Aurora AH-56A Cheyenne

[tigercat2]

After about 30 years of searching, I have latched onto a 1/72 Aurora Cheyenne.  It will join my other Cheyenne built in the late 60s (like an idiot, my third Cheyenne met its fate via firecrackers in about 1970).

After doing a bit of research on this aircraft, I find that over $400M in 1970 dollars were spent on it (that's about $3B in todays money) and it was all     wasted when the AH-56 was canned for good.  A very short time after its final cancellation, the Army started a brand new procurement effort which resulted in the AH-64 Apache.  It seems like that $400M investment could have been put to good use by finishing the Cheyenne; all the problems could have been solved and we would have had an excellent weapons system 10 years before the Apache.


Wes W.

[tomo pauk]

That it was powered just one engine was often quoted as a reason for ditching out the Cheyenne. In a what-if world - US Army buys it as-is in couple of hundreds, while ordering the twin-engined version of it, very much like the Marines got the twin-engined AH-1s. Although, it would still wait for the Hellfire to became available in 1980s.

Another thing with Cheyenne in service would probably be the earlier adoption of compound helicopters, for transport and general utility along with combat machines. Eg. for the USA, a CH-53-sized machine with wings and pusher prop? Puma/Super Puma, Mi-8/17/24/35? UH-60 as a compound helicopter 30 years earlier?

[sandiego89]

......like an idiot, my third Cheyenne met its fate via firecrackers.......

Glad I wasn't the only one- I lost a few kits to firecrackers, magnifying glass and flame demise.....

I think I only got one to do a particularly impressive mid flight breakup via firecracker- a DC-10.

A P-61 met an especially gruesome demise.....by the way a 1/48 kit can put out lots of black smoke......   

[kerick]

......like an idiot, my third Cheyenne met its fate via firecrackers.......

Glad I wasn't the only one- I lost a few kits to firecrackers, magnifying glass and flame demise.....

I think I only got one to do a particularly impressive mid flight breakup via firecracker- a DC-10.

A P-61 met an especially gruesome demise.....by the way a 1/48 kit can put out lots of black smoke......   

We've all been there with one kit or another. A Revell 1/32nd Stuka comes to mind......

[The Wooksta!]

Heller DC6 with bog roll, parafin and a blank .303 round...

[kerick]

There was another Cheyenne build around here somewhere....

Ah! here it is!
http://www.whatifmodelers.com/index.php/topic,40351.0/highlight,cheyenne.html

[zenrat]

I stuck to putting skyrockets into paper gliders, plastic models were far too rare for me to blow them up as a lad.

Looking forward to pics of the Cheyenne

Yep.  I never burnt any or blew them up either.  My pyromaniac tendencies were confined to white spirits, rags and the bird table.

[KiwiZac]

There was another Cheyenne build around here somewhere....

Ah! here it is!
http://www.whatifmodelers.com/index.php/topic,40351.0/highlight,cheyenne.html

Great little kit, I'll have to find another.