Tag Archives: AH-56 Cheyenne

On the road again…

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Last week I was on the road filming in Alabama, Florida, and Georgia with three of my Guns.com homies. While this involved such pedestrian adventures as living out of rental van/suitcase/hotels, eating unhealthy food, drinking black coffee, and dodging Hurricane Nicole (the first November H-cane U.S. landfall in 37 years!), I also got to visit old friends such as Big Gray AL:

Which is currently undergoing an extensive deck replacement program.

And stop in to get some behind-the-scenes “off-tour” stuff in at the Army Aviation Museum onboard Mother Rucker.

Was stoked to see all these guys in the same place at once– video coming soon! FWIW, good eyes if you spotted the world’s only Bell 207 Sioux Scout, the prototype Bell Model 209 Cobra — with retractable skids– next to a rare former Spanish Navy G-model Cobra, an early AH-64 Apache, one of only two Boeing–Sikorsky RAH-66 Comanches that exist, and one of only four surviving Lockheed AH-56 Cheyennes.

Anywhoo, I’m back now, baby, with no plans for (work) travel for the rest of the year, so buckle up.

Blades, blades, everywhere there’s blades

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Photo: LockheedMartin.com/CodeOne

Photo: LockheedMartin.com/CodeOne

The Lockheed AH-56 Cheyenne helicopter gunship featured a four-blade rigid main rotor, a four-blade anti-torque tail rotor, and a three-bladed pusher propeller. Powered by a 3,925 hp General Electric T64 engine, the Cheyenne had a top speed of 253 mph at sea level, which is blistering for a chopper of any make.

The AH-56 featured fixed wings, a tandem-seated pilot and co-pilot/gunner, and could carry 2,100 pounds of ordnance, usually listed as 2,010 rounds of 30mm ammunition, 780 rounds of 40mm ammunition, two FFAR pods holding thirty-eight rockets each, and six BGM-71 TOW antitank missiles.

First flown in 1961, only 10 prototypes were made before the Cheyenne program was canceled by the Secretary of the Army on 9 August 1972. The Vietnam drawdown and fact the chopper used legacy analog systems while the Pentagon was looking at going all-digital– which would have meant even more R&D– didn’t help its case. Likewise, Congress needed to allocate money to the Air Force’s A-10 program and the Marines’ AV-8A Harrier program, both in their infancy, and with three CAS initiatives going on at the same time, one had to be sacrificed.

Four still exist, all in Army Museums:

*No. 2 66-8827 is on display at Fort Polk, Louisiana.
*No. 5 66-8830 is stored at the Army Aviation Museum, Fort Rucker, Alabama.
*No. 6 66-8831 is on display at Fort Campbell.
*No. 7 66-8832 is on display at the Army Aviation Museum, Fort Rucker

Many of the technologies pioneered by the Cheyenne made their way on to other platforms, including the US Army’s current AH-64 Apache attack helicopter.

Top speed of the AH-64? 182 mph.