Issue 49 - Heliops

2 0 0 7
S E P T E M B E R
THE MAGAZINE FOR THE CIVIL HELICOPTER INDUSTRY
I S S U E 49
I N T E R N A T I O N A L
ISSUE 49
C O N T E N T S
Ventura County Sheriff’s 212
drops a load of water during
training near Camarillo, CA
34
22
PHOTO: ned dawson
r e g u l a r
f e a t u r es
44
cover feature: Tanking it to new levels
As the helicopter becomes even a more essential tool for fighting fires,
From the Editor
3
the use of the belly tank is widening. Following is a pilot report prepared by
New Products and Services
5
wild land fire suppression activities.
Legal Counsel – Should You Use
FAA Forms?
13
Glenn Camus on Type II Helicopter Fixed tank operations in non-urban
22
Flying & Living In The UAE
Pilots by nature are wanderers. If you’ve ever thought of wandering
somewhere near the Middle East, you might be interested in knowing what
Aviation Insurance – Protecting
the Pilot – Part 2
15
Safety Column – All Sugared Up
17
Flight Training – The Limits
19
Flight Dynamics – Gearing Up
21
Personal Profile – Tim Gilbert
Private Pilot – St Ives, Cambridgeshire, UK
63
54
you’ll be letting yourself in for if you’re wanting work in the UAE. 34
Nearly the real thing
Simulation used to be the purview of the big money military or airlines.
Now, the power of the PC has made this invaluable training aid available to even the
smallest training school. Commercial pilot and aviation textbook author,
Phil Croucher examines some of the considerations in today’s offerings. 44
Helitech UK Spreads its Wings
Helitech UK returned once again to Duxford Imperial War Museum near
Cambridge this 2nd to 4th October for its 12th event. Following 21 years
The Last Word – Is it time for a Hybrid
Helicopter?
64
of success, and with growing recognition that Helitech has become
the largest helicopter show outside of the USA, the “buzz” surrounding
it seemed stronger than ever.
54
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f r om t h e e d i t o r
I have been working on a paper
that examines the reality of the
reliability of turbine engines and
relative risk issues associated
PUBLISHER
by mark ogden
with single and multi-engine
Cathy Horton
configurations. Now I am ready for
the controversy but the question gets
EDITOR
asked so often, trying to find a definitive
Mark Ogden
answer has been almost impossible. In
deputy editor
doing my research, I noticed that past
Rob Neil
reviews focused on the accident rates. The
problem with this is that there are many
US EDITORs
occurrences where the pilot has pulled
Aaron Fitzgerald
off a good autorotation so there was no
Greg Davis
accident recorded. The data I am using
excludes those things that pilots have
legal EDITOR
some control over such as running out of
Robert Van de Vuurst
fuel or engine mishandling but includes
those occurrences where the engine
european EDITOR
appears to have quit due to mechanical
Sarah Bowen
failure or maintenance error; basically
technology editor
those things over which the pilot has no
Nick Lappos
control.
So far the Australian occurrence rate
safety editor
shows some very interesting information
Phil Croucher
such as the overall turbine engine failure
occurrence rates approaching one in 50,000
ITALIAN CORRESPONDENT
hours. I am now examining US data to see
Damiano Gualdoni
if this correlates and if it does, then I will
scandinavian CORRESPONDENT
start looking at other countries’ data.
Rickard Gilberg
Another interesting aspect in doing
this research though, was that when I
proofreader
approached engine manufacturers for
Barbara McIntosh
their historical mean time between failure
(I was hoping to derive an industry-wide
DESIGN
average and see how that compared with
Graphic Design Services Ltd
the occurrence data). One manufacturer
claimed that such data wasn’t held; I found
PRINTING
that claim rather surprising and believe
Print World
that either that the company was avoiding
EDITORIAL ADDRESS
giving out the information or if it was
Oceania Group Intl
true, their engineering rigor wasn’t high.
PO Box 37 978, Parnell
Other companies simply noted that the
Auckland, New Zealand
information was proprietary and was not
PH ONE: + 64 21 909 699
available for dissemination. So I guess my
FAX: + 64 9 528 3172
findings will rely on the occurrence data.
EMAIL
I have to ask now though, how
info@heliopsmag.com
does someone who is planning to buy
a helicopter, make a reasoned decision
WEBSITE
about powerplant choice or even
www.heliopsmag.com
helicopter model choice when engineering
information such as historical vs
is published by Oceania Group Intl.
design mean time between failure from
Contents are copyright and may not be reproduced
manufacturers is not available? Obviously
without the written consent of the publisher. Most
aircraft manufacturers must have access
articles are commisioned but quality contributions
to this information to make their decisions
will be considered. Whilst every care is taken
on powerplant choice but how does a
Oceania Group Intl accept no responsibility for
potential purchaser make decisions
submitted material. All views expressed in HeliOps
that can affect the very safety of their
are not necessarily those of Oceania Group Intl.
operation? Now I understand we don’t get
CEO
Neville (Ned) Dawson
mtbf information from car manufacturers
but generally, if a car engine stops, the car
doesn’t crash. It is a little different for the
helicopter!
Maybe my thinking is all wrong on
this so I would like to hear from anyone
about their experiences with engine
manufacturers, good and bad, at editor@
heliopsmag.com
Helitech UK has just finished and other
than the Cambridge Hotel at which we
experienced a Fawlty Towers episode, the
expo was successful with many positive
participant comments. Although the
weather was a little unkind the first two
days, visitor numbers were up by as much
as 25% and for the first time, the show
held industry-based forums in parallel
with the main show. There were big deals
such as the Bristow’s four S-92s and three
S-76s and little guys such as the GPS
tracker company, Spidertracks did very well
as did companies such as Devore and Tyler
Mounts.
The helicopter industry is obviously
continuing to power on with the associated
shortages of machines, pilots and
engineers. Used helicopter prices can still
be equivalent or even higher than new
helicopters because of their availability.
With an increased mainland European
presence, next year’s show in Portugal
promises to be a cracker. n
3
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ne w p r o d uc t s a n d se r v ices
FAA approves
Synthetic Vision
EFIS for Bell 427
Keystone has been granted an
STC permitting installation
heavy lifter
of a Chelton Flight Systems’
Synthetic Vision EFIS system
Helitowcart has introduced its
biggest tow cart yet, the V500.
in Bell 427s. The STC will be
Built for heavy applications
available in a standard,
it can tow up to 6300kg
two-screen system with a PFD
(14000lbs) and is compatible
and MFD.
with a range of skidded and
wheeled helicopters.
Step Up
The unit features a user-
DART announced at Helitech the EASA certification of their
friendly joystick tow cart
command, a remote lifting
command, multiple safety
switches, lighting for night
operation, dedicated surfaces
Heli-Access-Step for Bell 206A/B, 206L and 407. Transport
Canada and FAA approvals have already been obtained
for the product, which is compatible for use on aircraft
equipped with both regular and float landing gear.
for luggage and accessories,
The steps attach to the cross tube, making installation
as well as the capability to be
and removal for inspection easy and the product is also
used as a boosting device for
available for a wide range of other Bell models, as well as
the helicopter.
the AS350, A119 and EC120.
The Chelton EFIS uses 3D
technology to translate terrain
ahead of and around the
helicopter into a simple, realtime visual picture. This helps
the pilot “see” aircraft position
in relation to its surroundings
regardless of darkness or
weather conditions.
This system claims to reduce
instrument scanning and
pilot fatigue by consolidating
readings of several instruments
Eurocopter
preferred bidder
for 23 EMS
helicopters in
Poland
Poland has selected the
EC135 as the preferred bid
for a major upgrade of their
EMS network.
Skyquest awarded Smart PC
development programme
Skyquest Aviation, the UK based manufacturer of specialist
video equipment for airborne surveillance aircraft has been
in safer execution of flight
plans and procedures. It is
also compatible with NVG
equipment.
awarded a contract to design and build a powerful Smart PC
display system for SELEX Sensors & Airborne Systems.
It is for the development of a high brightness LCD display
panel with integrated processor to enable local software
applications to run directly behind the display. S&AS will use
the new Smart PC technology in airborne radar applications.
Air Methods
connects to
Iridium
Air Methods have selected Sky
The new helicopters will be
operated by LPR, the Polish
into one efficient tool, resulting
Connect’s iridium-based voice
Eurocopter growth in
Asia Pacific market
and tracking communications
For Eurocopter, the Asia-Pacific region is the most important
The tracker system enables
civil and para-public growth market especially for corporate
dispatch centres to follow
passenger transport missions, with around 1000 Eurocopter
aircraft progress in real time
helicopters currently in service in the region.
and can send secure position,
helicopter dedicated to the
The creation of a logistics platform in Hong Kong, a city
altitude, airspeed and heading
Children’s Hospital to mirror
with where the EC155 is widely used by law enforcement
data plus other operational status
the situation with their
authorities, has also helped to bring spare parts closer to the
reports selected by the crew.
current fleet.
customers in the whole of Asia including Australia.
Air Methods provides air
Air Medical Service, from
a number of bases across
the country. Most major
cities will have an aircraft
allocated, with some larger
ones having two. Warsaw
is also expected to get one
The new helicopters will
replace a similar size fleet
of Mi-2s, and are expected
system to be installed on certain
aircraft in the company’s fleet.
medical services to hospitals
and communities in 42 states,
and operators frequently fly in
to be delivered by the 2010
highly remote locations, making
deadline when the Mi-2
continual automatic tracking
helicopter will become
and voice communications
obsolete under new
essential for the safety of the
regulations.
aircraft and its occupants.
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ne w p r o d uc t s a n d se r v ices
New additions to museum collection
The UK Helicopter Museum is soon to receive two additional exhibits, a Bristol
Sycamore Mk14, previously displayed at the Bristol Industrial Museum and the last to
be retired from Royal Air Force service in December 1971, and a rare tandem-seat Air
and Space 18A autogyro, built in Muncie, Indiana in the mid 1960s.
Rainier Heli-Lift and
Isolair receive STC
After three years of design and
development, Rainier Heli-Lift and Isolair
received an STC for their new carbon fibre
fire-fighting fixed tank. Rainier, a K-MAX
operator, flew the tank for the first time,
but Isolair will also be building and selling
additional tanks to other K-MAX heavy-
With the 333, what you see
is what you get.
™
lift operators.
Pilot Bill Malonee took the lead as the test
pilot for the tank program and worked
closely with Rainier’s Chief Pilot Greg
Haufle and Engineers John Muhlbach and
Larry Moreno to push the project forward.
The new 700-gallon carbon fibre tank
weighs less than 500 pounds and is
powered by a 50-HP hydraulic pack that
pulls power from an accessory pad off
of the transmission. The tank is a twopiece U-shaped tank design that keeps
the weight high up on the airframe
surrounding the C of G of the aircraft.
PZL Mielec turns green
Unparalleled visibility.
An environmentally friendly zero-to-low-
Impressive performance.
Volatile Organic Compound paint product
for aircraft, known as Aerodur 5000, was
developed by Akzo Nobel Aerospace
Coatings based in Waukegan, Illinois and
Ideal for any patrol mission.
Simply stated, it’s the best patrol helicopter.
has set up an international office in The
Netherlands.
“The new paint product uses 27%
less material and has 41% fewer air
emissions,” said Robert Araujo, Manager
of Environment, Health & Safety for
Sikorsky. “This was our Poland Team’s first
effort, and with the approval of the Polish
government, we will continue to apply
this technology to the benefit of a cleaner
global environment.”
www.sacusa.com
We Fly
We Maintain
The Powerful Difference
We proudly use our experience and facilities to support the
Warfighters of Oregon and the nation.
Columbia Helicopters is the only commercial operator of the
Model 234 Chinook and Vertol 107-II, the civilian models of the
CH-47 Chinook and H-46 Sea Knight. The company’s aircraft
operate globally in extreme weather conditions, and are
supported by one of the most outstanding maintenance facilities
anywhere in the industry.
Columbia’s exceptional maintenance facility is a one-stop
shop, able to meet all depot level maintenance requirements for
internal and external customers.
www.colheli.com
503-678-1222
ne w p r o d uc t s a n d se r v ices
Vibration Monitor Upgrade
Acrohelipro has been selected to develop a new STC for the installation of IAC’s
new vibration monitoring system, developed for installation in Era’s fleet of AS350s
and A119s.
The new VHFDM provides a means to perform automatic detection and identification
of mechanical faults and flight data monitoring for use in operator programs such
as the FOQA and the HOMP. The system monitors the main rotor system, engines,
gearboxes, tail rotor drive system, and accessories, and interfaces with a portable PC for
The first in a series of three Bell
412EPs have been delivered to
Helicol with two further deliveries
scheduled before the end of the
year. Helicol will use the aircraft to
transport BP personnel to remote
and otherwise inaccessible locations
throughout Colombia.
“at-aircraft” fault determination and maintenance recommendations.
performance
starts with better technology.
Better
BLR strakes: Proven on 600 aircraft.
Dual tailboom strakes from BLR Aerospace are
The completely customized interior
boosting performance for scores of helicopter
features radar, flight director,
operators. With more than 600 systems in use,
avionics suite, MFD with WX module
and forward-facing airline seating.
operators are reaping benefits that range
TAS is also providing custom
from increased useful load to unprecedented
exterior paint.
stability of flight. A proven NASA-patented
The operator delivers clients and
cargo to the mountains and jungles
technology with more than one million
of Colombia, as well as off-shore
flight hours to date,
locations, which can pose quite
BLR strakes are truly a revolution in
challenging flying and means they
technology and performance.
need to be able to count on their
helicopters to get the job done.
Don’t change your helicopter – change
your performance.
Sasemar orders two
additional AW139s
Do you have your strakes yet?
BLR Aerospace
Performance Innovation
The Spanish Marine Safety Agency
Sasemar, has signed a contract for
two AW139s in SAR configuration the second order placed by Sasemar
for the AW139, having signed an
initial contract for three aircraft in
February 2006.
Sasemar’s AW139s will be used for
SAR and water pollution detection
missions and will be equipped with
rescue hoist, FLIR, weather radar,
emergency flotation system and a
four-axis autopilot with SAR modes.
The helicopter is capable of carrying
up to 15 passengers or six litters
with four medical attendants at
the highest speed, and the roomy
unobstructed cabin makes it an ideal
choice for SAR applications.
800.257.4847 US & Canada
425.353.6591 International
w w w. B L R a e r o s p a c e . c o m
davemarone@BLRaerospace.com
Bell 204B 205A 205B 206B 206L 212 AB212 412 OH-58A OH-58C UH-1H UH-1N UH-1F UH-1P
Texas Aviation
Services delivers
first completion to
Helicol
ne w p r o d uc t s a n d se r v ices
First helicopter
school for
Kigali, Rwanda
Metro announces
grand opening of
new facility
The Akagera helicopter flight
training school at Kigali
International Airport in
Kanombe, Kigali is the first
academy targeting civilians in
the region.
Metro Aviation will
The USD $1.8million
helicopter school is now
looking at attracting students
from the now wider East
African Community. Presently,
the school has 20 students, all
Rwandans; 15 studying for the
PPL and 5 for the CPL.
4 South African instructors
are working at the school, and
the facility has three training
aircraft purchased at USD
$350,000 each.
inaugurate their new facility
in Shreveport, Louisiana on
this November. The 160,000
square foot new facility will
comprise of administrative
offices, helicopter completion
operations, manufacturing,
spares warehousing, and
maintenance.
The company is also
TEAM DRF carries out ECMO
transport
Honeywell’s EVXP HUMS
has gained FAA approval
and has been selected by
Sikorsky as a standard
option for the S-76C++. The
fourth-generation system
monitors aircraft vibration,
engine and structural health
and is designed to meet the
demanding operational and
regulatory requirements
of helicopters supporting
offshore oil and gas producers.
The unit also provides power
margin and automatic
power assurance testing,
performance trending, cycle
counting, operational usage
monitoring and flight data
monitoring and recording.
with the extracorporal membrane oxygenation centre with
the aim of increasing the chances of survival for newborns,
The intensive care transports are carried out by BK117s
and Bell 412s, which are ideal for the job due to their size
and 24 hour availability. The medical team consists of two
paediatrics, one surgeon and one intensive care nurse of the
University Clinic of Mannheim.
commercial flight operations.
Bell signs multiship deal with
Med-Trans
Bell and Med-Trans signed an
agreement for the sale of 11
EMS 407s, due to be delivered
between 2009 and 2011.
The 407 is particularly suited for
US Coast Guard hits million hour
milestone
the EMS mission with its easy
The Coast Guard’s Dauphins have passed one million
door with a 61-inch (155 cm)
flight hours, marking another key operational achievement
opening. It is hoped the aircraft
for the twin-engine workhorse that performs patrol, law
will provide expanded safety
enforcement and rescue missions throughout the US.
and reduced operating costs
Since their delivery in 1985, the aircraft have become a key
with their FADEC systems.
patient loading and unloading
provided by a standard bi-fold
element of Coast Guard aviation, with 96 Dauphins currently
in the service’s inventory operating from 17 Coast Guard Air
Stations throughout the US, Hawaii and Puerto Rico.
It was a Coast Guard Air Station Barbers Point, Hawaii
helicopter that reached the milestone while on a Medivac
mission with the patient on board. Search and rescue
10
successful completion and
Germany’s air rescue alliance TEAM DRF is working closely
infants and children who need an artificial lung.
S76 Humming
celebrating 25 years of
Nigeria contracts
renegotiated
remains one of their key duties – the helicopters were used
Bristow has renegotiated the
terms and rates of two different
contracts with one major
customer in Nigeria. In addition,
another major Nigerian client
has elected to extend its
current contract with the total
estimated revenue for the three
being around USD $100million.
The company hopes these
agreements will result in
improved operating margins for
their West Africa business unit.
from sea level to high-altitude mountainous terrain.
extensively in lifesaving operations after Hurricanes Katrina
and Rita in 2005 and are routinely deployed on missions
Eagle Eye
Solutions to
hold Air Medical
training
A two-day programme on
Leadership for the Air Medical
Professional will be held by
Eagle Eye Solutions in January
2008 in the Greater Cincinnati
Ohio Region. The program will
be presented by Mike Campbell,
instructor, retired HEMS Pilot
and author of the book; “You’re
A Winner and I’ll Prove It!” More
information on the training
programme can be found at
www.helicopterseminars.com.
ne w p r o d uc t s a n d se r v ices
Fire-Fighting Success for Eurocopter
An EC725 from the French Air Force was this summer trialled
for its capacities during aerial fire-fighting missions, stationed
at Bastia-Poretta airport and deployed around the island of
Corsica. All military equipment was removed from the aircraft,
leaving it with an EC225 configuration with the addition of a
flexible 4000-litre tank attached to the floor of the cabin with a
scoop and water jettison kit.
The testing began with the exploration of the flight envelope and
it emerged that by dropping water from a lower altitude and
at a lower speed than a fixed-wing aircraft, a fire can be targeted
with greater precision, especially in mountainous terrain.
The helicopter carried out 23 fire-fighting interventions,
excluding numerous “armed patrol flights” during which
it flew in fire-watch mode, ready to intervene against any
nascent fire. After
executing 310
water drops, a total
of over 1000 metric
tons, the positive
assessment
has led to the
configuration being
certified and the
first deliveries are
expected to take
place in 2008.
legal counsel
If you’ve been following my columns,
a buyer in Missouri. You sign AC 8050-2
you know that I typically like to write
and record it, like the vast majority of
about everyday issues that come up in my
folks do. You think you’re done. A title
aviation practice that could be helpful.
squawk then surfaces that you didn’t
by robert van de vuurst
Sometimes they’re not earth-shattering,
know about, something that relates to a
HeliOps’ legal counsel columnist
but useful lessons learned nonetheless.
period even before you owned the aircraft,
This month, let’s take a quick look at
and the buyer comes to you to fix it. Are
whether or not you should use certain
you responsible? Maybe, but now you
FAA forms when you’re buying or selling
have a bunch of questions that may be
an aircraft. We’ve all seen those forms
expensive to answer. Look at the AC form
before, especially AC 8050-2, the FAA
– it has those 5 significant words right in
form Bill of Sale. Everyone knows it,
the middle which say “…and warrants the
everyone loves it, it’s simple and easy to
title thereof.” What in the world does that
complete, right? There are some popular
mean? Does it mean that you warrant title
for things for which they
misunderstandings about that form,
only for when you owned it? Or did you
were never designed and
though, and some reasons that I typically
warrant title for the entire history of the
tell clients (especially ones that are selling
aircraft, going all the way back to when it
while often, it makes little
an aircraft) not to use it, as follows:
was manufactured? The answer could cost
difference, when things go
have to use it. False. What you need to
have a hard time answering it, because the
wrong, having used the
understand is that while the FAA was
AC form, standing alone, also doesn’t tell
tasked, by statute, to create a uniform
you which state law applies to start with
right form can mean all the
and singular recordation system for
so that you can answer the question. It
difference.
aircraft transactions, the FAA registry
could be California. It could be Missouri.
is for recording transfers only. It does
Who knows, without a lot of time and
not provide, nor was it ever intended
digging? Now, what if you had used your
to provide, a uniform legal system for
own form which specifically stated which
determining anyone’s rights or duties
state law governed it? The answer to your
with regard to the transfer of an aircraft
dilemma probably just got a lot easier to
or, for that matter, anything else that
figure out.
SHOULD YOU USE
FAA FORMS?
Sometimes forms are used
It’s an FAA-produced form, so you
might affect an aircraft’s title. Have a
question regarding whether or not an
you a lot of money, right? But you may
Here’s another reason to use your
own form – engines, especially if you’re
aircraft purchase agreement is
a buyer. Show me where, on AC 8050-2,
valid? Check the state law that
it references the engine that is being
governs the transaction (more
sold with the airframe. It’s not there. It
different Bills of Sale
on that later). Need to find out
references airframe information only and,
every day, as long as
whether you can record a lien
as we all know, people pull engines and
against an aircraft for some work
sell them apart from airframes all the
they have the right
that you did? Check the state
time. Let’s say you’re now in the shoes of
verbiage and conform
law that governs. The FAA is very
the Missouri buyer and want to pull and
clear about this in its guidance
sell the engine only. Your buyer wants
to the underlying state
– its system does NOT supplant,
to see your Bill of Sale for the engine
law of the transaction.
modify, or supercede any
to make sure you really own it. But you
applicable state laws that govern
don’t have one, because the AC form only
your deal. As such, the form Bill
specifically references the airframe. Sure,
of Sale is not mandatory – it is
you might be able to go back and, with the
The FAA accepts
provided by the FAA as an accommodation
logbook information, argue by inference
only, and you don’t have to use it. The FAA
that the engine came with the airframe
accepts different Bills of Sale every day, as
and therefore you own it, but I’ve seen a
long as they have the right verbiage and
lot of buyers turn down deals because the
conform to the underlying state law of the
seller couldn’t come up with a bill of sale
transaction.
that specifically referenced an engine by
There’s no valid reason to do your
make, model, and serial number. That’s yet
own Bill of Sale, it’s not worth the trouble.
another reason to use your own Bill of Sale
Also false. Let’s take an example here,
that, along with the airframe information,
remembering, as I noted above, that it is
also notes that engine “x” is also being sold.
state law, not federal, that governs the
As I said, above, none of this may be earth-
underlying specifics of your deal. You’re a
shattering, but it’s certainly something to
California company, selling an aircraft to
keep in mind. See you next month. n
13
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A V IATION INSU R ANCE
by chris esposito
Protecting the Pilot
Part 2
So when, as a pilot, are you
insured and when aren’t you?
Chris Esposito continues
his in-depth analysis of this
perplexing question to provide
some insight into the subtle
wordings of an insurance policy.
As we discussed in last issue’s column,
knowing how aviation insurance works
can protect pilots from making the wrong
decisions and assumptions when it comes
to working for individual operators. As
students, there are several things you
can do to protect yourself from possible
litigation.
While some flight schools do not
carry full flight coverage and choose to
self-insure the actual helicopter, this
does not mean a potential student should
immediately find another place to fly.
Students and renters will want to talk to
the operator about how they plan to deal
with a potential loss, and may want to
ask for a signed document waiving their
responsibility. If a pilot does not like what
the operator has to say in this regard,
could fly under an open pilot clause of
there is the possibility of the pilot finding
the policy. Most pilots believe they are
another school, one which carries an
completely protected once they are a
instruction and rental insurance policy
named pilot, but this is simply not true.
with full flight coverage. Most flight
The named insured is protected when a
schools will still require the student
named pilot is flying the helicopter. If the
to pay the school’s deductible for hull
language of the policy states the named
coverage if the student is found liable.
insured as the corporation, as well as its
The deductible can be as high as 10% of
employees and officers, then the pilot has
the helicopter’s value. Clearly, this should
nothing to worry about. Since this is not
be discussed as well, and the financial
always the case, the pilot should be aware
responsibility of the pilot is likely to be
that any damages occurring while the
outlined in the school’s rental agreement.
pilot is flying the helicopter may be the
Helicopter renter’s insurance is
pilot’s responsibility should the insurance
available in some areas, much like fixedcompany decide to come after them.
wing renter’s policies, only much more
The helicopter operation itself would be
expensive (as is the tradition in the
shielded by the insurance company, but
helicopter industry). In the US, AIG offers
the pilot may be left out in the cold as
helicopter renter’s insurance, but they
lawsuits loom in the distance.
typically write the policies for pilots who
A pilot can prevent being held liable
already have a solid amount of flight
by requesting they be named on the
time. Trying to find renter’s insurance
insurance policy as an additional insured
for a 100 or 200 hour helicopter pilot
with a waiver of subrogation. The waiver
will be difficult, if not impossible. For
of subrogation is an insurance company’s
Certified Flight Instructors, non-owned
promise to waive their right to hold a
helicopter coverage is available to meet
pilot or corporation liable for damages
their specific needs, and would cover
they might be responsible for. Typically,
an instructor giving dual in a student’s
this may cost the operator a few hundred
helicopter or a flight school’s helicopter.
dollars, but the provided peace of mind
If a pilot is insurable, carrying adequate
is certainly worth it. Pilots should
physical damage and liability limits is
remember that unless they are listed
likely to cost over $5,000 a year (about
as an additional insured with a waiver
$250,000 of liability coverage and $20,000
of subrogation (or a company of which
of physical damage
they are an officer is
coverage). This is
listed), they are not
why many pilots
truly covered should an
Students and renters
choose to take the
accident occur.
chance of being
Obviously, all is
will want to talk to the
responsible for the
not as it appears in
operator about how
school’s deductible.
the aviation insurance
For students flying
industry. While it
they plan to deal with a
with a CFI, renters
is unlikely for an
insurance is usually
insurance company
potential loss, and may
not so critical. In the
to hold a named pilot
want to ask for a signed
event of an accident
on a policy liable
occurring while a
for damages, it has
document waiving their
student and CFI
happened, and can
were in the cockpit,
happen again. Flight
responsibility.
it is likely that
schools do not always
the CFI would be held
have the insurance
responsible, and thus
policy students, renters,
the school’s insurance policy
and professional pilots assume, and the
would probably pay for the damages
more you know, the safer you are from
anyway.
potential lawsuits and financial burdens.
For those pilots at a flight school or
Aviation insurance policies differ from
commercial operation that does have
company to company, so knowing how
adequate full-flight coverage, being a
the policy at your operation works can
named pilot on the policy is not enough.
save you a big headache in the future. It
I have dealt with many pilots who want
may not be the most exciting subject, but
to be named on the policy, even if they
it is an important one. n
15
safety column
nutritious lunch which if I recall correctly,
much insulin is released to compensate,
once consisted of two jam sandwiches, a
which drives your blood sugar levels to
chocolate bar, a can of soda and an apple!
a lower state than they were before. This
Considering that two of our pilots were
is rebound hypoglycemia and a big fall
diabetic, this had all the potential for
can often trigger a heart attack. Here,
turning into a nasty situation had they
the sugar is pushed into all cells of the
eaten it (as it happened, we all protested
body and not specifically reserved for the
by piling into a handy 212 to invade the
Central Nervous System. Apart from eating
dining room of the nearest oil camp and
‘real’ food, you can minimize the risks
In an industry where
Forestry paid!)
of this if you eat small snacks frequently
airborne time is all
nervous system, needs sugar to run but
with nothing. Complex (slow release)
important and eating
proper nourishment should be obtained
carbohydrates are best, like pasta, etc.
properly is often considered
pint in each hand!
by PHIL CROUCHER
All Sugared Up
a luxury, Phil Croucher
The body, and particularly the central
through a balanced diet, which is not a
The irony is that sugar (in its pure
instead of heavy meals after long periods
Thus, we should try to eat so that large
spikes of insulin are not generated, which
can be difficult, admittedly. That is, insulin
form) is one of the most harmful
should be injected into the bloodstream
substances we can put into our bodies
under more controlled conditions.
Western diet, sugar and its
on a daily basis, and there is almost no
Processed foods are converted into glucose
ramifications on the health
processed food that does not contain
very quickly, which is the real problem.
it, even baked beans. According to the
The Atkins diet for example works
experts, breakfast should be about 25% of
because it doesn’t trigger insulin. The type
the daily calorie intake yet there is hardly
of carbohydrate you eat will determine
a cereal product without sugar. Did you
how this happens. As well, sugar has no
ever wonder why cereals are fortified with
vitamins, so it is unable to process itself in
vitamins? It’s because they are all taken
the body, and has to borrow what it needs
out first! Manufactured ones are never
from other sources, which creates a deficit
as good as the real thing. Sugar that is
of Vitamin B.
examines the scourge of the
of helicopter pilots.
not needed to maintain adequate glucose
A stress prone ‘diet’ usually includes
levels and replenish stored glycogen in
sugar, caffeine and salt; leading to vitamin
the liver and muscles is converted to
depletion, especially in types B and C
fat by insulin, which also tends to block
because stress also uses up the body’s
the conversion of fat back to glucose so
supplies that are needed to process sugar
a high insulin level makes it difficult to
into energy. Salt regulates the body’s
remove the fat it created in the first place.
water balance. Too much salt leads to fluid
Although fruit contains sugars, it also
retention which also leads to high blood
contains enzymes and other beneficial
pressure. Caffeine stimulates the body in
substances. So fruit doesn’t stimulate
the same way that stress does.
so much insulin (around a third, in fact).
And if you thought sugar was bad,
However, once you combine fruit with
consider monosodium glutamate, or
other food, you get the full non-benefit.
MSG, which is often found in most
In the average Western diet, the insulin
foods under the name, hydrolyzed
levels are almost permanently high. This is
vegetable protein. MSG is injected into
something that our bodies are simply not
rats to make them morbidly obese so they
built to cope with after all the pancreas
can be experimented on. It triples the
needs a rest! The most common problem
amount of insulin created by the pancreas,
(in the normal pilot’s lifestyle, anyway) is
so if you ever needed proof that insulin
low blood sugar (functional hypoglycemia)
can be bad for you, this is it. You can
or eating too much (reactive hypoglycemia)
find MSG in many foods because it is
column was that a safe arrival depends on
caused by missed meals and the like.
addictive and makes you want to eat the
many things, not least the support of other
Although you may think it’s better to have
same stuff again.
people in a complex system. Although
the wrong food than no food, be careful
the system itself might seem very basic
when it comes to eating chocolate bars in
something else to eat in emergency, or raid
in the heat of a fire, especially when you
lieu of lunch, which will cause your blood
the kitchen before flying making my own
are the subject of the Forestry’s idea of a
sugar levels to rise so rapidly that too
decisions on the selection of food. n
One of the themes of a previous
My solution was to carry around
17
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flight training
by mark ogden
the limits
Teaching in helicopters is
never easy and expecting the
unexpected is one secret to
safe instruction. Knowing your
own and the aircraft’s limits are
essential elements in training
any pilot to safely fly.
We often see reports where the
instructor failed to correct the inputs
of a student early enough to prevent an
accident. The result can be anything from
a fatality to just plain embarrassment at a
bent airframe and the resulting insurance
premium hike. Instructors not only have
to be able to fly smoothly and accurately
themselves, but they have to efficiently
impart their knowledge and skill to
students while making sure that safe
flight is maintained.
It is a fine line between allowing a
student to develop the motor skills to
handle the basic act of hovering or the
more advanced skills needed to conduct
a successful autorotational landing. Oh,
and let’s not forget that we are trying to
develop in depth procedural knowledge,
good decision-making skills, and
situational awareness among a few other
abilities to enable student to become
effective aviators as well as safe pilots.
One of the secrets to good instruction
is for the instructor to know his/her own
limits and that of the aircraft and to be
ever-vigilant for the screw up that is
bound to come. Aircraft limits are in the
books and are there for a reason. These
are established by the manufacturer in
design and testing. Exceeding limits can
lead to components failing at the time or
more likely, failing prematurely sometime
in the future.
There should be no reason for
exceeding aircraft limits but during some
evolutions, when there is so much focus
on the student, it can be easy to miss
the occasional excursion; you know, the
occasional over-torque or rotor under- or
even over-speed. While the aircraft may
not fall apart then, the ramifications
on someone down the road can be
devastating. Rotor blades can later fail,
structural components crack or break
down prematurely, all because someone
did not prevent or when thy occurred,
report exceedances.
Did you know that, for example, the
ramifications of under-speeding a main
rotor can be devastating? During an
underspeed, the centrifugal stiffening is
far lower (eg if the rotor RPM decays by
10% the stresses in the blades increase by
some 20%!) The blade motions are much
bigger. In an articulated head, this could
ultimately lead to contact with the stops
(lag stops especially), so the stresses go
up significantly, leading to broken rotor
head and blade components. Teetering
heads can mast bump. If the rotor RPM
decays enough, the blades will bend,
usually with the top of the blade wrinkled
and the training edge near the root end
buckled because the blade is bent up
and pulled aft beyond its design point.
At least the damage here is obvious. Low
rpm in auto makes the blade lead (the
blade is pulling the rotorhead along in
auto) so if the rpm gets too low, the blade
can hit the lead stop.
Under-speed in the hover can reduce
tail rotor thrust to a point where the
tail rotor may be operating at max pitch
without producing enough anti-torque.
The tail rotor RPM is usually geared to
the main rotor so a reduction in main
rotor will significantly reduce the tail
rotor RPM, so it puts out less thrust (by
the square of the rpm). Usually, in a 10%
reduction in Main rotor RPM, the tail
rotor’s peak thrust will be 20% lower.
At the personal level, an instructor
should never allow an aircraft stray
into areas in which the instructor is not
comfortable. In fact, the instructor should
place an additional margin with a definite
go/no go delineation predetermined so
that there is sufficient time to recognise
the excursion, decide to take control,
take control and recover. This can be
especially true during autorotation
training where many of the helicopters
used in training these days have rotor
systems that are designed to provide
good rotor response but rapidly lose revs
during overpitching or after the engine
stops delivering power. I did most of my
single engine instruction on helicopters
with high-inertia rotor heads and you
had some good margins in there to let
students go a fair way before having to
take over. These days, those margins are
finer and while it is important that the
instructor allow students to recognise
and correct improper control inputs, it is
even more important that the helicopter
not be flown into situations that can’t be
recovered.
I got wrapped over the knuckles in
my early days of instructing because I
became over confident and was seen
with my hands nowhere near the
controls while a student was landing.
I’m glad that the senior guys picked me
up on that because soon after, a student
who I thought had it ‘hacked’ totally
surprised me one day with inappropriate
control inputs while near the ground.
Fortunately, my hands and feet were
where they should have been!
So, the basic mantras for instructors
are; watch the aircraft and personal
limits, prevent exceedances but when
they occur make sure they are reported
(in the book!), expect the unexpected and
always be ready to take control when you
least expect! n
19
flight dynamics
by nick lappos
Gearing Up
An important item on our
walk around is the landing
gear, which serves to
support the helo while on
the ground, protect the helo
on landing and to protect
the occupants by absorbing
impacts in crashes. Some
big choices confuse the
designer; how and why does
the design team choose
skids or wheels? If wheels,
should there be a nose
wheel, tail wheel or perhaps
one on each corner?
Skids or wheels? The biggest
decider is the size of the helo, and the
downwash it throws at your neighbors.
Skids require that you air taxi everywhere,
and if you leave a hurricane behind you
as you do so, you will quickly be invited
to the south ramp, 2000 meters from
civilization. Wheels allow you to taxi at
perhaps 10% of the wash of a hover, so
that rubbing shoulders with airplanes
virtually requires wheels if your machine
weighs more than about 3 tons or so.
Equally important is the mission, and
the question of running takeoff and
shipboard operations, where wheels are
again a great advantage. Rubber tires and
strong brakes allow quite a bit of friction
against pitching decks, while skids invite
skittering instability aboard a ship. For
running takeoffs in heavily loaded helos,
the friction of skids not only impedes lift,
they grind the skid shoes in the process.
Wheels are nearly zero friction in running
takeoffs, so the weights carried can be far
greater. For light helos, where simplicity,
weight and cost dominate, the skids are
a fine solution; cheap, effective and low
maintenance, except for those pesky
skid shoes that wear out when ground
against concrete and asphalt. Contrary to
the opinions of some skid drivers, wheels
probably have some slight edge on slope
and rough terrain operations, where the
three wheel spots are easier to find and
hold than the two parallel lines that the
skids require.
Wheels are necessary for larger
helos, but what configuration? A nose
wheel is usually preferred for small deck
operations, because the gear footprint is
usually about 1/3 smaller than if a tail
wheel is fitted. However, a tail wheel
provides fine protection for the tail during
landing nose-up flares, especially in rough
terrain, and so it is preferred in a combat
assault helo. Like tail wheel airplanes, a
tail wheeled helo is somewhat unstable
in high speed ground rolls, and so
pilots learn the rapid foot-dance on the
pedals, or just learn to lock the tail
wheel and ride the landing to a straight
stop. Generally, nose wheels are a
lighter overall solution, because the
tailcone need not be strengthened to
withstand landing stresses that tail wheels
necessitate. For these reasons, tail wheels
are used in combat assault aircraft, and
nose wheels are generally used on naval
and civilian helos.
Once wheels are chosen, the designer
decides if they should retract. While low
speed helos don’t seem to need major
drag reduction efforts, design trade-offs
show that retracting the main gear can
reduce the drag and save enough fuel on
each long mission to equal the weight
of the retract mechanism. That means
the retraction costs no mission payload,
and reduces the cost to operate as long
as the mechanism is reliable and low
maintenance. For offshore and naval
helos, a second and even more important
reason justifies retraction – the drag of
water entry for extended gear during a
ditching operation creates a strong nose
tuck on landing, while a smooth belly,
unblemished by extended wheels and gear
legs, makes for more gentle and survivable
water entry.
If the helo has an articulated head
where the blades are free in lead-lag, the
possibility of ground resonance makes
it mandatory that the gear have some
damping. Ground resonance is the term
we use to describe how the rotor and gear
react together to produce ever increasing
and dangerous rocking motions that can
lead to destruction of the aircraft. The
rotor blades are tossed slightly out of leadlag position, and the imbalance causes a
rocking against the gear that is reflected
back to the head to make the blades move
out of position even further, amplifying
the rocking. This dance is quelled at its
start by the oleos on the landing gear;
basically pistons with oil and air in
them that squeeze the oil through small
internal ports to absorb the energy. Like
the cylinder on a screen door that makes
it close gently by absorbing the energy of
the door’s closing spring, these dampercylinders in the landing gear keep the
rocking motion to very small amplitudes,
and stop ground resonance before it starts.
Some helos have rubber elastomers in the
landing gear systems to quell the ground
resonance even more. Chaining a helo to a
deck and then running it up is a great way
to bypass the safety provided by the oleos,
and thus the placards on tie down rings
that warn you to loosen any tie downs
before running the helo.
Tire pressure for the gear is
determined mostly by the type of terrain
that the helo is expected to roll on. Big
low pressure tires are used for soft terrain,
and smaller, higher pressure tires are
used for concrete and asphalt, of course.
Want to know how much tire area the
wheels make on the ground contact spot?
Just take the tire pressure in pounds
per square inch and divide that into the
weight in pounds that the tire carries. The
resulting number is precisely the tire area
in contact with the ground – an intuitive
answer when we realize that the tire’s air
pressure holds the aircraft up!
Wheel brakes are fitted to help stop
and hold the aircraft on the ground, and
are usually powerful enough to chew the
tires badly if over-applied. This is because
the brakes are designed to hold the helo
onto steep slopes and tossing decks, and
the brake pressure needed for these jobs
makes for a great deal of grab.
The gear is one of the most important
items for absorption of landing loads,
especially in a crash. On modern machines
that meet the latest military and civil
requirements, the gear can withstand
perhaps 5 times the crash loads of the
earlier designs, a literally life-saving
feature. This means that the modern gear
can absorb landing sink speeds that would
take apart older helicopters, making the
choice for knowing helo pilots a bit easier
as a result.
Next stop, the controls! n
21
c o v e r f e at u r e
As the helicopter becomes even a more essential tool for fighting fires, the use of
the belly tank is widening. Following is a pilot report prepared by Glenn Camus
on Type II Helicopter Fixed tank operations in non-urban wild land fire suppression
activities. Glenn has been flying helicopters for over 20 years and has accumulated
more than 10,000 hours and many firefighting seasons in helicopters.
Photos by Scorpion Helicopters, USFS & Mike Nowak
above: A belly tank
attached to this Koala
proves its worth
attacking a mountain
side fire in Sardinia.
Valuable Weapon
Once again technology has responded
to the increasing environmental concerns
surrounding wild land fire management.
Over the past several years, government
agencies involved with fire suppression
and management have developed
methods and equipment designed to
minimize the human impact associated
with such efforts. While some of these
developments may be considered by some
to be counterproductive in the overall
scheme of things, the helicopter mounted,
self-filling, fixed water tank is proving
to be a valuable weapon in the arsenal of
24
wild land minimum impact firefighting
apparatus.
Background
Fixed tanks for helicopters have been
around for years. They were developed
primarily for aerial suppression efforts
in densely populated and urban interface
areas. The main reason was to prevent
helicopters from flying over congested
areas with class “B” (jettisonable) external
loads. These early tanks were not selffilling and required that the helicopter
land and be serviced by a dedicated
ground component, such as a water tender
The helicopter mounted,
self-filling, fixed water
tank is proving to be
a valuable weapon in
the arsenal of wild
land minimum impact
firefighting apparatus.
left: This KA32,
operated by Scorpion
Helicopters is regularly
seen working
throughout Eastern
Europe on fires.
with crew or staffed fire hydrant. It was
soon realized that, in addition to reducing
the risk to persons and property on the
ground by not slinging a droppable 3000lb
load over them, these fixed belly tanks
were an effective means of water delivery.
Over time these tanks gained wide
acceptance and became the standard
water delivery system for medium
helicopters in populated areas like
Southern California. Many improvements
and upgrades have since been made,
including independently operated multiple
doors, foam injection, and snorkels for
hoverdrafting. Now, several different
manufacturers offer fixed tank systems
for many different helicopter models.
Even though the fixed tank type II
helicopter has been a common sight in
the LA Basin for years, the cross-over
acceptance and utilization in most other
less populated regions has been a long
time coming. Suspended water buckets
have been regarded as the most effective
method for dousing remote area wild land
fires with a type II helicopter. However,
partially due to the wider implementation
of MIST (Minimum Impact Suppression
Techniques) in wild land fire suppression
efforts, the newer upgraded fixed tank
systems are finding their way into areas
with little or no population density.
MIST considerations pertinent to
helicopter water-dipping operations seem
to be centered on two environmental
concerns. First, preventing foam
contamination of pristine streams, which
have been found to be a sensitive habitat,
or breeding grounds for endangered
aquatic life. The second is the potential
threat of “scooping” up and killing
fish found in these pristine waters.
Consequently many dip-sites, and the
number grows each year, have been
placed “off limits” to bucket operations.
25
The California Dept of
Forestry have a fleet
of UH-1s fighting fires
throughout California.
26
left: Coming to a hover
allows a CDF pilot to
drop his bucket load
with pin point precision.
By using a tank-equipped helicopter,
these considerations are mitigated,
allowing access to these dip-sites. Just as
fire managers in urban areas years ago
embraced the tank systems to mitigate
FAR part 133, fire management personnel
in non-urban or wilderness areas are
looking to these tank systems to gain
access to otherwise off-limits dip-sites,
and stipulating in their exclusive use
contracts, that the aircraft be “tank
equipped”.
I recently had the opportunity to fly
a fixed tank-equipped – Bell 205A-1 on an
exclusive use contract for the US Forest
Service. After years of being a diehard
Bambi Bucket-eer, I was pleasantly
surprised by the operational versatility
and effectiveness of this system in both
initial attack and extended wild land fire
suppression activities. That said, this
evaluation from a pilot’s perspective is
intended to provide the reader with an
objective comparison between the usage
of fixed tanks and suspended water
buckets, as noted in actual working
conditions.
stowed in the aft internal cargo well
when not in use, or left on the ground
when performing other missions. The
pilot-operated hardwired controls
weighed 14lbs.
Controls for the system were mounted
on the cyclic grip and on the bottom
right hand side of the instrument panel.
The tank quantity-indicating system
included four lights that illuminated in
25% increments. The manual snorkel
lock handle (and emergency release) was
located next to the collective. A convex
mirror mounted in front of the pilot’s chin
bubble enabled the pilot to monitor the
snorkel and door operations. Everything
was laid out so that the pilot’s attention
was focused inside and to the front of the
helicopter during filling operations. This
was not a bad thing.
The helicopter was flown from the
right seat allowing the pilot easy access to
all of the switches and knobs with his/her
left hand. The VNE with the tank installed
was 100kts.
Equipment specifications
Operational Comparisons
Deployment
The subject aircraft was a Bell 205A-1
+ +, fitted with an Isolair 325 gallon
tank. This particular tank featured three
independently operated doors, a 12ft long
high-volume snorkel pump, a 24-gallon
foam reservoir with a pilot-controlled
foam injector system, and an access
portal to allow access to the cargo hook.
The entire system including the snorkel
pump weighed 425lbs, empty. The
snorkel pump weighed 74lbs and was
Upon arriving on scene in an initial
attack situation, the system can be
deployed, tested and the helicopter on
its way to the water source in less than
a minute. All that is required is that the
snorkel be hooked up to the tank (a oneperson operation), and the pump and
doors tested. The key advantage here is
the fact that only one person is needed
who could conceivably be the pilot. When
deploying a 325 or 425 gallon Bambi
It was soon realized that,
in addition to reducing
the risk to persons
and property on the
ground by not slinging
a droppable 3000lb load
over them, these fixed
belly tanks were an
effective means of water
delivery.
27
right: Rainier HeliLift
and Isolair recently
teamed up to build a
modular tank for the
K-Max, and its recent
introduction to the
wildfire arsenal proved
valuable.
opposite page:
Most CDF air ops are
conducted over rural
areas hence the use of
the Bambi Bucket over
the tanked option.
After years of being
a diehard Bambi
Bucket-eer, I was
pleasantly surprised by
the operational versatility
and effectiveness of the
fixed bucket system in
both initial attack and
extended wild land fire
suppression activities.
28
bucket with a 150’ long line, generally two
people are needed. In addition it takes far
more time to get the bucket out, untangle
the suspension cables, stretch out the
long line, tape all of the connections,
test the system, and stow the bag, before
sending the ship on its way. On average,
deploying a Bambi bucket and long line
is about a 10 minute operation provided
no troubleshooting or repairs are needed,
and people are not stuck at a helispot or
dip-site.
After the water-dropping operations
are completed, the helicopter is landed,
the snorkel removed and stowed, and
away you go. No taping up cables, rolling
up buckets, or rolling up and taping of
long lines. Considering the time saved
in both the deployment and recovery
operation, it is conceivable that an
additional 30 minutes of drop-time, or a
quicker response time to another dispatch
or diversion would be available.
Filling the tank vs filling a
bucket on a long line
Each method has its own distinct
advantages and disadvantages depending
on various environmental factors found
at the particular dip-site to be used. The
tank-equipped helicopter must come to
an IGE hover to get the snorkel pump
submerged. The efficiency of the pump is
maximized the further it can be placed
below the surface. This requires that the
helicopter be maneuvered as close to
the surface as possible, thereby making
some confined dip-sites completely
unusable. Factors such as trees, rocks, or
rising terrain may limit blade clearance,
and obstruct safe arrival and departure
paths. In some of these confined dipsites, having the bucket on a long line
gives the pilot the latitude to “fly” the
bucket below tree-top level allowing for
a shallower climb angle at less power.
Whereas if you were attempting to depart
the same dip-site from an IGE hover
a steeper climb-out gradient may be
required. Other dip-sites become unusable
in windy conditions at high elevations due
to low level wind shears caused by terrain
features that may not be encountered at
the top end of a long line. But not all dipsites are confined. In all reality only a
minor percentage of dip-sites are in fact
unusable. In the unlikely event that all the
dip-sites in the area are too confined for
tank ops, a long line and bucket may be
used with the tank installed. Due to the
added weight of the tank, however,
a bucket smaller than 325 gallons
should be used at higher elevations (above
5000ft / 20C). I would recommend in
these instances that a 180 to 220 gallon
bucket be used.
Although there are some minor
inconveniences associated with IGE
hover drafting, the effects can be
minimized through technique. One such
inconvenience is that the spray produced
by the rotor wash, tends to be deposited
on the windscreens and on the mirrors.
This can be countered by increasing the
hover altitude slightly – but this action
will decrease pump efficiency. Another
visual impediment is created when
sunlight hits the tank quantity lights
and makes them unreadable. This can be
corrected by turning the helicopter so that
they are shaded, or by referencing only
the power gauges for filling limits.
While there are some water sources
that may be unsuitable for tank
operations, there are far more sites
accessible to drafting versus dipping. I
have successfully filled the tank from
streams that were only 1 ft deep! The
pump will draw water even lying on its
side. You need water at least 3ft deep to
properly fill a 325 gallon bucket. It has
been my experience when it comes to
unsuitable water sources, that you are
far more likely to encounter a shallow
water source, than a confined one. As for
encountering submerged hazards, the low
profile pump is far less likely to become
hung up on submerged hazards such as,
rocks, branches, and snags.
The feature I find that sets the
drafting option as more desirable over
the dipping option is the ability to
monitor and control with a high degree
of precision, the amount of water put
on board. It is next to impossible to
overgross the aircraft. By monitoring
the power gauges while drafting, you
get only what you can safely depart and
maneuver with, as opposed to utilizing
the WenatcheeSnatchee1 that is often used
A term given to the technique of using effective
translational lift, and or rapidly descending terrain to lift
a load on a long line, that cannot otherwise be lifted.
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In areas such as
Malibu, Calfornia, the
tank has come into its
own because of the
urban interface factor.
during dipping. This results in a greater
margin of safety, more maneuverability
and accuracy at the delivery end.
Furthermore, dip-sites located at
significantly different elevations can be
utilized without landing and adjusting the
bucket’s cinch straps.
To and from the pond
The obvious advantage of a tanked
helicopter in this profile is the fact that
only a 30ft column of unobstructed
airspace is needed in your route of flight
instead of a 200ft column. This can be
particularly handy when flying in or
around smoke, or under low ceiling. Since
a lot of flying is done in low visibility, you
may not be able to discern an obstruction
such as a wire, or a tree snag, or possibly
even another aircraft 170ft below, while
paying attention to what is directly in
front or trying to get a bead on the target.
Cockpit distractions such as radio
traffic, and channel-switching may also
divert your attention from the load below.
While seated in the left hand seat, with
your head inside a fishbowl looking both
down and forward at the same time, it
is a very tedious chore to plug in GPS
coordinates or radio frequencies from air
30
attack and focus on the load at the end of
the long line. This is not even a factor in a
heli-tanker; you just fly the aircraft, and
perform your cockpit duties without being
preoccupied with flying a long line.
Buckets tend to lose a fair amount of
water while en-route to the drop. A lot of
this water siphons out of the top of the
bucket, and some manages to leak past
the udder assembly. The tank doors on the
other hand seem to be pretty watertight.
All in all, again in this phase of water
delivery operations the heli-tanker has
a distinct edge over the long line bucket
helicopter in both the efficiency and
safety categories.
Water Delivery
It is in this phase of operation that the
most notable differences can be found
between tank and bucket operations.
Accuracy is the name of the game
when it comes to providing support to
ground units.
The opening in the business end of a
325 gallon bucket consists of an 18 inch
diameter circular portal, which results
in a concentrated steam of water that
gets little to no aeration passing through
the udder. In contrast, the column of
water passing through the doors of a 325
gallon tank is 6ft by 3ft as it exits. It can
be compared to having an adjustable
nozzle on the end of a hose. Because of
the multiple door configurations, and
the size and shape of the doors, the
resulting aerated cascade of water can
be spread out over a much larger area
than the concentrated stream of a bucket.
By selecting either 1, 2 or 3 doors and
adjusting the airspeed of the helicopter,
the pilot can control the coverage level of
the drop according to the fuel type and
rate of spread of the objective.
In light fuels such as grass or light
brush, by selecting 1 door, the trail drop
can be spread out for a much greater
distance than with a bucket or even split
into multiple drops, which is impossible
using a standard bucket. In medium fuels
the coverage level can be adjusted to 2
or 3 doors and the drop speed slowed to
provide more saturation in a smaller area.
In heavy fuels as in the case of a torching
tree, the 3 door salvo drop delivery is
most effective. Another unique aspect
to tanker operations is the ability to use
aircraft attitude to enhance the dispersion
pattern of the drop. While this can also be
accomplished with a bucket and long line
to some extent, due to the short coupling
of the airframe to the discharge portals of
a tank system, the direct effect on the drop
is much more controllable and efficient.
For example, by crabbing the aircraft
at a slow airspeed, the swath of water
will nearly double in width as it falls onto
the target area. The aircraft can also be
placed into a steep banked turn during a
drop, which will send the curtain of water
in a horizontal trajectory, which may be
effective on stubborn smokes in steep
rock outcroppings too hazardous to put
people on.
“Hover” or “spot” drops can also be
accomplished with the tank system;
however, you must be cognizant of the
fact that the drop will need to be made
with the helicopter close to the tree tops
when working in timber, which can allow
the downwash from the rotor system
to stir things up a bit on the surface. In
spite of the downwash factor, canopy
penetration to the objective is not a
problem. The effects of downwash can
be somewhat compensated for through
pilot technique, good air-to-ground
communication and conspicuous groundmarking of the targets. Essentially, when
making spot drops, you simply fly up to
C
M
Y
CM
MY
a spot over the target – stop, drop and
depart without ever having to transition
from lateral reference to vertical reference
– and back to lateral reference to depart.
There are some things that cannot be
done with a tank. A bucket on the end
of a long line allows the pilot to lower
the bucket down below the canopy for
pinpoint drops on targets such as logs,
(heli-mopping) or to fill water reservoirs
like fold-a-tanks. This is not to say that
these reservoirs can’t be filled with a
tanked helicopter, but the bucket just
does a much better job. In extreme
emergencies, a bucket on a long line may
be used as an extraction device, to save
people from certain death. I wouldn’t
want to fill the paperwork out on that
type of event, but I’m sure it’s been done.
A bucket on the end of a long line also
allows the pilot to keep a comfortable
distance between the aircraft and large
unexpected flare-ups that may occur
during the low-level drop run.
While both pieces of apparatus (Bucket
and Tank) are effective in delivering
water to a target, when you cancel out
all of the variables unique to one system
or the other, in my opinion the tank
system provides more versatility and a
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Helisureste in
Spain operate a
mixture of both
tanks and buckets
on their fire
fighting aircraft.
created in cruise flight. The ride can get
pretty rough at higher airspeeds. I think
that this can be somewhat corrected by
the manufacturer, by streamlining the
design with strategically placed fairings,
namely over the overflow vents, but I
wouldn’t hold my breath waiting for this
to happen.
Some closing thoughts
greater margin of safety than the longlined bucket system in most operational
situations.
Great system but not perfect
While these fixed-tank systems
receive high marks in efficiency and
safety, there are some inherent drawbacks
that come into play.
The most obvious penalty is weight.
The tank essentially becomes part of
the empty weight of the helicopter, and
although it can be easily removed, the
installation process can take some time.
This weight penalty is most commonly
offset by the downloading of fuel or
personnel. The tank system weighs in
at 425 lbs, and the 325 gallon bucket
with a 150-foot long line is about half
that, so the net weight penalty for initial
attack configuration, or cross-country
planning is really only about 200lbs which
translates into 20 minutes of fuel or 1
crewmember, or an item such as a long
line and remote hook.
The next most undesirable drawback
is ground clearance. At the tank’s lowest
point, the ground clearance is less than a
foot. This reduced ground clearance has
some limiting factors on LZ selection,
when seeking an unimproved heli-spot.
While slope capabilities are not impaired,
the area directly beneath the tank must
32
be free of large rocks, stumps, brush or
any other obstruction that could damage
the tank. While this is a consideration, it
generally is not a problem.
While hover hook-ups of lead-lined
sling loads are not a problem, this reduced
ground clearance presents a real problem
when hooking up an electrical long
line. This procedure requires that the
hookers squeeze themselves into a very
tight area to perform the hook release
tests, and make the connections. The
helicopter must be shut down to do this.
The solution is to make these connections
in a hover, although new guidelines and
procedures need to be developed along
with the necessary training to ensure that
it is done safely.
The manner in which the tank
is mounted to the aircraft presents
maintenance personnel with some
challenges. Access to certain components
such as the boost pumps and cargo hook
assemblies is restricted, requiring that
the tank be removed when performing
maintenance on these items. This can be
time-consuming. The tank must also be
removed to accommodate the installation
of a heli-torch. The uninstalled tank is
also quite cumbersome to move and
transport.
The last drawback associated with
a fixed tank is the parasite drag that is
Even with the inherent drawbacks, the
tank overall is a good system. It is very
reliable and seems to work on demand
with few breakdowns. Over the season I
made hundreds of drops with only two
failures that required that the machine
be landed and fixed. The electrical
connection for the snorkel pump came
unplugged and had to be plugged back
in by ground personnel, and the snorkel
assembly came off during departure
from a helibase. In the latter instance,
the snorkel never left the ground, and
I believe that it was not completely
installed in the first place. I have not had
that same level of trouble-free operation
using buckets. There are many singlepoint failure items with buckets and long
lines, and due to the punishment that
these items take on a regular basis the
failure rate is quite high; thus the contract
requirements for spare buckets and lines.
Another interesting point to consider
is the fact that a large percentage of
incidents occur during long line bucket
operations. Reports of incidents such
as dropped loads, dropped lines, load
collisions, release failures, settling with
power and loss of tail rotor effectiveness
seem to dominate the Safecom files every
fire season. I’m not in any way suggesting
that tanker operations are immune from
incidents, but by removing the class B
load from the water delivery process a
veritable plethora of contributing factors
for incident-producing situations is
eliminated. Furthermore, a pilot flying a
tank is likely to come in at the end of a
long day less fatigued than a pilot flying
the same number of hours using a long
line. Safety is a good thing.
Digressing from a pure pilot’s
perspective and taking an operator’s point
of view, tank systems cost about 10 times
that of a bucket to deploy. While this
additional cost can generally be recouped
in a multi-year exclusive use contract
that specifies a tank system, Call When
Needed aircraft operators may find the
initial investment too prohibitive to be
competitive. n
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9:07
:02 PM
33
Pilots by nature are wanderers. If
you’ve ever thought of wandering
somewhere near the Middle East,
you might be interested in knowing
what you’ll be letting yourself in for
if you’re wanting work in the UAE.
story by Phil Croucher
Photos by ned dawson
Above: If you like working in
a desert environment then the
UAE is a great place to be.
right: Corporate operator
Heli Dubai operate a fleet of
A109 Powers and a recently
added AB412.
The United Arab Emirates (UAE) is a
collection of seven states (formerly the
Trucial States) that banded together in
1971 for what seems to be the mutual nonrecognition of each others’ paperwork, as
you will find as you move from one to the
other. This has not been made any easier
by the recent adoption of CAR OPS by the
UAE’s General Civil Aviation Authority
(GCAA).
When it comes to the regulations,
CAR OPS is really JAR OPS renamed to
protect the guilty with only very minor
amendments; the main one being the
lack of exemptions from its provisions.
36
For example, although aerial work in
helicopters is specifically excluded from
JAR OPS 3, it is covered by CAR OPS 3.
The UAE takes up around 83,000 sq km
along the south-eastern tip of the Arabian
Peninsula, with Qatar to the West, Saudi
Arabia to the South and West, and Oman
to the North and East. The emirates
involved are Abu Dhabi, Dubai, Sharjah,
Ajman, Umm al-Qaiwain, Ras al-Khaimah
and Fujairah.
Although there are a few small craft
about, General Aviation is virtually nonexistent here. Almost all aviation takes
place from major international airports
(although there is some helicopter flight
training at Al Ain, and a little fixed wing
work at Ras Al Khaimah).
What’s it like to fly here?
The obvious answer is that it is hot, so
you get all the usual problems associated
with trying to get a heavy helicopter off
an oil rig on a warm day. In summer, as
you emerge from the air-conditioned
comfort of whatever car or building
you are in, the heat hits you like a wall
and once you get inside the cockpit,
a thin film of perspiration will cover
every exposed part of your body. Winter
however, is a lot more comfortable being
similar to a warm spring day in Europe.
Winter is also when most of the rough
weather arrives including the occasional
thunderstorms, high seas and strong
winds. Also, all the people who managed
to escape the summer heat come back to
the UAE this time of year making the road
traffic suddenly heavier and even scarier.
This is not really an article about
flying but rather the trials and
tribulations of entering and living in the
UAE, which essentially means being in
Dubai or Abu Dhabi, although there are
helicopter companies in nearby countries,
such as Qatar (any commercial helicopters
in Oman are only visitors).
Since the flying is similar, pilots
are generally interchangeable between
companies. There are those companies
that take on touring pilots and those that
don’t, so accommodation is provided to
variable. Be aware that whole joining
process can take up to around two
months after the immigration and
licensing processes have taken place.
Nothing happens fast round here, except
the driving!
Immigration
As an employee, your immigration will
be dealt with by your company, but you
will be responsible for the remainder of
your family. This means that they will not
be able to officially join you for another
month after your arrival, although they
should be allowed to visit subject to visa
arrangements.
Whether you tour or not really
depends on what you want to do, or can
do, with your spare time. Touring means
a working schedule of something like six
weeks on with similar time off, or eight
weeks on and four off. The latter usually
produces a slightly higher overall salary
because of more working days. Within
the time-on roster, there will also be the
normal regulatory days off.
A non-touring appointment means
The Armed Forces of the UAE
operate a number of AW139s for
its SAR function.
Be aware that the
whole joining process
can take up to around
two months after
the immigration and
licensing processes have
taken place. Nothing
happens fast round here,
except the driving!
37
Two Heli Dubai
A109s formate in
front of a national
landmark, the
stunning Burj Al
Arab hotel.
38
The Emirates Palace has an
immaculate helipad setup,
complete with fire cannons
and manicured lawns.
being tied to the local area for longer
periods at a time. If you have a family or
are single with a suitable lifestyle, time
will not hang heavily on your hands
since you will be productively occupied
(you could learn a language or take that
degree!) If you tend not to socialize or
have things to do in other countries that
make it difficult to rely on getting leave
when you want it, you would be better
off touring. Salary is affected as well; a
married person with children gets an
artificially higher salary because a bigger
house would be supplied, together with
a contribution towards the children’s
education.
Licensing
People coming into the country who
already hold an ICAO pilot’s license
can exchange it for the UAE equivalent
after passing an aviation law exam and
a check ride. So that you can get the
check ride done legally, you also need a
letter from the GCAA that grants you a
one-off permission to fly without a UAE
license (a kind of temporary validation).
It is important to keep an eye on the
expiration date of this letter, as flying
without the paperwork is taken very
seriously here and renewals are left to the
absolute last minute.
The exams for pilots and engineers
have just gone electronic, and are based
on the new syllabi. For pilots, they are
now very similar to JAR FCL. Questions for
engineers, on the other hand, still seem to
be a mixture between those from BCARS
and JAR 145 and some of the old written
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6/23/05 1:43:09 PM
your mug shot is eventually issued. The
medical certificate is similar. When you
do the medical, a 60-day temporary
certificate is provided, which is roughly
how long it takes for the real one to
arrive since the expiration date on the
temporary certificate seems to be used as
a target.
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#1
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questions are thrown in with the oral
exams, so now they have to be written
orally! One problem for engineers is that
some of the questions are very badly
worded and whoever sets them has taken
it personally when queried, so there have
been very few passes thus far.
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Domestics
Before coming, you will need a
certified copy of your passport and
licenses, and have the copies attested
(apostilled) at your own country’s foreign
office, and the UAE Embassy, in that order.
This can take up to two weeks.
When you arrive, you will also
need several copies of a passport-type
photograph; about 24 should be enough!
The same number of copies of the
relevant pages of your passport will also
be needed for even such mundane things
as obtaining a SIM card for your mobile
phone or installing cable/satellite TV
(SIMs need to be renewed every year).
Get at least one passport copy before
arriving because it will be needed to
obtain a temporary airport pass, which
is exchanged for your passport, and
therefore it won’t be able to be copied in
the office!
Driving Licenses
These are almost all exchangeable
with little formality, but there is a set way
of doing things, as with most situations. If
you have a Canadian license, for example,
you must pay a visit to the Consulate first
and have them provide you with some
sort of certification letter (the British
license is acceptable immediately, but you
must have both parts). Then you need an
eye test, which can be done at (almost)
any optician’s. The next stop is the driving
license office where you might join three
queues. You will wait a long time to be
told you are in the wrong one, so make
sure you go to the one for the typist first
with your application form, which needs
to be filled in with Arabic characters by
the “typist”.
Once the typist’s palm has been
crossed with Dirhams, and you have
obtained any extra photocopies of
anything forgotten (more Dirhams),
you join the next queue for the next
available policeman who will retype the
same information into a computer and
point towards the queue for yet another
photograph. The whole process will take
up nearly a morning, and so you are
advised to turn up as early as possible.
Sometimes, turning up in full pilot
uniform gets you preferential treatment.
Having said all that, I’m told that there
is a small office in the City Center Mall at
Deira, the other side of The Creek from
Dubai that is able to cut the process down
to about fifteen minutes.
Accommodation
Sometimes accommodation is
provided and all you need to do is walk
in and hang your clothes up. On the other
hand, you may be left to fend for yourself
and getting the combination of living
space, utilities, telephone, etc. together
can be quite involved. Rents are usually
paid a year in advance with two checks,
each for six months’ rent. It is a criminal
offence to bounce a check in the UAE and
the penalties can be severe. If you apply
for any kind of a loan you have to supply a
signed check for the whole amount before
the money is advanced.
Other Stuff
A blood test and an X-ray are also
taken for immigration purposes. Your
company should have a handyman who
will take you to the head of all the queues
as a VIP (again, the uniform helps). The
same person is also useful for joining
other queues on your behalf such as for
car registration.
Other bits of paperwork you might
need include a drinks license, which
requires a letter from your company
and a copy of the rental contract for
accommodation, on top of the usual
passport copies and photographs. The
forms can be obtained from the nearest
liquor supermarket and it must be
renewed every year.
Dubai
Dubai is the name for both the second
largest emirate and a vibrant city rising
up out of an old seabed. The Emirate
became independent from Abu Dhabi in
1833. The city currently closely resembles
a giant building site, so there is a thin
film of dust over almost everything.
About half an hour after washing your
car, it needs dusting! Much of the
building goes on around the clock, so if
you want peace and quiet then you need
a mature neighbourhood. The house
should preferably be as far away from a
mosque as possible if you are trying to get
to sleep before the early shift (although
a mosque is also a good alarm clock).
These, however, are positioned so that the
faithful can hear at least one from any
position, so you may have to accept the
inevitable. Strangely, some of the building
involves moving the sand into the sea
and putting water into the desert and if it
carries on, Dubai could be a few further
miles to the West in a couple of years! I’m
People coming into the
country who already
hold an ICAO pilot’s
licence can exchange it
for the UAE equivalent
after passing an
aviation law exam and
a check ride.
told that about 20% of the world’s tower
cranes are presently in Dubai.
It appears that the frenzied
construction activity is meant to be
completed before the oil revenues reduce,
but they only comprise 6% of the gross
national product. The majority comes from
the Jebel Ali Free Zone (JAFZ) and now
increasingly, from tourism. In that respect,
credit is due to this country for being one
of the few areas in the world where the
rulers are actually doing something for
their people, who in this case number
around 20% of the total population.
The driving in Dubai is legendary, and
is a bit of a mixed bag. For one thing, you
can never get directly to your destination;
you almost always have to drive past it for
a couple of miles and do a U-turn, or turn
right in order to eventually turn left (on a
foggy day, all the nannies get lost, because
they use the incredibly unique Burj Al
Arab hotel as a reference for navigation).
Otherwise, driving in Dubai can really
be no worse than it is in Montreal or
Dusseldorf, aside from an endearing habit
of driving across three lanes of traffic
without any indication, presumably so
they don’t miss their turnoff and want
to avoid doubling back. Perhaps they do
that in Montreal as well, but if you think
Dubai is bad, don’t even think of driving
in Sharjah! Generally though, if you keep
out of the fast lane and drive carefully, it
is bearable. It’s probably something to do
with the fact that most people who drive
here have come from places where the
maximum speed is 5 - 10 mph, and they
really can duck and dive in and out of the
traffic. The problems arise when they try
to do it at over 70!
Aside from that, Dubai is relatively
crime-free and insect-free, and there
are plenty of places to eat, drink and be
merry. As with anywhere, you can spend
a lot of money doing this, but you can
also eat out less expensively if you know
where to look, and it can be fun looking!
For Dubai, a good tip is to obtain an
e-gate immigration card, available from
an office in an upper storey of Dubai
International Airport. It costs 300 dirhams
and a fingerprint is taken from your right
index finger. Once you have the card, you
no longer have to queue at immigration
to show your passport, but can breeze
through a special gate. It is possible, with
this card, if you have no checked baggage,
to be away in a taxi within 15 minutes of
getting off the plane.
Abu Dhabi
Abu Dhabi (“Father of Gazelle”) is the
name of both the largest of the seven
emirates and a city which lies on a
T-shaped island jutting into the Persian
Gulf. Al Ain, 150 kilometers inland is an
ancient oasis where Horizon conduct
helicopter flight training, and is the
Emirates’ second largest urban area. All
other helicopter flying takes place from
Abu Dhabi International Airport.
Being the capital and the center
of government and business life in
the UAE, and many headquarter offices of
oil companies and embassies are
based there.
Being a more mature city than Dubai
many of the buildings are older, but the
traffic is not nearly so frenzied. However,
the paperwork process can be more
convoluted than it is in Dubai!
So is it worth coming to work in the
Middle East? On balance, yes, it is; it
will likely be one of the best places that
helicopters operate in that you can be
without actually being at home, and you
will work with some very professional
people. If you have children, it will do
them no harm at all to absorb the flavour
of a foreign culture. n
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Simulation used to be the purview of the big money
military or airlines. Now, the power of the PC has
made this invaluable training aid available to even
the smallest training school. Commercial pilot and
aviation textbook author, Phil Croucher examines
some of the considerations in today’s offerings.
story by phil croucher
PHOTOS by Rob Neil & Sarah Bowen
As somebody who has had their foot
very firmly in the computer and flying
worlds since well before the IBM PC was
born (I wrote the book on the BIOS), I have
always taken a keen interest in their use
with flight simulation. Indeed, there was
once a highly playable networked game
called Double Phantom that ran inside
32K of memory (those were the days!) At
the recent Heli-Expo in Orlando, I had a
chance to catch up with developments
which, predictably, had come a long way
since then.
Simulators come in many guises
and forms from the basic fixed-base
mounted type to the six-axis motion type
and except for certain specific purposes
(such as exploring the extreme edges of
the flight envelope), why would you get
involved with the price and complexity of
a full-motion simulator? After all, there
can be a danger of getting involved with
too much detail, depending on what you
are trying to teach. Back when they were
invented, when personal computers just
weren’t around, there may have been
an argument but not now. Mike Coligny
first petitioned the FAA to consider the
fixed-base simulator as an “official”
training aid. He said recently that having
already qualified on fixed wing he did
46
11 hours in a helicopter simulator before
getting his hands on a real machine. After
taking half an hour to get used to the
pedal movements, he went on to do a full
commercial flight test, which he would
have passed said the examiner, except
that he didn’t have enough helicopter
flying hours.
What possible reason could a small
helicopter company have for making the
financial outlay involved with purchasing
even a simple simulator? The obvious
answer is that helicopter time is more
expensive, but this is not the only reason.
Professional athletes and musicians
spend hours practicing their motor skills.
Why should it be any different for a pilot,
especially when an error can lead to an
accident? Athletes will often practice one
aspect of their range of skills at a time,
which is not easy for a pilot to do in a real
machine. In a simulator, you can reset
back to the beginning of an approach time
after time, without going round the circuit
on every occasion.
However, attaining and retaining
flying skills are not the only benefits.
CRM and decision-making scenarios can
be developed and practiced, as can many
other procedures, for very little cost once
the initial investment has been made
(typically $5-$10 per hour). With the FLIR
and Wescam add-ons offered by some
manufacturers, you can perform complete
missions without leaving the ground,
and the more crews you have, the more
economic benefit. When the weather
is bad, you can save on all that coffee,
because the crews can be in the simulator
instead! My particular interest relates to
the growing trend for power recoveries to
autorotations. Despite the arguments for
them, I still favor doing the real thing to
avoid negative training, and now you can
get a better full-on experience in some
simulators than a power-on in the real
machine!
The devices concerned need to be
similar to their target machines, and each
one mentioned here is accurate enough
in general terms; startlingly so, in some
cases and it wasn’t necessarily a factor of
cost either. Naturally, you would expect
the most expensive simulator to be “the
best”, but each manufacturer has their
own special twist worth considering, and
might tilt the purchase towards one. For
example, the designer from Simulators On
Site is planning to have screens that flip
out from underneath the seats in order to
practice longlining. The Eurosimulator can
also come with a Wescam/FLIR simulator
Emirates CAE Flight
Training operate
the only Level D Bell
412 simulator in the
region from their
Dubai based facility.
GRAPH 1
and an eye movement tracker, and at least
one other had a FLIR screen, so you can
train observers. Frasca’s simulator can
even join in a network for some real time
traffic! I will leave it to readers to make
their own judgment as to suitability of
purpose of a particular training bearing in
mind the purposes of the whole exercise,
which may include:
4 Efficiency, with no interference from
weather
4 Increased safety by controlling the
levels of pilot demand
4 Lower training costs
4 The practicing of unusual situations
which cannot otherwise be replicated
without placing the real aircraft in
danger
4 Fewer problems from neighbors!
Standards
There are flight simulators, Flight
Training Devices (FTDs), and Flight &
Navigation Procedures Trainers, also
known as FNPT devices. There is a
difference between teaching people to
fly, for which a simulator is used, and
teaching them procedures, for which
a procedures trainer may be used.
However, the two words are commonly
used synonymously. Although simulator
standards are mentioned below, for
comparison purposes, this article will
concentrate on the fixed base (non
motion) variety.
Flight Simulators
These come in four classes, ranging
from A to D, and their differences are
summarized on graph 1.
The complexity of the aircraft on
LevelControlVisualAxesVisualSound
LoadingScenesField
(Note 4)
A Static
B
Static
BuffetsRadar
Night
345x30
Night
3 45x30
Yes
C
Static & Night &
Cockpit
Dynamic Dusk
6 75x30 Noise
D
Static & Night, Dusk
Realistic
Dynamic
& Day
6
75x30
Cockpit
Noise
which it is based has nothing to do with
what level a simulator might end up on,
since it is the fidelity of the simulation
that is the determining factor. If you
had the data and attained the correct
standards, you could have a level D
simulator for an R22 against a Level C
device for an S-76. It just depends how
much you want to spend and what you
are trying to achieve. Note also that
even simulators built to the same level
standard may still be quite different,
because there is some leeway in the
standard anyway, and one simulator may
be built to an earlier requirement. For
example, some older simulators will have
grandfathered approvals (these have a G
suffix).
The tests done in the simulator for
certification at the highest levels are
the same as the certification flight tests
for the base aircraft, then the results of
both are compared to see if the simulator
performs and handles within the
tolerances required. Naturally, the higher
you go, the more tests there are. Level D is
an extremely high standard to achieve!
Yes
Characteristic,
Compliance
Statement &
Test Required
Operating
Radar
Level A
These have:
4 A full enclosed flightdeck, with all
flight crew stations present, and all
systems simulated
4 Flight control force vs position tests,
with tolerances
4 Basic motion and visuals, such as
night/dusk, or a limited field of view
4 Objective flight tests, some with no
tolerance other than “correct trend
and magnitude”
4 A transport delay of less than 300
milliseconds
Level B
With these, you can do all the training
and checking you need, except for takeoffs
and landings. They are constructed as for
level A, plus the objective tests all have
tolerances applied.
Level C
These are rated for zero flight time
for pilots with 1500+ hours in a similar
aircraft class. They are constructed as for
Level B, plus:
47
GRAPH 2
4 6 axis motion
4 180 x 40 degree continuous field of
view, daylight capable
4 Transport delay less than 150
milliseconds
4 Extra objective tests for control
dynamics, windshear, motion, etc
Level D
These are rated for zero flight time,
that is, they can be used for PPCs or OPCs,
but not line checks (not just because
you can’t fit the passengers in!), and are
constructed as for Level C, plus:
4 Weather Radar is simulated and
coordinated with the visuals, TCAS, etc.
4 Objective sound and vibration tests
Flight Training Devices
The FTD is a type-representative
training device that can be used for type
conversion and revalidation. They are
often fixed base, with no motion, except
that generated in your head! (Graph 2).
FNPT Devices
FNPT come in three levels. FNPT
I is the replacement for the traditional
instrument-only ground training device,
Level
CockpitAerodynamic Model
ControlSoundMotionVisual
LoadingSystemSystem
1
2
Generic
Generic
No
Optional Optional
3
Generic
Generic
Yes
Optional Optional
4
Specific for Not Required
Make/Model
5
Specific for Make/Model
Yes
Not Required
Optional
Optional
No
Optional
Optional
Generic
6
Specific for Specific for
Yes
Make/Model Make/Model
Yes
Optional
Optional
7
Specific for Specific for
Make/Model Make/Model
Yes
Optional
Optional
Yes
and is therefore pretty basic. FNPT II & III
are more sophisticated, with III being the
most demanding. FNPTs are not supposed
to be type-specific, but there is nothing
to stop you going this way. However, the
cockpit is supposed to be “representative”,
as is the flight data on which it is based.
What To Look For
Since even the least expensive
simulator/trainer here costs around
$100,000, you need to exercise some care
when buying. As I was unable to evaluate
all the flight simulators mentioned
in the Manufacturer’s Details section
of this article (some of them had no
demonstration models), here is a list of
subjects that should form the basis of
some searching questions!
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a particular helicopter, but actually look
more generic, and this applies to the
“cockpit” and the instrument display.
These can even be generated on a flat
screen. If a simulator cockpit is supposed
to represent a particular helicopter,
it should look like one, and some
manufacturers have been a little lazy in
this respect.
Ideally, the cockpit area should be
separate from the instructor so that the
student cannot hear off-mike comments
about upcoming events, and the lighting
around the instructor when reading
charts won’t interfere with training (eg
the instructor can be regarded as a form
of ATC “somewhere” in the system).
European approval requires that the
instructor’s station be behind and above
the cockpit so as to watch what is going
on, and the FAA requires the instructor
to be able to set weather, including wind
speed and direction with turbulence and
location, altitude, speed and direction of
the aircraft from the instructor station.
This can be done easily with X-Plane (see
Software, below), but not, it appears, with
Microsoft’s Flight Simulator, on which
many devices are based. With Microsoft,
you must pause the action, change one
thing, pause it again and set the next
item, etc.
50
In particular, I find that the standard
of construction of the pedals (especially
for those simulators purporting to be a
Bell 206) vary significantly. On the subject
of controls, the servos used (actually
potentiometers) must be of high quality,
otherwise they will need continual
replacement.
Screen Display
The helicopter spends most of its life
at low level, and much of the training
benefit is gone if the pilot can’t see
properly! External detail is important,
unless the simulator is for instrument
training. To do full-on autorotations, for
example, good visual reference is needed,
and only in the Flight Safety trainer
was I able to do a successful vertical
autorotation from 400 feet, the top of
the H/V curve for the 206. Others might
be technically capable, but they lose the
visuals in the final stages. All of them,
however, were suitable for the traditional
autorotation.
Some of the less expensive simulators
use commercially available mirrors to
rear-project an image. They provide
adequate detail, but can also induce
eyestrain because there are two images
from the double reflection from the front
and back surfaces which don’t quite line
up enough. Others use a direct reflection
from curved mirrors, which produce a
much sharper and brighter image because
light is not lost in the double reflection.
The displays also vary in the way
they are generated. Some manufacturers
use one PC to handle the simulation,
and others use a separate computer for
each projector. It’s worth noting that
Microsoft never planned for people to use
multiple screens, so synchronization can
challenging.
The simulators that use Microsoft
Flight Sim or X-Plane can all use the
photographic scenery add-ons that can
make the plastic world outside look so
real, but ......
Software
Many of the lower cost simulators
used Flight Simulator as a basis for their
operations. While good enough for most
purposes, it must be mentioned that this
program was intended to be a game, and
can be regarded as a bit “fluffy” to the
purist. Others have elected to use X-Plane
which is infinitely more configurable (and
accurate, although sometimes difficult
to fly straight and level, according to one
test pilot who is involved with simulator
certification). Still other manufacturers
have written their own software from
scratch. Note that, with Flight Sim
and X-Plane, although you get a legal
copy with your purchase, using it for
commercial purposes may breach the
licensing agreement. One manufacturer
told me that this was indeed a legal
grey area, and that Microsoft rang up
occasionally to check on them, but
otherwise didn’t seem to be too bothered.
Reading between the lines, this means
that it is illegal, but Microsoft are too busy
to worry about the small fry!
The new version of Flight Simulator
also behaves differently from previous
versions. When the collective is changed,
the helicopter now turns a little but
then stops without any pedal input as if
there was an automatic control system.
Previous versions needed constant antitorque correction. That is, the relationship
between the main and tail rotor can’t be
modeled accurately, so one manufacturer
uses a linear formula to vary pedal as
collective is changed, but they cannot
change it as air speed increases (the effect
of the tail fin) with the result that, at full
cruise speed you can actually put in full
pedal and pirouette all the way round!
In addition, with some Flight
Simulator add-ons, if the helicopter is
flown to an aircraft carrier (for example),
land and then save the flight, when it is
again loaded the aircraft falls through the
carrier and crashes. This also happens
on things like oil platforms. This is
because Flight Simulator loads all of its
own scenery, then the aircraft, and starts
running before the add-on scenery is
loaded, so whatever the aircraft landed
on before doesn’t yet exist! X-Plane does
not have this problem and custom landing
pads or trailers, etc, can be added. Watch
out for how many manufacturers start
from a fixed Microsoft airport or solid
land (terrain) and then fly to the custom
object.
In view of these kinds of problems,
the highly regarded add-on Dodosim’s
Advanced 206 should considered. It
models vortex ring, rotor droop, LTE, and
other things that are not covered in the
basic model.
X-Plane also allows connection to the
internet and download real time weather,
allowing the student to experience
accurate and time-sensitive elements.
This also allows use of internet ATC to fly
and interact with other aircraft. As well,
any Garmin GPS can be connected and
run it in simulation mode for GPS training.
It can be paused for further instruction.
Way ahead
As PC power revolutionized the home
and business, it has advanced the world
of simulation to new levels of realism
and usefulness. What lies ahead? Now
that is anyone’s guess, but it is likely that
we will see significant improvements in
visual systems and the accuracy of the
visual representations. Motion systems
where they are installed will continue to
improve.
There is nothing to limit the
utilization of simulation and with the
ever-increasing cost of flying, it is likely
that units such as those examined here
will become more widespread. n
M a n u fac tu r e r s’ D e ta i l s
Elite Simulation Solutions
www.simflight.com.au
Eurosimulators
Eurosimulators, based in Belgium but with an office in the USA, have a simulator based
on the Bell 206 and MS Flight Sim that satisfies FTD and FNPT requirements and which
is certified for instrument training under JAA/EASA rules. As well as Wescam and FLIR
simulators, they can also supply an eye-tracking device that lets the instructor know where
the student is looking and which can be programmed to highlight a particular instrument as a
hint as to where they should be looking.
Flight Safety International
www.FlightSafety.com
This company produces a level 6 FTD based on the Bell 206. Definitely the best available,
but also the most expensive.
Flyit
www.flyit.com
The Flyit simulator appears to be quite popular, and it includes 6 helicopters in the
configurable package, although the cockpit bears a passing resemblance to the Schweizer
300. A rear projection system is used onto a flat screen which is 8 feet across diagonally. It is
based on Microsoft’s Flight Simulator, running on 2 computers, with one quite low end, for
the instructor. It also uses one projector. Open linear potentiometers are used for the flight
controls, and the pedals are non-bearing based.
Frasca International Inc
www.frasca.com
The Frasca Truflite is a reconfigurable simulator that can represent a single piston or
turbine-engined helicopter. The instrument display for each machine concerned is generated on
a flat screen display, which is actually quite effective. Although it is the second most expensive
compared to the other devices, Frasca bring a lot to the table, since they write their own
software, and if you stand next to the pilot during advanced maneuvers, you will have to turn
round to stop and face away from the screen to stop the vertigo! Pretty good for a fixed sim.
Merlin Simulation Inc
Merlin have FTD Level 3 certification for their Robinson R22 simulator, which is designed
as a level 6, which means it actually has a high degree of accuracy, at least as far as the Beta II
is concerned. They did a complete test program.
Simulators On Site (SOS)
This one also comes in a trailer, but uses a three projector system based on X-Plane using
five high-end computers (there is one 3 GHz quad core for each projector!) Only position data
is sent over the network, and all screens are updated at the same time, or at least not more
than 5 milliseconds apart, which is much less than one frame of video, to produce a degree of
synchronization that you would expect from a much more expensive system. I’m told it would
only take a time server for perfect synchronization, and I can confirm that the views of the Grand
Canyon were sharp and clear, and simply stunning (for the technically minded, the graphics
cards are Nvidia 8800 GTXs with 1 Gig of memory each), projecting directly on to a curved mirror
(there is a patent pending as this setup is also destined for the home theater market).
For flying controls, high quality potentiometers are used, with a centering repeatability
of .001%, which give you a very realistic feeling. The software takes into account the actual
torque and aerodynamics so there are no anomalies, and power and rotor droop are also
correctly modeled.
There is also full 5.1 surround sound and the same linear actuators that are used in IMAX
and Disney special effects shows. These reproduce vibrations from 5 Hz to 200 Hz to replicate
the vibrations of engine start/run and wind vibration, skids on the pavement or anything else
you might expect.
51
ONLY $NZ 25
inc airmail postage
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www.heliopsmag.com
Helitech UK returned once again to Duxford Imperial War Museum near
Cambridge this 2nd to 4th October for its 12th event. Following 21 years of
success, and with growing recognition that Helitech has become the largest
helicopter show outside of the USA, the “buzz” surrounding it seemed
stronger than ever.
story & photos by Sarah Bowen
Above: The TLC Helilift was used
to assist in the manoeuvring of
skidded helicopters
top right: Despite the typically
British weather, visitors still
gathered outside to admire the
static display line.
right: Rolls Royce had a variety
of engines on display including
their new RR300.
Despite the typically British weather
bringing low cloud and drizzle to first
two days of the show, the punters didn’t
seem discouraged as crowds flocked to
the doors before they had even opened!
As usual the 15,000 square metres of
display space, filled with an assortment
of impressive stands and populated with
many a familiar face quickly flooded
with some 4,750 attendees. With such a
close-knit industry it’s impossible to go
to a show like this and not see people
you know; the other familiar “faces” were
those of the shiny helicopters proudly
lined up outside the chalets.
The line-up
The static display area comprised
over 36 helicopters, and taking up their
usual spot in the chalets were Sloane,
who had brought an array of Robinson
and AgustaWestland helicopters they
distribute throughout the UK and
56
Ireland. The company expect to reach
their delivery target of 40 new aircraft
this year. Next to Sloane was Harrods
Aviation, displaying once again their
striking dark blue privately owned S-92.
MD, AgustaWestland and Bell were next
door, with Eurocopter taking up a large
display area in the main hall. Lynton
Aviation, CSE, Heliair and Lloyd also
had a number of aircraft on display and
Bristow were promoting amongst other
things their flight academy in Florida,
formerly Helicopter Adventures Inc.
Patrick Corr, president of the academy,
who has attended the last four Helitechs
was impressed with this year’s high
quality audience. “The enquires we’ve
had have been valuable and it’s been
well worth being here. We’re getting
a broad spectrum of attendees from
private individuals who are learning
to fly helicopters right through to
representatives of the oil and gas
companies.” Corr founded the former HAI
in Concord, California in 1987.
The focus
Although Helitech is clearly a small
affair compared to the USA’s Heli Expo,
the 2007 event had a lot to offer and
seemed to attract buyers, pilots and
industry personnel from all over the
world. Since the public day was scrapped
a few years back, the “business” element
of the show has really expanded and
the country’s role in the helicopter
industry has been able to demonstrate
its strengths. There was an increased
focus on simulation this year, and as
computer software and hardware rapidly
develops, the benefits compared with the
expensive helicopter training costs in the
UK are really starting to show up. Whilst
there will never be a complete substitute
for real hands-on flying, companies
like CueSim and Aero Simulators are
certainly paving the way forward in a
country where operational costs just keep
skyrocketing. In addition to the “buzz” in
the main hall there were also three full
day forums taking place, offering a chance
to network and learn about international
developments in SAR, Medium Lift and
VTOL UAV.
In with the new
Besides the major players and
the regulars, a whole lot of first-time
exhibitors and new companies attended
the show, which just goes to show that
a lot can change in two years. Some of
the smaller companies have taken the
plunge to make an impression and earn
themselves a pin on the industry’s map;
amongst them were Advantica, whose
representatives Andrew Wilde and David
Simmonds were demonstrating their
pipeline monitoring software. Wilde
commented “For our first show we’ve
had a terrific number of promising
leads and we hope some of them will
develop into product sales for the future.
The clients we’ve spoken to were from
Sweden, Latvia, India, Russia, Germany
and Holland, so a good wide spread
which should hopefully open us up to
the international market.” The multinational atmosphere at the show did not
go unnoticed with visitors attending from
every continent. Simmonds added “We
top right: The final day brought
blue skies and sunshine, which
made it the busiest day for
arriving helicopters.
top left: Eurocopter had a large
booth in the main hall and a
wide range of aircraft lined up
outside.
above: Cambridge Police
ASU dropped in with their MD
Explorer.
57
Although Helitech is
clearly a small affair
compared to the USA’s
Heli Expo, the 2007 event
had a lot to offer.
top left: Bell had a 407 and several
206s out in the display area.
top right: The rear cabin of the
police-fit MD explorer.
centre left: You could spend hours
exploring the many sophisticated
cockpits on the static display aircraft –
it was a pilot’s playground!
centre right: Air Alpha’s booth
attracted a lot of attention with their
model Bell 222.
right: Visitors ranged from potential
buyers, to brokers and representatives
to the plain curious!
found the show to be very well organised
for exhibitors and visitors alike, and
I think Duxford is an excellent choice
of venue – there’s lots going on outside
and the reception in the museum was
fantastic. Compared to the many oil and
gas shows we’ve attended Helitech is right
58
up there and we’ll definitely consider
coming back next time.”
Another UK-based company, new
to the show was Ultra Electronics (Heli
Track) who were looking for feedback
on their new product, a rotor track and
balance system which they hope will
improve safety by constantly monitoring
for degradation of the rotor system both
in-flight and post-flight. It’s as a fit-andforget unit installed on the helicopter
and will basically record data all the time
the helicopter is flying, as well as having
a maintenance data recorder built in.
They came away with over fifty genuine
enquiries to follow up, not just in the
UK and Europe but worldwide. Andrew
Thompson, sales manager, remarked
“Helitech has exceeded our expectations
and we’ll most certainly be back here in
2009.”
New developments
Whilst Helitech is not a show
renowned for big announcements and
product unveilings, it seems there
were some exciting goings-on now and
then. Eurocopter and McAlpine signed
a purchase agreement with the Devon
and Cornwall ASU for an EC145, which is
expected to replace its BK117 by the end
of 2009. In addition Alan Mann Aviation,
based at Fairoaks Airport in Surrey,
signed as a certified customer support
centre for the S-76, which Sikorsky hopes
will add to their European presence,
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and
Skytrac
Systems 3/3/05
revealed
plans to introduce custom mapping into
their flight following software. Malachi
Nordine, Senior Manager explained “It’s
easy to find street-level detail in US maps,
but in remote parts of the world coverage
is not so good. We’re looking to integrate
maps given to us by our customers into
our system so that if an operator wants
his crew to find, say, a barrel of oil under
a tree in a remote part of Africa then
we want to make that possible. We will
also be turning around custom flexible
applications for different sectors of the
industry; oil and gas, EMS and firefighting.” Diana Groffen, the company’s
International Business Developer, was
exceptionally pleased with Helitech’s
turnout “We’ve been able to substantially
increase awareness of our products and
services in Europe, and this is also the
first time we’ve co-hosted our booth
with DRF, the German Air Rescue, who
also handle our European distribution.
Duxford is a great gathering place and
being in North America we need these
opportunities because it’s otherwise
tricky to do build up good relationships
when you’re so far away.” SkyTrac’s
SkyWeb product, which was only released
a few months ago and can be accessed
C
M
Y
CM
MY
from any internet connection, generated a
lot of interest at the show. Nordine added
“We also enjoyed the local hospitality, and
the hock of ham with English mustard…
truly delicious!”
The knock-on-effect
For many of the exhibitors, leads
generated at the show can take their
time to blossom, and it won’t be apparent
as to whether it was worthwhile until a
considerable time afterwards, however
the general consensus by the third day
was that of satisfaction and most of the
exhibitors agreed they were seeing less
tyre-kickers and more quality visitors
than they had previously experienced.
William Moore from FlyMap commented
“It’s been very good for trade, but I would
say less good for private pilots because
of the weather on the first two days. We
found the second day was much busier
than the first and this enabled us to set up
lots of new sales leads. Some people want
to go back and talk to their engineers
before committing to buying the product
but I expect in the next few weeks we’ll be
getting a few calls. I suppose by next year
we’ll have a far clearer idea of how well
the show worked for us.” On the other
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hand some companies were inundated
with orders and could confirm without
a doubt that Helitech had worked its
magic already. Anthony Beckett from
Headset Services commented “It’s been
very successful indeed. The company has
attended the show for many years and
there seem to be a lot of ASUs, SAR units,
and key personnel here, which is great.
It’s been non-stop for us and we’ve taken
an incredible number of new orders.”
Ground support
It’s always nice to see a large variety
of Helicopters at any event and this year
was no exception with R22s and R44s,
Enstrom, The Britten Norman Wasp,
JetRangers, 407s, AS350s, EC120s, 109s and
lots more descending on the show for a
visit. Police and Air Ambulance operators
flew in along with commercial operators
who gave demo Flights to potential
clients.
Elite Helicopters, based at Goodwood,
have been undertaking the responsibility
for Airside Ground Ops at Helitech since
1997. At the time the event was held at
Redhill Aerodrome in Surrey and Elite
were originally contracted by Spearhead.
When the event moved to Duxford
McAlpine organised a
It’s always nice to see a large
variety of Helicopters at any event
and this year was no exception
range of Eurocopters
including a 135, 120, 145
and a luxury 155B, which
drew much passing attention
and admiring visitors every
day of the show.
the company were invited to continue
the relationship and establish the
operating procedures in conjunction with
Spearhead/Reed and Duxford ATC.
Elite’s responsibilities at the show
included marshalling and parking,
coordination of demo flights, and
transport operations between north and
south sides for all visiting pilots and
guests. Tony Hancock of TLC Handling
worked alongside Elite using his TLC HeliMover and to assist in the manoeuvring
of “Skidded” aircraft, whilst other support
was called upon from Duxford’s “Tug and
Driver” to move the “Wheeled Heavies”.
An Airside/Exhibition Area was provided
through which airside visitors checked in
and out, and in total over 200 helicopter
arrivals were recorded.
Thursday was definitely the busiest
day (probably something to do with the
sun finally coming out!) where all sorts
of visiting helicopters arrived, from R22s
though to a special visit by an RAF Merlin,
with R44s and 109s tending to outnumber
other types by far. Glenn Curtis, Managing
Director of Elite Helicopters, was asked
how he felt this year’s event had gone and
how it compared with previous years. “I
would say we were a little unfortunate
with the weather on Tuesday and
Wednesday – we had a lot of pre-booked
slots cancelled and re-booked on those
days due to the conditions, and as such
the Airside activities were quite slow
initially. That said the exhibition hall
seemed very busy throughout so I guess
a lot of people took to the roads instead!
Thursday was a very different story
altogether, glorious sunshine and good
visibility made for an ideal opportunity
to fly and it certainly kept our staff on
their toes!”
Moving South
After last year’s planned event in
Madrid was called off due to reasons
beyond the control of organisers Reed
Exhibitions, they have now found a
fantastic new European venue, the little
airport of Cascais in Estoril, Portugal.
The venue is located on the central coast
of Portugal, around 25 minutes from
Lisbon and is all set to take place on 7th
to 9th October 2008. Don’t forget to put
those dates in your diary! Director Sue
Bradshaw explained “We’re really excited
about taking Helitech to Portugal as it will
be the perfect opportunity for companies
to branch out and showcase their
products to European-based operators,
and with the helicopter industry moving
so fast it’s also a chance to catch up with
new developments in between the regular
UK Helitech events.”
There will also be a strong firefighting theme to the Portugal show, a
topic of increasing importance to civil
and military operations particularly on
the Iberian peninsula, and something
that isn’t featured too heavily at the UK
Helitech. “We hope to integrate some
aerial fire-fighting demonstrations as well
as the usual ad-hoc demo flights. Many
of the summer fire-fighting contracts
will have come to an end by October,
so there will be plenty of lessons to be
learnt and equipment to be procured for
the 2009 season.” Bradshaw added. The
move is something the organisers have
been scheduling for some time and whilst
it is not intended the Portugal show will
be as large as the UK version, they see
it as an opportunity to make a presence
in Southern Europe as well as a way
of keeping up with a rapidly changing
industry. n
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Tim Gilbert
p e r s o n al p r o f i l e
Private Pilot – St. Ives, Cambridgeshire, UK
After a few restless years in business,
Tim decided to try something a little
different; by taking seven weeks off work
he planned a trip in an R44 that brought
him some of the most valuable flying
experiences he could have imagined.
HOW DID YOU GET INTO FLYING
HELICOPTERS?
I learnt to fly fixed wing and got my PPL at
Biggin Hill in the early 1980s. I later bought a
plane, and at first I loved it, but I always felt
that the constraints of weather and needing
a runway meant that all I could really do was
potter about from one airfield to another.
When I heard about the R22 I thought I’d give
helicopters a go. Oxford were offering a training
course where you could stay for a couple of
weeks and get your licence, so I trained there
with Andy Gutteridge and achieved my PPL(H)
within about 10 days! Nowadays I’ve got
around 1,000 hours P1 on helicopters and quite
a lot of cockpit time flying with others. I loved
flying the R22, it was so exciting compared to
flying a plane – just the sheer thrill of hovering
it meant there was no chance of me going back
to fixed wing flying.
SO WHAT DID YOU DO AFTER THAT?
I started buying leases on R22 helicopters that
were running out of hours, which meant I could
pretty much treat the helicopters as my own
for their last 75 hours or so. When business
started getting a bit better I eventually bought a
JetRanger, which was a lot of fun. It also built up
my confidence as I flew to places like Berlin and
further afield. On one business trip I flew about
1500 miles in one day – that was really tiring!
DID YOU EVER HAVE ANY EYE-OPENING
MOMENTS?
That particular JetRanger turned out to be a
little unreliable actually! It let me down twice
and let my friend down once as well. We had to
make three emergency landings in about 250
hours flying, but it certainly made a pilot of me!
WHAT KIND OF PRIVATE FLYING HAVE YOU
DONE?
I’ve been on a few trips with the Helicopter
Club of Great Britain, and I competed in the UK
helicopter championships a few times as well.
The helicopter flying was working out much
better for business travel than the fixed wing.
Our various offices were spread out around the
country and we made sure that we could find
somewhere to land near to each one, which
was very convenient.
SO WHAT HAPPENED NEXT?
One day I was at some kind of Army Air Corps
‘do’ with some friends, and it was pouring with
rain. We were all huddled in the beer tent and
we met this guy who had flown from London
to Sydney in a biplane, so we thought well if he
can do it in that thing, I wonder if it’s possible
to do it in a small helicopter? I pondered over
this bizarre idea – it was the most ridiculous
thing I had ever thought of, but we decided to
do it - Cambridge to Adelaide in an R44! We
hadn’t really given any thought to the route; it
was just a spur of the moment thing and when
we looked at the atlas we realised it was going
to be a long trip! We sold the JetRanger and
bought the R44, G-GXUK, which was later to
become the subject of my book, ‘Uniform Kilo’.
WHAT WAS THE HIGHLIGHT OF THE TRIP?
I loved the Australia trip for the sheer variety flying in the UK you tend to get used to things
like the weather patterns, the Atlantic fronts
and that sort of thing, whereas the moment you
get into Southern Europe and beyond you get
very different kinds of weather that really make
you think. When we got as far as Indonesia we
got this really bizarre sort of weather - weather
we’d never even heard of in training, and so
I did a lot of learning about it as I was going
along. The really great thing about doing it in a
helicopter was that the range determined how
often we had to stop. This meant we got to see a
lot of different people, places and cultures. I also
enjoyed flying in the mountains around Europe –
that was great.
WHAT WAS THE WORST MOMENT YOU
EVER HAD?
It wasn’t on the Australia trip actually, it was
when I had an engine failure in the Bell 206!
The moment the thing suddenly lurched from
a nice steady cruise and the engine wound
down to idle, everything became a complete
muddle! The lights came on, dials were doing
funny things, and for a moment it was a bit of a
blur. I had my little boy in the back and my wife
in the left hand seat and I remember thinking
“this is not good”! When I’d got it into a stable
autorotation I looked around and all the green
fields were like postage stamps! It was nothing
like practice autos into an airfield – suddenly I
knew I had to get the thing down into that tiny
space! So I guess that was the worst moment,
but since I did get it down and managed to
walk away, at the same time I think that was
probably the best moment as well!
WHAT PIECE OF EQUIPMENT DID YOU FIND
MOST USEFUL ON YOUR TRIP TO AUSTRALIA?
Good question! I think it was probably my
mobile phone strangely enough! The big issue
was fuel; we didn’t want to end up stranded
somewhere with an empty machine. Being able
to phone on ahead was absolutely essential.
If we’d done it 10 years earlier I think the lack
of communication might have got us stuck. Of
course the GPS was a useful tool, but we had
done extensive flight planning beforehand and
I’d actually learnt to fly initially before GPS so I
was quite used to ‘not’ relying on it.
WOULD YOU DO THE TRIP AGAIN IF YOU
HAD THE CHANCE?
If somebody wanted me to go along and give a
helping hand I’d do it, but I probably wouldn’t set
out to organise it all over again.
WHAT IS THE MOST CHALLENGING THING
YOU HAD TO DO?
In the Saudi dessert our R44 became like a
piece of ash above a bonfire! The up currents
were so powerful that I literally had to hold
onto the cyclic with both hands - it was just
being thrashed up and down through the
columns of air. After that a sandstorm erupted,
and we could see twisters of sand all around
us – there must have been a dozen of them all
around us and they were about 2 miles high!
I found that very scary. The only thing we
could do was climb into the cooler air, at about
11,000 feet. Every single country brought a
different challenge and some of the turbulence
we experienced in the tropical regions was
unbelievable.
WHAT WAS YOUR BIGGEST LEARNING
CURVE?
There were many. Mainly that it’s very different
flying in different parts of the world. In other
countries continental and dessert weather can
require a completely different skill set to flying
in the UK, and flying in those conditions taught
me a lot.
HAD YOU PLANNED TO WRITE THE BOOK,
‘UNIFORM KILO’?
Initially we were really just focusing on the
flying. We just wanted to do the trip, but when
I came back I had so much written material I
thought it would be interesting to turn it into
a story and publish it so I could share what
happened. The feedback has been fantastic and
we’ve sold loads, both to pilots and non-pilots
alike.
DO YOU HAVE ANY FUTURE PLANS?
At the moment I’m not doing a great deal
of flying as I’m working hard to build up a
new business, but now I’ve picked up all this
experience I’d really like to be able to pass it
on, maybe do an instructor rating some day – I
think I’ve got a lot to give. The other thing I’d
like to do is cross the Atlantic, but probably the
long way round starting in Scandinavia, all the
way around the Baltics and over Greenland and
Canada to the USA.
HOW DO YOU KEEP IN TOUCH WITH THE
HELICOPTER INDUSTRY?
I like looking at internet Forums like HeliTorque
– they provide a fun and interactive way of
discussing relevant helicopter issues, and
it’s very positive that people can get together
online, discuss and learn. I also enjoy reading
helicopter magazines and CAA publications.
DO YOU HAVE ANY ADVICE TO GIVE TO
NEW PILOTS?
Only that for the first 100 hours or so you don’t
even know what you don’t know! It takes time
and experience, but you will get there in the
end if you work hard. n
63
t h e L A ST WOR D
Is it time
for a Hybrid
Helicopter?
Helicopter folks have asked,
“Can we expect helicopters to make the
tremendous strides that cars have made
in the last 30 years? Can I expect the
fuel efficiency and the carbon footprint
to improve sharply? After all, the gasguzzling automobile behemoths of the
1970’s have become the gas-sipping
hybrids of the 21st century.”
In addition to the economic incentive
to reduce fuel consumption, we know (or
should know) that climate change is upon
us, and lower fuel bills mean slowing or
reversing the pace of climate change. This
has taught us to ask about the of “carbon
footprint” of our machines. While one
can calculate grams of carbon per mile, it
is simpler to look at the miles per gallon
of hydrocarbon fuel, and the number of
passengers carried.
At first glance, helicopters have a
64
actually just extremely tailored powerstrong disadvantage relative to other
to-the-wheels systems, but this does not
transport means, mostly because the
belittle the re-think that the car folks are
inherent power inefficiencies of the
experiencing, it is brilliant engineering.
rotor. Typical transport efficiencies
The solutions for helos would make
measurements in ton-miles per gallon or
most helicopter operators gasp:
passenger miles per gallon favor trains
and ships, then trucks and buses, then
1) Reduce the excess power of the aircraft
airplanes, cars and finally the helicopter.
to the absolute minimum needed for
But the helicopter has one great carbon
the mission. Outlaw twins that alone
footprint advantage, it does not demand
would increase “mileage” by about
lots of support infrastructure. Because a
25%. Must have a twin? Then have only
helicopter can overfly and land literally
enough single engine performance as
anywhere, the millions of dollars per mile
absolutely needed to fly home. Why?
that a highway or railroad cost, (much of
Excess power means not only engine/
it spent on energy consuming machinery)
transmission/rotor weight, it also
are unnecessary when the helicopter
means anti-torque weight and larger
comes on the scene. Wheels and wings
fuel burn due to engine part-power
require roads and runways, cement and
inefficiencies.
asphalt trucks, graders and tunnels, harbor
patrols and dredges, seawall repairs and
2) Reduce all “extra” weight that is not
dock maintenance, snow plows and all
essential. Crashworthiness, comfort, air
the other folderol that build and maintain
conditioning, you name it, out it must
modern transport systems. These massive
go, until the carbon tax is paid.
burdens raise the energy cost, carbon
footprint and ecological impact in ways
For these reasons, and many more,
that often make the helicopter the most
reduction in fuel consumption is not the
”green” transport solution. Be sure when
long term answer to
your rivals
the “carbon footprint”
bring up the
problem. Hydrogen gas
environment
can be produced by
and our less
In addition to the
nuclear electric power,
than stellar gas
and our engines can
mileage that
economic incentive to
burn hydrogen just like
you mention
gasoline, but in doing
our ability to
reduce fuel consumption,
so, will produce pure
slip through
we know that climate
water, not greenhouse
“footless halls
pollution and carbon.
of air” right to
change is upon us, and
Plenty of technical
the landing!
hurdles exist How will
lower fuel bills mean
Hydrogen is 3,000
helicopters
times less dense than
morph as fuel
slowing or reversing the
gasoline/kerosene.
gets more
This means the fuel
expensive
pace of climate change.
tanks must be bigger in
and carbon
volume, more complex
footprint
and heavier, since the
becomes a
hydrogen must be under lots of pressure,
household word? At first glance, there will
or even liquefied. Perhaps the hydrogen
be no fast gains in helicopter “mileage”
will be trapped in various compounds,
because we never had the massive
and released chemically when needed.
weight and power inefficiencies that the
The technical questions seem endless, but
automotive world had to work down.
we are good at technical solutions, given
There is no miracle engine in a dark
the classic ingredients of success – Time,
room somewhere that gets twice the
Money and the Will to Get It Done.
power on a gallon, today’s helicopter
When Oil goes for $200 per barrel, and
engines are among the most efficient
the melting ice caps wash over the banks
on the planet. Virtually all the gains
of the Potomac and Thames, we will have
made by cars lately have been by careful
our three ingredients at hand. Will that be
weight control and massive reductions
too late? n
in power consumption. Hybrids are