Lockheed XAH-56 Cheyenne Walkaround
Location: US Army Aviation Museum, Fort Rucker, Alabama
Date: June 1, 2008
Commentary: Doug Dropeskey
Photographer: Doug Dropeskey
The Lockheed AH-56 Cheyenne was a two-seat, single-engine, rigid-rotor, compound helicopter with low-mounted, fixed wings and retractable main landing gear. The AH-56A was the design winner of the United States Army's Advanced Aerial Fire Support System program in 1965 to establish a technologically advanced, dedicated attack helicopter. It was armed with a 30mm cannon in a belly turret and either a 7.62Êmm minigun or a 40Êmm grenade launcher in a nose turret. It was also capable of being armed with 2.75 inch rockets and TOW missiles. The Cheyenne's compound helicopter design was intended to provide a 212 knot dash capability in order to serve as an armed escort to the Army's transport helicopters.
Lockheed was awarded a production contract in 1967 but was unable to deliver production aircraft by 1968, and the production contract was subsequently canceled in 1969. A total of 10 prototypes were built, with two destroyed during testing. Many features developed for this aircraft eventually appeared in the AH-64 Apache.
You can find more information about this aircraft in the Wikipedia.
For more information about the U.S. Army Aviation Museum, please visit their website.
Walkaround (select a picture to view at full size):
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| Pusher propellor hub (directly behind looking forward) | ||||
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| Tail wheel (on right looking forward) | Tail wheel (on left looking forward) | Tail wheel (directly behind looking up and forward) | ||
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| Tail intake (on right looking up and left) | Tail intake (on right looking up and aft) | Engine exhaust fairing on top of aircraft (on right looking forward) | ||
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| Panel detail on the right side of the aircraft, just behind the main wing (on right looking left) | Vent on the right side of the aircraft, over the main wing (on right looking left) | The underside of a propellor blade, where it meets the hub | ||
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| Right side engine intake and propellor hub (on right looking up and forward) | Fairing below the aircraft, between the main wings (on right looking right) | The underside of a propellor blade, where it meets the hub | ||
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| Right forward landing gear showing wheel and hub (on right looking left) | Right forward landing gear strut and door (on right looking left) | Right forward landing gear strut (on right looking forward) | ||
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| Right forward landing gear strut (on right looking forward) | Right forward landing gear strut, upper portion (on right looking forward) | Right forward landing gear well (on right looking aft) | ||
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| Right forward landing gear (on right looking left) | Right forward landing gear (on left looking aft) | Right forward landing gear well (on left looking aft) | ||
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| Right forward landing gear (in front looking aft) | Left forward landing gear (on right looking left) | Internal bay between wings, accessed from bottom of aircraft (looking up and aft) | ||
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| Internal bay between wings, accessed from bottom of aircraft (looking right, up, and aft) | Internal bay between wings, accessed from bottom of aircraft (looking right and up; blurry) | Internal bay between wings, accessed from bottom of aircraft (looking right, up, and forward) | ||
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| Internal bay between wings, accessed from bottom of aircraft (looking up and forward) | Internal bay between wings, accessed from bottom of aircraft (looking left and up) | Internal bay between wings, accessed from bottom of aircraft (looking left, up, and aft) | ||
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| Internal bay between wings, accessed from bottom of aircraft, forward portion of roof (looking up and left) | Internal bay between wings, accessed from bottom of aircraft, rear portion of roof (looking up and aft) | Internal bay between wings, accessed from bottom of aircraft (looking directly aft); note debrie on bay floor | ||
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| Internal bay between wings, accessed from bottom of aircraft (looking directly forward) | Internal bay between wings, accessed from bottom of aircraft, looking through forward hole (unknown orientation) | Internal bay between wings, accessed from bottom of aircraft, looking through forward hole (unknown orientation) | ||
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| Internal bay between wings, accessed from bottom of aircraft, looking through forward hole (unknown orientation) | Internal bay between wings, accessed from bottom of aircraft, looking through forward hole (unknown orientation) | Forward fuselage (on right facing left and slightly aft) | ||
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| Weapon turret (on left looking aft) | Pitot in front of canopy (on left looking aft) | Stencil detail below canopy (on left side looking right) | ||
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| Grill on front of left wing fairing (on left looking right) | Panel detail above wing (on left looking right) | Panel detail above wing (on left looking right and aft) | ||
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| Intake and rotor hub (on left looking right, up, and aft) | Rear canopy rail (on left looking right) | Rear canopy (on left looking right) | ||
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| Fixed middle canopy section (on left looking right) | Forward canopy with front seat in view (on left looking left) | Forward canopy with front control panel in view (on left looking forward and left) | ||
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| Forward canopy with front control panel in view (on left looking forward and left) | Access panel on underside of aircraft behind turret (on right looking aft, up, and left) | Fairing and structure on underside of aircraft below cockpit (on right looking aft, up, and left) | ||
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| Fairing and structure on underside of aircraft below cockpit (on right looking up and left) | Forward canopy with front seat in view (on right looking aft and left) | Forward caopy with front control panel in view (on right looking forward and left) | ||
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| Rear canopy with rear seat in view (on right looking aft and left) | Rear caopy with rear control panel in view (on right looking forward and left) | Fuselage vent and exhaust on rear of wing (on left looking right); probably for an auxilary power unit in the port wing, as the starboard wing does not have this feature | ||
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| Tail assembly (on left looking aft and right) | Tail rotor (on left looking aft and right) | Tail rotor hub (on left looking aft and right) | ||
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| Tail rotor hub (on left looking forward and right) | Tail rotor mount (behind and below looking up and forward) | Tail rotor hub (on right looking forward and left) | ||
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| Tail rotor mount (behind and below looking up and forward); I was dive bombed by the bird nesting in there | Tail rotor mount (above, behind, and right looking down, forward, and left) | Rivet detail on top of tail surface (behind looking forward) | ||
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| Left side of aircraft and engine (behind and left looking forward) | ||||
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