Comments on: Baby steps

By: BillT

BillT — Sat, 29 Dec 2007 04:01:24 +0000

The Iowa ARNG is presently training the Huey II (future) aviators just outside of Baghdad, but the plan is to consolidate the school at Kirkuk sometime in late ’08; the Mi-17 guys aren’t doing much due to a severe parts shortage — the biggest problem, as Outlaw 13 noted , is the log train and the second biggest is getting the parts from the OE manufacturer. The Caravans are just, plain *nice* — complete with belly-mounted FLIR ball for those quiet night interdiction missions.

BTW, the first US-trained Iraqi IP recently qualified his first student for solo in the C-172. Baby steps, but at least they’re in the right direction.

“…I suspect the readers here will want to keep on eye on BillT in the not-too-distant future…” (awwwww — thanks for the plug, kidlet, but I ain’t all *that* good-lookin’…)

By: Outlaw 13

Outlaw 13 — Fri, 28 Dec 2007 13:29:41 +0000

The reason they are using diesel and not AV-gas is that there isn’t any AV-gas in the supply chain…plenty of JP-8 (diesel) though.

It’s all about logisitics.

By the way they are also flying MI-17s as well…right now.

By: MaxDamage

MaxDamage — Fri, 28 Dec 2007 06:10:30 +0000

Diesels? I can’t recall a diesel-powered aircraft since the Germans tried it in a bomber in World-War 2, but it has some potential. The fact that it can run on nearly anything liquid that can burn is a certain plus in an area without a lot of intact refineries. Economy is another plus — you cannot run too lean on a diesel, give it enough turbocharger to operate at altitude and it’ll sip fuel while growling along the hours. Power though? Not so much, compared to the gas motors, and a bit heavier.

Still, this is a suprise and points out that general aviation might not be banking on 104 octane avgas forever.

There was a mention of a supersonic strike fighter, a fine instrument and pretty good at what it does. Then again, it’s not so easy to take a heat-seeker up the tailpipe in a diesel-powered prop job. Might be a trade-off worth looking at there for a boarder-defense air force.

– Max

By: Daveg

Daveg — Fri, 28 Dec 2007 03:07:48 +0000

Depending on what jets they ultimately get, it seems that some experience with those nice Garmin glass panels might come in handy.

By: FbL

FbL — Fri, 28 Dec 2007 01:49:00 +0000

Chris, you’re right about the Hueys.

And ELP, there’s reason to be optimistic. BillT was recently over there and had some nice reports about the natural skills and outlooks of the helo and jet pilots-to-be he met. I got the impression that both he had his peers were very positive things.

I suspect the readers here will want to keep on eye on BillT in the not-too-distant future…

By: heidianne jackson

heidianne jackson — Fri, 28 Dec 2007 00:43:02 +0000

well, they may be sad that they don’t have the highest-tech toys, but i’m sure they’re happy they’re all flying. flying is like life’s blood to piolets and getting up on a regular basis keeps a piolet happy and itching for more.

glad to see they’re being so responsible as andrew so eloquently pointed out…