HELICOPTER
www.helicopterlife.com Spring 2012 / £3.99 Lnow includinIg gyroplanFes E
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HELICOPTER LIFE is the HIGH LIFE HELICOPTER SPRInG 2012 LIFE COVER STORY First Flight Show & Tell Guide 4 Gusta Mangusta 32 Aviation shows and conferences. Dino Marcellino flew with the 5th Riel The Editor’s Letter 5 Mangusta, the pride of Italy and Italian indus - Aerial Forum 6 & 10 try, and saw the Rob Hields talks of many things Mangusta at work Letters to the Editor 7 & 11 & 15 World News 57 & 20 A variety of writers, Flying Crackers 8 & 9 look at the latest heli - copter news and events. New Technology 12 What are companies in HAI Dallas shows: the old world doing to a new fly-by-wire heli - beat the recession and copter in the making how the new world is with a canted tail rotor. benefitting from the Is this the way conven - growth in helicopters. tional helicopters are now moving, or will HeliExpo 2012 40 helicopters die out? Georgina Hunter-Jones HeliExpo Dallas 2012 Somalian Aid 18 gave great hope: Rainer Herzberg visits new helicopters, Somalia and travels improved technology, around with German more R & D, better Help 3, an EMS company sales figures Helicopter that was and more visitors than also used for aid-giving in previous years. in Haiti after the 2010 earthquake. Check for RATs - Olympic update 48 Don’t Poke the Pilot 22 Gyrocopters 50 General Moore-Bick Roger Savage and Barry looks back on a long Jones work out the prob - career of flight trans - lems and pleasures of port with military gyrocopter flying in a pilots “of all colours” modern era, using the and muses on the plus - heavier and more stable, es and minuses of that but still open-top auto - form of “officer deliv - gyros for training. ery`’! Book Review 58 Turks & Caicos 24 Georgina Hunter-Jones CAA Legislation changes 59 visits a Canadian heli - copter company with a Where to fly 61 daughter company in balmy island of Accident Reports 64 Providenciales in the Turks & Caicos. House & Helicopter 66
HELICOPTER LIFE , Spring 2012 3 S how & T ell G uide HELICOPTER
27 March - 1April 2012 LIFE FIDAE 2012 SPRInG 2012 Santiago di Chile Phone 562- 8739797 www.fidae.cl HON. EDITORIAL BOARD email: [email protected] Captain Eric Brown, CBE, RN The Lord Glenarthur, DL 25 May - 27 May 2012 Jennifer Murray AEROExPO UK Michael J. H. Smith Sywell Aerodrome, Northamptonshire, UK Wing Cdr. Ken Wallis, MBE, RAF http://www.expo.aero/uk EDITOR-IN-CHIEF / PILOT Georgina Hunter-Jones 14 June - 17 June 2012 [email protected] CHOLMONDELY PAGEANT OF POWER CREATIVE DIRECTORS Cholmondely Castle, Cheshire, UK [email protected] http://www.cpop.co.uk/ COPY EDITORS Evangeline Hunter-Jones, JP 22 June - 24 June 2012 Gerald Cheyne AEROExPO EUROPE CONTRIBUTING EDITORS Bitburg, Germany Rainer Herzberg, Barry Jones, Dino Marcellino, http://www.expo.aero/europe John Moore-Bick, Roger Savage, Tony Hancock CONTRIBUTED PHOTOGRAPHY 29 June - 1 July 2012 Rainer Herzberg, Barry Jones, Dino Marcellino, THE FESTIVAL OF SPEED & AVIATION John Moore-Bick, Roger Savage ExHIBITION SPECIAL THANKS TO Goodwood House, near Chichester, Sussex Dave Smith ATPL(H)IR, Paul Herbert CPL(H) Susan Bradley, Dietrich Peters and Ben Gearing www.goodwood.co.uk/festival-of-speed ADVERTISING Telephone: +44-(0)20-7430-2384, 9 July - 15 July 2012 [email protected] FARNBOROUGH INTERNATIONAL AIR SHOW Farnborough Airfield, Farnborough SUBSCRIPTIONS Go to our website or turn to page 54 http://www.farnborough.com/airshow-2012 [email protected] WEBSITE 14 September - 16 September 2012 www.helicopterlife.com GOODWOOD REVIVAL Blog Goodwood House, near Chichester, Sussex http://helicopterlife.blogspot.com http://www.goodwood.co.uk/revival See Helicopter Life on Facebook & Twitter 26 September - 27 September 2012 THE HELICOPTER SHOW Silverstone, UK COVER PHOTOGRAPH http://www.thehelicoptershow.com Mangusta by Dino Marcellino
6 November - 8 November 2012 THE DUBAI HELISHOW HELICoPTER LIFE is published quarterly by FlyFizzi Ltd. Contact: Julia Cuthbert 59 Great ormond Street London, WC 1N-3 Hz . Mediac Communications and Exhibitions - UK Copyright © FlyFizzi Ltd. 2012. E-mail: [email protected] ISSN 1743-1042. http://www.dubaihelicoptershow.com All rights reserved. opinions expressed herein are not neces - sarily those of the pub lishers, the Editor or any of the editorial staff. Reproduction in whole or in part, in any form whatever, is strictly prohibited without specific written permission of the Editor.
4 HELICOPTER LIFE , Spring 2012 his year started looking a little T he e diTor ’ S l eTTer better for aviation in January Tand leapt ahead at the HAI in Dallas in February. The HAI was an ulated helicopters. Have a look at the upbeat show, with new helicopters website. It makes it clear that EASA from Bell and Eurocopter - Bell is regulations take the place of CAA designing and building a completely ones. new helicopter, the 525 Relentless “All non-JAR licences (i.e. (see New Technology page 12 and ‘National Licences’, including JAR HAI article), while Eurocopter has an licences marked as ‘Valid for UK ‘e’ version of the EC130. There were registered aircraft’) can be converted also developments in the Marenco directly into Part-FCL licences; it is Swiss Helicopter, which, the compa - not necessary to convert to a JAR ny hopes, will do its first flight in licence first. For aeroplane and heli - November this year and some move - copter PPLs, CPLs, and ATPLs this ment in the 609 programme, now conversion can be done on similar totally controlled by AgustaWestland. terms to those which currently exist Helicopter company sales figures are to convert national licences to JAR also improving and there was a gen - licences.” EMS and life saving. The vision he eral feel that the downturn is gradual - As an explanation of the length of portrays of Somalia is bleak, but with ly turning upwards. While there are time it is likely to take the CAA have some buried hope in the marvellously still considerable disadvantages in the included in their website this data: resiliant attitudes of the people. current market: lack of military “The CAA has approximately More lightheartedly we have Barry spending; debt ridden western gov - 55,000 licence holders. on average, Jones (an already highly experienced ernments and a reduction in the num - the CAA sends out 70 new or amend - helicopter pilot) article on learning to ber of private fliers, nonetheless there ed licences every working day, or fly with that ‘father of gyrocopters’, was a hovering tide, which, if taken approximately 1500 a month. It is Roger Savage, and an article about at the flood, should lead on to for - difficult to estimate the number of flying helicopters in the Turks & tune, as Shakespeare might have said national (non-JAR) licences that will Caicos Islands in the Caribbean. had he been a devotee of helicopters. need to be converted but it is likely to There are other positive indications For anyone flying in Europe there be in the region of 15,000 to 20,000. in the helicopter world. one is that is now a big change in the way flying If these are spread evenly over the the longstanding helicopter company is controlled as we move over to transition period (which is unlikely) HeliAir, originally started by Mike EASA regulations. As changes will the CAA will need to complete at Smith, has just been awarded an IS- take effect in a few weeks it is neces - least 500 additional licence transac - BAo Rating. Brian Kane, Head of sary for all pilots to be aware of the tions per month from 1st July 2012 Sales and Marketing at HeliAir, says differences and the effect on their onwards. We must also expect a sig - that HeliAir is the first helicopter licences. The website to view for nificant increase in enquires by tele - company in the world to ever receive these changes is: phone and email.” one. An IS-BAo (International In this issue we have an article Standard for Business Aircraft
C update on flying in the Restricted d be regulated by EASA. estingly broad view of helicopter l a zone during the olympic period. r e For anyone who still has a pilots usage. g h UKPPL(H) issued prior to JAA, you
P Rainer Herzberg flies out to a r g will need to convert your PPL to Somalia to see a different side of hel - o t o EASA, before you can fly EASA reg - h icopter use in war-torn countries: P HELICOPTER LIFE , Spring 2012 5 A eriAl F orum Get the Picture! robert ‘noshmore’ Hields on the art of helicopters
ello readers. Since my first article appeared in forsooth, nay good fellow, yet again hath Ye Lode CAA Helicopter Life, following my “long-haul” flight denounced my proverbial parchment work? The truth is to London Heliport in G ASAz, my trusty old H of course stranger than fiction in the modern aviation Hiller, I have had some interesting feedback from cus - world isn’t it? “But all my students carry a spare sextant tomers, colleagues, friends, members of the CAA, and on the triangular navigation exercise, Sir Paul”, I other people that absolutely hate me! Well, flattery will exclaimed tugging my forelock, “Just in case the VoR get you everywhere, but you must try to maintain a sense fails, or the magnetic compass works accurately in the of humour, particularly in this business. There aren’t many turn”. occupations where you can bound off to work, full of the Get the point? joys of spring, jump into a much loved flying machine, There is more to this business than having fun, and its screw-up, and toddle-off home thirty grand worse off, still about time some of us had some fun instead of just happy to be doing what you truly enjoy is there? hanging on to the “good old days” when we were actual - What on earth is that idiot on about now, can I hear you ly making a living. saying? Well, from the outside it looks like a pretty, dare I What really amuses me is the rate at which brain cells say, “cool” industry to be involved with, doesn’t it? I disappear, and conversations about helicopters turn into mean it’s just not like your nine-to-five, or normal day - gibberish nonsense when a new prospective owner/oper - time business is it? ator appears on the horizon. off comes the head of a Well from being at the sharp end for twenty three years, previously successful wealthy businessman or woman, and surviving, I can assure readers that most sane individ -
and plonked in its place is a green cabbage with huge s uals wouldn’t last five minutes, and I’ve seen them come, d l e ears, ready for the stockpot! i and I've seen them go! Does that make me insane then? h t
Looks so easy from the outside, buy a helicopter, get r e
Well some individuals seem to think so, and I applaud b
a pilot, and then charge folks as much as you can get o their frankness and honesty, but sorry to disappoint them r f
away with to have a ride in it. Well, have I got news for o as I hold a class one medical certificate, ah-ha, therefore I y s
the next millionaire entrepreneur who fancies chucking a e t must be sane! After all, I can read upside down, even my r u
fortune away, just get on with it! After all its more fun o previous training inspector’s calligraphy pen was no threat C s
than just having a few million in the bank, and it e to me, as the blue ink flowethed from the wide-nib of his r u continued on page 10 t C “high-tech” feathered writing device. “Non compliance”, i P
6 HELICOPTER LIFE , Spring 2012 l l eTTerS To The e diTor Letters continue on page 11 & 15 & 19 & 24
59 Great ormond Street, London WC1N-3Hz, England. Telephone: 020-7430-2384, Email: [email protected]. Please include your name, and email or phone. Hancock’s Helimover Hields on Teaching
Dear Georgina, Dear Georgina While it is always nice to be included in your presti - I would like to comment on the article by Robert gious magazine we would like to mention an article Hields. I have no doubt that Mr Hields is a fine heli - that we thought needed a little clarification! copter pilot. I found his comments about psychology In the Winter 2011 edition of Helicopter Life magazine both insulting, and narrow minded. Both helicopters we read with both interest and amusement in your and psychology are of great significance in my life. Helitech 2011 article about the “Hancock They both have a valid place in this world, and neither Helimover”. one or the other is of greater or lesser importance. Yes, it is in fact Tony Hancock and his Helicopter Mr Hields throws insults around very easily. I once mover but it is not the ‘Hancock Helimover’ a more went flying with an instructor who had a similar man - accurate term could be the ‘Hancock Helilifter’ ner. I walked away from the school after that one les - because it is in fact the world renowned TLC son. Their loss of many thousands of pounds of busi - Helilift(r) from TLC Handling Ltd! ness. I then found a school staffed by open, fair mind - The Helimover which is designed purely for the ed and friendly people, who kept their prejudices (if Robinson range was sat just next door so we can they had any) to themselves. It was a pleasure to fly understand the confusion, but if you need to'truly with such people. move a helicopter show' as your article suggested then Regards David Barker
Reduced landing Fees at Festival of Speed
Dear Georgina, Following the recent news that the third dedicated Goodwood Aviation Show is to become a fully-inte - grated on-site attraction at the popular Festival of Speed and Moving Motor Show (28 June - 01 July), Goodwood is now able to announce a substantially reduced flat rate landing fee for all Aviation Show tick - et holders. The annual Goodwood Festival of Speed and Aviation Show sees hundreds of aircraft flying in from across Europe. This year, that number is set to grow consider - you need the universal, single operator TLC Helilift(r) ably with the introduction of a flat rate landing fee of which will handle virtually every make and model of just £30 for everyone who has an Aviation Exhibition skid mounted helicopter with speed, safety and style. ticket. This £30 landing fee is irrespective of aircraft We like your idea and the word play; however, not size or the number of passengers aboard. wishing to take anything away from the real Tickets are available from any one of Goodwood's ‘Helimover’ we feel it is only right that we put the many Aviation Show partners, including Flyer, Pilot, record straight by saying that my machine is in fact Helicopter Life, Rotor Hub, or by simply applying on called the TLC Helilift(r) but we happily accept your line at sentiment that without Tony and his TLC Helilift(r) http://www.redboxpower.com/Goodwood-tickets.html. “no helicopter show is truly moved”. The Aviation Show ticket will allow entry into the avi - Kind Regards ation exhibition free of charge. As the Aviation Show Tony Hancock is being relocated directly adjacent to the Festival of TLC Handling Ltd. continued on page 11 HELICOPTER LIFE, Spring 2012 7 F lyinG C rACkerS
Kathryn Tucker, the Helicopter Coffee from Heaven Ambulance in February. Museum Collections officer said Commenting on the sponsorship, When a group of Seattle hikers were “We are really impressed by the Charity Director, David oakley said: dropped a cup of coffee from a heli - standard of work carried out by the “London’s Air Ambulance relies copter they had grounds for surprise, Rolls-Royce Trust volunteers. The heavily upon corporate support and but their surprise soon turned to engine now looks like new and is an donations from the public to ensure shock and then relief as they read the interesting addition to our displays.” the continued provision of this life- message on the cup. The first British-designed turboshaft saving service. We are delighted to “A ranger has been shot, shooter at engine to enter service, the 1600shp be working in partnership with large,” said the message, scrawled Gazelle was installed from the late National Express Group and are on the side of a Cruisin Coffee cup. 1950's in the Bristol Belvedere, built extremely grateful for the significant “Call on cell if able to Pierce Co at Weston-super-Mare, and the early contribution they are making.” sheriffs.” Westland Wessex helicopters, but “They got the message and gave us a was rapidly succeeded by lighter and thumbs up,” said Chris Rosen, who Bell and Eurocopter clash smaller engines developed to pro - Helicopter companies Bell Textron was piloting the U.S. Customs and vide similar power. one of these, the Border Protection helicopter. The and Eurocopter have been to court Rolls-Royce Gnome replaced the over an infringement by Bell of aircraft was flying over the park in Gazelle in the Wessex, being small search of a gunman who had shot a Eurocopter’s patent covering ‘an enough for two to be installed side innovative helicopter landing gear by side in the same area as the previ - design that Eurocopter developed and ous power plant. Nevertheless,s the implemented on its EC120 and Gazelle remained in service with the EC130 models.’ Bell claims it was Belvedere until 1969 and with the vindicated in many aspects, while Wessex Mk.3 until the mid 1980's. Eurocopter says that the Canadian The Rolls-Royce trust is now restor - Federal Court has issued punitive ing at least two more Gazelles for damages against Bell. The amount is the museum, which plans to install not yet recorded. them in due course in the prototype Belvedere held in the collection. park ranger to death the previous day Bristow Awarded UK SAR con- tract for Northern Scotland and fled into the snow-covered hills. National Express sponsor AA The unsuspecting campers - nearly The Department for Transport has National Express Group, a leading the only visitors left at the evacuated announced that Bristow Helicopters bus, coach and rail transport park, which was by then crawling Limited has won the contract to pro - provider, launched a £25,000 annual with police and search dogs - quick - vide Search and Rescue (SAR) serv - sponsorship of London’s Air ly packed up their gear and headed ices in the north of Scotland. Bristow for safety, with the helicopter as an will provide SAR services starting escort. July 2013, using Sikorsky S-92 heli - copters based in Stornoway and Gazelle for the Museum Sumburgh. operations under the con - The Helicopter Museum at Weston- tract are expected to run for four super-Mare in Somerset has put on years, until the long-term future pro - display an enginedating from the vision of such services are secured.
Mike Imlach, Director of Bristow, m
1950's. The engine, a Napier o C said: "We are delighted to work with . e
Gazelle, is one of several held by the k i b
the Maritime and Coastguard Agency r
museum, and has recently been e v
(MCA) to provide this important o restored for static display by volun - h h
service from the Scottish islands. P teers at the Rolls-Royce Heritage a r
“Bristow has an excellent reputation g o
Trust at Patchway, Bristol. t o
for faultless execution of search and h P 8 HELICOPTER LIFE , Spring 2012 F lyinG C rACkerS
rescue operations. We will bring our expertise to this contract, developed in the UK between 1971 - 2007 with 11,500 missions. In addition, we currently oper - Sikorsky goes on and on ate search and rescue services in Norway, the At the HAI Sikorsky Aircraft recognized Helijet Netherlands, and Trinidad”. International as operator of the world’s highest airtime “We are very much looking forward to renewing rela - Sikorsky S-76® airframe — an S-76A™ helicopter (serial tionships with the MCA, Emergency Services and number 760074) with 37,025 flight hours. local communities in northern Scotland, working in Vancouver-based Helijet operates North America’s largest partnership to once again provide vital Search and scheduled helicopter service. Rescue services to the UK public.” Since 1986, aircraft 760074, an S-76A helicopter operating “As we take over the service, Bristow will work in Helijet's airline service, has carried more than 500,000 closely with the current operator to ensure that staff scheduled service passengers more than 3 million miles eligible for transfer, achieve a smooth and seamless between Helijet passenger terminals in Vancouver and transition during this organisational change". Victoria, British Columbia. Aircraft 760074 entered service in July 1980, and then flew Kiowa reaches 2 million hours 2,287 hours during nine years as a corporate aircraft in the north-eastern United States. Helijet acquired the aircraft in Bell Helicopter, a Textron Inc. company, announced January 1990 that the U. S. Army's oH-58 Kiowa Warrior helicop - ter fleet have accumulated 2 million flight hours. over 750,000 of these flight hours have been flown in combat. “The Kiowa Warrior continues to be the workhorse of Army aviation and this recent milestone is another example of the important role this helicopter fulfills in the Army's armed reconnais - sance mission,” said Mike Miller, director of Army Business Development, Bell Helicopter. t t o i l l e n y r b f o y s e t r u o C s h P a r g o t Essex and Herts Air Ambulance, o h
P photograph by Bryn Elliott
HELICOPTER LIFE , Spring 2012 9 continued from page 6 be in olde England. The menu boasts fresh local pro - employs people as well, so it must be good eh? But duce, imagination, and style. don’t expect to make any money though, unless you can Being so close to the source of the catch, the signa - fly professionally, you are a licensed engineer, you have a ture dish was the most popular main course ordered, and fully approved JAR maintenance facility with tooling, I can certainly recommend it. Pan fried Stone Bass with and a wife also qualified as an engineer, you can act as a “Saffron Fruite de la Mare”, Brancaster Mussels, Pak chief pilot, you have an Air operators Certificate, you Choi and cleverly made Spiced Cockle Popcorn. It was can act as accountable manager, auditor and quality man - as good as it sounds, and having started with Scampi in ager, answer the phone, use the internet, design websites, an edible fisherman’s basket, it was a coastal feast. I make tea, and most importantly understand new legisla - even managed to put a small sweet away, but for lovers tion from our friends and colleagues somewhere in of sweets, “The Playground” looked astonishing. The Europe! restaurant executive chef, Philip Milner, won British There must be a better way than this you may ask your Seafood Pub Chef of the year, and thoroughly deserves self? Well there is, just cheat like the others! recognition. I suppose that sounds like a bit of a rant, and totally our party was celebrating the 19th birthday of Roger tongue-in-cheek to those who don’t know me. Aylott, the father of my friend and flying companion, Well, make your own mind up, and any reference to Hedley Aylott. The picture shows Roger and his wife any person or persons, who bear a resemblance to the Marion, Hedley and his wife Claudia, and yours truly. above mentioned, is purely intentional. Bye the way if you think 19th birthday was a misprint, Moving on now, since my last article I can report that you would be wrong. Roger was indeed born on the oliver Nicholls has passed his test and is waiting for his 29th of February, so you can work it out yourself! licence, Jon Burrow is still at school, but ready to solo, How, did we get there? Well, Hedley, Roger and and petite Catherine Reed is now solo in the circuit, see myself arrived by R44 and the ladies by road. With a the picture, all done without hands eh! little help from John Warham, the chairman of the local Recently I have stumbled on a new place to eat, on the village playing field committee, we were allowed to land Norfolk coast, in the village of Thornham. in the corner of the village playing fields. See the pic - Check the web for details on Thornham, and you will ture of our welcoming committee. John turned out to be see that for such a small place it packs quite a punch in related to my old school rugby coach, Joe Warham, who the “Nosh” department. Apart from being a pretty little I now know to be still alive! Roundhay Boys Grammar village it has three pubs with excellent food available. School, Leeds, 1966. Small world isn’t it? our party booked a table at the orange Tree. The You can contact John on 01485 512546 if you are restaurant at the Kings Head, and we were not disap - looking for permission to land, and please note that a pointed. The pub itself is warm and welcoming, with the donation to the playing field committee would be well smell of the oak fire reminding you of just how it used to received.
Kings Head at Thornham P h o t o g r a P h s r o b h i e
Catherine Reed l d first solo s
10 HELICOPTER LIFE, Spring 2012 m ore l eTTerS To The ediTor
continued from page 7 famous faces appearing. All of this is set at the Speed site for 2012, there will be a free transport serv - home of the world's greatest motoring event, the ice in place transferring visitors arriving by aircraft Goodwood Festival of Speed at the picturesque directly from the Goodwood Aerodrome to the Goodwood Estate in West Sussex. Aviation exhibition. All visitors to the Goodwood Aviation Show will be The 2012 Goodwood Aviation Show already has con - able to upgrade their entry to a full Festival of Speed firmed more exhibitors than in previous years, as well ticket. This will allow general admission into the as the familiar exhibitors, including Pilatus, Nicholson Festival of Speed by following the ticket section of McLaren, Daher-Socata represented by Aura Aviation, www.goodwood.com. and Red Box International. Best wishes, Entertainment at this year's event will include fly pasts Adrian Jackson; 07970544190 or 01794 518888 and air displays, with plenty of other attractions and E-mail [email protected]
Take out or renew a two year subscription to Helicopter Life and be entered in the draw for a pair of tickets for the Goodwood Festival of Speed June 30 - July 1 2012
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T eChnoloGy AT h eli e xpo
The Bell 525 a revolution in control technology
he Bell 525 Relentless helicopter unveiled at HAI Close-up view of the Heliexpo has innovative control systems including cyclic sidestick and the Tfly-by-wire, side-stick cyclic and collective controls touch screen control and a canted tail-rotor, all concepts we know about but, pad how do they actually work? Fly-by-wire uses electronic wires to control the normal operation of an aircraft. In the case of the Bell 525 Relentless this allows for small collective and cyclic con - trols (side-sticks) and a touch-screen control pad and thus makes room for a far larger flight control panel. A fly-by-wire system replaces the normal, mechanical control systems of the helicopter with an electronic inter - face. The pilot tells the computer what to do via the cyclic and collective controls and these movements are convert - ed to electronic signals tranmitted by wires to the comput - er, which then determines how best to fulfill the instruc - tion. It does this by sending signals to actuators at each control surface to provide a response. Commands from the P
computer may also be made without pilot input, in for h o t example, the question of stabilising the helicopter and per - o g r a
forming other tasks that would normally be done intuitive - P h g
ly by the pilot. There also can be cases where the comput - e o r
er over-rides pilot input having deduced that it is unsafe. In g i n a
the case of the Bell 525 the system has triple redundancy, h u n
which means that it can lose two means of control and still t e r -
continue to function. J o n
The Bell 525 Relentless also had canted tail rotor. What e s
12 HELICOPTER LIFE , Spring 2012 is the reasoning behind a canted tail rotor? Canted tail rotor as The canted tail-rotor was designed by Dave Jenney, an engi - originally designed by neer working for Sikorsky in the 1950s. He designed the cant - Dave Jenney ed (or tilted) tail-rotor in response to a problem created by adding another engine to the CH-53 Sea Stallion. The US Marine Corp wanted more lift from the big helicopter, and Sikorsky wanted to add a third engine, and consequently put bigger blades on the main and tail rotor. However, that in itself necessitated moving the tail some six feet, and this threw the helicopter out of balance. Jenney’s solution was to tilt the tail rotor 20 degrees off vertical, which then balanced the other changes by increasing the centre of gravity envelope and caused the tail to give a little upward lift of its own. This technology, called the canted tail-rotor, was subsequently used by Sikorsky in the Black Hawk, and is now going to be used on the Bell Relentless 525. There are opponents to this design as it creates adverse yaw (as found on the wings of some early de Havilland Moth air - craft) which has to be factored out, in this case by the comput - er-based control system. Robert Hastings, Senior VP at Bell Helicopters, talked about the 525 as a helicopter far ahead of its time, which allows one to deduce it is still a design in evolution, so it may well be that there will be changes during the years until the first flight and The Bell 525 a revolution in control technology certainly after as the helicopter matures. Certainly as helicopter design moves with computer technology this is an exciting time to be watching the progress of aircraft engineering.
EC155 German Help 3 Rainer Herzberg sees the use of medical helicopters and aid in war-torn Somalia
ugsburg’s Heli Coil Aviation earneds some very helpful experience in the emergency use of helicopters during their work with the earth - Aquake victims in Haiti in 2010. German helicopters Help 1 and 2 used their helicopters to aid many individuals and relief organizations. Now Heli Coil Aviation is based at the border area between Kenya and western Somalia and the German Help 3 helicopter is once again on its way, with sup - plies, medicines and teams of physicians to be transport to the distant
14 HELICOPTER LIFE Spring 2012 Dörfernund Camp. We accompanied German Help 3 on its flights. The journey after Dadaab is, in the true sense of the word, an adventure! The cosy flight from Frankfurt was the opposite of the sight that greeted me in Nairobi. Tom the kind HEMS helper and pilot of Heli Coil Aviation stands waiting for me with a calm face but has to give me the bad news. Hepatitis has been diagnosed, which
HELICOPTER LIFE Spring 2012 Villagers waiting for the helicopter
would mean no flying. Luckily I had been inocu - Waiting to see the doctor lated at high speed before my departure with all twelve inoculations against African Unbill. This puts me out of danger of infection, and so I can sit myself calmly in the Toyota with our driver Luuk, which goes all the quicker as my luggage is still in Mombasa, delayed for some unknown reason, and I have only a light bag with my cameras and some wash things. Luuk, a master of his trade, jets us courageously through the chaotic Nairobi traffic, over mud pathways and partly asphalted by-pass roads on the route A3 toward Garissa, where the helicopter awaits us, ready for the long flight to Dadaab. our route is scattered with innumerable vast impact holes partially covered by a corrugated iron sheets, and we have some 400 kilometers of this shaking pathway to traverse. As Central Europeans we would normally slow down here, however Luuk increases his speed, already more than 150 km/h, and, with the normal African san - guinity, puts everything down to the will of God. I am glad Toyota made their trucks strong! After five hours of torture, we reach a flat shrub landscape. We pass primitive brushwood huts which house a few poorly dressed human g
beings. The question of how and why anyone can r e b z
live like this cannot really be asked. Garissa, a tra - r e h
ditional town for Kenyan conditions, has an uncer - r e n i
tain future and reminds us to be cautious. Islamist a r 16 HELICOPTER LIFE , Spring 2012 After landing in Hamey Inset: shops in Liboi
Al Shaban militias from Somalia attacked recently the only hotel in the place with explosive charges and kid - Examining the latest cargo napped two Spanish lady doctors, one of whom was never heard of again. We drive directly through to the KAA (Kenya of air - port Authority) administered and guarded Garissa Airstrip. A Pick-up truck with three barrels of kerosene is already there and waiting to fuel the helicopter, which emerges punctually, spot on the arranged time, as a dot on the horizon. An AS350 Ecureille B2 with the identifi - cation D-HFEM, it is flown by Jens zeissig and his co- pilot Davide Espatola. Also on board are Mario Löhner, the engineer, and omar, our Kenyan supervisor. After fuelling we fly to Dadaab, in order to discuss with the relief organization, World Concern, the flights for the next day. We may not remain in Dadaab for safety rea - sons, and instead fly 190 km north to Wajir. Flying time 1 hour and twenty minutes. At 17.20 we land on the international Airfield, 40 minutes before darkness. Since there is no radar, aircraft g r e b may not fly at night. All radio traffic in this region goes z r e through Wajir Tower. once that call has been made, h r e pilots make ‘blind’ calls on their way to air-strips using n i a r the Unicom frequency 118.3 MHz. Sometimes the air - s h
P field replies, at other times there is silence. a r g We are put up in the Wajir Guesthouse, a guarded, o t o
h building complex with high, barbed-wire reinforced P HELICOPTER LIFE , Spring 2012 One reason why helicopters are so vital to Somalian aid
walls, populated by innumerable black beetles and pow - have the rare sight of an enormous green area over hun - erful mosquitoes. For dinner there is Ugali (rice mash) dreds of kilometers. In addition, the rainfall of the last with goat meat. Every day! After the breakfast on the few weeks totally cut off many camps and villages from next morning (two jam doughnuts, an egg and Nescafe) the aid, which must now be supplied by German Help our driver arrives at 7.30. It is monsoon rain time and 3. The sodden roadways are impassable. Whole truck the country is under water, so our route is though mud convoys stick for weeks in the mud and wait for a dry and deep water holes from the hotel to the airfield. period. About ten minutes before we reach Dadaab Here the daily helicopter ‘A’ check is a special art. Airfield, we fly over the enormous camps, where Jens, Davide and Mario check extremely thoroughly approximately 450,000 Somalis were living even before and with great care, using mirrors on each line of poten - the famine. These have now been made larger by those tial leakage, the smallest drop is closely watched and a fleeing from the war between the peacekeeping forces fuel sample is taken several times. Understandable, if of the African union (AMISo) and the Al Shabaab mili - one has 200 kilometers flight over a deserted shrub tias and the Hizbul Islam. landscape and further six hours flying time in the Human rights are unknown in this conflict. However desert, where the chance of assistance in a forced land - the Al-Shabaab is responsible for the punishment and ing is nil. There are no other helicopters nearby and killing of local villagers, who do not bend themselves to SAR is unknown here. their interpretations of the Islamic laws. After refuelling by the very professional airport serv - There are about 200 new refugees to Dadaab every ice we are ready for the start. day and they all come expecting assistance and food. Flight altitude of 2,500 foot, course 170 degrees, These are predominantly women, children and old peo - speed of 100 KTS, outside temperature +28°C. The ple; most young men are obliged to join one of the rival view outside the window is unvarying: infinite shrub militias for war service. Children are recruited from the landscape all the way to Dadaab. age of nine years, supplied with weapons and forced to Usually here everything is brown and dried, but the join the fight. Anyone who refuses is executed without monsoon-time rain brought out the vegetation with a compunction, even the smallest ones. According to vengeance, and flooding to the Erblühen, and so we international estimations about 70,000 children have 18 HELICOPTER LIFE , Spring 2012 weapons in Somalia. There is no working government. tions, is clearly extremely bad and it is again and again The country is designated by UN as ‘a failed state’ urgent to remind everyone to be very cautious. and is high on the list of international corruption. Aid is We start with a flight down into the settlement of misappropriated by warlords and does not arrive at the Hamey, in order to deliver a Chinese lady doctor and a homes of the poor and hungry. Lack of nutrition and Kenyan Medical officer for a medical investigations on infections are far from rare and 70% of the population the inhabitants, I remain with them against all the warn - have no access to clean drinking water. Many relief ings of the team. organizations have left Somalia owing to the continuous The landing itself requires good planning and organi - uncertainty. Al-Shabaab has for a long time prevented zation, set as it is in the scrub with all the inevitable the assistance of countries from the west by force of dust and a very limited landing field. The Ecureille arms. scarcely fits between shrubs and low trees, and in order Then, in october 2011, Kenya started an offensive on no protect us from possible attack, is unloaded without the western Somali border which has already penetrated shutting down; with the rotor turning at speed and the up to 120 kilometers into the country, forcing the Al- flight is started immediately we have finished, because Shabaab-militias back. So, while this is happening fifty we are only 5 kilometers from the border of Somalia. nine relief organizations in Kenya prepare to follow the With Jens zeissig as captain and Davide Espatola as forces and bring aid in to the country. However, with a copilot Heli Coil Aviation has sent two very experi - the aid come Christian groups trying to distribute the enced pilots to Kenya, who act in each situation with Bibles in Islamist camps, which heats up the conflict peace and circumspection, and do their jobs extremely unnecessarily. professionally. The two know how to estimate what This is the region in which German Help 3 works to really is the level of risk and how to avoid everything help all the remote settlements and Camps along the that could make the flight dangerous. It does give real border. It is a dangerous job, because the security situa - reassurance to all those here on the ground, knowing tion, which is daily evaluated by the relief organiza - that German to Help 3 is on the way.
Landing at the end of the day at Wajir. Inset: the daily ‘A’ check is a special art! Around the World Capital Air Services fly Hermes EC135
Capital Air Services Ltd. are now flying the combined with its proven reliability and speed will make Eurocopter EC135 ‘l’Hélicoptère par Hermès,’ a very appealing and cost effective aircraft.” Cproviding the U.K.-based European corporate hel - The EC135 ‘l‟Hélicoptère par Hermès’ is the result of icopter charter specialist with a high-end helicopter for joint vision from the House of Hermès and Eurocopter, customers seeking excellence and optimum comfort. two market leaders in totally different business fields. It “We are delighted to receive this very prestigious combines the excellence of Eurocopter’s twin-engine Hermès helicopter, the fifth EC135 to join our fleet,” EC135 with the savoir-faire of Hermès, with more than said Michael Hampton, the MD of Capital Air Services. 150 design changes of the interior and the exterior of the “We are sure that the elegance of this particular aircraft helicopter. t
Multiflight adds second Dauphin h g i l f i
he Eurocopter AS365 N2 Dauphin joins Multiflight’s t l u
existing helicopter charter fleet that includes a m d n
Eurocopter AS365 N1 Dauphin, AS355 Twin Squirrel a s
T e C and a B206 III Jetranger. i v r e
“We are delighted to announce the addition of a new Dauphin s r i
to our fleet,” says Multiflight MD Steve Borrowdale. a l a t Multiflight’s new Dauphin charter helicopter has undergone a i P a
major refurbishment programme at Multiflight’s in-house C f o
engineering and maintenance facility at Leeds Bradford y s e t
International Airport, including the installation of new avion - r u o
ics, new cream interior and full repaint. C s h
Multiflight offers a full range of aviation services at its base P a r g
at Leeds Bradford International Airport including comprehen - o t o
sive air ambulance services. h P 20 HELICOPTER LIFE , Spring 2012 new London HEMS Director ondon's Air Ambulance is pleased to announce the Lappointment of Dr Julian Thompson as an Executive Director of the Charity. Julian worked as a doctor on London's Air Ambulance in 2010 and has constraints, London's Air Ambulance at the forefront of emergency medical returned to lead an enhanced has, since its formation, provided an care and maintain the quality of care it service in partnership with senior invaluable service to the Capital”. one provides to critically injured Londoners. figures in the City of London. of the 7/7 inquest's nine concluding rec - Commenting on his appointment Dr Last year, London's Air ommendations was that HEMS should Julian Thompson said: “During my Ambulance's work was high - have its funding and capacity reviewed. time as a doctor on the service I was lighted in the Coroner's Inquest The Charity appreciates the help it inspired by the professionalism of the into the London Bombings of 7 receives from the NHS, and current medical care but frustrated that limita - July 2005. The Coroner, Lady corporate supporters, however, in these tions in funding meant that we could Justice Hallett praised the service most austere of times, it needs to devel - not always reach Londoner's who need - saying ‘Despite current financial op additional income sources to remain ed our care.” urocopter’s Mexican subsidiary, Eurocopter Ede México S.A. (EMSA), delivered a single- engine AS350 B2 helicopter to the Quito Aerial Police Service, of the Ecuadorian National Police Force, for use on public security missions. The new aircraft was pre - sented at the customer’s facili - ties in Quito attended by senior officials from Ecuador’s e C n
a Ministry of Internal Affairs, the l u b National Police Force and the m a r
i National Council for the a n Control of Narcotic Drugs and o d n
o Psychotropic Substances l Eurocopter in d
n (CoNSEP), and EMSA repre - a r
e sentatives. t P o The Aerial Police Service Mexico C o r
u now has two AS350 B2s under e f
o the contract signed by EMSA against organized crime and public security missions. y s
e with the General Headquarters The Aerial Police Service of the Ecuadorian National Police Force has been car - t r u of the Ecuadorian National rying out missions to safeguard public security in Ecuador for 14 years now, oper - o C s Police Force in December ating from five strategically located bases. Due to its rapid response and wide field h P a r 2009. The new helicopter will of view, the helicopter is the perfect ally for a wide range of law enforcement mis - g o t provide support in the fight sions, as well as SAR and MEDEVAC operations.. o h HELICOPTER LIFE , Spring 2012 21 Don’t Poke the Pilot
our editor and I share a common heritage as Those earliest experiences were made at sea on HMS P h o
members of the Court of the Skinners' Livery Albion (Centaur class) with the exhilarating thrill of the t o g
Company and we both edit magazines. So, we flight deck, the unmistakable smell of AVGAS, the r a P
Y h
are both always on the lookout for unsuspecting authors order, the activity, the sheer sense of purpose of doing s b y
and, in a moment of bravado/forgetfulness/distraction or great things for Britain with such people as I met on e n s
alcoholic haze, I offered to write a bit on my recollec - board. For a 20 year old university student the career t r o
tions of forty years in and around helicopters. aspirations of academia in the world of plant sciences m a a Helicopters have accompanied my military life from its gave way to a more practical life. And so it was that n d e
earliest days to its culmination and it doesn’t seem to be that ‘look at life' with 79 (Kirkee) Commando Battery u r o C
over yet as I move between a variety of honorary became a life far fuller than ever expected: I joined 45 o P t
appointments. Commando Group Royal Marines as its (by now e r
22 HELICOPTER LIFE , Spring 2012 General Moore-Bick looks back on a long career of military transport
Sapper) 'Condor' troop commander. our winters were thing else prized to make the long cold nights more spent in Arctic North Norway and summers in the bad - bearable, lost without trace as they sank into the deep, lands of South Armagh. Challenge burst upon challenge deep Narvik Fjord. our Wessex 5s, Scouts and Sea and I soon learnt in both theatres how much success Kings were our lifeline and our biggest fear was that depended, as if on a thread, on the support of our heli - warmer temperatures that would ground them. our kit copters. Sometimes, this was literally on a string, as our was first class: -11° was fine, -18° better, but above -4° land rovers and Snotracs were lifted off the deck of both we and our helicopters melted away like thawing HMS Hermes in the Commando role and, with any snowmen. luck, flown to our icy home for the next three or four on a snowy plateau in Norway or a nasty corner of months. But a swinging load and a quick ‘snip’ meant South Armagh we strained to hear the familiar Scout the end of carefully stocked luxuries, books and any - engine, every slight noise raised a hope and yes, there it
HELICOPTER LIFE , Spring 2012 23 Moore-Bick’s last weekend in uniform with 39 (Skinners') Signal Regiment (V) Lieutenant Colonel Adrian Campbell- Black R Signals, commanding. was, our much needed reinforcements, relief or casevac. that the front man read the map and the others followed However, I also learnt that pilots, even pilots, are as on behind like a taxi service. It all worked pretty well, as fallible as the rest of us. My next door neighbour, for Stalin said, ‘Quantity has a quality all its own’. example, who landed me in Ireland (yes, the other bit) in In addition to flying in Germany, I have often flown in plain clothes with briefcase carrying a sub machine gun the American helicopters which seem to abound in both in it may have learnt his map reading a bit later in life, I peacetime and war. on one occasion I remember being hope. on another occasion, one dark blowy evening, the very grateful for a thick pile carpet as a button flew off (very) young pilot who picked me up in a Sioux (remem - my over-tight jacket when, in VIP NATo mode in ber that goldfish bowl attached to a crane jib?) in Brussels, I was eating and drinking for peace. Crossmaglen, bound for Castle Dillon, usually about 20 But French, Serbian, Russian, Hungarian, Spanish, minutes flying, turned to me after what seemed an eterni - Italian, Danish and Norwegian pilots have sped me on ty and asked with a tone of alarm in his voice ‘do you my way. Most have given me no cause at all for alarm, know where we are?’ I didn’t and neither did he, it was however, the CHoD’s VIP Puma provided for Anne, our his first day of operational flying. As it got really dark daughter Charlotte and me in Romania astonished us. In we flew on and after well over an hour landed with mid-flight our minders came through the cabin and dis - empty fuel tank, having done two circuits – of the whole appered through a door at the back. This was not to province it seemed. And, HE even thanked ME! desert us, as we feared, but to get to their smoking com - Northern Ireland was where I learnt to value the lifting partment, a sort of galley at the back of the helicopter. power of the PUMA, as I had the Sea King before it. My Also in that country, which used a mixed variety of job was to rebuild security force outposts along the bor - rotary and fixed wing VIP aircraft, we always had the der and to destroy unofficial border crossings. Moving same versatile pilot. pallets by helicopter; the concrete blocks we used were Then there was the Serbian Mi-8 HIP, in which I flew the most expensive in the world at £26 each at 1970 with the President and nearly all of his cabinet together. prices, £350 today. And I watched with horror as an It felt like one of those rural French baker’s 2CV vans under slung bundle of steel scaffolding poles unbundled and on board it turned out to be a smoking only flight itself and rained down like spears on a herd of quietly with no working seat belt in sight. Thank goodness for grazing cattle. As we circled to view the damage I saw RAF air safety standards. that not one single cow had been speared and, due to the As the Chief Engineer in Bosnia at the end of the war, location, the happy farmer had suddenly earned a small I faced a ruined country with every bridge blown up and fortune in scrap metal. most infrastructure partially or totally destroyed. There Much of my service was international. on the German was no overview, neither physically from the air nor General Staff course we often flew on visits with the metaphorically on the ground, between competing insti - Heeresflieger in UH-1Ds and CH-53s. Familiar, as I was, tutions. My daily flights over the beautiful but sadly with the relatively few aircraft in British service it was a destroyed land gave me the necessary vision and peace striking change to see forty-eight giant helicopters all to work out what to do, and in what order. lined up on the pad. And another surprise was to find out Helicopters were abundant but made scarce by an 24 HELICOPTER LIFE , Spring 2012 undergrowth of national constraints. Even my own that must have got it out of the system, but it taught me to country tried to charge me £3,000 a day for a Lynx, appreciate the skills that kept me in the air and enabled me thinking NATo could be blackmailed into paying. to do my job in decisive postings from start to finish. Luckily, German civil servants were not so advanced Right at the end, on my last weekend in paid service and carried me free of charge. on the ground vitriolic there was a Gazelle on our village playing field once again arguments about ‘Mission Creep’ threatened to paralyse to pick me up in my own country for a rare chance to any restoration and also meant that huge American appreciate the place, the pilots and the aircraft that it has resources remained parked up and unused. Refuelling at been my privilege to serve with. Some of you I have only Tuzla airport one day I spied a long line of red cross known by the Dymo tape on the backs of your helmets, badged Blackhawks, so I walked over to them. As we but some I have got to know as friends. Thank you all. talked I discovered a group of American warrant offi - Flying with cers who were bored stiff with no flying, since there minders in the were no casualties. Super Puma in ‘Come Fly with Me’ I said and they did. Materials of Romania all sorts, bridge parts, railway parts, water supply, elec - tricity spares were suddenly available and over-night, the pace of engineering changed. It lasted about six weeks until the clammy hand of their higher chain of command re-exerted itself. I knew the flight routes better than the short term rotating pilots and could warn them, if they listened, or brace myself, if they did not. The crossing sets of HT cables just outside Sarajevo became a regular feature and duly brought down the son of a friend a few years later, safely that time, I am pleased to say. overview, that’s what I gained there, just as I did in the Falkland Islands in 1984. There I decided in my ear - liest days to teach German evening classes to ward off the threat of alcoholism. An eclectic group came to my class, all of whom had something to offer in return in that vibrant, barter economy. That included command - ers of the Lynx flight and the Bristows contract aircraft. We all helped each other with irregular verbs, hard standing and refuelling pads (from me) exchanged for helicopter air miles to get out and about to the furthest corners, not least to see the rich Falklands wildlife and meet and stay with the fascinating settlers. As I neared the end of uniformed service the Gazelle proved an ever present friend, with the huge privilege of pick-up on the lawn from home. With duties over much of Germany to cover with my wife Anne, 12 Flight Army Air Corps took us north, south, east and west. And what a relief to see a highly sophisticated, clean, reunited country from the air after the devastation of the Balkans. As the Iraq war loomed Anne became the principal passenger as we tended the sparties, since River Sava 1996. she had the Home Front experience of the first Gulf Slavonski Brod bridge War in Iraq in 1991. So, she would take the front seat repair. Probably the with one or two new trouser suits to meet the regula - largest of its type since WW2 tions, and put me in the back with a newspaper. Intermediate piers, Somewhere along the line I must have felt that all rollers and bearing this flying as a passenger was not enough and I learnt to plates were positioned fly with the RAF Laarbruch flying club. At 45 years old by Blackhawks.
HELICOPTER LIFE , Spring 2012 Flying over the Salt e
Georgina Hunter-Jones looks at helicopter flying in the Turks & Caicos Islands
CI Helicopters in the Turks & Caicos Islands is a lation (roughly 35,000 over all the islands) and an subsidiary of Buffalo Aerial Services operating almost equal number of Canadian visitors each year. Tin British Columbia, Canada. Unlikely though Buffalo Aerial Services was started in British this sounds, there are currently about 5,000 Canadians Columbia by Dietrich Peters and Susan Bradley in living in the Turks and Caicos, about 12% of the popu - 2003, and immediately found a market for aerial lifting,
, 26 HELICOPTER LIFE , Spring 2012 VIP, fire fighting and EMS. A couple of years later on The challenge they gave themselves was not small. holiday in the Caribbean, Peters and Bradley realised There had already been at least five attempts to set up a how much the Turks & Caicos Islands needed a similar helicopter service in Turks & Caicos, which had failed service and set themselves on the road to working with for a variety of reasons, one, namely Silverstate, was the people of the islands to set one up. part of the failure of a much bigger company, others had
HELICOPTER LIFE , Spring 2012 27 tried the wrong type of helicopter, others had had prob - snorkelling with stingrays, resorts of all kind and is par - lems with the government of the day. However, looking ticularly family friendly. at all these previous failures and learning from their Two years of trading and TCI Helicopters is just start - mistakes Peters and Bradley thought they could see a ing to make a profit, this is partly because of the reces - way to make a successful company that would benefit sion, which hit just around the time of the start-up, and both themselves and the people of the islands. Even so, partly because there have been corruption issues on the it took five years before all the hitches and difficulties island, which has led to the British Government estab - that surround a start-up company were ironed out. lishing an interim government in the overseas Province. However, on 2nd February 2010, TCI Helicopters was This, though, has been true of many of the companies on able to make its first flight; a tourist trip around the the islands, and Helicopter Life was told that many of the island of Providenciales, the business and tourist centre property companies still have unsold lots in the hotels. of the islands. However, 2012 is looking like a good year for tourism in TCI Helicopters is based at Provo Airport, although the Caribbean with numbers up by 20%, and as TCI the government centre of the island is in Cockburn Town Helicopters gets more publicity and becomes better in Grand Turk (where the Governor, Richard Todd, is known they are generating more revenue for the island. based) because Providenciales has the largest population, Peters says that the first couple of years they only kept is the greatest generator of tourist income, and has avia - a helicopter here in the peak tourist season, which tion fuel. The Turks & Caicos were famous for their salt allowed them to avoid the hurricane season which runs production, but now tourism is the main industry of the from June through october, but that last year they left a islands. helicopter here for the whole year with locally based Tourism in Turks and Caicos started in 1984 when pilot Ben Gearing in charge, and that this was such a Club Med opened a resort there and, as part of the agree - success they plan to leave a helicopter here all year ment with the island government, built the main road round in 2012. through Providenciales, the Leeward Highway. It now At present TCI Helicopters does tourists flights, VIP includes cruise ship passengers, mangrove swamps, flights including flying scuba divers and, tourists to Salt scuba divers (Grand Turk has the World’s third largest Cay, Middle Caicos and other islands, ship to shore natural reef and is one of the best places for diving) transfer such as for the super-yacht Phoenix 11, a limit -
Above and below: Conch farm on The Provo conch Grand Turk farm was damaged in Hurricane Ike in 2009 and is slowly being rebuilt
28 HELICOPTER LIFE , Spring 2012 Providenciales marina Grand Turk has the third largest barrier reef in the World and is excellent for scuba diving ed form of EMS service, including a flight to Pine Cay (which has no cars) when a woman crashed her golf The islands cater to buggy and broke her ankle, and support flights for the high end tourism police and local government. The island has a problem with immigrants from Haiti and the Dominican Republic, who arrive on small boats and set up makeshift camps in the scrubland, some of these immi - grants bring in arms or drugs. For this reason the US Coastguard is also based on Providenciales at the moment. It was originally based at Mayaguana, Bahamas but the base was destroyed in a hurricane and still has to be rebuilt. TCI Helicopters is run on a Canadian AoC. This necessitated a visit to the islands from Canada by Transport Canada to ensure everything was fit for pur - pose, presumably a pretty popular piece of work! There is currently no helicopter maintenance outfit on the islands so Peters flies a mechanic down from Canada for the major checks. While in the future they are look - The islands abound with wild horses, dogs (known as Potcakes) and donkeys, left over from the days of salt production The first major road in Providenciales was built by Club Med The former Prime Minister’s house, known as The White House. There is a map of the islands in the swimming pool.
ing forward to more specifically ‘helicopter’ usage of the company at present all flights must be done airport to airport, flights below 500 feet are not permitted and they are not allowed to use the longline, which makes Illegal dwellings in the scrub fire fighting impossible. However, Peters is confident land. People that as the local government becomes more aware of the smugglers bring benefits of helicopters and how useful they can be, for in boats full of example in fire fighting, police and EMS work, this will immigrants from gradually change. Haiti All the islands suffered heavy damage in Hurricane Ike and Tropical Storm Hannah in 2008 and for a vari - ety of reasons much of this damage has not yet been fixed, this includes infrastructure, such as the causeway between North Caicos and Middle Caicos, where parts of the tarmac road have been completely swept away and cars must slide across on the sand and rock track. This, as Peters points out, this is where helicopters would be very useful and really benefit the community doing construction and longline work.
Salinas. The Turks and Caicos were famous for their salt prodution from the 1600s to 1960
HELICOPTER LIFE , Spring 2012 Local dwellings in Provo
Providenciales Airport Inset: US Coastguard t Camp Arena, near the Herat Airport in the low speed for long distances on rough roads, often little Afghanistan East Region, under Italian control, more than paths, inevitably exposes men and vehicles to Aplans are being made for the following day: a the danger of ambush by Afghan rebels. Direct attacks convoy of ground vehicles must carry supplies to the with light weapons, RPG rocket and explosion of mines forward base at Bala Murghab, in a remote area of the placed on the route are the main modes of attack from Italian sector. which the troops need to defend themselves. The convoy Commander is well aware that travel at So the Commander decides to ask for air support and 32 Words and pictures by Dino Marcellino Spring 2012 Gusta Afghanistan
Dino Marcellino visits the 5th Rigel Mangusta Italian Army near Herat
33 9Around seven or eight Mangusta are on operational readiness at any one time
escort. The type and how it is used have to be agreed The two helicopters are ready on standby, each one with the JATF Joint Air Task Force (the Air Component armed with four wire-guided HELIToW missiles and of which operates under the West Region’ Italian 250 rounds for the 20mm rotative barrel cannon; a light Command). In this case the protection will be com - configuration (so to speak, because in effect it is a posed of two armed helicopters. weapon worth respecting) which allows a greater flight The journey is long and it is not possible keep the hel - range. icopter cover for the full length of travel, so they decide There is just enough time for quick flight planning and to deploy a patrol of two Agusta A-129C, working from they take-off, not an easy operation because a strong a mid-route base (a FoB, Forward operating Base) in wind is blowing up a lot of sand, causing a deep fog. order to allow a rapid response to any emergency. However, the third generation thermal camera installed The A-129C (named Mangusta, Mongoose in English) on the nose of the helicopters allows the pilots to navi - is an Italian Army Aviation’ scout/escort/attack helicop - gate even in these adverse weather conditions. ter, in this case operated by 49th Squadron ‘Capricorno’ During the flight the Mangusta Commander is in of the 5th Regiment ‘Rigel’. direct contact with the JTAC, who directs the two heli - This Regiment is based in north-east Italy at Casarsa copters to the new position taken by the rebels. The A- della Delizia, and, together with the twin Unit 7th 129C burst on the scene first doing a flyover during Regiment ‘Vega,’ deploys ten Mangusta helicopters in which the crews assess the situation and memorize the Afghanistan, with an average of seven to eight machines exact coordinates of the guerrillas’ position. on operational readiness. This is enabled by the technology on the pilot’s hel - The precautions of the previous evening were indeed mets: a monocular display integrated between the helmet necessary. A large group of Afghan militants attacks the and the onboard computer, which handles the weapons convoy trying to break it and capture the vehicles. and fire systems. Each pilot can see the target through The threat is serious and the JTAC (Joint Terminal the monocle with a simple movement of his head, and Attack Controller, the military member qualified to ask can keep it pointed in the right direction through every for an air-support asset and direct it in action in offensive phase of the flight, either recording the position in the operations) attached to the convoy contacts the control computer, or firing immediately. In the latter case the room asking for the activation of the Mangusta pair. At front cannon, which is integrated to the vision system, the same time he provides location coordinates and an automatically aligns itself at the same viewing direction assessment of the threat. of the pilot. 34 HELICOPTER LIFE , Spring 2012 The presence of the two Mangustas strike such terror by other, more intense, bursts of fire, 20 rounds each, to in the enemy that the next step (to open fire) becomes saturate the area. A heavily armed vehicle is hit by a unnecessary: the rebels choose to cease ‘war activities’ ToW missile. At this point the insurgents break off the and beat a retreat. The Friendly troops return to watching attack and retreat quickly. mode and the trip once again resumes under the air-cover Now the problem is to evacuate the wounded. A of the two helicopters, which can now escort them for Medevac air-asset (Medical evacuation) is initiated: a about 20 minutes before having to return to the FoB for heavy helicopter, an Italian Army Aviation CH-47 refuelling. Chinook equipped with stretchers and doctors comes in, The attack to the convoy part of a wider rebel strategy, escorted by another pair of Mongoose, while the first two because other attack actions have benn simultaneously A-129, having finished their brief now return to the undertaken in various places in the country. Even now, FoB. another outpost in the Italian sector, not far from the first The Chinook awaits the green signal given by the event, is under attack. The two Mangusta take-off again, Mangusta before entering the scene. It then lands and but this time the situation immediately appears much begins evacuating the wounded, meanwhile the operation more serious. Some soldiers have been injured and the is supervised by the protection team on the ground and rebels are very close the allied field, whose Commander given aerial coverage by the Mangusta. The latter will is in radio contact with the helicopters. Even at a dis - escort the Chinook to the base and hospital in Herat. tance of about 2.5 km the helicopters’ crew can identify Men and machine the enemy through their vision system which allows a The above story of a working day in Afghanistan has magnification of up to 12x. introduced us to the operational use of a very special The rebels aim their weapons toward the two A-129C machine, the A-129C Mangusta. The Mangusta is the and, under this very real threat, the crews decide to open pride of Italian Army Aviation, of Italian Industry and is fire. They fire with cannon, two short bursts of 10 shots being developed and produced by Agusta. It has now each. This allow them to verify their effectiveness and if also been bought by the Turkish Land Forces Command, necessary do appropriate adjustments. This is followed who have acquired sixty units in the dedicated fighter o n i l l e C r a m o n i d y b s h P a r
g A-129C Mangusta produced by Agusta o t
o and the pride of Italy h P HELICOPTER LIFE , Spring 2012 35 The pilot’s helmet is equipped with a monocular display
The 5th Regiment ‘Rigel’ at Casarsa della Delizia, one of the three Army Aviation units equipped with Mangusta version T129ATAK. because the result of fire is devastation and to get the To learn more about the Mangusta we visit the 5th wrong target would be a tragedy. There are also rules of Regiment ‘Rigel’ at Casarsa della Delizia, one of the engagement to be respected, and if it is obviously a case three Army Aviation Units to be equipped with the of clear danger it is possible open fire without any fur - Mangusta (the other two are the previously mentioned ther authorization. 7th Vega at Rimini base and the Centro Addestramento often the presence of Mangusta, with their weapons Equipaggi, or Training Crew Center at Viterbo). clearly visible and aggressive, acts as a deterrent and it is The 5th Rigel is divided into three Departments: the enough to discourage the ambition of the rebels. 27th Gruppo Volo ‘Mercurio’ equipped with multirole The air-patrol is always flown by at least two A-129C; helicopter AB-205, the 49th Gruppo Volo ‘Capricorno’ this is the unquestioned doctrine that allows the two air - (47th Wing Capricorn) with Mangusta and the Gruppo di craft to protect each other, adopting special flying tech - Sostegno ‘Lupo’ (Combat Service Support Unit Wolf). niques during the delicate takeoff and landing phases. For more than thirty years the men and helicopters of Looking specifically at the equipment, Lt.Col. Metalli Rigel have been deployed in support of international explains: “the front cannon, inserted into the sleeve on operations, from Somalia to Namibia, Libano, Albania, the left side of the fuselage, with the barrel rotating at Macedonia, Kosovo, Bosnia, Iraq and now Afghanistan. 20mm, is capable of 300 rounds; in fact normally we The Lt.Colonel Alessandro Metalli, Public Information load only 250 rounds to prevent jamming, and it is possi - officer explains that “the (Mangusta) machine was ble to fire bursts of 10-15-20 rounds or ‘burst free’. on designed for use against the tank, having been developed either side wings can be mounted in multiple combina - in the last years of the Cold War. With the fall of the tions of missiles HeliToW (max 4+4 to the external Berlin Wall the use of the Mangusta was forced to underwings mountings), a 70mm multiple rocket launch - change with the changing times. Now it is used in the er (with 19 tubes) or 81mm with 7 tubes (at the internal sphere of large air-operations and air-ground synergy, the underwings mountings). The rockets are an area-satura - latter being the use of aircraft in cooperation with terres - tion weapon, and being insufficiently precise it is pre - trial components. Here at 5th Rigel, using the profession - ferred not to use them except in extreme cases, to avoid alism and experience acquired by the Regimental person - unpleasant collateral damage. nel, methods of deployment have been refined and on the wings, auxiliary fuel tanks can be mounted, as implemented in operations in the theatre of war, such as an alternative to the ToW, depending on the type of mis - the one described in Afghanistan. sion to be carried out (normal endurance of 150 minutes The purpose of the Mangusta is defined as an explo - can be extended to 195 minutes). ration-escort helicopter, with potential for attack. Lt.Col. The helicopter is a tandem two-seater, pilot command - Metalli explains: “in the Afghan theater is unlikely that er in the back seat and the co-pilot in the front seat; the Mangusta will be used to launch a planned assault, but first is in charge of piloting, the latter performs the func - they open the fire when it is necessary in reply to aggres - tions of fire, navigation and communication. However sion, and to protect friendly troops on the ground. both of them can fly and handle and weapons. Armed intervention is always intended, and the A- Captain Muzj Fabio, pilot and Commander of a A- 129C don’t open fire if there is not a clear threat, this is 129C Squadron, said: “the weapons management system,
36 HELICOPTER LIFE , Spring 2012 aiming and firing, is double: one is the already men - helicopter is completely stabilized, and the probes detect tioned monocle integrated to the pilots’ helmet, called the weather data (wind, temperature, air density) which, Integrated Helmet and Display Sight System, the second interfaced with aircraft on-board systems, are used to is a FLIR , a thermal imaging camera, second generation. correct and adjust the shot. Both the cannon and ToW missiles can be focused The helicopter is equipped with an integrated self-pro - through a Sight Unit equipped with a laser pointer, which tection system, called SIAP. It includes the flare launch - allows precise calculation of the distance from the target ers, engine’ exhaust heat suppressor to reduce the ther - (and it is possible use 12x zoom). mal track, an infrared lamp generating false signals, and As explained in the story above the pilot’s helmet is systems to detect the three main threats: radar, laser and equipped with a monocular display for daily flight (it is missiles. The systems alert the pilots to this threat, so if it possible to view flight data and tracking system), while is a missile the system automatically fires countermea - to fly by night it is configured in NVG Night Vision sures, or if the helicopter is illuminated by a laser or a Goggles. radar the system indicates what type of threat is there By day it is possible to hit a target up to approximate - and the pilot can adopt evasive measures (usually ly 3 km’s. Shot is very accurate thanks to the fact that the descending to try to mingle with the local vegetation or
By day it is possible to hit a target up to approxi - mately 3kms. Accuracy relies on the stabilization systems and on-board probes, which detect and compensate for ambient conditions environment). ing lamp and an NVG compatible searchlight, complete The crew seats are armoured and have an energy the equipment. absorbing frame which limits the damage to the pilots in In closing, some top tips and ‘gleanings’ related by the event of a violent impact with the round. The landing Lt.Col. Metalli: “the crews are fully motivated and confi - gear, a complex and impressive structure, contributes to dent in the machine entrusted to them. Until now we safety by being very robust. If hit, the helicopter can lose have had no losses or particular problems, and all mis - transmission fluid and stay in flight for 30 minutes.” sions have been concluded.” The cockpit is divided into sectors, and various control The human aspect is crucial, so the pairing of pilots in panels allow the sight of all on-board devices, naviga - an A-129C are basically always the same when deploy - tion, and armament: from the image of the thermal cam - ing in theater of operations, to allow for the best compat - era to the self-protection system, from the automatic ibility. engine controls to the underwing weapons load. A curiosity: the Mangusta pilots are trained to perform The machine also is equipped with a video-camera a particular manoeuvre called buddy-rescue; this is exe - placed in the center of fuselage with which it records the cutable thanks to the fact that Mangusta fly in pairs. It is entire mission, and it is also possible review while in important to quickly extract the pilots if the Mangusta is flight how much has previously been recordered. A land - forced to land in hostile territory. The second A-129C
Crew seats are all armoured and have an energy absorbing frame, which limits damage to the pilot in the event of violent impact on the ground If hit the helicopter can lose trasmission fluid and stay in flight for thirty minutes can recover the two crew members by ‘housing’ them on the sand and dust wears away at the mechanical parts. the landing gear wheels, of course with adequate safety Nevertheless, the forces still manage to maintain a high devices. ratio of efficiency thanks to the efforts of the specialists There is continuous ongoing research to optimize fuel of the Combat Service Support Unit, so much so that and weapons load, depending on the mission, and soon we will be able to do the 300 hour check in researching the effects of altitude, temperature and Afghanistan at the main base in Herat. weight. It is not an accident that one of the most appropriate The Afghan theater is challenging, particularly as the and requested air-asset is constituted by Italian Army weather conditions are very severe; very cold winters Aviation’ Agusta A-129C. And the fact that the goal of and very hot summers, high altitude mountains and 5000 flight hours over Afghanistan was recently reached, tricky areas. All this limits the flight performance, and is the clearest testimony to their success.
Mangusta pilots are trained to perform ‘buddy- rescue’ as so extract the pilots if the Mangusta is forced to land in hostile territory HeliExpo Dallas 2012
review by Georgina Hunter-Jones pictures by author and Ian Turner
fter the down years of 2009 – 2011, HAI 2012 However, the size of the venue was so large that it was a revelation with upbeat manufacturers, appeared relatively empty. Anew models and prospective helicopter produc - Both Bell and Eurocopter unveiled new products and tion growth. There were more than 19,000 visitors and others were talking about their improving sales figures. 650 exhibitors, with 60 helicopters on display. However, the slight sting in the tail was the revelation i h 40 HELICOPTER LIFE , Spring 2012 by Honeywell’s 14th annual Turbine Powered Civilian which was created to be the major competitor to the Helicopter Purchase outlook report that things will Robinson R22 trainer and was taking a small but grow - actually not be so good in the short term, although they ing share of the market. However, the Enstrom helicop - should be better in the long term. In the training market ter Company hopes to profit from this loss and fill the Sikorsky is no long going to produce the 300CBi, gap with a new training machine of their own. HELICOPTER LIFE , Spring 2012 41 Relentless Bell 525 cockpit
Front seats have special tracks for easy egress
Bell Helicopters Probably the manufacturer that gave the convention the greatest lift was Bell, with their Bell 525 Relentless super medium class helicopter. With huge hype, smoke, Cyclic side stick and protective walls and much secrecy the new commercial touch pad controls helicopter was launched at the show. However, the sur - prise element was slightly blown when, the day before the launch, pictures of the Bell 525 were sent around several hotel bedrooms by overzealous staff, and then quickly recalled. Not quickly enough it seemed as the picture appeared on pPrune within hours. When the 525 Relentless was actually revealed it was shown to be in the yellow and black colours of its launch customer, PHI, who has also been very influen - tial in the customer focus group advising Bell on their new product. The 525 will have GECT7-2FI engines, fly-by-wire controls from BAE flight control computers, said by BAE to “provide the ability to operate in austere envi - ronments safely and reliably, with decreased pilot workload.” In the cockpit it will have side-sticks for collective and cyclic controls and a touch pad for the instrument systems, this, the demonstrator explained, “is as intuitive as your ipad,” Commercial Business sector, said, “underwater testing has Unusually for a Bell helicopter, the 525 will have shown this is a safer and easier form of egress.” five main rotor blades, which the advising customer Speaking about the company’s performance over 2011, group felt was necessary for such a large helicopter for John Garrison gave an upbeat picture. He said the 407 reasons of safety as well as performance. It will have a with its GX and AH variants had been out-pacing expecta - four blade canted tail rotor and excellent visibility. tions and that 1,000 407s have now been delivered. Bell Speed is expected to be greater than 140 knots and also achieved the number one slot in Pro Pilot’s customer range will be more than 400 nm. Gross weight is support survey. 18,000 lbs, with a useful load of 4,000 lbs. The mock- In 2012, Bell expects to see increased performance in up was in 16-seat configuration, but there are alterna - sales of the V22, the H1 and the Bell 429. However, the tive modes. There is a large sliding door for easy exit. company realise that military budgets are under pressure Bell says, “you are only ever one seat away from the and so they can no long depend on their traditional exit,” and the pilot also has a swivel-seat that will sources of revenue, which is why they are making new allow him easy access to the door. Carl Crenshaw III in inroads in the commercial market with the Bell 525 Bell’s Key Segment Specialist in Parapublic and Relentless. 42 Eurocopter EC130T2 unveiled at the Dallas show
Eurocopter The EC130T2 the latest version of the EC130 was revealed Eurocopter EC130T2 at the show and this has already had excellent sales. Eurocopter cockpit said they sold 191 aircraft at the show, valued at $1.44 billion, of which 105 (to seven different customers) were the newly upgraded EC130T2. CEo Lutz Bertling commented that, the whole of 2011 they sold 170 helicopters but this year they have already sold 191. The EC130T2 has an Arriel 2D engine with 10% increased power and better hot and high performance. Cruise speed has increased by 10 knots and the fuel consumption has gone down by 2%. Maximum take off weight is 5,512 lbs with an increase to 6,724 lbs when carrying an external load. They have an upgraded crashworthy system, new active vibration control sys - tem, better air conditioning (something very important for the tourist market) and a new door design. on the instrument panel with have improved the ‘man to machine interface.’ For the future, Eurocopter continues to look at the X3, which achieved 232 knots in flight in 2011, and the X4, about which, Dr Bertling said, the company have a new philosophy that will lead to considerably decreased noise and fuel levels. Now that the military market is decreasing, particularly in AW609 flying at Europe, Eurocopter are moving to the mergers and acquisitions Arlington market for growth. They recently bought the British company Vector, which has given them growth in the fixed wing market in Britain and Canada, and in 2009 bought 60% of the Japanese company ANAM. Dr Bertling was also keen to stress that Eurocopter’s vision of the future helicopter world includes commuting without using airports, which, he pointed out, are currently close to their limits and are not needed by helicopters. All he needs is governments to think the way he does.
AgustaWestland AgustaWestland have a newly developed plant at Arlington in Texas, where the first prototype AW609 (number three over - all) is being constructed. once the programme gets underway production will be done in Cascina Costa in Italy. However, the AW609 in fixed wing AW609 is still very much in the experimental stage (even mode though the first flight was 9 years ago) and AgustaWestland’s pilots and engineers will continue to work with Bell’s engineers, designers and pilots to bring the project forward. AgustaWestland’s real strength, as CEo Bruno Spagnolini was keen to point out, is in their growing family of intercon - nected models. Their strategy is clear, they want to give opera - tors options to build their fleets from the whole range of AW models; a model for every necessity. To this end they have been stressing that AgustaWestland will reduce the cost for their operators, in both training and maintenance, by having com - monality both in the cockpit and in key parts such as gearboxes and rotorheads. “Both engineers and pilots,” said Bruno Spagnolini, “have the comfort of recognition.” Deliveries in 2011 were up for AgustaWestland, who had 200 new orders worth 4 billion Euros. The majority of these orders are in the medium twin and higher range and they have an order backlog of three years production. AgustaWestland will continue to move from the military into the commercial sectors as they did in 2010, although outside Europe and North America military budgets remain strong. The AW169 will have its first flight in the spring of this year and should have its civil certificate by 2014. The AW139 has now sold 600 units and has 450 units in service. AW189 had its maiden flight in December 2011 and AgustaWestland expect the second prototype to take its flight around the middle of 2012, with civil certification in 2014. They already have 30 orders and 20 options on the model. AgustaWestland is also increasing their training budget and have opened two new training academies, one in Malaysia and one in the UAE, which they forecast will be very successful.
Sikorsky Sergei Sikorsky with Jeff Pino said his aim in the press conference was: “to speak his HAI medal for respectfully of the past, honestly of the present and optimistical - Distinguished ly of the future.” This, he inferred, he was easily able to do as Contribution to the 2011 sales had been $7.4 billion, spread across all three parts of Helicopter Industry the company; Sikorsky Global, Military and Aerospace. Sikorsky has had a busy year including the Legacy of Heroes tour, in which the Sikorsky S92 flew to various places around the world. Pino joked that wherever the helicopter landed it had been signed by local people and had returned completely cov - ered with signatures. The Sikorsky S-76D is now on the market, and production of the C++ has been discontinued. The 76D did 700 hours of flight-testing, and the first one will be delivered by the second half of the year. The launch customer is Falcon Aviation Services in the UAE who have purchased two, with options on two further ships. The 76D has HUMS, an enhanced Category ‘A’ capability, an all composite main rotor with a rotor ice protection system, and a quieter main and tail rotor. It has two PW210S engines.
HELICOPTER LIFE , Spring 2012 44 Michael Kazachkov opening the Russian Hour
Sikorsky have ended production of the S300CBi, thus removing their training advantage
Pino also talked about the X2. The S97 Raider, the military version is now doing testing at the Pentagon, but the civilian ver - sion has finished trials and is now waiting to see where the mar - ket will go. Pino pointed out that, because the project was entire - ly self-funded, it was able to move much faster than on projects where they had to wait for funding and approvals. or, as he said: “when you self-fund you get there cheaper and quicker.” on the downside, Sikorsky is no longer building the 300CBi, which was a fundamental part of their training market. The com - pany has moved S300 (it is now S for Sikorsky not Schweizer) production to Coatsville Beach in Pennsylvania, and will only be producing the larger model. This is allegedly something of a problem to the Schweizer family, who have been involved in a KE119 from Las vegas on the AgustaWestland booth lawsuit with the company since a few years after its purchase. Russian Bristow Helicopters training school, who have 44 300 CBis Helicopters booth said that they were aware of this change and that they were look - ing at all options for the future when their fleet started needing replacement. Enstrom, who are interested in providing a small trainer to fill this new gap in the market, has already approached them. Christian Gadbois of SRT Helicopters, who also uses the CBi, said that since the buyout of Schweizer in 2004 Sikorsky had become increasing less interested in supporting the companies in the training market. Sikorsky have also opened a new tower for blade testing: called a whirl power it enables helicopter operators and manufac - tures to rebalance their blades automatically and can be used with main blades operating either clockwise or anti-clockwise. Russian Mil Mi24 Hind helicopter Robinson Ian Turner Kurt Robinson said that although 2008 was still Robinson’s best year for sales in its history, 2011 had come close with 356 helicopters sold. He was extremely pleased as this almost dou - bled their sales in the previous year and included eighty-eight sales of the Robinson R66. However, on the downside Robinson has still not been able to get Canadian or EASA certification for the R66. Explaining the problems with EASA certification, Kurt Robinson said that this is partly to do with hydraulic testing, HELICOPTER LIFE , Spring 2012 which is still being considered by EASA, and partly over a seat-belt issue. It seems there is a question by EASA as to whether the R66 helicopters should have a four-point harness. Robinson said that due to the depressed US economy 70% of the helicopter sales were actually outside the United States. He also wanted to celebrate the production of the 10,000 th helicopter, a record in civilian helicopters. Robinson currently produces 10 helicopters a week, which has moved up from their previous production of 3 helicopters a week and is helping to reduce the backlog. Last year the company took on 250 new employees and more machinery and equipment, making it a beacon of success in the market. They have also increased their service centre and dealership base and now have 130 dealers and 146 service centres in the Robinson showing USA, with 276 outside the USA. new Police variant The Robinson R66 is still awaiting cold weather trials, and they have recently produced a police version, similar to the Marenco SKYe R44 police version, which is close to FAA certification. SH90 helicopter Robinson is also working on a float version of the R66, a cargo hook and a newscopter version, which they hope will be ready by late 2012. He said there had been considerable mili - tary interest in the R66, particularly as governments around the world reduce their budgets. When asked if the Robinson Company might look at pro - ducing another larger helicopter he said simply that they were a proactive company and were always open to new research and development.
Enstrom The Enstrom Helicopter Company had its best year on record last year. Sixteen helicopters were delivered, fourteen of which were 480Bs at more than $1 million each, allowing the Michigan based helicopter company to earn its highest annual revenue in its 52 year history. This year they expect to deliver twenty-two more helicopters, mostly the 480B, and mostly to international markets. Jerry Mullins sign - CEo Jerry Mullins said, “The fact that we are dealing with ing the agreement foreign military has helped us in the last couple of years.” for 28 480Bs to the This trend continues as Enstrom did a deal at the show for Japanese Air Force twenty-eight 480Bs to be sold to the Japanese Air Force. This tops even the sixteen-ship sale last year to the Royal Thai Army, for which Enstrom Helicopter Corporation’s representa - tive in Thailand, M-Landarch Inc received a prestigious award from the US Commercial Service. The “Excellence in Trade Platinum” award was given for outstanding achievement in promoting trade between the United States and Thailand in 2011. Now that Sikorsky is no longer producing the S269CBi training helicopter, Enstrom also see opportunities in that direction. Director of Marketing Tracey Biegler said that they were looking very seriously into how Enstrom could take advantage of the clear gap in the training market left by the end of the Sikorsky CBi production.
46 HELICOPTER LIFE , Spring 2012 MD Helicopter Company Lynn Tilton, CEo of MD Helicopters, revealed at HeliExpo that the company will fly the MD540F this year. The helicopter is expected to feature a six blade composite rotor made by Van Horn, the same landing gear as the MD600 and an all up weight of 3,500 lbs. She is looking at military and parapublic markets for the machine. MD had been disappointed last year by the failure of a plan to bring EMS to the Saudi Arabian market, and Ms Tilton said she had spent $5 million of her own money pursu - ing the contract. However, on the upside, MD were involved with the US Army project for the MD530s in conjunction with Boeing. MD 600 landing MD produced the fuselage and these machines will be used at Dallas in Afghanistan. Ian Turner While the MD 902 has been dogged with supply failures these now look to be resolved and MD is planning a new cockpit for the 902, which will be ready in about 18 months time.
Marenco Swiss Helicopter The Marenco SKYe SH90 is so close to flying that the company has taken on a new test pilot, Wayne Bambini, an John Pattinson American, and hope to be flying the first prototype in demonstrating November 2012. They have already sold thirty-four helicop - the R44 tip ters, twenty-four over the three days of the show, mostly for cover placer police, EMS, Vip and corporate and expect to get certifica - tion in 2014 and to start deliveries in 2015. The only major change since last year is the new improved visibility cockpit, with larger windows, the result of flights with the police and other commercial operators, which showed the importance of outside visibility. owing to the composite structure it is easy to put in new panels. The engine remains the Honeywell HTS 900, which they chose specifically because there are no hard TBos and it is countries around the globe to try and improve safety an ‘on condition’ engine. standards in flying and reduce fatalities.
Air Covers Over-view Air Covers, a company that makes covers for helicopters The HAI 2012 was a dynamic show despite to protect them from wind and weather damage whether Honeywell’s 14th annual Turbine Powered Civilian inside or out, on board ship or on land, was at the show. Air Helicopter Purchase outlook report. While there is a Covers is based in the UK but has been coming to HAI for warning to manufacturers and operators to be canny the last two years. John Pattinson, the CEo, demonstrated his in the short-term, it does mean that R & D done now new R44 tip cover placer. The company continues to do well will reap benefits in the future. Short term issues with many foreign and UK military orders. include the reduction of western military budgets and the recession in many current first world coun - Russian Helicopters tries. However, long term issues would seem to Russian Helicopters had brought four machines to the include the increasing military budgets of Far and show. There was also the Russian Helicopter Hour, in which Middle Eastern countries and the continuing growth
s members of the group gave a short talk about the state of the
h of civil aviation of emerging economies such as P a industry in Russia. Kimberley Smith from the FAA talked r China and South America and many regions of g o t about the safety initiative that the US FAA are doing with
o Africa. h P HELICOPTER LIFE , Spring 2012 47 Check nOTAMs for RATs Update of the Restrictions around the Olympic Park from 14th July – 15th August 2012
Top left: R112. Top right: P111. Bottom right: Weymouth restricted areas
he restrictions are there,” explained Andrew the British olympics very different from China or even Haines, Chief Executive of the CAA, “because of Greece where there were few foreign operators. He did Tthe belief that there is a very real threat to the not want the press to be full of private pilot violations. country at this time owing to the high profile of the It is thought there will be 500,000 extra visitors to the olympics.” UK, 20,000 media and 150 Heads of State. However, he added that the CAA do understand that pilots want to continue to fly and do their normal busi - The Prohibited Zone P111 ness and hobby activities, and for this reason the CAA is based on the London Heathrow zone and will be from have worked hard to reduce the time and scope of the the surface to the base of the LTMA. It will be active restrictions and they believe that they are now working between 14th July and 15th August. with acceptable limits. The main aims in working with the flying public over The Restricted Zone R112 these restrictions are to give a maximum understanding will also be active between 14th July and 15th August. of the restrictions and to ensure that the aviation legacy Between 16th August and 12th September there will be of the olympics is positive. Haines pointed out that the P114 around the olympic Park and two restricted areas airspace would be full of foreign operators many of around Eton Dorney and the athletes’ village at Egham. whom have no knowledge of UK regulation; this makes There will be various 2 nm RA(T)s activated by 48 HELICOPTER LIFE , Spring 2012 NoTAM throughout the whole period. the airfield, and will need to call Atlas when they have There will also be a restricted area around Weymouth landed, this is particularly important if they are flying between 14th July and 8th September, which will be full out-of-hours at a closed airfield. of broadcasting, EMS and security helicopters. This will Any pilot flying must have a transponder with either be from the surface to 3,000 feet. mode S or modes A & C. Any pilot with a non-transpon - other olympics RA(T)s will be activated by der aircraft, a Tiger Moth for example, will need to fly in NoTAMs on event days. These are mostly around foot - formation with an aircraft that does have a transponder. ball stadia and there will be one around Brands Hatch, Solo students will be allowed to fly within EGR112 which is being used for the cycling event. These will be but it will need to be written on the flight plan that he or potentially activated any time between 14th July and she is a solo student, and the name and contact number 12th September, so it will be necessary to check of his instructor must also be included. It was stressed NoTAMS before flight, or use the SkyDemon software that more than one student error from the same airfield when planning a flight. SkyDemon is giving their site would be looked on very unfavourably. free for olympic planning, for more details see the It was stressed and re-stressed that if a pilot becomes NATS website: unsure of his position or is forced to leave the airfield for http://www.nats.co.uk/news/skydemon-and-nats- any reason while unauthorized he should call D & D launch-free-pre-flight-planning-tool-for-ga-safety/ 121.5. Sqn Ldr San Ryan in charge of Atlas said, “call ATLAS, do not run away.” ATLAS Control Any deviation from the flight plan should also result Airspace will be controlled by Atlas Control, which will in a call to Atlas control as anyone off route might not be be run by 48 RAF controllers and 5 controllers seconded identified and thus become a suspect. from the Navy. It will be manned 24 hours a day and will Unidentified blips on the radar will discover they are have 12 consoles and extra frequencies, twelve in total. investigated by either a Typhoon or a Puma, and there These are for the restricted zones and not for P111 (pro - are definite procedures on how to respond to these air - hibited zone), which will have specialist controllers. craft, all of which start with turning away from the Atlas control will be divided into Atlas North, on the for - London Prohibited area. mer Farnborough North frequency 132.800 and Atlas South on the old Farnborough East frequency 123.225. HeliRoutes Initial calls must be made to these frequencies and the After a long debate the CAA has decided to keep some pilot will be given a further frequency to call, thus keep - of the Heliroutes open so as to allow continued use of ing the original frequencies clear for initial calls only. Battersea Heliport. These will be H7, and part of H4 Pilots will be allowed into the restricted zone subject between H7 and Battersea Heliport. H4 east of Battersea to the number of slots available, and ATC capacity. Heliport will be closed. H3 will also be closed as it was Pilots moving within the restricted areas must file a felt to be too close to the edge of Heathrow, making it flight plan between 2 and 24 hours before they want to possible for a rogue helicopter to reach the airfield fly, and if approved will be given an approval number. before an intercepting Typhoon could shoot it down. Flight plans must include route and height and approval However, these routes are subject to NoTAM and will be given on a first come first served basis. Flight approval on the day. There are also other restrictions on plans with errors will automatically be rejected and will the use of Battersea Heliport: pilots must be ‘known’ to have to be resubmitted before the flight can be author - Battersea, and must file a GA report and manifest. ized. Thirty minutes from the start of the flight plan Communication must be made through Battersea. At pilots must call in with the approval number, or they will present, procedures are still be finalized with the police. not be authorized to fly. Pilots are being encouraged to Airfields just inside the Prohibited zone; White keep the initial call to: callsign, approval number and Waltham, Denham and Fairoaks, have special regula - service wanted, as these will be very busy frequencies. tions. There are also special regulations for farm strips Any last minute changes will mean the application must and helipads within the zone, but all these exemptions be resubmitted. However, if a time slot is full and the need to be set in place by 31st March. ATC see an empty one around the same time, they will For those wishing to practice using the flight plan pro - suggest a time variant. This new time will be put on the cedures ahead of the olympics there will be a second returned form with the approval number. “File of Flight Plan Day” on the bank holiday weekend Pilots doing circuits at an approved airfield must con - 5/6th May. For more details see: tact Atlas an hour before the flight and will be given a www.airspacesafety.com/olympic s squawk number. They must remain within 3 nm miles of
HELICOPTER LIFE , Spring 2012 49 Savage Flying
Barry Jones, Army Helicopter Pilot, goes on an advanced gyrocopter training course with Roger Savage in the Lakes.
Below is a rapidly approaching patch - work quilt of smallish fields, fortunately the eet!...... Left foot.....more!! I'm one I've chosen is looking good. We arrive in a twin seat open cockpit gyro - over the fence with room to spare. Some copter, learning to fly the thing sheep in the far corner of the field look up fFrom the back seat and we're in the middle to see what all the fuss is about, pause and t of a practice forced landing to the ground. i then carry on munching their dinner. v e i
I'm looking over the shoulder of the hel - k
I've flared a couple of feet above the d n
meted shape of my instructor in the front a
grass, waiting for the mainwheels to touch. t i u
seat, trying to master one of the engine-off There's a grunt from the front seat about k f profiles he's briefed me on and now he's o balance followed by a barked order to go- y s e
demanding not just which field I'm aiming t around. I put power on and we climb away. r u o
for, but where exactly I expect to arrive in We're surrounded by mountains and val - C s h
it. We're passing through 600ft and I'm P
leys, the scenery quite fantastic as we head a r
reminded of wind, check rate of descent, g
back to our base, a 400 metre grass strip in o t o
bingo height and of course, the five S's. the Lakeland hills. h P
50 HELICOPTER LIFE , Spring 2012 We land, taxi in and shut down. The shape in the front clambers out and I await a comment. As the helmet comes off he's wearing a weak smile and says, “Not bad!” From The Rotweiller, that is praise indeed. The smile belongs to Roger Savage, one of the UK's best-known Autogyro exponents and I'm here at his home airstrip at Berrier, right on the edge of the Lake District National Park, near Ullswater, for a week. I am aiming to extend my flying from PPL (Gyroplanes,) which I gained some years ago, to advanced flying techniques and some preparation for a planned instructor course in the future. An aim which means I must fly from the back seat. We stand on the strip and have an informal de-brief; though I can't help being distracted by the fantastic panorama. From the Pennines in the east, past the Ullswater Valley to Blencathra in the west, Berrier is almost exactly 1.000ft above sea level. Roger is explaining the needs of field selection and not commit -
HELICOPTER LIFE , Spring 2012 51 ting myself too early on finals during a PFL, plus another Included on my course are some of the following; reminder about keeping the thing in balance. * operating from short grass strips “Remember”,he says. “Power on, right pedal, power * Semi-prepared strips, including farm and forest tracks. off, left pedal”. * Strips with cambers and sloping ground. Then, as an afterthought, he adds. “Just imagine you're * Flying in command from the rear seat. flying a French helicopter,then we'll all be happy.” * PFLs and advanced manoeuvres. And that's another advantage of learning with Roger: * Mountain flying appreciation, where and where not to fly. he understands helicopter pilots having been one himself. * Dead reckoning/low level navigation. I chuckle to myself when I look on his website and see a * Reminder of aerodynamics/autorotation. black and white picture of a much younger Savage with There are two gyrocopters available on site; the MT03 an armful of trophies, having just done rather well at a which we flew today and the Magni M16c. They're both long-ago Helicopter Championships, flying a Gazelle. In modern and represent the new generation of factory-built the picture he is fresh faced with black hair but now, gyrocopters, which seem to have taken the sport aviation 8.000 hours later, what hair is left is distinctly silvery world by storm over the past couple of years. Both are in and the face bears the results of years of flying rotary the 450/500KG MAUW category, with an empty weight wing, mainly gyrocopters, caused, I suspect, by alway of around 265KG, so there's plenty left for two occupants flying along wondering what's going to drop off next! plus enough fuel for a few hours flying. “Anyway,” Roger adds, “remember you are not man - Both are also open-cockpit, though you would hardly aging torque as you do in a helicopter, this is simply the notice it, particularly when flying from the front seat helix airflow effect from the propeller pushing sideways where there is absolutely no feel of wind at all. Even in on the vertical tail surfaces of the gyrocopter but the aim the rear seat, with a smaller screen, the effect of the wind is the same, keep it in balance and trim with your feet.' is barely noticeable. This is day three of a week long course and it is both Roger much prefers open cockpit machines. He reck - challenging and great fun. ons you have more of a feel of whats around you, it's I'm staying on site in Rogers beautiful 17th century reassuring and brings with it, perhaps oddly, a feeling of Cruck Barn holiday cottage - so my wife is happy with safety - rather than being cocooned in a cockpit. lots to see and some great walks nearby. There's even a Since my day job was, until quite recently, flying heli - helipad on the site. copters professionally I empathize and anyway, open-
We learn to operate from semi- prepared strips and farm tracks There is a fine balance between the amount of in-flow and RRPM during the initial take-off roll
cockpit flying is exceptionally great fun.. garden seat attached to a skeletal frame with rotor above Asked about fully enclosed gyrocopters and he's rather and an engine and propeller behind. All very basic stuff dismissive. with the ground slowly passing beneath your feet - “I used to have an RAF 2000, that was twin seat, side assuming that is that you passed the first hurdle of get - by side and awful. It was divergent in pitch and in yaw, ting the thing into the air! if you flew with the doors on, which we never did.” “Great fun”, he says, “chock the wheels, hand swing There's a couple of modern fully enclosed machines the prop, jump on the seat, reach up and hand swing the now available, the Germans who make the MT03 have a rotors whilst holding the stick forward with your foot, twin seat tandem fully enclosed machine approved in the kick the chocks away, strap yourself in and taxi forward, UK. slowly at first in an attempt to 'load' the disc. Roger admits to quite liking the MT03 from a han - There's a very fine balance between the amount of dling and efficiency point of view, though it needs a 'inflow' and RRPM during the initial take-off roll. Get it rather longer take off run than it's open cockpit counter - wrong (with too much inflow for too little RRPM) and parts. you'll stall the retreating blade then all hell breaks loose Magni are the Italian manufacturer of the M16c and with horrendous stick shake as the blades flap wildly. have a fully enclosed machine approved in the UK. The only way to get things under control was to throt - “It's a side by side gyrocopter and so requires more tle back and urge the stick forward until things calmed power than the German machine. It is rather less effi - down. It was rather like being in charge of a demented cient, though quite stable in flight. It's not as agile or as supermarket trolley.” fast as it's German counterpart, with a fixed 'T' bar con - The following day dawns bright and with light winds. trol system which seems to me quite heavy.” We're going to be flying in the valleys and over ridges so “on the ground it sits on it's tail,” he continues rather there's a detailed briefing on the days weather and partic - disparagingly, “it looks a bit like Dell-Boy's three wheel - ularly the wind, which is forecast to be light for most of er with rotors parked on top. It seems to me more of a the day. toy, designed for the wannabe helicopter pilot.” There's also a discussion on local and valley winds, Roger has been flying sport gyrocopters (or gyro - lee-wave, anabatic and katabatic winds to name but a planes or autogyros - call them what you like) for well few and a full brief on valley flying techniques. This over 30 years and like many of his generation started includes which side of the valley to fly to get the with the ubiquitous open frame Bensen - essentially a smoothest ride and cresting ridges - not straight over as
HELICOPTER LIFE , Spring 2012 53 New autogyros tend to be factory built and in the 450/500 kg MAUW category
perhaps one may imagine but rather, diagonally for a bet - Passing through 300ft, power is brought back to 100 ter view and better chance of escape in the event of a per cent and we continue the climb to 2.000ft indicated. power failure. “okay Captain” comes the voice from the front, fol - At the end of the briefing, I'm given a chart with a low the line as accurately as you can.” very wiggly chinagraph line scrawled over it covering With a cruise speed of around 85 MPH established I much of the southern Lake District, together with sug - set the stopwatch and put the Magni on the initial track gested heights to fly at different parts of the exercise and to the south and soon Ullswater looms into view, the a number of designated turning points. scenery magnificent, Patterdale Valley on the nose. It all looks like good fun and, with NoTAMs checked, There's a continuing onboard discussion about moni - we're ready to go. We're using the Magni M16c today, toring the wind and we look for tell tale signs of stronger which Roger reckons has the edge on stability, particular - valley winds on the waters below. What wind there is, is ly when flying through the mountain valleys. westerly so I elect to cross the Lake and use the eastern The M16 has much heavier rotors than the MT03 and side of the valley, trusting that any wind there is, will be therefore RRPM is more constant and fluctuates far less going up, not down. in turbulence, resulting in a smoother ride. The squiggly track line on my map takes us quite I'm flying from the rear seat so, once checks are com - close to the valley sides - it makes for challenging flying pleted, rotors spun-up to around 240 RPM, and brakes but keeps us well out of the way of any passing fast mili - are released I smoothly apply power up to 100%. tary traffic and what valley turbulence there is the Magni once established in the roll power is increased to max - simply shrugs off. imum, that is 115%, thanks to the Rotax turbocharged I'm constantly being badgered about where I'm going engine. We're on grass so best to get the power in as soon to land us in the event of power failure; which makes me as possible. The stick is held fully back, allowing inflow thoughtful. up through the accelerating rotor disc which is now pass - We climb the steep, rocky sides of Kirkstone Pass and ing 280RPM. The aircraft is kept straight down the run - I hit my first turning point, just south of Ambleside, spot way with rudder pedal. The nose starts to rise which is on time. The route then takes us toward Torver near the checked with a small amount of forward pressure on the south of Coniston and from here we fly a curved track, stick - the trick being to balance the Magni on it's main - north of Morecambe Bay, to our next turning point near wheels in a shallow take off attitude and as autorotative Kendal. This is great fun and rather more challenging force and thus, RRPM increases further, creating suffi - than navigating a straight track. There are landmarks to cient rotor thrust to lift us smoothly off the ground. identify, so the curve has to be flown quite precisely both Using the 5Kts of breeze we're airborne in not much in terms of track over the ground and time. more than 100 metres. We hold the aircraft in a very our turning point is a tiny farm strip in a small valley. shallow climb to allow energy to increase to enable a We land for tea and debrief. These machines are wonder - safe climb speed of 70mph. ful and ideal for short grass strips.
54 HELICOPTER LIFE , Spring 2012 The final section of the trip is flown low level so the subjects but also how to teach and, of course, improving navigation is just as challenging, we swoop through the flying skills.” hilly terrain and valleys. Berrier eventually appears on "Take aerodynamics, for example, teaching it has got the nose and on time. The voice in the front is suitably to be fun for the student. It's about taking them on a voy - impressed. age of discovery, building up the picture on the board bit Another debriefing follows and then a classroom by bit and then seeing all the bits drop into place”. reminder of ‘Autorotation' and how everything works. We retire to the pub for a more liquid de-brief.. This is a welcome reminder of my Shawbury days, The remainder of the week is spent generally tighten - since my host appears to be a fellow master of' 'the ing up our flying, including advanced manoeuvres and coloured pens'. being as precise as possible. There are lots more PFLs of I refer of course to the essential vector diagrams, course, as well as landing in confined areas, some with which with its many different coloured lines, explains sloping ground, as well as farm and forest tracks. Pilots! beautifully this aerodynamic phenomena of autorotative Flying from the rear seat has its own challenges with force/spanwise L+D/teetering to equality and the like.... little or no instrumentation, so, apart from peering over I asked him where he acquired his board technique . the shoulder of the guy in front, much of the developing “There wasn't much of a clue in autogyro instructing, flying technique is becoming more instinctive. such as it was at the time I learnt - I wanted to do it bet - The whole course is designed to inspire greater skill ter and with more authority, so I decided to do my and confidence for existing Autogyro pilots, as well as Helicopter Instructor Rating with Philip Sheldon at for those from other flying disciplines who wish to have Cambridge Helicopters. a 'taster' for this form of sport aviation. Gyrocopter fly - Roger freely admits that the month spent there was a ing, thanks mainly to modern machinery, now appears, culture shock - having not been near a classroom for finally, to have come of age. more years than he cared to remember. So, for anyone who wants a flying holiday with a dif - “This was seriously intensive and very disciplined ference or a helicopter pilot who just wants to learn a lit - stuff both in the air and in the classroom and any spare tle more about flying these fantastic, exciting and won - time in the evening was spent preparing board briefs for derfully stable machines amongst some of the most stun - the following day.” ning scenery this country has to offer, this is definitely “The course taught me a lot, both about the technical the man to see and the place to come.
Aerodynamics is about taking the student on a voyage of discovery Around the World nH90 For ALAT (French Army Air Corps)
uring a visit by the French Defense Minister replace the Pumas currently in service for the ALAT. Gérard Longuet to its facilities in Marignane, The next-generation NH90 TTH has been designed to DEurocopter officially delivered the first NH90 perform a wide range of missions - even the most Tactical Transport Helicopter (TTH) qualified in its final demanding, such as utility transportation and logistics, operational configuration to the French armament pro - combat search and rescue (RESCo), medical evacua - curement agency. tions, special forces operations and anti-terrorism. This initial on-time delivery comes on the heels of the In its final operational configuration, the NH90 is qualification issued by the NAHEMA countries last equipped with field-tested avionics that enable the heli - November for the French NH90 TTH in its final opera - copter to carry out its missions both day and night with tional configuration. The helicopter will be handed over no major restrictions. It also has high-performance self- to the French Army Air Corps (ALAT), which will be protection equipment, an interoperable military commu - using it for the tactical transport missions it was specifi - nication system for international operations, and equip - cally designed to perform. ment for ship-based deployment. P
“The delivery of the first NH90 TTH in its final opera - h o t tional configuration is the culmination of the most o g r a
important helicopter program ever launched in Europe,” P h s
declared Lutz Bertling, president and CEo of b y P
Eurocopter, which is one of the companies that make up a t r i the NHI consortium responsible for managing the NH90 C k P program. “Eurocopter and its partners are extremely e n n proud of this achievement. With its exceptional opera - a a n a tional capabilities, we are convinced that this helicopter d a n
will successfully meet the needs of the French armed t h o forces.” n y P
France has ordered a total of 34 NH90 TTH helicop - e C C h
ters, with an additional 34 on option, to progressively i
56 HELICOPTER LIFE , Spring 2012 Reuben Brothers acquire Battersea Heliport he Reuben Brothers, who own London oxford seven days a week. London oxford Airport's hours are Airport, announced, that they had acquired The 06:30 to 22:30 seven days a week, but can extend hours TLondon Heliport in Battersea from Andrew Davis. from 06:00 to midnight any day with the relevant permis - The acquisition, made by Reuben Brothers investment sion. vehicle Aldersgate Investments Limited, extends the Reuben Brothers investment activities include private group's existing aviation interests, including the owner - equity, real estate ownership and development, which are ship of London oxford Airport predominantly based in the United Kingdom and Europe. one of the Heliport's most significant customers is the Businesses include shopping centres, mixed use commer - PremiAir Aviation group of companies, which are also cial real estate, data centres, race courses, public houses, held by Mr Davis. PremiAir and the London Heliport will hotels and other development projects. continue to work together on a number of initiatives. The London Heliport, on the River Thames and with easy access to London's West End and the City, is the only CAA licensed heliport in London and has been in continuous operation since 1959, providing essential service to the business community and emergency servic - es, such as the Air Ambulance (HEMS) and Police Air Support units. The Heliport has a newly developed termi - nal and VIP lounge offering luxurious facilities to passen - gers. It also benefits from an exemption to the no-fly zone during the olympics, meaning a large number of dignitaries and other VIPs will be able to use the London Heliport as an easy access route to the 2012 Games. London Heliport operating hours are 0700 to 2300 obham Aviation Services confirmed that FB MOD Contract for Heliservices has been awarded a four year contract Cplus two possible one year extensions by the UK FB Heliservices Ministry of Defence to continue to provide helicopter fly - ing training at RAF Shawbury, RAF Valley and AAC Middle Wallop, together with support services at RAF Shawbury and AAC Middle Wallop. The contract is worth £193 million and will commence on 1 April 2012. The contract represents a continuation of the existing Defence Helicopter Flying School and support services contract, which has been so successfully undertaken by FBS Limited and FB Heliservices Limited for the past fif - teen years. Helicopter flying training will continue to be delivered utilising the existing 34 x AS350BB Squirrel and 11 x Griffin Bell 412EP helicopters, upgraded to include new technology with increased training capability. FB Heliservices has a very strong track record under long term performance based contracts supporting the UK Ministry of Defence, as MD Peter Richardson pointed out, adding “This contract allows us to continue to work in close partnership with the UK Ministry of Defence and the Defence Helicopter Flying School to deliver military helicopter aircrew training which is seen as best in class worldwide.”
HELICOPTER LIFE , Spring 2012 57 B ook r eview The Struggle Biography of a Fighter Pilot Franciszek Kornicki Published in Poland £12.99 Stratus
ranciszek Kornicki ‘s book The Struggle tells the story of a Polish airman in the FSecond World War. It starts with his early life and that of his family in Poland, on the estate of Robert Bialowski on the Ukrainian border. Although from a humble background Kornicki was both highly intelligent and lucky. His intelli - gence was noticed by Bialowski’s children gov - erness and he was sponsored through further education. He considered going to university, but did not think his family would be able to afford it, so decided to join the Polish Air Force; only a short time before World War Two. At the beginning of the war he fought for Poland but that was only a short war and soon he had to escape to Europe. This was just the start of his adventures. Having made his way across Rumania to France he had barely managed to get flying there before they too were overrun by the Germans and he was forced to escape again, this time into England. Finally in the British Isles, but even there the Polish Airmen found themselves underemployed and their skills left waiting until later in the war, then, suddenly, the British Government became aware of a source of well-trained useful pilots who were not only war ready but many of whom had actually been in combat. Kornicki became a spitfire pilot and part of the No 1 Polish Fighter Wing. His jobs included escorting bombers, such as Blenheims, as their protection force. Later he became Commanding officer of ‘A’ Flight. and was outraged to be offered a position as Sargent, hardly a After the war he, like many others, was promotion for a former officer. However, when he refused, with demobbed, however he, like most Poles, were some anger, to take the position, the Air Force agreed to take now homeless and could not agree with the him on as an officer instead and he then made a full career in British government’s suggestion to return to their the services. homeland, which was now part of Stalin’s Soviet It is an interesting book on many levels, not only is it the Union. story of one man’s war, it is also a look at how Polish pilots Kornicki decided to join the civilian Air Force were treated by the British before and after WW2. HELICOPTER LIFE ,Spring 2012 58 CAA Legislation Changes concerning helicopters and gyroplanes
EASA licences - CAA publishes new guidance tions and consultancy services. The training courses
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A CCidenT r eporTS
Robinson R22 Beta, G-JERS to landing too abruptly on uneven ground. The rotor Whilst practising running landings on a grass area blades, skid and tail were damaged, there was only minor adjacent to the runway, the instructor asked the stu - injury to the crew. The pilot was 51 years old and had dent to lift the helicopter into the hover with forward 1565 hours of which 228 were on type. motion. The student initiated the manoeuvre by apply - ing a forward cyclic input. The instructor reported Bell 206B N555NB, Texas that as the helicopter slid forward along the ground, it on January 22, 2012, a Bell 206B, NNB, was substan - moved into an area of longer grass causing the front tially damaged during a forced landing to the Las Colinas of the skids to become caught. The student raised the Golf Course, Irving, Texas. collective in an effort to pull the helicopter free, but The pilot and three passengers were not injured. The hel - this caused the skids to dig in and initiated a forward icopter was registered to and operated by Longhorn rollover. The instructor instinctively applied aft cyclic Helicopters Inc., under the provisions of 14 Code of to stop the main rotor blades hitting the ground, but Federal Regulations Part 135 without a flight plan. The this resulted in the blades striking the tail boom and flight originated from Waco, Texas, and was en route to disengaging the tail rotor drive. The helicopter then Irving, Texas. yawed rapidly and rolled over, finally coming to rest During the landing sequence to the Las Colinas Four on its left side. The occupants exited the aircraft Seasons Resort, the fuel light illuminated and the engine unaided and without serious injury. The instructor lost power. The pilot manoeuvred the helicopter towards added that in his opinion, the lack of a dedicated heli - flat terrain at the Las Colinas golf course. During the copter training area at the airport was a contributory forced landing, the helicopter impacted the ground hard, factor to the accident. There was extensive damage to bending the tailboom down. Examination of the helicop - the helicopter but only minor injury to the crew. The ter revealed that the tailboom was bent down and the ver - pilot was 40 years old and had 1,987 hours, of which tical fin was crushed. The final report is still awaited. 1,846 were on type. Eurocopter AS350, PT-YLS, Brazil Robinson R44 11, G-EEZR A helicopter made a forced landing near the Guanabara The tail rotor contacted a small bush during training Road, about 500 meters from the beach Grumari, in the involving landings on sloping ground. Examination of West zone in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The only occupant the tail rotor revealed minor damage and the tail rotor was the pilot who was not injured and received help from was replaced. The instructor stated that, although he was the local military police. Fired after the accident, the fire aware of the bush, he incorrectly assessed its position department even sent five vehicles. The Military Police and distance from the tail rotor. The bush has been cordoned off the area and was on standby around the hel - trimmed. There was creasing and indentation on the tail icopter until everything was resolved. rotor and no damage to the crew. The pilot was 64 years According to the lifeguard Márcio Guimarães, the old and had 9,800 hours of which 45 were on type. deployment of the Fire Department Bar Guaratiba, the aircraft was spotted flying low and billowing smoke only Robinson R44 11, G-GDJF seconds before the crash landing. The accident occurred on the owner’s property whilst “I was one of first to arrive to extinguish the fire of the hovering to dry the helicopter after washing it. The turbine. Before landing, I saw the helicopter already on weather was reported by the pilot as clear with 20 km fire and much smoke. It was a big scare, but the pilot was visibility and a WNW wind of 10 to 20 kt with gusts up calm and uninjured,” described the lifeguard.” to 20 kt. During the hover the helicopter yawed suddenly According to police officers who came to hear the pilot to the right. To avoid a collision with nearby trees, the explain the cause of the incident, the problem was caused pilot landed in an adjoining field. The landing on the by a malfunction in the turbine aircraft Helibras HB- uneven ground was reported to be “abrupt” and the heli - 350B-2 Squirrel, prefix PT-YLS . Also according to the copter rolled over, damaging the rotor blades, tail and PM, the pilot would not comment. So now Health said it skids. The pilot was uninjured but the passenger sus - would wait for an expert to rule on what happen in the tained minor injuries. technical matters. There will be a full accident report in The pilot stated that the initial yaw was probably caused the near future. by a gust of wind and that the helicopter rolled over due
64 HELICOPTER LIFE , Spring 2012 A CCidenT r eporTS
Bell 412EP, LV-ZXO, Grenada left. The pilot continued applying right yaw pedal but, as it reached about 45-60° to the wind direction, the yaw An Argentinean helicopter was forced to make an emer - rate increased dramatically and he pulled the collective gency landing in Grenada’s ward island of Petit to clear the ground. As anticipated, this increased the Martinique when it developed a broken hose, which yaw rate and the helicopter turned through about three to started leaking fuel. A release from the police quoted the six complete revolutions, during which time he checked pilot as saying that “he was forced to make the emer - that he was applying the correct pedal input. The engine gency landing, just before ten in the morning, as a result then stopped. Still yawing left, he attempted to cushion of the loss of oil that lubricates the main transmission of the landing, but the helicopter landed heavily. The right the helicopter”. skid collapsed completely and the front left skid bow The helicopter circled for several minutes while making also broke. The tailboom partially fractured just forward contact with authorities in St.Vincent and the Grenadines of the horizontal stabiliser but the pilot and passenger who advised them to land in a sparsely populated area of were uninjured and were able to vacate the helicopter Petit Martinique. The crew were uninjured and the heli - normally. copter was mended and transported to the nearest air - The pilot stated that he believed that “slow application of field. right yaw pedal” was the cause of the accident. The man - Robinson R44 11, PP-MOF, Brazil ufacturer also believes that prolonged yawing can cause the engine to stop through fuel sloshing. It is understood The helicopter took off from a car park near Lake that no pre-impact mechanical anomalies were found Paranoa in Brazil, however, it failed to gain height and after inspection. The pilot was 35 years old and had eventually came down on the edge of the lake. Although 1,850 hours of which 6 were on type. none of the crew and passengers were hurt the R44 filled with water and extensive damage was done by the water. MD Helicopters H369E, G-KSWI Guimbal Cabri G2, G-UIMB While flying in the cruise at an altitude of 2,200 ft amsl, it is probable that the helicopter sustained a mechanical The Guimbal Cabri G2 is a two-seat helicopter manufac - failure that resulted in the loss of pitch control to one of tured in France. It features a 7-bladed fenestron in place the tail rotor blades. During the subsequent attempt to of a conventional tail rotor and the 3-bladed main rotor land in a field, the airspeed reduced to the point where rotates clockwise when viewed from above and a directional control of the helicopter seems to have been Lycoming 0-360-J2A piston engine. It was awarded an insufficient to maintain heading. At a height of approxi - EASA Type Certificate in December 2007 and G-UIMB mately 50 ft, the helicopter yawed rapidly to the right was the first of the type to be registered in the UK, hav - before the rotation ceased and it developed a high rate of ing been delivered in September 2011. descent. The helicopter struck the ground heavily and was destroyed. The pilot survived but sustained serious injuries. There was no fire but the pilot was badly injured. The investigation established the presence of fatigue cracks emanating from corrosion pits on the tail rotor blade pitch horn on one blade, which led to its failure. Also, the associated tail rotor pitch link had failed. The sequence of the two failures could not be established but either could explain the helicopter’s behaviour before it crashed. Neither the failed section of this tail rotor blade The helicopter was approaching to land at Cotswold pitch horn nor the associated pitch link were recovered Airport (Kemble) after a short flight to the north of the from the accident site. The pilot was 57 years old and airfield. The pilot rejoined the circuit left-hand down - had 730 hours of which 720 were on type. wind for Runway 26; the wind was from 200° at 17 kt. Four Safety Recommendations were made all of which He turned finals to the south of the runway and, as he related to the on-going maintenance of the helicopter and passed the airfield boundary, turned the helicopter into two of which were concerned with investigation and wind. However, during the final stages as he levelled off treatment of corrosion in an aircraft . at about 5 feet, the helicopter started to yaw gently to the
HELICOPTER LIFE , Spring 2012 65 i n n e e d o F A h o u S e h eliCopTer
Windmill House Salt Cay
Pictures by Georgina Hunter-Jones
indmill House on Salt Built in 1970s Cay, Turks & Caicos destroyed 2009 Wwas built as a hotel in the 1970s. Rooms in this idylic luxury hotel were $600 a night, however with time and the diffi - culty of getting parts the hotel was starting to feel a litle ‘his - toric’ although still beautiful. In 2009, it was sold by the owners Result of Hurricane to a hotel chain for a reported $4 Ike in 2009 million dollars and then, only a few weeks later, damaged beyond economic repair by Hurricane Ike. It has not been repaired, how - ever, if helicopters were available to be used for construction here perhaps it could be viable.
The house had Ben Gearing its own private TCI Pilot beach TCI Helicopters
66 HELICOPTER LIFE , Spring 2012