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I S S U E 40T H E M A G A Z I N E F O R T H E C I V I L H E L I C O P T E R I N D U S T R Y

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I N T E R N A T I O N A LI S S U E 40

PICKING UP THE PIECES

3824 58

ISSUE 40

C O N T E N T S

r E g U l a r f E a T U r E S

Sharp EyE IN ThE SkyLA-based Helinet is forging new territory

in US electronic newsgathering – pioneering

new technologies and capabilities in

helicopters across the country. 24

pICkINg Up pakISTaN’S pIECESFrancois Marais joins the aerial clean

up operation post Pakistan’s devastating

earthquake. 38

a-STar abOvE EvErESTDidier Delsalle shares his flying techniques

used to achieve his record-setting landing

on Everest’s summit. 50

jUST hUmmINg alONgHummingbird - a small but successful

ag operator cutting a big niche in a small

agricultural belt near San Diego. 58

cover shot by NEd dawSON

Helinet Aviation’s fully Hi Definition B2 AStar

chasing the news over the freeways of Los Angeles.

From the Editor 3

New Products and Services 5

Personal Profile – Bob Evans,

Port Harcourt, Nigeria 15

European Connection – Natural

Disasters’ First Responders 17

Legal Counsel – Risk Management 19

Flight Dynamics – FADEC – What is it? 21

Maintenance Update – Ins and Outs

of the Compressor Wash 23

Subscription page 33

The Last Word – Is It Time for

Performance Heliports? 64

50

3

Well, the light utility helicopter

decision has been announced! With this

LUH decision following the presidential

helicopter decision there can no longer

be any criticism levelled at the US for

being US-centric when it comes to buying

helicopters for government agencies.

Eurocopter must be a very happy company

now and rightly so – it won out against

some great competition! Parent company

EADS should be taking some solace in this

decision after the problems with its Airbus

subsidiary and its A380.

Sikorsky also has reason to be happy

as it will be providing the support

infrastructure for the

UH-145. Competitions

such as this make

for some strange

bedfellows; who would

have ever thought

archrivals Eurocopter

and Sikorsky would get

it on?

MD’s boss, Lynn

Tilton, has certainly

made her views about

the decision well

known – describing it as

an “outrageous decision

completely at odds with

supporting American

industry.” Some might

question Tilton’s view

that “the award of a major American

military contract to a foreign company

belies rationality when US companies

produce superior products for

better value.”

The challenge now is support, and

I think the industry is showing signs of

strain. Customers are demanding new

helicopters which operators can’t supply

because manufacturers’ production

lines are booked out years ahead. Used

helicopters are worth more than new

ones in some cases simply because they

are available. But even they are getting

rare. At the time of writing, one particular

operator searching for a Bell 212 could

only find one decent example in the

world! In a seemingly ridiculous twist, the

same operator had to buy a new AS350B3

as a parts ‘Christmas tree’ because it

was quicker than getting parts from

Eurocopter; two years for a new machine,

up to three years for parts! This problem

appears to be very much an ongoing issue

for the French manufacturer, so hopefully,

by the time the US Army starts receiving

its 145s, the support issues that seem to

dog Eurocopter will have been resolved.

In our last issue, we ran a feature

article on helicopter

emergency medical

services that questioned

some aspects of the way

helicopter emergency

medical services were

operated, and the

methods being used in

an attempt to lower the

accident rate. It certainly

stirred up a hornet’s

nest in some areas, and

while I may not agree

with all points of view

in that story, I do believe

it is important that we

canvas a range of ideas

that seek to improve the

safety of the industry.

I am a big believer in tools such as risk

management and night vision goggles,

and it seems to me that where those

tools have been used, there have been

noticeable improvements. The points that

Rick O’Neal raised, however, were truly

worthy of consideration and debate. If they

stirred up a hornet’s nest — well, good!

First it means that you are all reading the

magazine, and second, something good

usually results from spirited discussion.

Just don’t get personal.

So, once again, fly safe and keep up

the feedback! n

by mark ogden

PUBLISHerNeville (Ned) dawson

edITormark Ogden

dePUTy edITorrob Neil

US edITorSdustin blackaaron fitzgerald

Uk edITorSarah bowen

LegaL edITorrobert van de vuurst

eUroPean edITorandrew healey

TecHnoLogy edITorNick lappos

ITaLIan correSPondenTdamiano gualdoni

ScandInavIan correSPondenTrickard gilberg

ProJecT managerCathy horton

Proofreaderbarbara mcIntosh

deSIgngraphic design Services ltd

Pre-PreSSvision Through Communication

PrInTIngprint world

edITorIaL addreSSOceania group Intl pO box 37 978, parnell auckland, New Zealand phONE: + 64 21 757 747 faX: + 64 9 528 3172

[email protected]

WeBSITewww.heliopsmag.com

is published by Oceania group Intl.

Contents are copyright and may not be reproduced

without the written consent of the publisher. most

articles are commisioned but quality contributions

will be considered. whilst every care is taken

Oceania group Intl accept no responsibility for

submitted material. all views expressed in heliOps

are not necessarily those of Oceania group Intl.

f r O m T h E E d I T O r

Made in the USA

Competitions such

as this make for some

strange bedfellows;

who would

have ever thought

archrivals Eurocopter

and Sikorsky would

get it on?

AerospAce FiltrAtion systems, inc. 1-636-300-5200 fax 1-636-300-5205 www.AFsfilters.com Contact AFS for information on systems pending certification.

Protecting the engines of freedom.

Protecting the engines of the world.

If you need effective engine protection, you need AFS.AFS leads the industry with high-performance, engine inlet barrier filtration systems for

commercial and military propulsion systems. Our military systems are serving around the

globe and the results are impressive — increased capabilities and reduced operating costs.

The OH-58D Kiowa Warrior fleet has been accumulating significant operating hours in Iraq

under the harshest conditions, and their engines are reaching Time Between Overhaul limits.

A true testament to the value of AFS inlet barrier filters.

Wherever you find hard-working helicopters, you’ll find AFS systems. From the desert of

Iraq to the desert of Arizona, AFS systems are protecting engines, enhancing performance,

and delivering a range of benefits that help operators do what they do best.

AFS 1P ad HO.indd 1 1/9/06 1:29:56 PM

STayINg dry

Switlik has won a major

contract with the USCG to

provide the Aircrew Anti

Exposure Garment (AEG)

for its rescue aviators.

Switlik’s ‘U-Zip-It’ Aircrew

Dry Suit was the winner of

a three way competition

conducted over five months

at various Coast Guard

air stations. The U-Zip-It is

a breathable, fire resistant

dry suit, which provides

comfort and mobility for

its wearer along with a

high level of cold-water

immersion protection in case

of an emergency. A low-slung

zipper makes donning a lot

easier than standard

designs and articulating

elbow and knee patches

improve movement

significantly.

Switlik also won a USCG

contract to provide its

Inflatable Single Place Life

Raft (ISPLR) to its rescue

aircrew and swimmers. The

ISPLR has a fully reversible

buoyancy tube and canopy

system. Its low-slung floor

enhances seating comfort and

stability, while its pressure-

relieving U-shape design adds

functionality in high heat

flight operations.

N E w p r O d U C T S a N d S E r v I C E S

afS fOr 429AFS has been selected by Bell to provide a fully integrated

high-performance inlet barrier filter (IBF) system for the 429

as part of the FAA Type Certificated design.

According to AFS, its high-performance filters are more

efficient and deliver the best protection with the least loss

of performance, and at a lower weight when integrated into

the initial design, than are inertial separators in low-airflow

applications. The 429 program also benefits from a new

teaming arrangement between AFS and Donaldson Company,

which is developing an advanced filter to ultimately

introduce its dry-media filter technology on multiple rotary

wing platforms. The dry media simplifies service by using

compressed air or an environmentally friendly cleaning

solution and water; eliminating the time and attention

required to dry and re-oil filters.

aCrOhElIprO aS350 ShOrT ShafTAcrohelipro has received

approval from Eurocopter to

balance the AS350 Tail Rotor

Front Section Shaft (Short

Shaft) P/N 350A34-0150-03 per

AHGS Engineering Balancing

procedures. ACROHELIPRO is

the only shop approved by

Eurocopter to balance this

short shaft in North America.

afS CErTIfIEdAFS has received an STC

from Transport Canada for

an Inlet Barrier Filter (IBF)

system for the 206B. The

approval clears the way for

Canadian operators of 206Bs

to maximize engine protection

while reaping big performance

and maintenance benefits

from law enforcement and

combat-proven military

technology. The system also

may be used on the OH-58A

and C. The IBF system for

the 206B features flat filter

assemblies and an integral

bypass design. The filter

may be replaced via a quick

access door in just 15 minutes.

An integral maintenance

aid allows for on-condition

maintenance between

established cleaning intervals,

eliminating unnecessary

service.

faCIlITy OpENEdAn airborne rappelling demonstration from a 412 by the

South Australian Police STAR Force marked the official

opening of the Australian Helicopters facility at Adelaide

Airport, home of the Adelaide Bank Rescue Helicopter

service. Australian Helicopters says that the facility boasts an

emergency response capability unequalled in Australia with

up to the minute emergency rescue equipment and advanced

systems together in the one location. The fully integrated

facility has been designed to be completely self sufficient to

reduce response times by having its own fuel capacity and

on site crew quarters.

lyCOmINg CErTIfIEdLycoming has received EASA type certification for the IO-580-

B1A and is now able to provide a powerplant solution for the

European certified customer base. With the reliable direct

drive (no gear box reduction necessary), the purpose-built IO-

580-B1A has an excellent power to weight ratio. The engine is

rated at 315hp at 2700rpm, and has a 2000-hour TBO. The IO-

580-B1A engine is now the largest displacement six-cylinder

engine certified with EASA.

mdhelicopters.com

ANDY LOGAN Chief Technology Officer Inventor of NOTAR®

MD Helicopters, Inc.

American Pride Rising to New Heights. | phone 480.346.6344 | e-mail: [email protected]

“As the Chief Technology Officer at MD Helicopters, it’s not only my job to make sure we build exceptionally safe helicopters, it’s my passion. The same passion that drove me to create NOTAR®, a safer rotorless system that you’ll find only on MD Helicopters. Along with its added safety benefits, this anti-torque system is significantly quieter than the traditional tail rotor. In addition, all MD aircraft moving forward will be safer than ever with standard features like wire strikes, cockpit voice and video recorders, health and usage monitoring systems and terrain awareness warning systems. It’s a new day at MD and we want to share with you our passion for safer skies through technology.”

wINgSpEEd COmmUNICaTIONS Wingspeed has developed two low-cost XLLink System

models designed for fixed-wing aircraft and helicopters.

With the new XLLink System Model L and Model H, fleet

operators now have access to a complete line of end-to-

end communication systems for advanced flight tracking,

two-way text messaging, voice calling, and a broad range of

Aircraft Communication Addressing and Reporting System

(ACARS)-type data services. The Model L will retail for

approximately US$3,500 and offers tracking capabilities for

fleet operators. The Model L generates and sends messages

containing aircraft GPS information to Wingspeed’s ground-

based servers via the Iridium Satellite Network. Wingspeed

properly formats and routes data via a secure internet

connection to customers’ operation centres anywhere in

the world. The Model H also offers voice calling capability,

free-text messaging, and ACARS-type data services via the

Iridium Satellite Network. The Model H can utilize a hand-

held PDA or Electronic Flight Bag (EFB) in the cockpit to

turn the aircraft into a node on the network. The complete

Model H system (not including PDA or EFB) will retail for

approximately US$9,000 per aircraft.

mdhelicopters.com

ANDY LOGAN Chief Technology Officer Inventor of NOTAR®

MD Helicopters, Inc.

American Pride Rising to New Heights. | phone 480.346.6344 | e-mail: [email protected]

“As the Chief Technology Officer at MD Helicopters, it’s not only my job to make sure we build exceptionally safe helicopters, it’s my passion. The same passion that drove me to create NOTAR®, a safer rotorless system that you’ll find only on MD Helicopters. Along with its added safety benefits, this anti-torque system is significantly quieter than the traditional tail rotor. In addition, all MD aircraft moving forward will be safer than ever with standard features like wire strikes, cockpit voice and video recorders, health and usage monitoring systems and terrain awareness warning systems. It’s a new day at MD and we want to share with you our passion for safer skies through technology.”


pICO by NamESELEX Sensors and Airborne

Systems has conducted

the successful first flight of

its latest lightweight radar

product known as PicoSAR.

Flying on a Twin Squirrel out

of Cumbernauld, in central

Scotland, the radar was able

to map various urban and

rural areas across the country.

PicoSAR was operated at

various altitudes, ranging from

3,000ft to 9,500ft. SELEX S&AS

has specifically developed

PicoSAR as a lightweight,

compact Active Electronically

Scanned Array radar for small

airborne platforms, such as

UAVs and helicopters. PicoSAR

is a Synthetic Aperture

Radar which provides high

resolution ground mapping

and ground moving target

indication in all weather

conditions. This radar builds

on existing technologies that

have been in development for

over 10 years. Although the

primary target for PicoSAR

is to meet the requirements

of the tactical UAV market,

this flight trial on the Twin

Squirrel helicopter highlights

the radar’s ability to provide

a sensor capability for

helicopters and fixed-wing

platforms.

When you need a replacement window for your helicopter, you need it now.

Your aircraft is sitting on the ground — not flying missions, not carrying

passengers, not moving things around. In short, it’s costing you money

and it’s not doing its job.

Our job at Tech-Tool Plastics is not only to design and build

the best windows for your helicopter, but to keep them

in stock. That means chances are, if you need one, we

have it on our shelf right this very minute. And that

means the sooner you call, the

sooner you’ll be back where you

need to be — flying.

We keep your needs in mind. (And in stock.)

Tech-Tool Plastics Inc., 7800 Skyline Park Drive, Fort Worth TX 76108 USA1-800-433-2210 1-817-246-4694 fax 1-817-246-7402 www.tech-tool.com

TT ad HO2.indd 3 11/16/05 9:44:02 AM

hIdEf IN UkCastle Air Charters has invested in a new high definition

HD Cineflex camera as UK demand for aerial photography

booms. Keith Thompson, Chief Pilot, said Castle Air, based in

Trebrown in Cornwall, had been commissioned to do work

for the third in the BBC Coast television series. Castle Air

filmed the initial Coast programme and the follow-up. “We

are filming this third series in high definition,” Thompson

added. “More and more people are asking for it.” Castle Air

is also filming in high definition for BSkyB on the National

Trust which looks after properties deemed to be worth

preserving in the national interest.

ENSTrOm gOES braZIlIaNEnstrom has brought Bringer on as a new member of its worldwide dealership network. Bringer was first established in the US in 1983, and has been operating in Brazil since 1989. Bringer has several offices throughout Brazil, and operates two 767-300F and a Twin engine Seneca in a variety of roles, along with a recently delivered Enstrom 480B to support the dealership. Bringer’s parent Company Overcom Aero Products, supplies aircraft parts throughout the Brazilian Territory. The Bringer’s sales office for the Enstrom product line is strategically situated in the heart of the city of Sao Paulo, Brazil. In addition, the company’s partnership with Helipark, Latin America’s largest specialized service center for helicopters, will offer premier maintenance and service on the Enstrom product line.


EUrOCOpTEr ChOOSES SErvIgISTICSEurocopter selected

Servigistics to enhance

its global Service Parts

Management operations.

The Servigistics solution

is intended to provide

Eurocopter with global

visibility of service parts

providing advanced

intelligence into the

management of Performance

Based Logistics (PBL) and

Power by the Hour (PBH)

service contracts.

The company said that

after a lengthy and

rigorous evaluation

programme, it concluded

that the Servigistics

system had a strong European

infrastructure that could

handle high levels of

complex data.

ENvIrONmENTally frIENdly hUEySEnvironmental concerns have prompted CDF to modify its

entire fleet of Super Hueys – used for fire fighting operations

throughout California – by fitting Dart fuel-purge canisters to

collect unused fuel from shutdowns and false starts, which

can then be easily recovered in a controlled area.

CyClE COUNTErAKV’s newest cycle counter will allow all operators of

AS350B, BA, B1 & B2 helicopters to conform to the latest

cycle counting requirements for the Arriel 1. Standard Ng

Cycle Counters in the field can be upgraded to include Np

cycle counting. Field programming is available with the use

of the Ground Support Equipment and current users of the

field programming package will receive a new software CD

included with upgraded units. For operators of the

Arriel 1B engine installed in the AS350B and BA, AKV will

soon have available a retrofit kit to allow installation

of an Np tachometer generator and TSO’d dual tach indicator.

This will allow for monitoring of Np rpm by the pilot and

coupling of the Np signal to the new Cycle Counter. AKV

have also been busy in finalizing STC approval for LTS101.

Approval is planned for 3rd Qtr, 2006 and will include the

AS350D and Soloy AS350B2 conversion. Also in the works is

a new cycle counter for the 205 and UH1-H.

NIghT vISION fOr pOlICEPilots with the East Midlands

Air Support Unit are now

wearing NVGs, the first

police operation in the

UK to equip a whole crew

with NVGs that meet new

CAA regulations. The unit,

which provides aerial cover

with an EC135T1 for police

forces in Northamptonshire,

Warwickshire and

Leicestershire, has purchased

three sets of Fenns NG2000

night vision goggles. Its

internal lighting has been

converted to be compatible

with the eyewear. The aircraft

required significant alterations

to make sure that all internal

lighting, including the officers’

airwave terminals, were

compatible with the goggles

to prevent flaring.

LLoyd (Snake&ladd (Converted)-1 4/3/06 6:00 PM Page 1 C M Y CM MY CY CMY K

11

S-61 UpgradE paCkagECarson and Sagem Avionics

are planning significant

upgrades to the S-61. The new

enhancements include new

composite main-rotor blades,

SAGEM cockpit displays and

PA 155 AFCS. Additionally,

two F201 AHRS will provide

aircraft attitude and heading

information to the cockpit

display and AFCS. The new

integrated glass cockpit

includes five ICDS-10 active

matrix liquid crystal displays.

The ICDS-10 displays, each

with a 10.4 inch viewing area

will include two primary

flight displays (PFD) and 3

multifunction displays (MFD).

The centrepiece of the new

upgrade program for the S-61

is the AFCS. This is the same

series AFCS certified in the

AS332 and was most recently

certified for retrofit on the

S-64 Air Crane. The AFCS is

a 3-axis AFCS with duplex

architecture consisting of two

AFCS computers and AHRS.

The duplex feature gives the

system a fail-passive and fail-

operational capability after

any first failure. The AFCS

provides for attitude retention

and automatic heading hold

in a hover. For cruise flight

modes the pilot can opt for

basic attitude retention or

choose to couple to heading

or GPS, and altitude or

airspeed for true ‘hands-off’

flight. The aircraft attitude

and heading information

for the S-61 will now be

transmitted to the AFCS

computers and PFDs via the

dual AHRS with added inputs

from the air data sensor, and

dual magnetometers. These

new digital, solid state units

allow for elimination of the

older and sometimes short-

lived spinning-mass vertical

and directional gyros and

their associated sensors.


INTEgraTEd COCkpIT gETS OkayAir Methods have received

FAA Supplemental Type

Certification for its Sagem

Avionics Integrated Cockpit

Display System (ICDS) and

AP85 Autopilot System for

the 407. The package replaces

legacy electro-mechanical

instrumentation and spinning

mass gyroscopes with

new Sagem Avionics liquid

crystal displays and solid-

state electronic attitude &

heading sensors. These new

avionics should enhance the

situational awareness of the

pilot and greatly improve the

mean time between failure

– reducing operating cost

while improving performance

and dispatch rates. The first

aircraft equipped with this

system has been delivered to

the University of Utah AirMed

program.

hal gOES frENChEurocopter has entered into a global industrial cooperation partnership agreement with Bangalore-headquartered Hindustan Aeronautics Limited for joint production of the civilian/military Ecureuil and Fennec family of helicopters for the world market. Under the deal, HAL will supply the composite and metallic work packages, including the airframe for the two models for the world market.

darT INDART has received certification of the new TRI-BEAM Modular Float Skidtube from EASA for the Bell 205/212/412/AB412. The TRI-BEAM Float Compatible Skidtube is pre-drilled for compatibility with either the OEM Cylindrical Float design or the Apical Tri-Bag/Life Raft Float system claimed to be highly durable and easy to inspect due to its modular design and corrosion resistant features. Replaceability and cost reduction benefits are inherent in the modular construction. Because the three tube sections and split saddles are easily removable, all pieces can be changed without replacing the complete skid tube, and all tube segments are non-handed resulting in a significant reduction in replacement stock inventory. TRI-BEAM uses stainless steel hardware; blind threaded tube inserts to prevent moisture ingress, extensive use of corrosion prevention compounds on both interior and exterior surfaces, and other special measures to avoid galvanic corrosion.Dart has also received FAA certification for the Cargo Door Mounted Liferaft Kit for S-76/A/B/C which was developed by Apical Industries as an alternative to belly-mounted kits. The system is designed specifically to allow occupants to safely exit after an emergency water landing and enter one or both of the liferafts that deploy after landing. The liferafts are mounted to the interior of the door, preserving access to the baggage compartment. The kit comes with two replacement carbon fiber cargo doors, including integrated ten-man reversible liferafts, replacement hinges that connect to existing aircraft hardpoints and complete inflation system. With a 121 lb (55 kg) net weight increase, the system is significantly lighter than currently available systems while still meeting all applicable TSO-C70a requirements.

mOrE rOUTES fOr US hElICOpTErUS Helicopter has added two routes to their existing

scheduled service, providing Connecticut commuters a

shorter, hassle-free trip to and from Manhattan and JFK. With

an average flight time of 20 minutes to Manhattan and 10

minutes more to JFK, Connecticut commuters can avoid the

stress and unpredictability of traffic, road construction and

everyday commuting frustration. Originating at Connecticut’s

Bridgeport Sikorsky Airport (BDR), the routes includes direct

flights to/from the Downtown Manhattan Heliport (JRB) and

connecting service to/from JFK. The new service commences

Monday, June 26, 2006. Driving from Connecticut to

Manhattan or JFK can consume up to two and a half hours or

more of business travellers’ time during peak hour. The new

service routes will operate every business day and include a

morning and evening flight.

Honeywell LTS 101-600A3-A, 350FX1 Applicable to AS 350BA

Honeywell LTS 101-700D-2, 350FX2 Applicable to AS 350BA or AS 350B2

GenerationFX Engine Controls

GenerationFX VFR Electrical System200 AMP Electrical Generation

350FX1: 4,960 lbs IGW, 5,200 lbs EGW 350FX2: 4,960 lbs IGW, 5,700 lbs EGW

GenerationFX Digital InstrumentationGenerationFX Electro Luminescent LightingRe-designed Cabin Ergonomics

Our 350FX Series STC, based on the AS 350BA/B2 AStar, offers ease of maintenance, improved reliability and increased performance meaning... ...lower operating costs!Just a few reasons why our Honeywell powered 350FX Series STC, combined with our new GenerationFX product line will be valuable to you! Contact us for the complete picture

Honeywell Powered350FX Increased Cord TailrotorGenerationFX Tailboom Strake

Ph: (905) 643-7334Fx: (905) 643-7223

[email protected]

Heli-Ops_Heli-Lynx_2.1.indd 1 6/1/06 9:34:45 AM

13

600Aircraft.

1 millionHours.Do you have your strakes yet?

Scores of operators are reaping the benefits of NASA-patented technology tailboom strakes from BLR Aerospace. With more than 600 systems in use, operators are reaping benefits that range from improved payload (lift hundreds of pounds more) to unprecedented stability of flight. A proven technology with more than 1 million flight hours to date, BLR strakes are truly a revolution in technology and performance.

Don’t change your helicopter – change your performance. Do you have your strakes yet?

BLR AerospacePerformance Innovation

800.257.4847 US & Canada 425.353.6591 Internationalwww.BLRaerospace.com

[email protected]

BLR P2 ad HO.indd 2 4/5/06 1:28:35 PM


mEggITT gETS rEal Meggitt has struck an agreement

with AeroMechanical Services

(AMS) that could revolutionise

the use of flight and engine data

by transmitting it in real time to

helicopter companies’ decision-

makers, and aircraft and engine-

owners with inclusive lease contracts.

According to Meggitt, they will be

able to control costs and manage

assets better – streamlining logistics

support, increasing efficiency and

improving safety using the early

trend and accurate usage data that

has been collected continuously

and autonomously in flight, just 20

seconds after the point of collection

and initial processing, transmission

to a ground station and further

processing into operationally-

useful information. The Meggitt-

AMS agreement involves the joint

marketing of the group’s industry-

leading, condition monitoring

systems with AMS’s on board

Automated Flight Information

Reporting System, an airborne

autonomous data collection and

reporting tool that covers condition

and operations, and a ground-based

processing and delivery system.

Meggitt has an exclusive licence

to use, market and integrate these

certified products with its specialist

fixed wing engine monitoring units

and helicopter HUMS.

Using on-board equipment that

weighs just 10 lbs, and the speedily

processed and transmitted data

from it, operators can perform many

tasks including tracking the aircraft

in which the equipment is installed

anywhere on the planet on an ASD

system, Google Earth or over the

web; telephoning pilots to discuss

engine status and reduce the

cost of an exceedence instantly;

generating Out, Off, On and In

reports quickly and accurately to

enable exact payment of crews and

precise scheduling of component

maintenance; and planning

maintenance in a continuum

using the engine trend reports

generated without pilot

intervention from the moment an

aircraft becomes airborne.

ShOppINg prECISElyPrecise Flight unveiled a more ‘precise way to shop’ at its recently launched www.preciseshop.com. Precise Flight says it plans to continue updating the website to reflect the company’s reach into the entire transportation industry. A feature of the website includes a dealer locator section, which allows customers to search for the dealer nearest them to order products after browsing technical information and selecting their products on the website.

P.O. Box 3689, Bristol, TN 37625

From bringing an older helicopter back into its prime to completing a new helicopter

to meet your specific demands, Edwards & Associates, Inc., is the authority

in all aspects of helicopter repair, refurbishing, completion and customization.

For more than 25 years, Edwards & Associates has been creating mission-specific

helicopters for a wide array of roles, including fire fighting, law enforcement, sea-land

rescue, emergency services and many more. Add to this our excellent reputation

for customer service, and you can turn to Edwards & Associates with confidence.

www.edwards-a ssoc.com • 800-251-7094 • 423-538-5111

Preservation.

It’s a cause you deem worthy of sticking

your neck out for.

To some, it’s a job. To others it’s a longing

to help restore the beauty that once was.

We can relate.

We do the same thing for helicopters.

Edwards & Assoc_HeliOpsMag.indd 1 7/19/06 2:58:50 PM

15

P.O. Box 3689, Bristol, TN 37625

From bringing an older helicopter back into its prime to completing a new helicopter

to meet your specific demands, Edwards & Associates, Inc., is the authority

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Preservation.

It’s a cause you deem worthy of sticking

your neck out for.

To some, it’s a job. To others it’s a longing

to help restore the beauty that once was.

We can relate.

We do the same thing for helicopters.

Edwards & Assoc_HeliOpsMag.indd 1 7/19/06 2:58:50 PM

In whIch parts of the world have you flown?After the military I started flying in the North Sea and in Portugal with Bristow. I ended up as Chief Pilot on the S58T fleet, then onto a uranium survey contract in Iran. After Prakla pulled out of Iran at the start of the revolution, I was sent to Nigeria to replace a pilot whose wife had been murdered in their house. From there I went onto various other positions including a two-month offshore contract at Port Said, Egypt, and a Bell 212 contract based offshore on the Forties. I was sent up to the Brent soon after, and following a tragic accident on a night SAR mission in which several of my friends died, I ended up as one of the Chief Pilots on the flying shuttles and SAR. I then went onto the Bristow Flying Training School at Redhill as a commercial flying instructor, and was recruited into McAlpine Helicopters as CFI in 1989. I had an interesting year setting up some new police aviation units and air ambulance operations, along with the usual corporate and filming flying. When I returned to the Bristow Training School I was detached to a Bell 212 offshore-based operation in the Netherlands, and then to Warri, Nigeria as a training captain on the 355, 206 and 212. After some years I headed off to the Middle East for a short spell with Abu Dhabi Aviation flying a Bell 212 and 412 offshore. I had only been there for a short while when Schreiner offered me the best job in my flying career as a trainer, flying Dauphins on the Tchad-Cameroun pipeline project. It was fantastic seeing so much of the country and flying with the UN border commission along the full length of the Cameroun/Nigeria border. Upon leaving, I spent a brief, unhappy spell with a Nigerian company, before rejoining Aero Contractors (now owned by CHC), where I am now based, flying and training on the Dauphins and S76 again.

what do you fInd most satIsfyIng about your flyIng?The fact that after more than 40 years, I really look forward to every day and that I am still able to help out young pilots at the start of their careers.

how dId you start flyIng helIcopters?In 1965 my father saw an advertisement in the Sunday Times looking for helicopter pilots to join the Royal Marines. I had been planning to start a career in the Army, so I filled out the form and a few weeks later I started my military training. I trained with the Royal Navy and flew my first tour on the Wessex 5 on HMS Bulwark, then spent two years on exchange to the Royal Air Force flying the Wessex 2 after which I became, as far as I know, the first Royal Marine to fly on anti-submarine helicopters flying a Wasp on HMS Arethusa and HMS Ashanti. I then finished flying and served with the 42 Commando Royal Marines. Although I loved that, the thought of lots of staff courses and office jobs made me decide to quit and get into a full-time civil flying career.

how many hours do you have and on whIch types?I’ve got around 15,000 hours on Hiller 12E, Whirlwind 7, Wessex 2/5/60, Wasp, Bell 47, Bell 206, Bell 212, Bell 412EP, Sikorsky S76 B/C+, Sikorsky S58ET, Sikorsky S61, Robinson R22, Bolkow 105, Agusta 109E, AS350 B/B1/B2, AS355F/F1/F2, SA365C/C2/N/N1/N2/N3.

whIch Is your favorIte type?The AS350 because it’s powerful, maneuverable and you’re always intimately in control of it and the SA365N3 because it’s also powerful, agile and very smooth in the cruise. They’re both helicopters that you feel you’re flying and not just sitting back letting an autopilot do the work – yet they’re good general use machines.

what has been the hIghlIght of your career?Having had the opportunity to be involved in training, both ab-initio and advanced, and seeing many of the young people who I have had the pleasure of helping to get started in aviation, progress to greater things.

have you ever had any eye-openIng moments?A few – including a rather nasty engine fire when departing a ship in Egypt. Hopefully, I’ve learned from them along the way. Several (unsuccessful) hijack attempts have also made me think about more than just the landing when flying in the bush in Africa – hanging out of the open door of a helicopter which is taking off while armed men are racing towards you tends to concentrate the mind!

dId you ever face any challenges?Training is always a challenge, as even on a bad day you have to maintain good standards and make sure you give your best to those who are trying to learn from you. Being involved in training one always learns something from one’s students as well, and I’m sure I’ve learned far more than I’ve ever managed to pass on.

do you have any vIews of the helIcopter Industry In nIgerIa?Nigeria was the graveyard for ancient helicopters for many years and not enough was being done to help train national pilots. However, now both CHC and Bristow are modernizing their fleets and starting to train more national pilots. After many years of VFR-only flying, new equipment and acceptance of GPS as an approach aid should lead to proper helicopter IFR. The civil helicopter industry in Nigeria is probably the largest in Africa and if the CAA and government provide proper encouragement, it ought to be possible to make it as much a center for training as South Africa now is. A lot of people write Nigeria off. It’s a long way off yet, but standards are improving.

what advIce would you gIve to people tryIng to get Into the Industry?Persevere. If you know someone who is already employed by a company you’d like to work for and who is willing to give you a recommendation, try and enlist their help. If you can’t afford to pay for your own training, the military is still a great way to get in if you’re prepared to submit to the discipline and rigor of military life. Whatever you do, don’t do it for the money – there’s never been much, except for the lucky few! Do it because you love it, and use it as a fantastic opportunity to visit and live in other countries to broaden your horizons by experiencing different cultures. n

p e r s o n a l p r o f I l e

40 years of flying has taken

Bob Evans on an incredible

journey of helicopter

adventures and challenges

all over the world – from

Europe to the Middle East,

and Nigeria where he

now resides – flying and

training on the Dauphin

and Sikorsky S76.

Bob EvansPort Harcourt, Nigeria

Welcome to Great Britain

The Air Harrods Management service offers 24/7, 365-day operational support including the

provision of flight crew, maintenance planning, administration and regulatory compliance. A lease-

back option is available to offset operating costs by earning revenue through the sale of charter

hours. Having Air Harrods manage your helicopter assures you of total discretion and confidentiality.

If you prefer the luxury of charter the Air Harrods fleet offers the newest, fastest and most modern,

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Please quote reference AHMCH66 in any correspondence

Air Harrods HeliOps ad.qxd 1/6/06 4:26 PM Page 1

17

by andrew healey

natural dIsasters’ fIrst responders

two approaches – us and us

Two initiatives were

launched during June

– each with the aim of

improving the helicopter

community’s response to

natural disasters.

On One side of the Atlantic, HAI

launched its First Responder database.

Information on rotary-wing assets

around the country will be gathered and

made available to domestic agencies such

as FEMA, in the event of another ‘Katrina’

devastating a city like New Orleans.

Here in Europe, in the wake of last

October’s Pakistani earthquake, Belgian

heavy-lift specialist Skytech is going

into partnership with Russia’s state

emergency response ministry EMERCOM,

to offer charities and NGOs

(non-governmental organizations) a

more co-ordinated response.

HAI’s scheme (visit rotor.com for

background and to register) relies

on operators to input and, vitally, to

maintain details of individual airframes,

their role equipment and locations. When

a disaster occurs, HAI staff will comb the

database for helicopters situated within

range of its epicentre, and pass the

agencies’ contact details to the selected

operators.

Europe’s initiative, tentatively named

the European Emergency Aviation Center,

is on a smaller scale, Expected to be in

place by the end of the year, it is being

formed as a result of what EMERCOM

representative Vladimir Kuvshinov

says was a “piecemeal response” to

the earthquake. “Helicopters were

slow to arrive and, once there, were

not effectively deployed. Also, state

organizations such as EMERCOM suffer

from a lack of flexibility. The new center,

initially staffed by about 20 people, will

be designed to respond much more

quickly. We will also offer a project

management service.”

Based at Skytech’s headquarters

in central Belgium, the center will

have access to up to 60 Russian-built

helicopters, including the 20,000 kg

payload Mi-26, that are scattered

throughout the Federation waiting for

just such an event. That’s in addition to

Skytech’s own fleet of Mil and Kamov

airframes, plus a further Mi-8 MTV

to be contributed by EMERCOM. As with

First Responder, it will set up a web

presence and invite other European

teams with specialist equipment – such

as boats or infrared detectors – to register

their details.

Kuvshinov says that, once established,

e u r o p e a n c o n n e c t I o n

he envisages the center being able to

offer longer-term utility support to

disaster-hit regions. “As immediate relief

efforts are scaled down, infrastructure

such as roads and power supplies will

also need to be restored.”

Back in Alexandria VA, HAI President

Matt Zuccaro, told HeliOps that while

First Responder will initially only be able

to respond to domestic disasters, he

intends to roll it out in Canada and then

overseas. “The idea is that our people

will be able to enter a zip code, a lat/long

reference or even the name of a city and

get back a list of individual helicopter

resources within range.”

The key to the success of either

model will be its ability to identify

the best available assets and dispatch

them double-quick. Here, the European

contribution would appear to have an

advantage. It will be dealing with a

known quantity of crews with similar

levels of role-training in high-payload

aircraft. In other words, it will be

selective. It also identifies the need for

project management.

Although Katrina initiated a heroic

response from the men and women

involved, they were mostly flying

low-capacity helicopters to (and

occasionally beyond) their limits in

severely congested airspace. The potential

for accidents was very high. To what

extent will First Responder mitigate

that risk the next time? And how can

we be sure that the effort will be any

better co-ordinated?

The more of an unknown quantity

you are faced with in such a situation,

the better the management to deal

with it needs to be. As well as data on

helicopters and their role equipment,

fire-fighters and traffic controllers,

First Responder must carry details of

experienced managers who can liaise

with the customer and supplier on the

ground and make sure the appropriate

assets are dispatched and effectively

employed.

In fact, if we are to offer agencies

a turnkey service, these managers

should establish relations with the relief

organizations, so that they have a face to

turn to when the balloon next goes up

–as it surely will –and probably sooner

than we expect. n

Welcome to Great Britain

The Air Harrods Management service offers 24/7, 365-day operational support including the

provision of flight crew, maintenance planning, administration and regulatory compliance. A lease-

back option is available to offset operating costs by earning revenue through the sale of charter

hours. Having Air Harrods manage your helicopter assures you of total discretion and confidentiality.

If you prefer the luxury of charter the Air Harrods fleet offers the newest, fastest and most modern,

twin-engine turbine helicopters available today. Save time and travel in maximum safety and comfort

to any event in the UK in a luxuriously appointed helicopter and you can be assured of missing the

inevitable traffic congestion; arriving in the style you would expect as a Harrods customer.

Ten years of serviceCelebrating our tenth year ofManaging and Operating helicopters

Air HarrodsHelicopter Charter

Helicopter ManagementFirst Avenue | London Stansted Airport

Essex | CM24 1QQ

T +44 (0) 1279 660 800

F +44 (0) 1279 660 880

E [email protected]

W www.airharrods.com

Please quote reference AHMCH66 in any correspondence

Air Harrods HeliOps ad.qxd 1/6/06 4:26 PM Page 1

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19

l e g a l c o u n s e lby robert van de vuurst

rIsk management – It Does pay to thInk ahead

and buying a big gob of insurance and

assuming that the carrier’s adjuster will

take care of everything from that point on.

Risk management is not engaging a lawyer

only after the process server has just left

your office and slapped the papers on your

desk. Those things are better known as,

damage control and trying to clean up the

mess. Proper risk management entails the

expenditure of time and money before an

accident occurs, so as to first lessen the

probability of an accident happening to start

with, and secondly, to lessen the financial

impact of a claim in the event that an

accident does occur.

Let’s take a look at a few simple steps

that you should take to manage your risk

regardless of the size of your operation:

1. Create a Risk Management Committee.

A lot of companies have in-house

Directors of Risk Management, and if

you have one that’s a good start. But one

other thing that I highly recommend to

my clients is to have a Risk Management

Committee, of which at a minimum, the

President, Human Resources Director,

and all other major department heads

should be members. In addition, make

your attorney a member as well. If you

don’t have a competent attorney who’s

familiar with your business and the

aviation world, then get one. Remember

what I said in the last issue about the

cost difference between preventive and

remedial law? It holds true here as well –

the fees that you pay an attorney to meet

with you for a few hours every couple of

months pale in comparison to what

you’ll pay him after the papers are

slapped on your desk. Meet regularly (at

least once a quarter) – yearly or ‘semi-

annually’ is just not often enough to

keep everyone on the same page, and as

we all know, our regulatory environment

changes quickly as well.

And here’s another benefit to keeping

an attorney involved — a little thing

that you’re probably familiar with called

‘attorney/client privilege.’ If you get sued,

then everything that your committee

did (or discussed and then maybe didn’t

do) may be fair game for a plaintiff’s

attorney wanting to put it in front of a

jury. If your attorney is involved though,

then you can make a good argument that

the whole process involved privileged

communications that are exempt from

discovery. That’s not a bad side-benefit by

anyone’s standards.

2. Insurance review. At least yearly sit

down with your broker and make sure

that your coverage is adequate for your

current and anticipated business, and

that you have the right type of coverage

to start with. You don’t want to find out

after you’ve been sued that your product

liability coverage doesn’t protect you

against a patent claim, or for trademark

infringement because you put the wrong

logo on the box. Some carriers also offer

free risk audit services, and I’ve seen

a few that give premium discounts for

insureds that participate.

3. Documentation updates. Everyone

knows what an Emergency Response

Plan is. Review it regularly and make

the necessary updates. Then go one

step further and practice it. Create some

kind of accident scenario and run an

unannounced drill in the office one

day, with mock press conferences and

everything else. You’ll be surprised what

you’ll learn about people’s capabilities (or

lack thereof) even in a ‘pretend’ situation

— which will be a great help to you, if

and when the fur flies for real. You can

also review and update your employee

handbooks and document retention

policies, after which you’ll be assured

that the information you need will be

current and, most importantly, accessible

at short notice.

As you’re probably seeing now, if your

risk management program is run the right

way, you’ll not only lessen the chance of

an accident, but also lessen the financial

impact on your company if one does occur

by making the claim less attractive. It’s a lot

harder for a plaintiff to make a case against a

defendant able to clearly show that it ‘had its

act together.’

I read an article recently about risk

management that made of lot of sense to me

when it cited Pareto’s Principle (sometimes

known as the ‘80/20 rule’) as it applied to

risk management: Pareto’s Principle basically

states that 20% of your efforts will create 80%

of your results, but you will have to expend

the remaining 80% of your efforts to obtain

the last 20% of the possible results. Wouldn’t

you rather spend the 20% now to have an

80% chance of not getting sued? Of course

you would! n

* The discussions in this column are the opinion of the

writer only, and may not be relied upon as legal advice

without the expressed written permission of the author.

Nobody wants to be

sued – ever! Lawsuits

are a waste of time,

money, and emotional

energy. Putting aside the

inevitable distractions

and productivity losses, a

big lawsuit can end your

company’s very existence

if not handled correctly.

With that in mind, one of the things

that has most amazed me in my 20 years of

practicing law is the number of people who

don’t do a thing to lessen their risk of getting

sued and instead take the, ‘it won’t happen

to me’ or the ‘my insurance company will

take care of it’ attitude with regard to claim

exposure. That’s where risk management

comes in.

To understand risk management, it

sometimes helps to understand what risk

management is not, rather than what it

is. Risk management is not just going out

21

fadec - what Is It?

f l I g h t d y n a m I c s

FaDeC is a computer and electronic valve assembly that replaces the hydro-mechanical or hydro-pneumatic fuel control/governor on turbine engines. The old mechanical units use small accumulators, bell cranks, and watch-work mechanisms to meter the fuel that runs the engine. Along the way, they control the gas producer rpm and govern the rotor speed – neither of which is a trivial task. FADEC is the marriage of a pair of

powerful computers (for redundancy) and an electronic valve that does much more. To the designer, FADEC is well worth its complexity.

Let’s look at some of the tasks as they are done mechanically, compared to how FADEC does them:

gas producer acceleratIon and stall control

The fuel control meters the amount of fuel entering the engine in response to power demands. Too much fuel, and the engine can stall or over-temp; too little, and the engine is slow to respond, allowing rotor rpm to drop alarmingly. Since mechanical fuel controls use a simple relationship to limit fuel flow when acceleration is demanded, they are generally much slower to respond to power demands, and they produce more rpm change when the collective is raised rapidly. The fuel is generally restricted to a ‘lowest common denominator’ rate since complex changes in fuel metering are beyond the mechanism’s capability. The conservative approach is necessary because too much fuel can allow an engine to accelerate too fast and make it stall (usually experienced as a rumble or loud pop), which can damage it catastrophically. On ‘inexpensive’ turbines (are they like ‘inexpensive diamonds?’) the control usually imposes a conservative maximum fuel flow, limited by the worst case, making the engine much slower to accelerate than its potential maximum rate.

With sophisticated mechanical controls, a calculation of fuel flow and compressor discharge pressure is made with bellows, so that greater fuel flow is allowed when the compressor is going faster, thus tailoring the flow more exactly and allowing faster acceleration. FADEC allows an engine to respond much more quickly to pilot demands. With FADEC, the exact compressor speed, atmospheric conditions and temperatures are continuously measured by the computer, which then allows fuel to be metered at near optimal values, providing the engine with the maximum amount of fuel it can handle. This allows its acceleration to be as rapid as possible under the conditions. Put simply, the basic governing provided by FADEC is more precise and more rapid than a typical mechanical control.

lImIt protectIon and tImIngMechanical limiters are generally just

simple speed governors (the basic Watt

flyweight governor-limiter) so that the compressor speed is protected at one set of atmospherics, and the rest is up for grabs. Typically, temperature is not limited, although some mechanical controls have an electronic package attached that does some limiting work. For mechanical controls, the pilot is the limiter – plain and simple! This makes for more work, and results in more over-torques and over-temps when things get rough. FADEC incorporates fairly sophisticated limiters that account for varying atmospheric conditions and temperatures. Pilots can actually use the limiter as a way to reduce workload, since pulling the collective up against it to get a rotor drop of one or two percent is an easy way to ensure that the power is where it should be. Limiters also can trigger displays that tell a pilot how much time has been spent in the limit zone, with a countdown clock shown to help plan the next step in the procedure. On Comanche, the engine power limiter was tied to the radar altitude and the airspeed, so that the engine was not limited to normal power while the aircraft was in the ‘dead man’s zone’. In other words, the FADEC was smart enough to know when it was time to sacrifice the engine to protect the crew if necessary!

Another field where mechanical controls are outclassed by FADEC is in the calculation and display of power assurance and health monitoring values. FADECs have lots of computing power, and can continuously calculate power margins and engine health. While this has been relegated to the HUMS in some helicopters, surely it makes sense to perform the calculation as close to home as possible. One type of display I have flown, in the Comanche, actually showed the maximum power available on a specific engine, alongside the power needed to hover OGE in the prevailing conditions. The situational awareness provided by this kind of intelligence may well avoid some of the harsh lessons about hot/high operations that every experienced pilot otherwise inevitably learns the hard way.

One particularly good reason for having FADEC on every turbine helicopter is almost too embarrassing to mention – virtually every modern car has it! (Their electronic fuel injection systems have many of the features I mention above). It would be nice if for once helicopters were technically ahead of automobiles! n

Full Authority Digital

Electronic Control

(FADEC) - What benefits

does it offer over older,

mechanical controls?

by nick lappos

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23

wash once the combustion casing is cool enough to place a hand on it without discomfort.

z Use clean, potable, demineralized water only — contaminated water can cause more issues than you are attempting to solve! On a trip to a less-advanced country in the late ’90s, I noticed heavy green deposit on all the hotel taps, so I was not surprised to hear that the local Bell 212 was grounded with engine problems. You guessed it... the engines were being washed with local tap water!

z If it is recommended that the PC line be capped, there is a reason — it is because the OEM does not want the contaminants being washed through the air circuits of the fuel control system.

z Follow the Ng/N1 speed limits vs fluid flow-rate recommendations, as axial compressors can be easily damaged — and always use the battery cart where available (if the OEM allows an ‘engine-running’ rinse this is very important).

z Close off the cabin heat valves – there’s no point filling the cabin with water!

z If advised to block off the bleed-valve port it usually means that the OEM wants the wash purged through the engine and does not want the rinse escaping prematurely.

z If an engine drying run is specified to follow the wash, it’s for a good reason — the OEM doesn’t want water to stay trapped in an area that could contribute to corrosion following your rinse procedure.

z Some manufacturers recommend preservation of the air path after a drying run. What you do here depends greatly on the length of time till next flight, your geographical location and/or your environment.

compressor recovery wash All compressors get dirty to a greater

or lesser degree; axial compressors are more prone to dirt build-up on the stators. In the case of the Allison 250 series-1 or -2 engines, this is particularly true of the fifth stage stator.

It is better to clean a compressor regularly in order to prevent heavy dirt build-up.

How dirty do they get? That can depend on many factors. In addition to the operating environment and geographical location, it can also be affected by things such as faulty engine or transmission oil seals that permit oil to be drawn into the air path.

m a I n t e n a n c e u p d at e

It wIll all come out In the wash...

There are a few additional rules to be followed for a compressor recovery wash:

z Use a recommended cleaning fluid that has been tested by the OEM and found to be fully compatible with the entire engine system.

z Use the correct ratio of fluid to water (demineralized water!)

z Follow the soak time recommendations – these are important if the fluid is to do its job.

z A water wash may be required to rinse the engine fully afterwards.

z Make sure the burner/combustion-case drain-valve is doing its job, because if it is not, fluid left for an extended period can allow dirt to settle and solidify – locking up the compressor.

With all these things in mind, remember that you (whether pilot or engineer), play an important role in maximizing the life of compressor and engine.

As a rule, the consequences of poor or non-existent compressor washing/rinsing procedures will probably not manifest themselves in the first 100 hours, but will certainly do so after 500 or 1,000 flight hours — by which time it may be too late.

“Your mission, Jim, should you decide to accept it” is to monitor the gradual increase in TOT/T4/TIT during your engine’s overhaul period, either by power assurance checks, or electronic means, and to determine what cleaning interval suits your operation, and then ensure that it is properly carried out. n

Ask five different engineers

and five different pilots

about how to carry out a

compressor wash and you’ll

probably get ten different

answers ranging from the

procedure described in the

maintenance manual to

something ‘slightly less’

than that.

COmpressOr Washing of gas turbine engines is an important task that if not carried out, or if carried out incorrectly, can have a drastic detrimental effect on the life of an engine.

The name ‘compressor wash’ is itself misleading. For a start, as the compressor is only the first port of call in the wash procedure, the components downstream also need some tender loving care after being worked hard all day by the pilot and the environment.

It’s timely here to revisit the reasons for compressor ‘wash’ as the word ‘wash’ can have many meanings.

rInse or de-salInatIon washThis is carried out to rinse away any

corrosive products, like salts, that may be in the air path. Some of you may already be thinking, “Not me – I’m 100 miles inland!” Unfortunately, salt is not the only contaminant to affect turbine engines. Where and how different aircraft operate may be unique and there may be any number of chemical or particulate contaminants in the air that may contribute to corrosion, including some volcanic or industrial dusts which form acids when mixed with moisture.

The rules are simple; follow the engine manufacturer’s recommendations!

z As a rule of thumb an engine can have a compressor rinse/de-salination

by russell Goulden

C O V E R F E A T U R E

story by mark ogden PHotos by ned dawson

As high-definition television (HDTV) really begins to takeoff, LA-

based Helinet is forging new territory in US electronic news gathering

— pioneering new technologies and capabilities in helicopters.

26

HElinET’s HEliCOpTERs are leading

the way in employing the new technology

of high definition video in the US

television network system. Through its

subsidiaries, Cineflex (a specialist in

electro-mechanical control systems) and

Geneva Aviation (systems engineering),

Helinet has developed a unique digital

system called HiDef that has recently

been introduced to New Yorkers through

one of the local FOX stations.

Although Helinet is a general charter

company, it has specialized in developing

a significant electronic news gathering

(ENG) capability. Through new contracts

and acquisitions, the company currently

operates over 50 ENG helicopters with

well over a hundred pilots and camera

operators across the continental USA.

Helinet is moving towards an all-AS 350

fleet for several reasons; commonality,

capability, power, cabin room. According

to David Calvert-Jones (‘CJ’), the Chief

Executive Officer of the Helinet Group of

Companies. “We think the B2 is the best

platform for ENG in that it can better

house the equipment while giving the

cameraman the ability to move around.

top left: WNyW’s airborne reporter, Kai

simonsen, helps to bring the cutting edge

technology of skyfox HD into Ny Metro

living rooms every morning.

above and above right: skyfox HD

‘cruises for news’ against the backdrop

of the NyC skyline.

27

We are using a B3 in the Denver market

because of the hot and high conditions

there,” he explains. “Advantages of

standardizing the fleet include lower

overheads in parts and mechanics, while

giving us improved negotiating power.

The Eurocopter rep has really helped

and he tries to make sure everything is

done right.”

According to CJ, the US television

networks are required to transition to

digital transmission within the next five

years which places the Helinet group in

a prime position as a technical leader

in the US television market with the

Cineflex V14 HD camera and the Geneva

HD integrations. As well as the higher

quality of image and sound that high

definition provides, there is a much

higher bandwidth available for a fully

digital system.

More DetailThe earliest example of high

definition technology dates back to 1964

when Japanese broadcasting company

NHK began producing prototypes, and

within 20 years, had an analogue high

definition capability suitable for program

production. Around the same time in the

US, local television company KCTS was

also experimenting with the format.

As with most new technology,

especially in those days, the system

tended to be clunky. Because early high

definition was initially analogue, the

cameras and associated equipment used

to make programs were cumbersome

and heavy, and they required a lot of

power and a lot of cable to work. When

digital technology was first introduced,

it was not as sophisticated as it is now,

but with the groundwork done, once

electronics technology caught up with the

concept, the format was able to reach its

current standard.

High definition has a much higher

level of detail — from two to five times

more than standard broadcast quality

video. Instead of using 480 lines of

horizontal resolution (standard video),

high definition uses a minimum 720

lines. The 720 lines appear all at once on

the screen, unlike standard video’s use

of 480 lines ‘interlaced’ (that is, half the

lines appear each 1/60th of a second with

the two halves combining every 1/30th of

a second). The appearance of all lines at

once is described as a progressive picture.

The higher resolutions can be either

interlaced or progressive, depending

on the television monitor and the high

definition player. In any case, high

definition provides a significantly greater

amount of detail and clarity of image

and allows images to be enlarged far

beyond the level possible with standard

television without becoming ‘blurred’.

top: a state-of-the-art eNG integration

by Geneva aviation allows pilot, camera

operator and ‘talent’ superior flexibility

in a demanding eNG operating

environment.

above: los angeles’ KabC HD helicopter

reporting in full resolution Hi Definition

over the busy 101 Freeway.

The greater bandwidth of the current

digital technology also offers very high

quality audio capability, so it is being

used more in the cable, satellite and

broadcasting industries where there is

growing public demand for such content.

JT Alpaugh, Helinet’s Vice President,

Service and Support, explains that HDTV

was originally developed as a world

standard intended to do away with such

formats as NTSC and PAL. The immediate

advantage of HDTV is the increased

resolution – standard definition NTSC TV

has 525 lines of resolution compared to

HDTV which has 1,125 lines containing

over two million pixels of video

information presented in a widescreen

(16:9) format similar to a movie theatre

screen. The bandwidth needed to

transmit HDTV can actually be less than

that required for standard television

by utilizing compression technology

and is not an issue in the United States,

according to Alpaugh. “Most television

stations have already constructed

and are utilizing digital transmitting

antennas alongside analogue equipment.

The digital transmitters are currently

being used to broadcast each network’s

standard and high definition content.”

The US Government made it

mandatory for all television stations

to use exclusively digital transmitters

by February 2009. Initially a Catch-22

situation looked likely to complicate

matters in that a lack of high definition

programming led to consumer reluctance

to buy HD television sets — while

broadcasters were unwilling to spend

money on producing HD content because

televisions were not selling. However,

Alpaugh says that over the past three

simonsen about to ‘go live’ over a breaking news story in Midtown Manhattan. Multiple HD video sources that can be routed to any of the onboard monitors, along with Cineflex’s user-friendly laptop controller, make skyfox HD’s cockpit one of the most flexible in airborne newsgathering.

➤

Rolls-Royce is pleased to introduce the new Model 250 Full-

service Integrated Rolls-Royce Support Team (FIRST) network.

Developed to ensure that the 4,500 operators of Model 250

powered helicopters and light aircraft around the world receive

The Rolls-Royce Model 250 FIRST network. Your winning hand for Model 250 support.

Facilities (AMOF) and four independently owned Authorized Repair

Facilities (ARF). This combination of Rolls-Royce owned facilities and

industry-recognized service partners reaffirms our commitment to

offering our operators a freedom of choice in authorized engine

the highest levels of support, the Model 250 FIRST network brings

together the expertise of three Rolls-Royce Service Centers (RRSC),

thirteen independently-owned Authorized Maintenance Centers

(AMC), four independently-owned Authorized Military Overhaul

support, while ensuring the highest levels of quality service. For

more details, visit our website at www.rolls-royce.com or contact

us via [email protected].

Trusted to deliver excellence.

GTP 8503_Heli-Ops_11/05/2004

www.rolls-royce.com

GTP_8503_HO_11042005.indd 1 11/4/2005 3:30:40 PM

years this Catch 22 has been broken with

HD television sales sky-rocketing in the

US and HD programming on broadcast,

cable and satellite providers growing by

the day.

airborNeCJ of Helinet says that FOX5 in

New York did not initially ask for

HiDef but during the contract renewal

process Helinet offered to configure the

helicopter, camera and system so that

when FOX was ready to go with HDTV,

the helicopter would also be ready. New

network management wanting to make

a ‘point of difference’ in the market,

decided to go with high definition

and use the helicopter’s then-unique

capability. To get up-and-running quickly,

FOX asked to borrow Helinet’s portable

receiver equipment — something

Helinet was happy to do. “We were able

to get them up in a couple of days,”

comments CJ, “and they were pretty

happy with that.”

Al Shjarback, VP Engineering and

Operations for WNYW Fox NY says, “Our

conversion to HD for the helicopter was

facilitated by the need to replace our

Helinet provides total Hi Definition

coverage for the market leader in

los angeles, KabC.

31

current ship. Once that decision was

made HD was not only a logical move but

also an easy one. All of our equipment in

the new ship was designed, purchased

and installed specifically to serve us

in HD with a fallback mode to SD if

required.”

Cineflex developed the equipment

and Geneva installed it in the helicopter.

The system, including a turret (which

produces negligible additional drag) and

camera, auxiliary control-unit, control

console and cabling, weighs in at about

108 lb (50 kg). Over 50 of these systems

are currently deployed throughout the

world with television news stations,

federal, state and local law-enforcement

agencies and homeland security, live

sporting event providers, and motion

picture and television production

companies.

Enhancing the quality of the Sony

HDC-950 or F950 film-grade video camera,

the five-axis gyro-stabilized Cineflex

turret is about the lightest on the market.

It holds an image rock-steady even at the

camera’s longest lens setting of 84x at

1,140 mm with the capability of

reading a licence plate from thousands

of feet, while a remote control permits

line-of-sight remote use of the camera

from as far away as 60 miles. The

turret and camera, which weigh in at just

67 lb (30 kg), can be panned continuously

through 360°, tilted 25° upwards and

140° down with a position resolution of

just .001°.

The Cineflex auxiliary box unit

which houses the camera body, power

infrastructure, and video routing

connections, is usually stowed in the

side luggage lockers while the rear locker

is usually kept free for cargo. Unlike

other helicopter broadcast installations

where the equipment is housed in cabin-

mounted racks that eliminate two seating

positions, this installation keeps four

cabin seats fully useable and minimizes

intrusions.

A recording facility incorporating

the Sony HD Cam tape is also included

– everything that is transmitted via

microwave link to ground stations is

also recorded to tape, as tape retains

a small edge in quality over broadcast

information. Another quality noted by

CJ was the camera’s significant night

capability. “There’s just more information

Rolls-Royce is pleased to introduce the new Model 250 Full-

service Integrated Rolls-Royce Support Team (FIRST) network.

Developed to ensure that the 4,500 operators of Model 250

powered helicopters and light aircraft around the world receive

The Rolls-Royce Model 250 FIRST network. Your winning hand for Model 250 support.

Facilities (AMOF) and four independently owned Authorized Repair

Facilities (ARF). This combination of Rolls-Royce owned facilities and

industry-recognized service partners reaffirms our commitment to

offering our operators a freedom of choice in authorized engine

the highest levels of support, the Model 250 FIRST network brings

together the expertise of three Rolls-Royce Service Centers (RRSC),

thirteen independently-owned Authorized Maintenance Centers

(AMC), four independently-owned Authorized Military Overhaul

support, while ensuring the highest levels of quality service. For

more details, visit our website at www.rolls-royce.com or contact

us via [email protected].

Trusted to deliver excellence.

GTP 8503_Heli-Ops_11/05/2004

www.rolls-royce.com

GTP_8503_HO_11042005.indd 1 11/4/2005 3:30:40 PM

➤

A remote control permits

line-of-sight remote use

of the camera from as far

away as 60 miles.

and greater depth of field so clarity and

detail at night is incredible,” he says.

outFoxiNG tHe otHersThe combination of this equipment

with the AS 350 B2 has given FOX5 a

significant edge over its competitors. It

was probably the first all-digital HiDef-

capable helicopter in the world. The

helicopter has no need to be below a

thousand feet when covering a story,

and indeed can ‘stand-off’ at significant

above left: Helinet offers total Hi

Definition eNG systems through

its Cineflex Camera systems and

Geneva aviation integrations. shown

here is the tV azteca 407 for the

demanding and populous Mexico

City market.

above right: the Cineflex laptop

controller puts the camera’s many

functions at your fingertips and its

ergonomic and intuitive design make

it comfortable and easy to use.

Potential exists for

mayhem with this

number of helicopters

in one area.

➤

T H E M A G A Z I N E F O R T H E C I V I L H E L I C O P T E R I N D U S T R Y

AU

GU

ST

2

00

6

I N T E R N A T I O N A LI S S U E 40

Australia & Pacific Islands $75 NZD $140 NZD

New Zealand $70 NZD $130 NZD

United States & Canada $85 NZD $160 NZD

UK, Europe & Rest of World $95 NZD $180 NZD

subsCriPtioNs 1 year (8 issues) 2 years (16 issues)

The first word on new products, new deliveries and happenings in the civil helicopter industry. AIRMAILED TO YOUR DOOR

AUSSIE OPERATOR LEADING THE WAY

IN ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT

AUSSIE OPERATOR LEADING THE WAY

IN ENVIRONMENTAL RESPONSIBILITY

We’re making everything.

Except excuses.

Turning everything around.

mdhelicopters.comheritageaviationltd.com

Under t he A erospace Umbrella managed by The Patriarch F unds

MD Helicopters is on a mission: To turn the helicopter industry around. Mediocrity will no longer be accepted…and failure is not an option. Late deliveries will no longer be the norm; spare parts genuine and easy to find. Through vertical integration and acquisition of manufacturing facilities worldwide, we are taking responsibility for our supply chain. Our company and its supply chain are being fortified with the same intensity and commitment with which we build our helicopters…we are taking responsibility for every aspect of our operations so that we can be responsive and responsible to our customers.

Winston Churchill once said, “The price of greatness is responsibility.”Turning that around, only through responsibility, can greatness be achieved. We offer an exceptional product. NOTar® technology makes our helicopters among the safest and most quiet in the sky. Our new safety features are meant to place MD among the industry leaders – wire cutters, terrain avoidance systems, HUMS cockpit video and audio recorders with our training programs, places safety at the top of the MD priority list. Our mission is to bring evolution and innovation to the world and to deliver it on time – to keep aircraft in the air and operators safe of flight.

35

distances and operate at higher altitudes,

staying out of the avoid-curve and

minimizing ground noise without losing

any of the tightness of an image. Even

if law enforcement agencies restrict

airspace in the immediate vicinity of an

occurrence, the FOX helicopter can still

‘dig in’ with the camera and gain news-

breaking high-resolution images.

Everything in the HiDef equipment

is software-controlled including the

capability to shift between frequencies

(FOX5 uses two frequencies). The

importance of live news is evident

from the location of FOX’s numerous

transmitters and receivers throughout the

city, but the helicopter can also be used

as a relay ship — a sort of giant antenna

in the sky — even further expanding the

station’s ability to receive and send news.

Live news is an important aspect of

the US news scene and there are at least

five ENG helicopters in New York City,

where, according to CJ, traffic reporting

is an essential role for them. While the

potential exists for mayhem with this

number of helicopters in one area, CJ says

that despite there being no procedure

or agreement amongst them it all works

well. He says that it is generally a ‘first-

in-best-dressed’ affair and operators work

on the basis that no one interferes with

whatever is happening on the ground.

The FOX5 helicopter flies between

1,500 to 1,800 hours a year, 30 to

40 percent of which is flown at night.

As well as the turret camera, the

helicopter has another external camera

mounted on the horizontal stabilizer

looking forward, and two internal

cameras to capture the on-air ‘talent’.

Although the helicopter has the capability

to also carry a reporter, many pilots

have so much experience that they are

becoming the ‘talent’.

The pilots get to know the areas well

and although each of the helicopters

carries GPS, many incorporating

moving map displays, CJ says that pilots

often carry their own GPS units with

personalized special reference points

logged. New pilots will often fly with the

more experienced pilots until they get

a good grasp of the operations and the

areas in which they are working. The

experience of pilots working in Helinet’s

ENG operations ranges from 2,500 hours

to as many as 20,000 hours.

The ENG work is a day and night

VFR operation and while there is often

skyfox HD traverses the streets of upper Manhattan in search of its next big story.

We’re making everything.

Except excuses.

Turning everything around.

mdhelicopters.comheritageaviationltd.com

Under t he A erospace Umbrella managed by The Patriarch F unds

MD Helicopters is on a mission: To turn the helicopter industry around. Mediocrity will no longer be accepted…and failure is not an option. Late deliveries will no longer be the norm; spare parts genuine and easy to find. Through vertical integration and acquisition of manufacturing facilities worldwide, we are taking responsibility for our supply chain. Our company and its supply chain are being fortified with the same intensity and commitment with which we build our helicopters…we are taking responsibility for every aspect of our operations so that we can be responsive and responsible to our customers.

Winston Churchill once said, “The price of greatness is responsibility.”Turning that around, only through responsibility, can greatness be achieved. We offer an exceptional product. NOTar® technology makes our helicopters among the safest and most quiet in the sky. Our new safety features are meant to place MD among the industry leaders – wire cutters, terrain avoidance systems, HUMS cockpit video and audio recorders with our training programs, places safety at the top of the MD priority list. Our mission is to bring evolution and innovation to the world and to deliver it on time – to keep aircraft in the air and operators safe of flight.

Even if law enforcement

agencies restrict

airspace in the

immediate vicinity of

an occurrence, the FOX

helicopter can still

‘dig in’ with the camera

and gain news-breaking

high-resolution images.➤

36

pressure from stations to fly in unsuitable

conditions, CJ realizes that this is to be

expected as the station people are not

aviation-qualified and he expects the

pilots to be prepared to say ‘no’ when the

conditions aren’t right.

exPaNsioNThe technology has not gone

unnoticed by law enforcement or the

US military but while its potential for

police work, homeland security and

remote reconnaissance is significant, the

revolution is in ENG where the helicopter

is complemented by high definition and a

versatile turret.

There is no question that the

networks appreciate what HD can do

for their service. WNYW’s Al Shjarback

says that most broadcasters are only just

beginning to scratch the surface of what

they can do with HD and says that it

offers viewers an experience that rivals a

seat alongside the pilot!

Alpaugh sums up this way, “The

stability of the gimbal and resolution

of the high definition camera enables

news aircraft to provide stunningly

detailed live images while standing

off at greater distances and higher

altitudes. This provides greater safety

margins for aircrews and becomes a less

intrusive distraction for noise-sensitive

citizens, law enforcement officers and

fire fighters on the ground. It provides

viewers at home with the most detailed

imaging of breaking news ever available.

In the US, those television stations that

utilize helicopters to provide timely

breaking news to their viewers can now

provide imaging such as they have never

experienced before.” n

Most broadcasters are

only just beginning to

scratch the surface

of what they can do

with HD and says that

it offers viewers an

experience that rivals a

seat alongside the pilot!

above left: even in amongst

the many tall skyscrapers of the

Manhattan skyline the site of the

World trade Center is clearly visible.

a new monument is to be built

on this site in remembrance to the

many thousands who lost their lives

on september 11th.

above right: skyfox HD circles lady

liberty during the morning news.

Somelike it

HOT....

...we don’t!Our systems can be found in operation throughout the world. From the United States to Canada, Mexico, Korea, Taiwan, Spain, France, Portugal, Italy and Russia. Working hand in hand with the customer, we will help you to get the best built product, save you money and help take care of the environment!

Make the right choice. Choose Isolair Helicopter Systems today!

www.isolairinc.com - [email protected] Helicopter Systems • 1620 N.W. Perimeter Way • Troutdale, Oregon 97060

Phone: 503-492-2105 • Fax: 503-492-2756

Picking up Pieces

PHOTOS by François Marais, MsF staFF and naturelink crew MeMbers

When an earthquake in Pakistan killed more than 100,000

people, disrupted a million more, and left massive

destruction in its wake, South African company, Naturelink,

was among those whose helicopters were there to help save

lives – moving people, equipment and material. FRANÇOIS

MARAIS, a professional aeroplane and helicopter pilot with

more than 15,000 hours and 30 years’ flying experience

joins Naturelink’s clean-up operation for seven weeks

during February and March this year. He tells his story.

40

At 8.50 Am on 8 October 2005,

a magnitude 7.6 earthquake struck

Pakistan, India and Afghanistan. The

quake’s epicentre was located near

Muzaffarabad, the capital of Pakistani-

administered Kashmir, approximately 60

miles northeast of Islamabad. In addition

to killing an estimated 100,000 people,

the quake left a further million homeless

and ill-prepared for the coming winter,

and as late as March when I left Pakistan,

the region was still experiencing

worrying aftershocks.

Balakot, Manshera, Muzaffarabad

and the surrounding areas within a

60 nautical mile radius were virtually

flattened by this destructive earthquake.

The areas most seriously affected

were around the Gheelum and Neelum

Valleys, north and east of Muzaffarabad.

Following the quake, the Pakistan

Government, realizing the magnitude

of the disaster, immediately called

upon the world to assist in its massive

relief operation and within a week, the

Pakistani Military (PAKMIL) had deployed

almost its entire air capability to the

disaster zone. Its helicopters included

Pumas, Lamas, Allouette IIIs Hueys, Bell

412s, Mi-8s and Mi-17s.

FOrceS MuSTerThe United States were the first

foreign forces to arrive. Their initial

top leFt: The Muzaffarabad Hotel reduced to rubble by the earthquake

top right: Mi 26 departing Muzaffarabad Airport with 10 tonnes of food for the village

of batangi in the Gheelum Valley.

above leFt: Mi 26 parked overnight at the Muzaffarabad airport, later named

‘Stonewall’ when the American Army took control of the ATc there.

above right: A Mi 8 beonging to Heli ukraine being replenished with food supplies

at the Neelum Stadium in Muzaffarabad.

41

contingent comprised eight helicopters,

but almost overnight this became 21

Chinooks, two UH-60s, and one

CH-53 from ‘Task Force Griffin’ based

in Afghanistan. Three British CH-47s

followed 11 days later. Within days,

every conceivable open space, cricket

pitch, soccer and other sporting field was

converted into a landing zone for the

fleet of helicopters – approximately 100 of

them that swarmed around Muzaffarabad

Airport and surrounding areas. Mi-26s,

Mi-17s, Mi-8s, Kamovs, Blackhawks,

Chinooks, Hueys and Pumas – these

were just a few of the types whose only

purpose was to help those devastated by

the earthquake.

It was inevitable in such rugged

and mountainous terrain that the air

operation by global aid agencies and

aviation companies was huge. PAKMIL

set up a control center at the Chaklala Air

Force Base in Islamabad, and controlled

and monitored all the helicopters working

for the various agencies. PAKMIL provided

logistics and safety pilots to accompany

the aid helicopters to ensure that their

pilots did not cross the ‘line of control’ –

the delineation of the disputed area with

India. PAKMIL’s pilots did not command

any of the helicopters, but flew along in

the cockpits to provide area information

and to ensure that their crews strictly

followed its procedures.

Aid helicopters were prohibited from

operating after dark. Each helicopter

was assigned a specific squawk code

so that its movements could be tracked

by PAKMIL at all times, and an ATC

and radar base was set up at Murree 25

miles northeast of Islamabad to assist

Islamabad Airport and Chaklala Air Force

Base to monitor helicopter movements

in the area.

ciViliANS MuSTerIn the second week after the

earthquake, International Relief

Organizations such as the UN,

International Red Cross, Medicines

Sans Frontiers and many others began

supplying helicopters. The Red Cross

brought two Pumas from Starlight

Helicopters in South Africa, Mi-8s from

Turkey, Russia, and the Ukraine, and Air

Serve brought in our two AS 350s from

Naturelink. There were also a couple of

Mi-26s from Russia, Super Pumas and an

MD Explorer from Luxembourg, and the

Agha Khan Foundation provided three

Within days, every

conceivable open

space, cricket pitch,

soccer and other

sporting field was

converted into a

landing zone for the

fleet of helicopters

Naturelink’s AS 350 bA parked at the village of badnara.

42

of its Agusta 139s, while the Canadians

provided one Kamov and the Russians

two more.

NATureliNkNaturelink, which began as a family-

owned, private, aeroplane charter

business is now one of Africa’s fastest

growing aeroplane service providers to

Air Serve International. It mostly provides

Caravans, King Airs, Beech 1900s, PC12s,

and lately a fleet of Embraer 120s to

Air Serve International’s operations

throughout Africa and the Middle East.

When Air Serve needed helicopters in

Indonesia to cope with the tsunami

disaster, it contracted Naturelink

to provide them. Initially using

subcontractors to provide helicopters,

Naturelink eventually bought its own

AS 350BA. SAFAIR and Imperial Bank

now have stakes in the company, which

is part of the Imperial Group/SAFAIR/

NAC organization, and Chris Briers, who

founded Naturelink, remains its CEO.

When the earthquake struck,

Naturelink was just wrapping up its

tsunami relief activities in Indonesia

after nine months of operation. Air Serve

International – a non-profit organization

that provides air transportation

exclusively to the humanitarian relief

top leFt: luftwaffe parked on the lZ

at the village of chamba.

Middle leFt: residents of chamba sitting

on the roof of their house made of

wooden poles, grass and clay.

bottoM leFt: remains of the four

story St Mary’s Secondary School

in Muzafarrabad.

top right: The luftwaffe approaching

the lZ at the village of chamba

bottoM right: Pakistan Army lama

refueling from drums

at the Neelum Stadium.

43

community, contracted Naturelink to

assist in Pakistan. Naturelink’s two AS

350 Squirrel helicopters were immediately

dispatched to Islamabad – where Air

Serve was well placed to task and

coordinate relief flights from the office it

has maintained there since 2002.

Our helicopters were tasked to

perform duties for the international

NGO (non-governmental organization)

‘Medicins Sans Frontiers’ (MSF). MSF is a

humanitarian aid organization providing

emergency medical aid in more than 80

countries. Working with MSF-Holland out

of Muzaffarabad, we flew medical teams

to relief camps and isolated villages and

also provided medevac flights for victims

in need of more intensive care. Patients

included pregnant women needing to

give birth and sick children from remote

areas, many of whom were suffering

from gastroenteritis (stomach ailments)

caused by contaminated water. We flew

a lot of people to hospitals at Bagh and

Muzaffarabad, and sometimes also to

Islamabad. The patients varied from

premature babies to cardiac victims, to

those suffering from dehydration, stress,

and a whole range of general ailments

— we definitely saved a few lives!

The assistance effort was complicated

by the mountainous terrain, cold

temperatures of -10 to -20°C during the

initial stages, and damaged or collapsed

infrastructure, so the helicopters

were also used to sling-load nearly all

of the much-needed medical supplies

into the area. The work also involved high

altitude operations in the mountains to

as high as 12,000 ft AMSL in some

areas where surviving earthquake victims

had to survive the extreme climatic

conditions of the Kashmiri Mountain

territory.

The big helicopters like the Mi-26s,

Mi-17s, Mi-8s, Kamovs and Pumas carried

top leFt: The two Naturelink AS 350s

parked at the Neelum Stadium during

December 2005 with blade covers on to

prevent the packing of ice on the blades

top right: collapsed house on the

outskirts of Muzaffarabad.

above leFt: Naturelink’s AS 350bA

parked on the lZ at banda kathandi.

above centre: Pakistani doctor

preparing a bed for a patient to be air

lifted from the village of charia.

above right: Pilot rowan Miles

approaching Muzaffarabad from the

south west.

You can count on K-MAX.Many missions require efficient heavy lifting. One helicopter does it better than the rest. Conceived and designed to perform repetitive external lifting, the K-MAX excels, lifting 6,000 pounds while delivering unmatched performance and reliability. What’s more, K-MAX has the highest availability rate and the lowest maintenance man-hour per flight hour of any helicopter in its class.

A fleet of hard-working K-MAX helicopters will be ready to respond to the most difficult missions — from delivering supplies to clearing debris or rebuilding — any where, any time. You can count on it.

Kaman Aerospace · Connecticut USA · 1-860-243-7006 · [email protected]

Kaman 1P ad HO.indd 3 2/17/06 12:38:01 PM

You can count on K-MAX.Many missions require efficient heavy lifting. One helicopter does it better than the rest. Conceived and designed to perform repetitive external lifting, the K-MAX excels, lifting 6,000 pounds while delivering unmatched performance and reliability. What’s more, K-MAX has the highest availability rate and the lowest maintenance man-hour per flight hour of any helicopter in its class.

A fleet of hard-working K-MAX helicopters will be ready to respond to the most difficult missions — from delivering supplies to clearing debris or rebuilding — any where, any time. You can count on it.

Kaman Aerospace · Connecticut USA · 1-860-243-7006 · [email protected]

Kaman 1P ad HO.indd 3 2/17/06 12:38:01 PM

mostly food supplies, tents, blankets, and

building materials. The bigger helicopters

carried loads varying from 900 kg to as

much as 15 tonnes on the Mi-26s, mostly

using long-lines – from 30-meter to

50-meter strops depending on the altitude

and terrain. Most of the sling work was

done below 8,000 ft. Our Naturelink

Squirrels only lifted light loads – up to

300 kg – mainly consisting of medicines

and water- purifying equipment and the

like. In some places, mountain ranges

had to be crossed at 12,000 ft (to avoid

crossing the line of control) to reach

locations lower down in valleys. Wind was

sometimes a factor, as was bad visibility

in low cloud and haze and we occasionally

encountered snow on our steep descents

into the valleys.

In the remote mountainous terrain,

we often landed on snow-covered landing

zones, however whiteout was never a

problem for us, and we wore sunglasses to

deal with the glare. Both of Naturelink’s

helicopters were equipped with snow skids

and we never experienced problems with

landing on snow, which in most cases was

reasonably hard.

The Neelum Stadium at Muzaffarabad was the parking grounds for many of the fleet of 100-odd helicopters that swarmed around Muzaffarabad at the height of the relief operation.

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The South African flight and

maintenance crews, who were rotated on

a six-weekly basis, initially stayed in

tents in Muzaffarabad, but also had the

use of a properly equipped house. They

were subsequently moved to a

5-star guesthouse in Islamabad, and later

still, in March 2006, moved back into a

furnished house in Muzaffarabad closer

to operations. No one really got sick and

although a stomach bug struck me shortly

after my arrival, the food was good, as was

(generally) the accommodation.

Naturelink’s support base for its

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maintenance costs were very low with

nothing more than the usual 100-hourly

inspections required.

DePArTureSadly, with the re-organization of

‘service protocol’ by the Pakistan Military,

Naturelink’s contract officially ended on

5 May 2006. After nearly seven months

of continuous service to the residents in

the quake-ravaged region, the company’s

Squirrels, were on their way home, neatly

packed up with their main and tail rotor

blades removed into the back of an IL 76.

This operation once again proved

to the world the cardinal importance of

helicopters – able to be deployed at short

notice to provide life-giving support in

inhospitable conditions and inaccessible

terrain. Long live the helicopter! n

young children of charia

fascinated by the helicopter

activity at their village.

Since the company’s

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story by Andrew HeAley photos courtesy of eurocopter

In May this year, Didier Delsalle received the Igor Sikorsky International

Trophy at the American Helicopter Society’s symposium in Arizona. It

was the latest of several awards celebrating the test pilot’s record-setting

landing on the summit of Mt Everest, and it came a full year after the

successful flight. Since then, a whole raft of articles have praised Delsalle’s

success, but none have closely examined the flying techniques that he

utilized in order to make his ultimate sloping-ground landing at 29,035 ft

(8,850 m). HeliOps speaks to Delsalle and discusses his flight in detail.

52

It’s quIte a story. On 14 May 2005,

Delsalle – one of an eleven-man

Eurocopter team based at Lukla airport,

roughly 26 nautical miles from Everest at

an altitude of 2,850 m (9,400 ft), carried

out a walk-round of his ‘standard’

AS 350B3 Squirrel. Stripped of spare

seats and main-rotor vibration dampers,

the helicopter had an empty weight of a

mere 1,100 kg – compared with 1,232 kg

in standard configuration. Delsalle, with

his oxygen equipment, added 80 kg, while

105 kg of fuel took the all-up weight to

1,285 kg – nearly 1,000 kg below MAUW.

At 29,000 ft, the fuel consumption at

maximum continuous power would be

85 kg/hour, however endurance was

determined by the amount of oxygen

Delsalle could carry rather than possible

fuel load.

Certified to operate in temperatures

as low as -40°C, the B3 Ecureuil (A-Star)

required no specific fluids, additives or

other changes, and during flight tests

in France, Delsalle had climbed to

33,500 ft with an OAT of -58°C in the

same configuration without any problem.

(Such low temperatures might cause

start-up problems but not when in flight).

In the event, the actual temperatures

encountered at Everest’s summit varied

between -30 and -36°C.

It took Delsalle 15 minutes to reach

the summit altitude through a series of

top left: Delsalle, with his oxygen equipment, added 80 kg, while 105 kg of fuel took the all-up weight to 1,285 kg – nearly 1,000 kg

below MAuW

rigHt: It took 15 minutes to reach the summit altitude through a series of spiral climbs.

Above: festooned with bunting after a successful flight

53

spiral climbs. A series of ‘time-to-climb’

records set during earlier flight tests

in France had given him a good idea of

how long it would take. Once at altitude,

Delsalle put his plan into action. “I had

decided to approach the summit along

the south-east ridge, thus keeping me on

the upwind side of the mountain with

a chance of avoiding the most powerful

gusts, and keeping me away from the

powerful downdrafts on its lee-side

which, even though it was early morning,

posed a real risk,” he recalls. “I also had

to remain clear of Chinese airspace.

The border straddled the peak so I was

literally flying along the line, which

meant the wind on the approach was

roughly 60 degrees to the left of the nose.

This offered a useful escape route –

in case of engine or power problems,

I would bank hard to the left to keep out

of the mountain rocks and remain in

an updraft.”

To keep the power as constant as

possible, Delsalle made a shallow, nearly

flat approach avoiding large collective

movements which would have challenged

the capabilities of the engine governor.

As the component was not specifically

designed for such altitudes, it lacked

the performance and response time

that was available within the normal

flight envelope. “I began the approach

at 45 knots, gently reducing speed as I

approached the summit. About 30 meters

out, I established an out-of-ground-effect

hover to check the power which was OK,

so I continued towards the peak. I had

been worried about running out of power

for months, but this day and the next day

when we did it again I discovered that the

prevailing conditions allowed me plenty

of power. “This was the biggest surprise.

The previous day, strong updrafts had

made it impossible to maintain altitude.

Indeed I was climbing at between 500

to 1,000 ft a minute without using any

collective at all. I was in autorotation and

nearly over-speeding the rotor!”

“Getting closer to the summit, I

encountered a more powerful updraft and

I had to reduce power to keep the aircraft

on track. Torque was oscillating between

zero and 45 percent – definitely not a

comfort zone! On the summit, I would

pull between 15 and 20 percent. While

still over-flying the ridge, I was able to

maintain vertical references up to a few

meters out. Then when I lost sight of it

in the main cockpit window, I looked out

“I also had to remain

clear of Chinese

airspace. The border

straddled the peak so

I was literally flying

along the line, with the

wind 60 degrees to the

left of the nose.”

A formal send-off for Delsalle and his team

54

of the left chin window to try and find at

least some lateral references. As I touched

down on the forward part of the skids

I had no precise idea of where exactly

I was – my only cue was the sensation

of touching down. A big concern at this

moment was that I didn’t know if I was

touching snow lying over rocks or hard

snow on top of ... nothing. If it had been

just an ice shelf ready to break under my

weight, I would have been in real trouble,

especially with hardly any pitch applied!

Fortunately it was rock underneath.”

With no space for Delsalle to land

completely, the only way to fulfil the

FAI’s requirements was to try to maintain

contact between the skid and the rock

for more than two minutes. His main

problem was severe turbulence – in

around 65 knots of wind coupled with

reduced power that offered minimal

control authority. “I tried to ‘bury’ the

skid tips as deep as possible into the

snow. This would have stabilized me but

the snow was too thin and icy to do that.

So I had to ‘fly’ the helicopter all the time

while on the ground, with quite large

cyclic pitch inputs due to the turbulence

and unstable wind direction.”

“I managed to keep the helicopter

there for three minutes and 50 seconds.

Occasionally, through the lower-left

chin window, I could see an abandoned

orange oxygen bottle that I could use

as a lateral reference, but this was not

visible most of the time. All I could do

was try to maintain visual reference to

other peaks around Everest and stay in

contact with the ground. Despite this, I

never felt disoriented or uncomfortable.

My biggest challenge during the approach

had been to avoid focusing too much on

top left: powerful up and downdrafts

were a constant factor.

rigHt: the b3 was stripped to have an

empty weight of 1,100 kg – compared

with 1,232 kg in standard configuration.

Above: endurance was determined by the

amount of oxygen Delsalle could carry

rather than possible fuel load.

55

the realization of what I was doing, and

instead concentrate on the flying and

on the helicopter’s vibrations, noise and

power limits. For take-off, I just pulled

slightly on the collective and leapt into

the air using less than 50 percent torque!

I then followed the north-west ridge and

turned left while building speed, exactly

over the border line.”

The B3 is a powerful helicopter and

needs a strong tail rotor to cope with its

power. On neither of the two days that

he landed atop Everest did Delsalle reach

the limit of the B3’s tail rotor authority,

even with the wind blowing at 65 knots

from 60 degrees left of the nose. He did

not use any more than 80 to 85 percent of

full pedal travel throughout the approach,

landing and take-off. “After taking-off I

tried to orbit above the summit to take

Above left: the eurocopter team celebrates.

Above rigHt: salud Didier!

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56

in the sights, but it wasn’t possible,” says

Delsalle. “Each time I had to counteract

the downdrafts with maximum power

to increase ground speed. IAS was

60 knots with no ground speed, 1,000 ft

per minute rate-of-descent down the

mountain with maximum power applied;

this was absolutely the most challenging

moment. I thought of it as the mountain

warning me that it was much stronger

than me and that while I may have

succeeded this time I shouldn’t push my

luck! I descended slowly, both to protect

my ears and to appreciate the incredible

landscape and I landed back in Lukla with

70kg of fuel.”

The next day, to prove it wasn’t a

fluke, Delsalle went back in even more

turbulent conditions, but as the wind

direction was nearly the same, he used

the same procedure to reach the peak.

It took him four attempts before he was

able to keep the helicopter on the summit

for longer than two minutes.

So what did it all achieve? The

landings may have been the ‘cherry

on the cake’ for Eurocopter’s flight test

program but they were not its main

goal. Together with the earlier flights

in France, Delsalle’s exploits helped

the team find out more about how a

rotor behaves at altitude; its handling

qualities and control response. They

were subsequently able to develop better

mathematical models for engines using

high power settings, as well as improving

engine fuel-flow characteristics.

The team now knows it is possible

to design a rescue helicopter that

can operate at up to 8,000 m – even if

some climbers might not like the idea.

However, weather and wind conditions

will always be the determining factors

in such high-altitude rescues which

will remain exceptional achievements

even with the most powerful helicopters

–“and climbers can be reassured about

one thing,” says Delsalle, – “Everest is

no place for heli-skiing or flight-seeing

tours!” n

Delsalle’s feat helped eurocopter find out more about how a rotor behaves at altitude.

story and photos by ned dawson

Just

In a world where becoming bigger seems to be the

only way to commercially survive, Hummingbird is

a small company that has carved out a niche in a

small agricultural belt near San Diego.

Hummingalong

BoB Hoag is a Vietnam veteran who

had 3,000 hours when he left the Army

in 1973 and now with 18,000 hours under

his belt, he is one of only two agricultural

operators still working within an area

spanning the 150 miles south of Los

Angeles, including Central and Northern

San Diego, and Southern Riverside

Counties.

He and two partners started

Hummingbird Inc in 1977 after he had

spent a couple of years working in a

company that according to him, had

poor maintenance standards. He also

wanted to go back to flying turbines.

Hummingbird started with a C-18

– powered Hughes 500C purchased from

the San Bernardino Country Sheriff when

the department changed its fleet to the

500D model. Hoag’s machine – number

five off the production line – got the

business going, and in 1984 and 1986

he bought out his two partners to make

Hummingbird his company.

In 1993, Hoag switched to a Bell

206A that he imported from Europe – a

corporate machine with just 4,700 hours

total time, which, as Hoag put it, “had

never been worked in its life.” Hoag

fitted a spray system and installed a

C-20B engine to the machine which has

now flown over 8,000 hours. In order

59

the spray booms are mounted forward to ensure maximum penetration to the crop by the rotor downwash.

hoag has found the bell 206b to be the ideal machine for ag flying.

60

to keep costs down and to ensure it is

done to his standard, Hoag does his own

maintenance, except for engine overhauls

which are done by a company called

HEROES (Helicopter Engine Overhaul

Repair Service).

“It (the 206) has been a great machine

– very reliable – and I like the way Bell

looks after its customers,” says Hoag.

“Whether it is their support people in

Canada or the tech rep in Arizona, they

always come straight back to you and this

is the strongest point for Bell. I’m just a

little operator with only one machine but

it’s really important to be taken care of.”

One of Hoag’s reasons for changing

to the Bell was that its hydraulics made

all the difference in lessening the pilot’s

flying workload. “The 500 was more fun

to fly,” he says, “but the JetRanger is

easier. Five or six hours flying in the Bell

does not hurt me, but I was a lot more

tired after flying the Hughes for that

many hours a day.”

EfficiEncyHummingbird has outlasted seven

other companies but Hoag has no interest

in making it any bigger. He likes the fact

that Hummingbird is small and believes

its small size is probably the reason he

has managed to survive the increasing

urbanization of the once thriving

agricultural area of California.

He thinks another reason why there

are fewer operators is that today’s

helicopters are more capable; faster, and

with greater capacity, meaning fewer

helicopters are required to look after an

area. He believes that to keep costs down

and remain attractive to the industry,

operators must continually look for ways

to be more efficient.

With only, at best, five or six hours

available each day to fly, in order to avoid

wind adversely affecting drift, Hoag has

to minimize ground time to maximize his

time in the air. By utilizing two support

trucks he can fly directly from one job

to the next where the second truck will

already be waiting for him.

sprayingHummingbird’s entire operation

is based around agricultural support,

whether it be spraying crops such as

avocados, lavaciding for mosquito control,

heli-torching or even Bambi-bucketing.

Mosquito control has become more

prominent in recent times because of

concerns over the West Nile Virus.

His spray seasons are usually

top left: the truck doubles as mobile spray rig as well as refuelling bowser – ensuring

maximum time can be spent on the job site.

right: in some areas airspeed is kept slow so the spray can penetrate through any

canopy and into the crop.

above: hoag (right) has been providing a much-needed service to farmers of san

diego county for many years.

61

summer and fall, with the length of

each flying day determined by wind and

temperature. Flying 600 to 700 hours a

year, Hoag can fly as many as six hours

in a day or as little as half an hour.

Beginning at dawn, he will typically fly

until around 11 am when the wind and/

or temperature usually stops the work

– however it also depends on the crop

and the spray material. With a light spray

density, the wind limit is usually 10 to

15 knots, whereas with a heavier spray

density of around 100 gallons an acre,

or when spraying a larger grove, he can

accept a slightly higher wind because

spray will not spread beyond the grove

or onto surrounding houses. If there is oil

in the spray, then he has to be mindful

of temperature because in ambient

temperatures over 90° F, the crops can

burn. Furthermore, convection currents

and heat rising from the ground can also

lift chemical off the crops so the spraying

must be done in fairly cool conditions.

Although Hummingbird’s work is

year-round, it declines in the off-season

and Hoag’s main job is spraying avocados

during their in-season. Avocados need

a lot of nutrients and delivery by air is

apparently far more effective than

tilling nutrients into the soil. “It is a lot

more efficient to deliver 10 lbs of nitrogen

by air than 500 lbs on the ground,”

explains Hoag.

Avocados require good drainage.

Consequently, Hoag usually has to

contend with spraying crops on hillsides

with slopes of up to 45 degrees. “It

depends on the slope and wind direction

as to how I spray an area; whether I work

up, across or down, although I prefer

not to fly downhill if possible as it ends

up getting spray through the main and

tail rotors.” The helicopter is rinsed off

regularly to prevent any build-up of

chemical and to prevent corrosion.

Although other companies make

extensive use of GPS, Hummingbird

does not use it at all. “I only work in this

area and have done so for 30 years,” he

explains. “I can see where I’m going, the

groves are comparatively small and I’m

not sure GPS works that well around the

hills anyway.”

WirEs and driftWires as always are a problem, but

after two wire strikes early in his career

Hoag has become far more aware of them.

“I put those down to inexperience and

fatigue,” he says. “They were a long time

ago and I’m pretty confident that I’ll see

wires now because they are the primary

thing I look for.” Even if he has recently

sprayed a particular grove, he will go

back and inspect it before starting to

spray it the next time in case the power

company may have put up a new wire.

He also ensures that he is not overly

fatigued, and that he eats carefully and

drinks plenty of water.

Other than wires, the main

consideration these days is ‘drift’. Drift

is where the spray goes after it leaves

the helicopter – something that in

today’s environment, pilots have to be

very careful to control if they are to avoid

complaints from neighbours and risk

losing their State or County spraying

approval. Hoag says unfounded complaints

from people with no real knowledge are all

too common. Because all complaints have

to be investigated, the County Agricultural

Officers are frequently watching Hoag at

work – something that doesn’t concern

him as he realizes they have a job to do

and he knows that the care he takes in his

work means any complaints are inevitably

found to be groundless. “We can’t afford to

have any violations,” he says.

The JetRanger is equipped with Isolair

tanks and a boom installed across the

front of the skid toes to keep the spray

as close to the crop as possible while the

helicopter is flown almost at crop top level

– all done to minimize spray drift. This is

also why the boom only extends to 75 to

90 percent of the main-rotor diameter as it

minimizes ‘swirl’ and gets the spray down

into and under the crop, while reducing

the chance of drift. The urbanization of

San Diego’s agricultural areas means that,

above left & right: the paint scheme on hoag’s bell 206b has a lot of personal meaning as well as being a tribute to his time spent in Vietnam.

depending on the wind, the helicopter

could be operating as close as 50 ft from

houses. “It didn’t used to be that way,”

says Hoag. “They’ve put so many houses

here, there’s not much agriculture left!”

trucking onHummingbird uses two trucks to

support its operations. With some jobs

taking as little as 20 minutes, and with

the window of opportunity for flying so

narrow, it is important that the helicopter

can transit from job to job with no

hold-ups or down-time. The trucks are

positioned as close to jobs as possible to

minimize turn-around times. Hoag can

land on the truck, be refuelled and top-off

the spray tanks in less than five minutes.

Although his fuel tank can carry far more,

in order to maximize the chemical load,

Hoag usually carries no more than 25

gallons, which gives him 20 to 30 minutes

of flying time before refuelling.

The chemicals can be mixed on

the trucks with the water from their

2,000-gallon tanks. By mixing up to

700 gallons at a time, the truck’s tanks

are able to provide up to six or seven

loads, depending on the type of spray.

Hoag has two ground personnel

sprays used these days are fairly mild and

organically based – organophosphates and

the like are almost gone.

thE bEst bitsHoag likes being his own boss and he

likes the farmers he works with. “They

are the best people – down-to-earth and

honest. If they can’t pay, they call. No BS

about the cheque being in the mail!” He

also likes the flying, being able to walk to

work and working outside all the time. “I

couldn’t imagine being stuck at a desk.”

One thing that really annoys Hoag

is the perception some people have

of spraying. “A lot more people have

lived because we have pesticides and

herbicides. They save crops so that people

can eat! Most of the people complaining

about pesticides have no idea what they

are talking about.” However, he accepts

that the rhetoric is not so bad these days

and that people are coming to realize the

necessity of pesticides and the like.

Hoag’s company has stayed small and

as a result has been able to adapt quickly

to changing regulatory, urban and political

environments. Hummingbird is proof that

sometimes staying small is essential for

survival. n

otherwise known as loaders. One of them

has been with him for 25 years and the

other 16 years. “The guys are paid year-

round, even during the three months

when we don’t do much,” explains Hoag.

“When we’re working though, we work

solid. No lunch or toilet breaks. They

can grab something to eat between

landings and I grab something during the

turnaround.” The loaders wear coveralls,

gloves, and eye and ear protection

while working with the helicopter and

chemicals. Hoag keeps gloves in the

aircraft for when he helps out. “Used

properly, the chemicals are safe and

effective,” he insists. “You just have to

treat them with respect.” In any event, the

“The guys are paid

year-round, even during

the three months when

we don’t do much.”

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64

is it timE for pErformancE hEliports?

t h E l a s t W o r d

fleets allowing for even better helicopter operations.

Let me take the gloves off. I have 2,500 hours in the Black Hawk – a helicopter with NO HV limitation below 4,000 ft altitude. In other words, even should it lose an engine, it can take off or land vertically — yet it cannot land at a heliport unless that heliport has clearance planes of 8:1. This means that even a powerful helicopter must be operated as if it was a tired old piston machine. I have seen the flight manual of the AW-139, and it shows no HV limitation below 5,000 ft – so there are at least two helos that can serve as guinea pigs for an idea I would like to see introduced.

My proposal would be to introduce three classes of heliport, with three different approach/departure planes; let us call them Class-I, -II and -III heliports.

Class-III heliports would be the same as we have today with flat 8:1 approach planes. While these do not fit into urban landscapes very well, they could be used by all helos and tilt rotors.

For more congested sites, i.e. hospital heliports that might be bound by obstructions such as light poles or even the hospital rooftops themselves, let us define Class-II heliports as being those with approach planes of 4:1; this classification could be clearly marked on charts and documents. No Class-III helicopters could operate from Class-II heliports, which could only be used by those helicopters and tilt rotors which had a demonstrated adequate climb performance (including after engine failure) that would match or exceed the 4:1 slope requirement. Class-II heliports would fit into many more urban and hospital landscapes, of course.

The real prize would be Class-I heliports, with approach slopes of 2:1, which would allow them to be tucked into tight places where only high-performance aircraft could use them. Although the level of performance that Class-I heliports would require would be very high, the payoff would be in being able to build heliports where none can be built today – this would create an incentive to build helicopters able do this kind of work.

With performance-class heliports, we would match the approach planes of heliports with the capabilities of helicopters able to use them. It is hardly a novel concept – especially when Part-91.103 already states, “Each pilot in command shall, before beginning a flight, become familiar with all available information concerning that flight. This information must include... for any flight, runway lengths at airports of intended use...”

Since the FARs already require us to calculate the performance for runways, and Cat-A JAR Ops III requires us to calculate the clear areas for the takeoff and landing, it is not a stretch to ask for the ability to use this information to create better heliports, matched to the terrain into which they are placed. This performance-class heliport system would allow us to operate from heliports that could be situated where none can be now, but at comparable levels of performance assurance. We could make better use of urban terrain, bring helicopters and tilt rotors closer to users, and give incentive to improve the performance and safety of our operations by fostering better flight performance and engine failure accountability. n

Having heliports in

populated areas makes

sound business sense

for our industry, so why

not design heliports like

airports – where aircraft

performance determines

whether a given type

can use a particular

airport?

by nick lappos

Placing a heliport in a crowded urban environment is a difficult proposition, as ICAO and FAA/CAA/JAA rules require approach and departure clearance planes that are really quite flat – typically no steeper than about 8:1. This means that no heliport can be situated within 1,000 m of an 80 m tall building! (The USS Nimitz, at 1,000 ft long, is home to 100 jet aircraft, yet it does not meet the FAA heliport requirements for obstruction clearance!) The rule makers justify such flat clearance planes by pointing out that some helicopters cannot climb more steeply than this, especially when loaded. However, this ‘justification’ is only valid for the poorest performing helicopters upon which all others are unfairly judged.

It does not make sense to penalize all helicopters based on the poor climb performance of a few. Surely those operators utilizing more powerful helicopters should be able to reap the benefit of their extra capability and justify their expense. If powerful (more expensive) helicopters were legally able to operate from confined areas, it may well end up becoming economically viable for more operators to upgrade

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HeliOps Issue 40