U.S. Army Grounds Entire Fleet of Chinook Helicopters Flights of the workhorse choppers are halted due to engine fires, U.S. officials say

WSJ ^ | 8-30-22 | Andrew Tangel and Gordon Lubold

[dynachrome]

Not good.

[Bernard]

I wonder where the part in question came from. OE?

[armydoc]

Spent quite a few hours in “big windys” (or “s***t hooks”) in 95-96 as a flight surgeon in Korea. Surprisingly, they were the fastest chopper in the Army inventory at the time. Don’t know if that’s still the case

[ConservativeInPA]

Must be a maintenance issue. Too many woke training sessions and not enough work.

[no-to-illegals]

Any chopper that has been near sand is suspect (imho)

[JennysCool]

When I see stories like this, or the "supply chain crisis" or the "baby formula shortage" I know that Trump would call the right people and bark the right orders, and the problem would be solved in record time for government work.

Of course, with Trump in charge, these problems and many others might never have materialized in the first place.

[Sergio]

Fastest helo in the Army inventory. 196 MPH

https://www.19fortyfive.com/2022/07/chinook-helicopter-big-and-fast/

[V_TWIN]

“A Honeywell spokesman said the engine maker worked with the Army to determine that certain components known as O-rings didn’t meet the company’s design specifications. He said the parts were installed during routine maintenance at an Army facility”

O-rings.......NASA can tell you how critical they are.

[Secret Agent Man]

This all falls with wiping out our military supplies and response ability.

If anything thats what Ukraine is all about. So we don’t have an arsenal of various weapons to defend ourselves anymore.

[Paal Gulli]

"I wonder where the part in question came from. OE?" The problem is believed limited to 70-ish airframes with Honeywell engines. Honeywell claims a 3rd-party vendor is to blame. Not clear from what I'm reading whether this is from the Block 2 upgrades.

[steve86]

Yes, but the Sikorsky SB-1, or whatever they call it now, in development, has hit 235.

[pfflier]

Nope, bad “O” rings. A fairly common practice overall to ground the fleet until inspection, repair as necessary.

[Paal Gulli]

"Fastest helo in the Army inventory. 196 MPH" The US Army has no "helos." They have "copters."

[Java4Jay]

Final check and fit is on the Tech. O-rings don’t go on dry and should fit snug.

[If You Want It Fixed - Fix It]

Darn engines aren’t woke enough.

[caltaxed]

O-Rings and fasteners can really bite you in the ass.

[Sergio]

Sikorsky claims the SB-1 Defiant is designed to go 460 kph or 285 mph. That is moving for a prop plane, let alone a helo.

[Travis McGee]

Golly gee, those Chinook “workhorses and staples of the fleet” are practically NEW!

Thank goodness we’re not like those backward Orc Russians, relying on old obsolete stuff!

Those Chinooks are state of the art!

[MotorCityBuck]

Are they Electric helicopters. 😂

[C210N]

This seeming story is bunk - there is something going on under the covers.

With the fall of Baghdad, this is the worst time to ground anything. Same for F-35’s over ejection seats a mere few weeks ago.

bidAn is being maneuvered into the 2022 version of Afghanistan and Kabul. Total seeming incompetency, grounding stuff that would have been extremely useful to evacuate some territory.

With emphasis on ‘seeming’.