Spec-Ops Hind

[Jeffry Fontaine]

Oh, I dunno, in the 80s the Hind (along with the Blackjack) made NATO intel types everywhere wet their pants in fear

I had no real fear of the Hind or the Blackjack.  What I worried about was the Su-24 Fencer coming in low across central Germany to attack US/NATO command posts where I was usually stationed.  Nothing says your goose is cooked like having someone over fly you at near the speed of sound to let you know you have been identified and attacked, even though it was only a war game...

I had started something similar several years ago and then shelved it.  My inspiration came from a novel about some special operations organization that had to infiltrate into the USSR by helicopter which was a modified Hind.  A good project name for it would be PAVE HIND.  

My own attempts to modifiy the Monogram kit included adding a nose mounted radar pod that was taken from the old Monogram F4U-4 Corsair kit.  This was going to be mounted on the underside of the nose in place of the gun.  ''

I had earmarked other modifications for it and intentionally left off the armament since I figured it was going to need a lot of fuel to get in and out of the objective area and fuel tanks were going to take priority over other weapons loads.  Besides the best part of being the infiltrator is to not make the locals aware of your presence and shooting up the country side is not a good way to hide your intentions.  

I do like the door gun option, that is something that would be a good idea.  But to be honest, if you have never been in the back end of a Hind, you have no idea how cramped it is (and I have been in the back end of the Hind).  

I still think about the modificaitons I wanted to do on my own kit, and have it stashed away until I can get around to it again.  

Good luck with your modifications.

[nev]

According to various sources, the idea of the Hind hauling troops didn't work very well.  In Afghanistan, it was the practice to use the Mi-8s as troop carriers, with the Mi-24s flying escort.  According to an account on Air Vectors, most Mi-24s carried, at most, a gunner in the troop compartment, firing an MG out of either side of the compartment.

Yeah, but that was more a function of the altitude than a failing on the Hinds part, they had to do rolling take offs just to get off the ground

[noxioux]

How's this for a spec-ops camo scheme.



It would be a great bird for the kinds of special small-unit actions demanded by ye olde war on terror.

[Shasper]

US politicians will buy whatever they can that sends money back to their districts, whether or not the US military needs or wants it. Louisiana's Senator Trent Lott is notorious for this;

Lott IS NOT from Louisiana!

And those Hinds are base right up the road from me at Ft. Polk.


I've got ideas for a SoCom Hind floating around in my head(Mi-35 w/ mods from the MH-47). Camo as of rightnow would be a artic 3 or 4 tone, but that could change, not sure about the loadout.

Ves B)

[elmayerle]

This thread starts revving the imagination again, I keep thinking of a cross between the Hind and either the HH-53K or a HH variant of the CH-53E.  Do either of these concept make sense?  It did occur to me that it'd be appropriate for two companies founded by Russians to work together.

[noxioux]

This thread starts revving the imagination again, I keep thinking of a cross between the Hind and either the HH-53K or a HH variant of the CH-53E.  Do either of these concept make sense?  It did occur to me that it'd be appropriate for two companies founded by Russians to work together.

Be careful.  You could end up with some grody thing like the 'Hind' on First Blood 3.  That would not be good.

How about modifying the cargo bay on a CH-53E, turning it into a bomb bay a la B-1B, rotary launcher and all?  BH-53 maybe?

If someone were to do a 1/48 Revell B-1, with one or more of the bomb bays closed that would be a perfect donor.  There is a 1/48 HH-53, isn't there?

[Tophe]

It's not just the manufacturers. The politicians themselves are rather keen on 'buying American'.

Politicians are not to be blamed, I think, they have logics: when you buy $10 a Russian/Chinese model kit, the US seller keeps maybe $5 (gives $2 maybe to the government/state) and all the rest goes to Russia/China; when the opponent product is US-made and sold $50, the US seller keeps maybe $10 (gives $4 maybe to the government/state) and the rest goes to the manufacturer boss and employees (giving maybe $16 to the state/government). And the goal is not (not always at least) to make local politicians very rich: with that money the state/government builds roads, hospitals, schools, so the electors may be satisfied with such a system, even if the price of a similar product is higher.

What is bad about American politicians is that they command "buy American" also to foreign countries, condemning strongly the local-favoritism of local-politicians trying to act as American politicians.
Well, this is very logic, but rather unfair.    

[elmayerle]

Agreed, Tophe.  Which is what makes the disputations over "Marine One" so interesting (or amusing) to the observer in that both teams are trying to paint themselves as "More American Than the Other Team" to help get that "Buy American" advantage.  As I've said before, I just want to see the government get the best equipment at a fair price.

[elmayerle]

This thread starts revving the imagination again, I keep thinking of a cross between the Hind and either the HH-53K or a HH variant of the CH-53E.  Do either of these concept make sense?  It did occur to me that it'd be appropriate for two companies founded by Russians to work together.

Be careful.  You could end up with some grody thing like the 'Hind' on First Blood 3.  That would not be good.

How about modifying the cargo bay on a CH-53E, turning it into a bomb bay a la B-1B, rotary launcher and all?  BH-53 maybe?

If someone were to do a 1/48 Revell B-1, with one or more of the bomb bays closed that would be a perfect donor.  There is a 1/48 HH-53, isn't there?

Actually, I was thinking more along the lines of a blending of a "Hind A" and a MH-53K or, if you really wanna lift ordnance, a "Hind A", a MH-53K, and a CH-53E (engines,mechanicals, and bits of major structure).

[Joe C-P]

US politicians will buy whatever they can that sends money back to their districts, whether or not the US military needs or wants it. Louisiana's Senator Trent Lott is notorious for this; he even blew over US$1 billion on an LHD that the USN did not want or need.

Senator Trent Lott is from Mississippi.  
Matt B)

Sincere apologies to Louisiana   , and instead much abuse to Mississippi. :ar:
Of course, I could easily name politicians from every state and both major parties that abuse defence funding; it's not limited to a few scum, unfortunately, and the US military suffers for it.

JoeP, from the most corrupt state in the Union, New Jersey    

[Matt_S]

According to various sources, the idea of the Hind hauling troops didn't work very well.  In Afghanistan, it was the practice to use the Mi-8s as troop carriers, with the Mi-24s flying escort.  According to an account on Air Vectors, most Mi-24s carried, at most, a gunner in the troop compartment, firing an MG out of either side of the compartment.

If you're going to do a spec ops variant, you'll want to go with one of the later models with shorter wings.  On the older models, the wings block the downdraft from the rotors, making hover difficult for more than short periods, a definite drawback for support missions.  Those ones that Toad mentions, the Mi-24P/Mi-35PS, have shorter wings.  They can't hump as much ordnance, but they have improved performance at lower altitudes.

If you'd like, I can scan those images from Combat Aircraft, and add them to my Yahoo.

Which issue of Combat Aircraft?  I have one that has a feature of the Hind in it.

Matt B)