[octex]

...admiration for the Cobra AH-1.
One of the best fighting helicopters I’ve ever had the pleasure of mixing into my airport traffic area,...
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The Super Cobras (AH-1W and AH-1Z) being turned out before I retired in 2001 were REALLY badass combat aircraft!

I know the Apache is a good machine, but believe politics played heavily in their procurement.

[Yosemitest]

I don't like the Apache because it was grounded for computer problems 75 percent of the time, while I was on active duty, and that's why I referred to it as a "Hanger Queen".
I retired in 2000.
I agree with you about the politics of aircraft, and the Apache was one.
Another is the Osprey, which was proven to be a serous threat to our own troops because of it's mechanical and design problems when it first came out in the late 80s and early 90s.