PORT ANGELES — Recent upgrades to the Coast Guard’s workhorse helicopter have given the brightly colored birds more oomph.
Coast Guard Group Port Angeles received the first of three upgraded HH-65 Dolphin helicopters recently.
Two more are on their way.
The choppers may not be brand new, but they have more power — and when they arrived, the chopper with the new engine still had that new helicopter smell.
The old engines were capable of about 750 shaft horsepower.
The new engine packs a punch more than 1,000 shaft horsepower, said Chief Warrant Officer Bryan Hardy, a helicopter mechanic.
“That’s a lot of power,” he said.
With the old engines, the workhorse helicopters had a maximum speed of 190 mph.
“We wouldn’t get that unless we were in a dive,” said Lt. Steve Mahany, a pilot, who noted the maximum speed was usually about 165 mph.
With the upgrades, the maximum speed went up to 200 mph, and with the right conditions that may be attainable, Mahany said.
Time matters for Coast Guard helicopter crews who whiz to the aid of boaters in distress.
“Our on-scene time could definitely be a lot faster,” he said.
