http://www.boeing.com/news/releases/2003/q2/nr_030619m.html
ST. LOUIS, June 19, 2003 Called the toughest combat aircraft in
the world the Boeing [NYSE: BA] AH-64D Apache Longbow multi-role
combat helicopter has a newly designed main rotor blade fold system
which adds flexibility to the U.S. Armys deployment planning for
force insertion.
In April the U.S. Army demonstrated that Apaches could be deployed
from Fort Hood, Texas, to the Middle East is as little as 66 hours
the time from notification to operation in the field.
In November 2002, the Army asked Boeing to develop a system that
would substantially reduce the time it takes to reassemble and have
Apaches ready to fly after they roll off a transport. The blade
fold system, produced by Boeing in Mesa, Ariz., speeds deployment
of the Apaches shipped by cargo aircraft.
The new blade fold system allows the main rotor blades to be folded
along the aircrafts length without being removed. The solution
also provides for storage of the Apache Longbows radar dome on the
aircraft aft of the rotor hub for transport.
The first 24 units were designed, developed and delivered in March,
four months after the initial request and ahead of schedule. It
took just 120 days to bring this program from idea to delivery,
said John Pennypacker, Boeing Blade Fold Project lead. A total of
48 units were delivered by mid April with the last six units
delivered one month early. It is a truly amazing
accomplishment.
The blade fold system also saves space. A single C-5 aircraft can
carry six Apaches, their flight crews, reassembly technicians and
their tools.
In the past, a second aircraft was needed to haul in special
reassembly equipment, and additional personnel. The blades had to
be removed and stored along with the radar apart from the aircraft,
taking up space in the cargo airplane and requiring more time to
reassemble at the Apaches destination.
Not only is the need for a test flight eliminated, continued
Pennypacker, but much of the equipment normally needed to lift the
blades and radar into place is also eliminated, saving even more
space.
This concept was recently verified at Lackland Air Force Base, San
Antonio, Texas, A Boeing team trained and assisted an Army unit in
preparing six Apaches, loading & unloading then onto a C-5
transport aircraft, and reassembly and flyaway of the
helicopters.
A unit of The Boeing Company, Integrated Defense Systems is one of
the world's largest space and defense businesses. Headquartered in
St. Louis, Boeing Integrated Defense Systems is a $25 billion
business. It provides systems solutions to its global military,
government and commercial customers. It is a leading provider of
intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance; the world's largest
military aircraft manufacturer; the world's largest satellite
manufacturer and a leading provider of space-based communications;
the primary systems integrator for U.S. missile defense; NASA's
largest contractor; and a global leader in launch services.
http://www.boeing.com/news/releases/2003/photorelease/q2/pr_030619m.html