700 a modified version of the cyan with two engines and emitted The Pusher propeller but it wasn't successful and with all that the ah56 was cancelled and locked would never build another helicopter the ah1 was meant to be a stop Gap until the ah56 could be developed and then actual combat experience with the former in Vietnam suggested that something more rough and rugged was preferable to the sophistication of the latter helicopter but we can only imagine what could have been because you see the ah56 was really quite Advanced it could fly very fast and when the US military sat down to create a helicopter that was better than it it took them nearly 20 years the Cheyenne was a superior anti-tank platform and a superior platform to the later Advanced attack helicopter program it was also available to be in service 12 years earlier than what would eventually come you can imagine that had they just put it straight into production you would have been upgrading it throughout its lifetime and it would have been far more reasonable than developing a new helicopter and plus Beyond Vietnam this helicopter would have been very useful in war theaters like Kuwait Afghanistan and Iraq where slower helicopters were targeted as we saw with the unsuccessful Soviet invasion of Afghanistan several years earlier meaning that with hindsight and looking back it's my own personal opinion that the US Army should have never canel this helicopter if the Cheyenne would have entered production I'm sure it would have ended up like the Chino with multiple Generations buil built up to this day and become a legend in its own right what do you think let me know down in the comments obviously I've tried to analyze the situation of this helicopter and why it was canceled with the best of my ability and looking at all the sources available to me but it's very likely that perhaps there were many other reasons that I haven't been able to pontificate in this video and something that we can have a little chat down in the comments so do let me know what you think and I wanted to especially thank all the patreons that made this video possible today and thank you so much for those that have checked out the merch store and seen the stuff that we have there thank you again so much for watching and I can't wait to see you in the next video

Channel: Found And Explained

Views: 225,876

Keywords: aviation, news, documentry, history channel, flying, engineering, history, discovery, real engineering, mustard, wendover, airforce, soviet, usa military, cold war, ww2, world war 2 documentry

Id: loGO47fDXRc

Length: 22min 41sec (1361 seconds)

Published: Sun Apr 28 2024