HELICOPTER
The AH-64 was first
known as the Hughes YAH-64. The twin-engine,
two place attack helicopter was Hughes Helicopter's* entry in the U.S.
Army Advanced Attack Helicopter (AAH) competition which ran from
1973 to 1976. The AAH program was initiated to develop an attack
helicopter for antiarmor operations in day, night, and adverse weather
conditions. The program was begun soon after the cancellation of the
Lockheed AH-56 Cheyenne program.
Both competitors for
the AAH award, the Bell YAH-63 and the Hughes
YAH-64, first flew in September 1975, and two flying prototypes of each
were delivered to the U.S. Army for evaluation in May 1976. The Army
selected the Hughes design on 10 December 1976.
The production version
had several design changes including a new
empennage and the first production aircraft was not delivered until
1984. The last of 821 production AH-64As was delivered in 1996.
Other examples were also built for export customers.
Approx 540 AH-64As are
scheduled for conversion to the AH-64D
variant which includes a new cockpit, mast-mounted sight and provision
for Hellfire missiles.
This CD contains the
US Army flight manual for the AH-64A Apache
military helicopter.
