A Helicopter the World Needs
Dr Ron Smith joined the British helicopter company Westland in 1975, working in Research Aerodynamics, remotely piloted helicopters, before becoming Head of Future Projects. He had a strong influence on the design of the NH90, and was involved in the assessment of the Apache for Britain. We asked him what to consider what helicopter the world most needs.
The Problem
Having been asked the question “what helicopter does the world need?”, I am thrown back to a query raised with me a couple of years ago. “Could you develop a fire-fighting or crane helicopter with a water / fire suppression load of 20 tonnes or more?”
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Proof in the metal of the Fuji s origin and identity
When we returned from decades in Africa and heard British pilots whine about the UK CAA, Madame and I would nudge one another and guffaw. âTheyâve no concept of what a really bad CAA is like,â Madame would say. Now, a couple of years later, we have had our own brushes with the CAA and realise that our guffaws were premature.
What we didnât know then was that
Gotcha! is also played in the UK.
Gotcha! is a favourite game for bureaucrats all around the world. The object of the game is for them to stop you doing whatever it was that you wanted to do in the first place. There are only two outcomes: a) they win when you give up and do what they want, or b) there may be a draw. We, on the other hand, can never winâthis is Rule One of the game, and it is the only rule.