HELICOPTER LIFE W INTER 2007 / £3.99 www.helicopterlife.com BELL C OBRA TEST FLIGHT PARIS TO O SHKOSH 50 YEARS OF AAC IRISH A IR C ORPS W ILD W OMEN FLYING H ELITECH M ATURES HELICOPTER LIFEis theHIGH LIFE HELICOPTER WINTER 2007 LIFE COVER STORY Show & Tell Guide 4 Flying the Bell On aviation shows and conferences. Cobra 32 Rainer Herzberg The Editor’s Letter 5 is given an exten - sive briefing and Aerial Forum 6 & 10 then flies the AH-1 For pilots to express their opinions Bell Cobra with anonymously or otherwise test pilot Blacky Schwarz Letters to the Editor 7 & 58 Counter Intuitive Helicopter 40 Flying Crackers 8, 9 Ranier Herzberg talks to test pilot Juri Jurewitsch about flying the R1-60 counter-rotating helicopters Heldair Martitiem 12 Arjan Dijksterhuis on the yearly show Bundespolizei Mountain Training 46 Rainer Herxberg, 50 years of flying 16 visits the Alan Norris visits Bundespolizei to Middle Wallop’s hear about and celebrations of 50 experience their years of Army Air mountain flying Corp flying and the methods for this move from report, which first Skeeters to larger came out in more powerful hel - Germany icopters HeliTech Duxford 50 Irish Air Corp 18 Helicopter Life team visits Duxford and Alan Norris sees how HeliTech has become a mature show visits the Irish Air Corp as they PremiAir 56 commemorate the Georgina Hunter- passing of their Jones reports on a sturdy Alouettes growing company and the change of which has seldom helicopter to been out of the AW139 or news since its EC135s acquisition of London Heliport Women fly the World 22 Clare Walker reports on the Women in Aviation Helicopters on the Mountains 59 conference and the visit by Baroness Thatcher Tomy Bowman’s report on Aeromega’s trip Oshkosh or Bust Just Another Saturday Arjan Dijksterhuis 60 Antoine 26 Grondeau and Book Reviews 62 five helicopters fly from France to Accident Reports 64 Oshkosh in the USA via Greenland House & Helicopter 66 and Iceland HELICOPTER LIFE, Winter 2007 3 SHOW & T ELL G UIDE 24 February - 26 February 2008 14 July - 20 July 2008 HAI HELIEXPO 2008 FARNBOROUGH INTERNATIONAL AIRSHOW Houston, Texas, USA Tel: +44 (0) 1252 532800 Phone: (703) 683-4646 Website: www.farnborough.com Fax: (703) 683-4745 [email protected] 7 October - 9 October 2008 Werbiste: www.heliexpo.com HELITECH EUROPE 2008 Airpot Cascais, 31 March - 6 April 2008 Estoril, Portugal FIDAE 2008 Tel: Barney Payne: +44 (0) 20 8439 8853 Arturo Merino Benitz International Airport Email: [email protected] Santiago, Chile Website: www.helitecheurope.com Tel: +56 2 8739750 Fax: +56 2 8739780 11 November - 13 November 2008 Website: www.fidae.cl DUBAI HELISHOW 2008 Mediac Communications & Exhibitions LLC 15 May - 17 May 2008 PO Box 5196 Dubai UAE INTERNATIONAL HELICOPTER MOSCOW Tel: +44 (0)1293 823779 Crocus Expo Exhibition Centre Fax:+44 (0)1293 825394 Moscow, Russia Email: [email protected] website: www.helirussia.ru Website: www.dubaihelishow.com 4 HELICOPTER LIFE, Winter 2007 HELICOPTER T HE EDITOR S LETTER s the weather worsens and we look forward to a few months LIFEA of rainfall and limitations on helicopter flying, it is worth thinking WINTER 2007 of trips to plan and places to go where the the weather is not so unre - HON. EDITORIAL BOARD liable and damp. Captain Eric Brown, CBE, RN I recently did a skills test at a school The Lord Glenarthur, DL in Spain, where they are planning to Jennifer Murray do a partial re-run of the Paris- Michael J. H. Smith Dakkar Air Rally in March next year, Wing Cdr. Ken Wallis, MBE, RAF although they will be going from Jerez (near Seville) to Dakkar, EDITOR-IN-CHIEF / PILOT Georgina Hunter-Jones instead of Paris. They plan to fly via [email protected] Morocco, down to Cap Juby, Dakhla CREATIVE DIRECTORS and to Mauritania. GEE & HH Dubourcq [email protected] In Mauritania the aircraft (both heli - copters and planes are catered for on COPY EDITORS Evangeline Hunter-Jones, JP this trip) will land in the desert, in John Wilson outback desert areas, and in Senegal, CONTRIBUTING EDITORS landing in national parks. Tony Bowman, Arjan Dijksterhuis, The entire trip is organised by Fly in Dave Gash, Antoine Grondeau, Alan Norris, Rainer Herzberg Spain and anyone interested should look on their website: www.Fly-in- CONTRIBUTED PHOTOGRAPHY Arjan Dijksterhuis, Antoine Spain.com or email: info@fly-in- Grondeau, Rainer Herzberg, John Martin, Alan Norris, PremiAir SPECIAL THANKS TO Dave Smith CPL(H), John Wilson, Malvina Nicca ATPL(A) translator ADVERTISING Telephone: (44) 20-7430-2384 [email protected] SUBSCRIPTIONS Go to our website or turn to page 58 [email protected] WEBSITE www.helicopterlife.com COVER PHOTOGRAPH Bell Cobra AH-1F by Rainer Herzberg HELICOPTER LIFE is published quarterly by FlyFizzi Ltd. 59 Great Ormond Street London, WC 1N-3 Hz . Copyright © FlyFizzi Ltd. 2006. ISSN 1743-1042. All rights reserved. Opinions expressed spain.com. For anyone else here are a weather as markets jump nervously. herein are not necessarily those of the pub - couple of pictures to look at while Happy Christmas! lishers, the Editor or any of the editorial staff. watching the rain outside the window. Reproduction in whole or in part, in any form whatever, is strictly prohibited without At the time of writing the helicopter specific written permission of the Editor. market is still booming, but next year’s forecast may well be as unstable as the HELICOPTER LIFE, Winter 2007 5 A ERIAL FORUM LTO 2007-006 MAINTENANCE PROGRAMME APPROVAL Have you received Letter to Owner/Operator No: 2007-006? -Do you under stand what it means to you personally? David Gash explains: PART M, SUBPART C, M.A.302 it the CAA Website and in the top right Sub-Part G as a matter of course. seems like gobbledygook. hand corner where it says search, Sub-Part F/ Part 145 organisations So let's get this Part M into perspec - type in AD981D. may well have this approval as well. tive and try to explain what it means When the search results come up This Management Organisation will to YOU the owner. select AD981D Issue 3 November control the maintenance and act for Part M is a large legal requirement 2006 and this will take you to the you with your 'Garage' using your brought out by EASA (European Form AD981D. It may be advisable Approved Maintenance Programme Aviation Safety Authority) to impose to print it off as it will probably be as the controlling 'bible' (Manual). It a European standard for mainte - easier to digest. will also carry out the annual nance. It is sub-divided into Sub- Daunting is it not? review and submit the result to a Parts A,B,C,D,E,F,G,H,I, (for India). Sub-Part D: This is the bit that tells Subpart I signatory for signing. This Are you baffled already? I will try you about the standards that your Subpart G is essential if you and put the requirements into wish to maintain your aircraft in words of one syllable. a 'Controlled environment'. Sub-Part A : This establishes “Are you baffled already? What is a 'Controlled the measure to be taken by you I will try and put the Environment' I will quote Sub- the owner to ensure that airwor - requirements into words of Part I M.A.901. thiness is maintained. one syllable.” "An aircraft in a controlled envi - Sub-Part B : This is where it ronment is an aircraft continu - starts to affect you. M.A.201 (a) ously managed by an M.A. says that YOU are responsible for the Maintenance Provider (Garage) Subpart G approved continuing air - continuing airworthiness of your air - needs to maintain in looking after worthiness management organisa - craft and shall ensure that no flight your aircraft. tion, which has not changed organi - takes place unless: Sub-Part E: Again this is instruc - sations in the previous 12 months and 1. the aircraft is maintained in an air - tions for your Maintenance Provider which is maintained by approved worthy condition. (Garage), Part 145 or Sub Part F maintenance organisations". 2. any operational and emergency when he deals with components that "This includes M.A.803(b) mainte - equipment fitted is correctly installed he may or may not fit to your aircraft. nance carried out and released to and serviceable. Sub-Part F: This is the approval that service according to M.A.801(b)2 or 3. the airworthiness certificate is similar to Part 145 that your M.A.801(b)3." remains valid. 'Garage' must hold before he can This is the maintenance that you as It really does mean that You are work on and certify your aircraft. He the owner can do and tells you how responsible, no one else. can hold one or other Subpart F or to certify that work. Assuming that Sub-Part C : This is the Continuing Part 145. your programme says that you can Airworthiness bit that informs you Sub-Part G: This is the part that lays work on your aircraft and that you how you can achieve it. It includes down the rules for a Continuing have been properly approved by your the Maintenance Programme and Airworthiness Management Organisation 'Garage'. what it should cover including the (CAMO) . It's now that things start Basically this means that you must tasks that you as the owner can per - to get a little complicated! stay with your chosen CAMO but you form and certify.