Winter 2013 / including gyroplanes. HELICOPTER LIFE is the HIGH LIFE

Transcription

1 HELICOPTER LIFE Winter 2013 / 3.99 including gyroplanes HELICOPTER LIFE is the HIGH LIFE

2 HELICOPTER LIFE Flight Show & Tell Guide 4 Aviation shows and conferences. The Editor s Letter 5 Aerial Forum 6 & 7 Letters to the Editor 10, 13, Flying Crackers 8 & 9 Helicopter Training 16 & 17 New Technology Panda for ipad 12 The Age of Aquarius Georgina Hunter-Jones flies the latest gyrocopter from AutoGyro in German, the twin seat, fully enclosed tourer, the Cavalon. High Hopes Georgina Hunter-Jones HeliAir is emerging as a leading helicopter company in spite of turbulent times. How and why is examined. WInTER 2013 COVER STORY Rosvertol on the Move David Oliver reports on Rosvertol s move to Batyaska Air Base 14 Marenco Swiss Helicopter Helicopter Life Unveiled at HAI HeliExpo 2011, the Marenco Swiss Helicopter continues to make strides. 40 SAR UK History G Hunter-Jones, on the changes to SAR regiem in the UK. 24 French Cayman Bronco Aviation Kuit and Kievit look at the history and present of the French Navy Flotille 31F. 52 Balkan Hawks Carlo Kuit and Paul Kievit of Bronco Aviation visit the Macedonian Police and STU (Special Task Unit) 26 Book Reviews 58 CAA Legislation changes 59 Nordholtz Airday Arjan Dijksterhuis 62 Accident Reports 64 House & Helicopter 66 3

3 S h o w G u i d e 24 February - 27 February 2014 HELIExPO Anaheim, California, USA 13 March - 16 March 2014 AUSTRALIAN GRAND PRIx Melbourne, Australia 9 April - 12 April 2014 AEROFRIEDRICHSHAFEN Lake Constance, Germany 22 May - 24 May 2014 HELIRUSSIA Crocus Forum, Moscow 30 May - 1 June 2014 AEROExPO Sywell, Northamptonshire, UK 2 June - 4 June 2014 HELIExPO UK Sywell Aerodrome, Northamptonshire, UK June 2014 EUROPEAN HELICOPTER SHOW Hradec Kralove, Czech Republic 14 July - 20 July 2014 FARNBOROUGH AIR SHOW Farnborough, near London, UK September - 26 September 2014 HELITECH Amsterdam, Holland 4 November - 6 November 2014 DUBAI HELICOPTER SHOW Maydan Racecourse, Dubai & T e l l HELICOPTER LIFE WInTER 2013 HON. EDITORIAL BOARD Captain Eric Brown, CBE, RN The Lord Glenarthur, DL Jennifer Murray Michael J. H. Smith EDITOR-IN-CHIEF / PILOT Georgina Hunter-Jones editor@helicopterlife.com CREATIVE DIRECTORS art@helicopterlife.com COPY EDITORS Evangeline Hunter-Jones, JP Gerald Cheyne CONTRIBUTING EDITORS Reg Austin, Bruce Charnov, Carlo Kuit, Paul Kievit, David Oliver, Brian Kane, Arjan Dijksterhuis, John Periam CONTRIBUTED PHOTOGRAPHY Reg Austin, Bruce Charnov, Brian Kane, Carlo Kuit, Paul Kievit, David Oliver, Arjan Dijksterhuis SPECIAL THANKS TO Dave Smith ATPL(H)IR, ADVERTISING Telephone: +44-(0) , advertising@helicopterlife.com SUBSCRIPTIONS Go to our website or turn to page 54 subscriptions@helicopterlife.com WEBSITE Blog See Helicopter Life on Facebook & Twitter COVER PHOTOGRAPH Cavalon Gyrocopter at Wycombe Air Park. Photograph courtesy Georgina Hunter-Jones HELICOPTER LIFE is published quarterly by FlyFizzi Ltd. 59 Great Ormond Street London, WC1N-3Hz. Copyright FlyFizzi Ltd ISSN All rights reserved. Opinions expressed herein are not necessarily those of the publishers, the Editor or any of the editorial staff. Reproduction in whole or in part, in any form whatever, is strictly prohibited without specific written permission of the Editor. 4

4 T h e e d i T o r S l e T T e r On the 6th November 2013 the CAA made the following public statement: Following the General Aviation Red Tape Challenge (GARTC), which found that the current regulatory regime is often too prescriptive, impractical and inappropriate, the Government and Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) have announced plans to transform the way in which the UK s General Aviation (GA) sector is regulated. One of the key changes will be the setting up of a new GA Unit within the CAA dedicated to more proportionate, effective regulation that supports and encourages a dynamic GA sector for the UK. The unit will be in place by April This should, I hope, make a great deal of difference to helicopter flying and particularly to light helicopters. As with everything the proof of the pudding will be in the eating but I am very hopeful that this will be a boost to inventors in the aviation field in the UK and perhaps means that the R66 may finally get EASA certification. Roll on April There are also other regulatory changes happening and one of these is our continuing immersion into EASA. Now is the time for Registered Training Facilities (RTF) to get to grips with changing to become Approved Training Organisations (ATO). There will be far more fixed wing than helicopter companies affected but on page 6 there are details of the CAA conference I attended on 1st November and what we were told. I asked the CAA if they could now answer the questions on which they said they would get back to us but had still not had a reply to my on going to press. However, given all the changes, I fully accept they must be very busy. An interesting growth area is gyro- copters, machines actually very different from helicopters but often confused with them. This confusion lies partly in their overhead free-wheeling rotor and partly because of the history of helicopter development which started with gyroplanes (such as de Cierva) and then departed from them. However, one major difference between small helicopters and small gyrocopters now seems to be new technology. While Gyrocopter companies are using uptodate equipment, monocoque bodies, digital engine regulators etc kit helicopters (often in a similar price range) appear to be sticking to older tried and tested technology. This may be partly to do with regulation, it may be related to the fear of spiraling costs. It may also be related to the fact that while gyrocopters can be freely bought and sold in the UK, only the Rotorway kit helicopter is available here, even though there are now many good kits on the market. Perhaps, now GARTC s findings have put the CAA to the blush, we may get some helpful action here. I am reminded here by a quote from Steve Biko: The most powerful weapon in the hands of the oppressor is the mind of the oppressed. Push on. Let s see if we can get the CAA/EASA to find a way to combine safety with freedom. It is winter again and the onset of bad weather. Even though we now have about half the number of privately owned helicopters we had in 2008, (for example just over 300 Robinsons now compared to just under 600 in 2007) this seems to have been a better summer than last both in terms of hours flown and weather. Only one of the operators I asked said he had been quieter, operationally speaking, this year than last. Generally, it seemed that schools and helicopter companies were happier with improvements in the market. This is particularly true in the case of HeliAir, once a small company, now growing to become the largest helicopter training organisation in the UK. (Helped by the demise of CabAir). When new helicopters are built it tends to be done in already well established companies. However, the SKYe SH09, which has just had the prototype revealed at Mollis Airport in Switzerland, is an exception. Conceived in 2007, unveiled at HAI HeliTech in 2011 and already taking orders in 2013, the SKYe SH09 was produced by the formerly unknown Swiss Company Marenco Swisshelicopter Ltd. On 28th November this year the SH09 was unveiled before an audience of journalists and prospective buyers. At a recent show in Pittsburgh, it was revealed that helicopter designers are learning new methods of movement from jellyfish and owls, leading to interesting new aircraft creations. See page 43 for details. Before making your Christmas list have a thought for the Robinson R66, still not given EASA certification 8 months after ELOS (equivalent level of safety) and six months since Canadian certification. Come on Father Christmas, give EASA a nudge for 2014, perhaps that could be the CAA s New Year resolution. 5

5 A e r i A l F o r u m When RTFs Become ATOs are you ready for April 8th 2015? As part of the UK s commitment to the European Union the CAA (Civil Aviation Authority) have become part of EASA (European Aviation Safety Agency). EASA is not a legislative body but drafts, implements and monitors the regulations. However, they have no implementation body and in the UK that will now be done by the CAA. Amongst EASA changes which the CAA needs to oversee and enforce are the transition of RTF (Registered Training Facilties) to ATOs (Approved Training Organisations). Instructors, examiners, owners and chief pilots of flying schools, went to Aviation House in November to find out when, why and how these regulations which require the transitions of RTFs to ATOs will be implemented. The conference was introduced by Neil Benson and he and John Wickenden gave details of how the CAA would be handling the transition of RTFs. John Wickenden explained that the transition was a legal requirement now we are overseen by EASA. That it covered PPL and LAL training regulations and that there was a specific timetable. RTFs will need to be transferred to ATOs by 8 April if they are intending to do flight training for an initial EASA pilots licence, for rating issues or renewals. However, if they are only planning to do revalidations or they are using older aircraft such as the Tiger Moth or Spitfire, or indeed if they are only planning to fly gyrocopters or kit helicopters, all of which have remained under national rather than EASA regulations they do not need to do anything, such schools can remain as RTFs. The question here, will theses national RTFs still have to pay to exist as they are, remains in limo. It like, rather a lot of the other questions asked at the end of the seminar, remained unanswered. In the popular CAA phrase: we will get back to you on that. Given that there will be significant costs incurred, both for the CAA and for individual schools the question was raised, why should schools changed to ATOs? Firstly, it is the law and RTFs as they currently are will cease to exist after 8th April Secondly, the new regulations will allow pilots from any EU country to be training in the UK and vice versa under EASA. This is perhaps not as exciting as it sounds since this was already possible under JAA regulations

6 and significant numbers of German, Russian and other pilots were trained in Spain in UK schools. So this is more a case of legislation catching up with common practice than a lightening of the regulations. Thirdly, the CAA suggest that this will give a level playing field across Europe. What exactly they mean by this is hard to say, but I would suggest it means that students sneaking off to Poland to get licences there because they have different medical requirements will now be stamped on! The question here is will we now get the same experimental category they have in Italy and Greece? How the implementation will work. There will be a simplified process for RTFs registered with the CAA on or before 17th September Schools that have not registered by this date will have to work through the normal registration process. What will the new approvals cover? All training activity previously provided by an RTF, plus the LAPLs and associated courses. What will not be covered. Any specific rating such as aerobatics or towing, or heavy lifting etc, anything which already needed a specific exemption to be taught. How to Apply: 1. The RTF will need to submit form SRG2116 for their organisation and the courses required, they will need their current registration number as this is only for schools transferring from RTFs to ATOs, not new applications. 2. The ATO will need a manual. This manual will cover operations, management, training, SMS and compliance and monitoring. 3. The school will need to submit the fee. The Manual: The CAA will supply a template manual with a guide on the free CD. This covers operations, training, safety and compliance. All the school needs to do is add their unique company information and procedures, writing the manual to a way that works for their particular needs. It is, Wickenden was keen to impress, your individual manual and the one from which your company will work. Fees: 1. For existing RTFs applying to be an ATO using a CAA manual template it will be 100 per RTF, that is per company not per course. 2. For RTFs using their own manual, however, the fee will be 1000, plus however many extra hours is necessary to examine the manual at 172 per hour, up to 2, There is also an annual charge of 430 per year, which will first be payable on 1st April This is one fee per school irrespective of the number of courses or sites. New ATOs with no RTF background will be charged an annual fee of Any additional course added will get a charge of an additional 54 as will any additional site added. Audits: The CAA will be making audits of all the ATOs new or old. This, they explained, will help spread best practice, and that CAA and ATOs will both learn from the experience. Audits will be done with the first 24 months of an ATOs application, but for new ATOs the audit must take place prior to the application. There will be continuation audits on a nominal 24 month cycle. What is involved in an audit? Checking the manual, looking at the management structure of the company, SMS ad compliance, material records, documents, publication, training records, and logbooks etc. What do you need to do now? 1. Use sample manual and make it specific. 2. Submit application forms, manual and fees as soon as possible and definitely by December st December 2014 is the latest time an application can be submitted in order to guarantee the issue of the ATO by 8th April Other factors: Pilots must have EASA licences in order to fly aircraft covered by EASA regulations. EASA licence holders can fly Annex 11 (older and different) aircraft but not vice versa. This is not true for helicopter and when I asked how this regulation was going to be worked out I was told the CAA would get back to you on that. NB anyone originally issued with a national licence still has it, as these were issued for life. The difficulty arises with JAA licences as these are not for life and hence have renewing options. Third countries not covered by EASA: Channel Islands, Isle of Man, USA, non European countries, Africa, Australia, Russia etc Holders of third country licences must have an individual validation issued by the member state where they are resident or established before they can fly under EASA. This validation is granted once and is annual by may be extended. EASA licence regulations regarding third countries are deferred until NB: I wrote to the CAA asking for clarification on the questions on which they had said they will get back to you but had received no reply by the time we went to press. 7

7 F l y i n G C r A C k e r S Royal Aero Club Bursaries Aged between 16 years and 21 years? Got a basic air sport qualification? Want to advance your air sport qualifications but lack the funds? Would 1,000 help you realise your air sport ambitions? The Royal Aero Club Trust announces its bursary scheme for young people for the 2014 season. THE CLOSING DATE FOR APPLI- CATIONS IS 31 MARCH Full details, rules and an application form are available on the Royal Aero Club Trust web site: Slovakian Flying Car Slovakian company that has been working on a flying-car design since the 1990s, recently flew its aircraft for the first time. The company says it aims for the design to be a real roadable aircraft that combines the performance of a sports car with the qualities of a light aircraft. The airplane that flew is the third-generation prototype, which the company said aims to be "stylish, comfortable for the driver and the passenger." In its auto configuration, the Aeromobil fits into standard parking spaces, and can be fueled at any gas station. It runs with a 100 hp Rotax 912 engine and, in its airplane configuration, has a top speed of 124 mph and a range of 430 miles. It's constructed of a steel framework with a carbon-fibre coating. Google s Flying Car? A blogger in San Francisco published patent drawings that show designs for a battery-powered personal aircraft with vertical takeoff and landing capabilities, in development by zee.aero, a somewhat mysterious company based in Mountain View. Caleb Garling, writing for the SFGate Tech Chronicles, said that the proximity to Google's headquarters, and apparently robust funding supporting 50 employees, with postings online looking for more technical staff, suggests that Google may be involved. Ilan Kroo, a professor of aeronautics at Stanford, has been CEO of zee.aero since 2011, according to his online profile. Passenger jumps from R44 61-year-old man flying as passenger in a Robinson R44 tour helicopter near Newport Beach, California, appears to have opened the door and jumped out while roughly 500 feet above the ocean, according to local police. The man was recovered from the water and later pronounced dead at an area hospital. During the flight the man opened the helicopter's door and jumped out while the pilot attempted to restrain him, the pilot's father told the Los Angeles Times. Information acquired so far by the FAA appears to concur with the pilot s account. The only passenger on board opened the door and jumped into the water, FAA spokesman Ian Gregor told local news stations via . Local police are investigating the incident as a possible suicide. Both the FAA and Newport Beach police are investigating the incident. The deceased man s brother reportedly said his brother suffered from a debilitating medical condition and had been unable to fund the treatment he needed. Radioactive Pilots Pilots who fly at high altitudes for business or commercial aviation are exposed to as much radiation as workers in nuclear power plants, and that exposure is climbing as airlines fly polar routes more often, according to NASA. During a typical polar flight, pilots are exposed to the equivalent of two chest X-rays, an exposure rate 3 to 5 times higher than flights at lower latitudes. Multiplied over the course of a career, says NASA, this can cause problems such as increased risk of cancer and possibly cataracts. The space agency is working on its models for predicting the intensity of radiation so flight planners can alter course to avoid the most intense radiation events. Don t Crash at Nashville! It took six hours for anyone to notice that a Canadian-registered Cessna 172 had crashed and burned at Nashville International Airport, killing the pilot. Apparently, the pilot of the aircraft attempted to land unannounced at the major airport but details are few. The Tennessean says the aircraft, registered to the Windsor Flying Club in Ontario, is estimated to have crashed sometime after 3 a.m. on Runway 2C, the middle of three parallel runways at the airport. Jetman flies above Mount Fuji Yves Rossy flew his unique jet-powered wingsuit above Mount Fuji nine times, as part of a celebration of the mountain's official designation as a World Heritage Site. Each of the flights lasts about 10 minutes. When the fuel is exhausted, Rossy deploys a parachute for landing. It was Rossy's first flight in Asia. It's a fantastic privilege to be a little mosquito flying in front of that big mountain," Rossy told reporters on Wednesday. "It's really impressive. It's a perfect form, a huge mountain, photograph georgina hunter-jones 8

8 F l y i n G C r A C k e r S photograph courtesy of georgina hunter-jones a huge volcano, a presence that you can feel on the ground and also in the air. Lady Gaga dressed for flying At the launch of her fourth album, Artpop, in New York in November, Lady Gaga, the flamboyant singer, flew 20 feet (6 m) into the air. To do this she wore the world s first flying dress, designed by TechHaus, the technical branch of House of Gaga, which took two years to make. Once landed Lady Gaga, whose real name is Stefani Germanotta, said her flight was: a small step for Volantis but a big step for Lady Gaga! The flying dress, a platform with four battery powered rotors, was controlled remotely. RotorMotion bought by Castle Air After sixteen years operating rotary wing executive charter and flying illustrious clients from the Dalai Lama to Prime Ministers, rock stars to Royalty, from Redhill Aerodrome, RotorMotion announced in November that it has completed its sale to Castle Air. The deal will see RotorMotion s fleet of Agusta 109 s relocate to Castle Air s new Biggin Hill centre of operations to augment their existing A109 fleet. RotorMotion s Operations Manager, Sue Spencer, and Operations Assistant, Declan Lehane, are included in the move. Captain Philip Amadeus, founder and Managing Director of RotorMotion, will take on a new role as an independent aviation consultant through a new firm Amadeus Aviation. He will facilitate the transition by servicing RotorMotion s existing clientele and also develop new charter business and aircraft sales. Amadeus, who was dubbed a hero after successfully landing PM David Cameron despite a gear failure said, After a tragic and tumultuous year, this marks a new phase. I am excited about the possibilities that lie ahead and am looking forward to developing the executive charter business in the South East. Gliding on the Edge of Space The not-for-profit Perlan Project aims to raise more than $2 million to build the Perlan II sailplane and send it to a near-space altitude of more than 90,000 feet. The project hopes to use "stratospheric mountain waves and the polar vortex" to reach the target altitudes and to collect atmospheric data along the way. Flying in near-vacuum conditions, the aircraft will need to reach near-transonic speeds to create enough lift for flight. The project predicts building costs to exceed $1.4 million with equipment and flight testing to add an additional $800,000. Perlan II is meant to extend the efforts of the NASA Dryden Perlan Project, which included Steve Fossett and in 2006 set a record for altitude in an unpowered aircraft. Electric powered Flight The two-seat e-volo Volocopter rotorcraft flew inside an arena in Karlsruhe, Germany, in November. The aircraft made several flights to nearly 70 feet. The company said, the flight was vibration-free. The rotors are powered by eighteen small, quiet electric motors. The company said the design is highly redundant, and the distributed energy supply is virtually fail-proof. Nearly all problems of normal helicopters are thereby solved, according to the news release. The aircraft was flown remotely. E-volo managing director Stephan Wolf admitted that, due to the complex structure of the rotorcraft and its lightweight carbon structure, it was not possible to accurately simulate how the first flight would go, and if it would be vibration-free. Two-seat electrically powered Volocopter 9

9 l e T T e r S T o T h e e d i T o r 59 Great Ormond Street, London WC1N-3Hz, England. Telephone: , editor@helicopterlife.com. Please include your name, and or phone. Letters are continued on page 13, 17 and 45 Helipads for Sierra Leone Dear Georgina, I would like to let you know that the concession for the two new international standard Heli-pad sites at Aberdeen and Lungi, has been awarded to my company 'Air Sierra Ltd.' (AS) AS will manage the sites, I am therefore, inviting helicopter operators to the locations from which they will run their own operations. This will include charter work for the mining companies in the provinces, NGO's, the various oil companies now undertaking off-shore exploration and the passenger shuttle service to Lungi. There are many international flights BA is increasing to 4 flights a week. There are other possibilities such as Medivac and governmental opportunities for charter. The operators can be based at either location and will pay AS a annual rental fee, this will include unlimited landing fees and parking. Office space is available and other facilities if required. I would help any new operator to adjust to the local conditions and advise them as may be required in order to help make their business successful. Depending on the amount of help wanted a separate consultancy contract would be available if required. Both sites will be ready to begin flight operations by November I am attaching some Photo's of the sites for your interest. If you know of any operators that would be interested to take up this opportunity, I would be pleased if you can facilitate in this process. Kind regards, Roger Nathan. Air Sierra Ltd (AS) africanair@hotmail.co.uk Helicopter on Aberdeen helipad Lungi terminal Aberdeen helipad and terminal Lungi helipad 10

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11 n e w T e C h n o l o G y F o r h e l i C o p T e r S Dutch HEMS Panda for ipad provided by AirBox Airbox Aerospace Limited, the digital mapping, situational awareness and navigation company, has confirmed it will be providing ANWB Medical Air Assistance B.V., the Dutch HEMS operator with a new tablet software application for ipad called PANDA, an advanced planning, navigation and situational awareness app. William Moore, Airbox Chief Technical Officer and co-founder of the company explained, Airbox has worked hard with ANWB to create a bespoke package based on our successful RunwayHD mapping engine available for GA pilots. PANDA, however, allows for much more than simple planning and navigation with new features such as an offline street search and wires avoidance warning capabilities which makes this one of the most advanced aids to HEMS operators in the world. The Airbox PANDA system provides all our pilots and navigators with a powerful reference tool without distracting them from the task at hand. It provides hugely enhanced situational awareness in the high stress environment of the cockpit which saves time and ultimately lives when in use. Said an ANWB spokesperson. PANDA (Planning, Awareness, Navigation, Documents App) is an all encompassing application providing pilots with an unprecedented level of functionality including full flight planning ability, airspace awareness including warnings, in-fight navigation, geo-referenced approach plates, advanced satellite weather overlays, an obstacle and the overhead wires collision avoidance system, and remote tasking etc. The mapping engine, originally developed for the General Aviation consumer market gives users the ability to access and view multiple map scales and styles at any one time including ICAO charts right down to high detail street level mapping and photographic imagery if required. Because chart, airfield and location data is stored offline pilots are now able to carry with them digital documentation that previously would have been a practical impossibility due to volume of paper required. Airbox worked with ANWB to add a powerful on and offline search function for PANDA, which allows users to search, locate and fly to locations such as towns, landmarks and even individual numbered houses on streets. The company is hoping to continue the rollout of its PANDA system to more HEMS operators across Europe and beyond. Interested parties should contact William Moore at Airbox directly on william.moore@airboxaero.com or via the website photograph courtesy of airbox 12

12 m o r e l e T T e r S continued from page 10 T o T h e ed i T o r Rocks from Kenya Hey Georgina This is what can happen to a H300c when you fly through an explosion from road blasting! Fortunately, we were at 600agl and only flew through the small stones. Rocks the size of a dining-room chair were only about 20ft below and fortunately we only went through the edge!! Best, Alastair Llewelyn continued on page 45 photographs al llewelyn 13

13 Rosvertol on the Move David Oliver discovers Rosvertol is moving to Bataysk Air Base Having produced Mil OKB-designed helicopters since 1956, the Rostvertol aviation plant in Rostov-on-Don 800 km south of Moscow, survived the difficult years after the Soviet Union imploded and now has a workforce of 8,500 working in two shifts producing more than 25 helicopters annually. Director General Boris Slyusar told Helicopter Life that Rostvertol s 2013 output will increase by 17 percent over 2012 and that it has a backlog of production until In 2012, Rostvertol invested $100 million in new technology to increase its composite construction capability. Japanese machine tools, European spiral-winding composite rotor blade machinery, and the establishment of a dynamic testing laboratory that will come on stream next year are all part of the investment package. Rostvertol manufactures the spirally wound composite main rotor blades for the Mi-28 and Mi-35, and the Mi- 26 blades that have a one-piece tubular steel spar with honeycomb filled composite pockets. The company is 14 also set to become the centre for the production of tail rotor blades for all Mil types including the Mi-8/17 family, it designed a new more efficient Mi-2 tail rotor after production in Poland ceased. Metal blades for early Mi- 24 variants are still in production. Birthplace of the iconic Mi-24 Hind in 1969, Rostvertol is still producing the latest variant, the Mi- 35M, along side the Mi-28 combat helicopter and the heavy lift Mi-26. When the facility was built it was on the outskirts of Rostov but now the construction of new housing is encroaching on the factory s boundaries and its flight test airfield. Director General Slusar revealed to Helicopter Life that the company has a five-year plan to move the facility to the former Russian Air Force training base at Bataysk, 20 km south of the city, beginning with the flight test centre in Bataysk Air Base was the home of the 801st Training Aviation Regiment where many leading Soviet cosmonauts, including Viktor Gorbatko, Yevgeniy Khrunov and Vladimir Milhaylovich Komarov, first learned to fly. The base closed in HELICOPTER LIFE Winter 2013 photographs courtesy of DaviD oliver

14 photographs courtesy DaviD oliver Mi-28N and Mi-24V outside the Rosvertol flight centre New Mi-28UB Back to the present, a new variant of the Mi-28N made its first flight from Rostov-on-Don on 9 August. The Mi-28UB combat training variant features and enlarged rear cockpit for the instructor pilot but retains the type s full attack capability and unique crew emergency system. The main difference between the new Mi-28UB and the Mi-28N Night Hunter is the dual hydromechanical flight control system that enables the helicopter to be flown from either the pilot s forward cockpit or the flight instructor s rear cockpit. The area of the flight instructor s cockpit has been increased, with an expansion in the pilot canopy and change to the configuration of the energy-absorbing seats. Rostvertol s chief engineer, Andrey Varfolomeyev admitted that the modifications have added weight to the helicopter but it was built to Russian Air Force specifications. When activated, the Mi-28 s unique emergency system jettisons the crew doors, blasts away the HELICOPTER LIFE Winter 2013 stub wings and inflates an air bag beneath each door to protect the crew from striking the landing gear when they parachute from the helicopter. At the time of Helicopter Life s visit two Mi-28Ns were undergoing flight tests, with five in final assembly plus three early production aircraft undergoing upgrades, and one damaged in a hard landing, being rebuilt. More than 1,600 Mi-24 Hind variants have left the Rostvertol production lines over the past four decades and the latest Mi-35M variant continues to be delivered to the Russian Armed Forces and several export customers. At the time of Helicopter Life s visit, five of fifty Mi-35Ms for the Russian Air Force and a single Russian Border Guard Force aircraft were in final assembly with another undergoing flight trials while the last three of 12 ordered by the Brazilian Air Force were being prepared for delivery. Earlier Russian Air Force Mi-24V helicopters were also being refurbished and upgraded Rostvertol Director General Boris Slyusar told Helicopter Life that there would be no more redesigns of the airframe by the company was working on enhancements of the Mi-35 s avionics and weapons systems. At a earlier meeting in Moscow, Russian Helicopters then CEO Dmitry Petrov told Helicopter Life that development of its High Speed Russian Advanced Commercial Helicopter (RACHEL) project to replace the Mi-8/17 family in 2018, is forging ahead with a decision on the powerplants, which could be either Russian or Western, to be made before the end of the year. A flying test bed is being built around a Mil Mi-35 with a new rotor system to set speed parameters and validate systems, so the iconic Hind is guaranteed to reach a half century of useful life. Russian Air Force Mi-35M prepared for flight testing

15 Helicopter Training Type Rating on the Rotorway 162F by Georgina Hunter-Jones see: Iam doing a type rating on the Rotorway 162F. This, plus further hours up to 15 in total, will allow me to examine and teach owners on the kit helicopter series the Rotorway. My teacher is John Jackson and I am learning at Street Farm in Stansted, the home of the UK Rotorway distributors. We started with theory. This is particularly interesting as the Rotorway 162F is a kit helicopter and as such has differences from the main series of factory built helicopters. Some of these differences are intrinsic to the Rotorway, others are normal for two blade helicopters. We started with Rotorway Foibles! The 162F has three main foibles. These are not disadvantages, they are interesting and significant differences which should be taken into account while flying. First, it has a lag between action and reaction when you move the controls. A time delay between a control input and the response. This is a function of rotorhead control and balance, takes a while to get used to and can lead to a new pilot over-controlling, even if he is already used to flying helicopters. Secondly, the 162F has a tendency towards flapback (the act of the rotor disc flapping away from the relative wind). As with any helicopter the main rotor blade will 16 lift on the occurrence of a gust or while transitioning, owing to increased airflow but the 162F is particularly sensitive because of the large, effective horizontal stabilizer. In time a new pilot learns to compensate for this as with any unusual aspect of a helicopter. Thirdly, the blades are asymmetrical and do not have washout (twist), which leads to spread of lift along the blade, instead of parts of the blade lifting more than others. The effect is movement in pitch, which needs to be compensated for by the pilot. In practice most people quickly get used to this. When flying the Rotorway series for the first time it is helpful to compare it with the Robinson R22, as they have many similarities and some difference. Firstly, the are both light, two bladed machines. The Rotorway is the heavier machine with a 975 lbs (442 kgs) empty weight and a useful load of 522lbs (238 kgs) compared to the R22 empty weight of 865 lbs (392 kgs) and a useful load of 510 lbs (229kgs). Secondly, being narrow but dual controlled helicopters they both have to compensate for the distance the controls need to cover without hitting the sides of the machine. Robinson compensated for this in his R22 by using the T bar, while in the Rotorway they used stiffness.

16 photographs courtesy of georgina hunter-jones Thirdly, they both have relatively small piston engines. The Rotorway has a 2.6 litre engine with revolutions per minute up to 4,250 giving a nominal value of 150 bhp. The R22 has a 5.3 litre engine, with rpm of 2,300, which gives 138 bhp. This is a very significant difference in that Robinson has clearly gone for a larger low-revving larger engine, while Rotorway has opted for a smaller, higher revving engine, which actually gives more power but at the long term expense of its components, which do not like the vibration. While the R22 engine will need a major overhaul at 2200 hours in the Rotorway this is 500 for a major overhaul but with a top overhaul at 250 hours. While this sounds as though the R22 is a significantly more cost effective helicopter it is worth bearing in mind that few private owners do more than 50 hours a year, and most much less and their is a considerable difference in purchase and maintenance costs. Before we set off on the first flight JJ pointed out some important factor to notice with the machine. These are true of any helicopter but are particularly pronounced in the Rotorway. Firstly, tail rotor performance. As with any helicopter if the RPM decays the tail rotor becomes less effective, however in the Rotorway this is very noticeable. When I was later doing turns on the spot (NB to the left not to the right so this not a function of the drag of the machine) I allowed the RPM to droop and found my feet were suddenly becoming very ineffective in the turn. However, once the RPM was increased to the green range this was fine. Secondly, manifold pressure. MAP is related to RPM and throttle position, and hence is not a true reflection of engine power. Again this is normal with any helicopter but is more pronounced with the Rotorway. The point being that you cannot simply raise the lever to get more power, you must also monitor the RPM and will generally need to increase it. This can be hard for R22 pilots who have a governor and thus are not used to moving the throttle. However, for those who learnt on the Schweizer series this is completely normal. Thirdly, the clockwise moving main rotor. With power you need right pedal and in autorotation you need left pedal. This is the opposite direction from the normal US helicopters and does need to be taken into account. Pilots who have learnt on the Cabri will find this completely normal, others will not. Now for the check A. Checking the Rotorway means taking off the panels and looking inside. Once these are off you get a clear view of the engine, the control rods, the gear chain in the oil bath in the dog house, the control belts and the fans, the primary and secondary shafts. The oil dipstick is behind the pilot s seat. The engine is liquid cooled and there is a reservoir to check. Make sure the top is put back securely or you can have problems with liquid spilling onto the belts below. Next issue onto flying the Rotorway. Or see the blog. Rotorway 162F has a clockwise rotor Rotorway 162F has a FADEC system Rotorway make their own 150hp engine 17

17 Around the World World Vision Mexico helps Flooded The Eurocopter Foundation and NGO World Vision Mexico have joined forces to distribute food and humanitarian aid to the communities affected by Hurricane Ingrid and Tropical Storm Manuel. This agreement provides 30 helicopter flight hours to reach communities in the most devastated regions of the country, inaccessible by land. In order to assist those affected by the recent storms that affected multiple areas of Mexico, the Eurocopter Foundation has teamed up with the NGO World Vision Mexico. The hurricane left various communities in a dramatic situation, which is further aggravated by the inability to access these zones by land, said Martha Yaneth Rodríguez, General Manager of World Vision Mexico. Helicopters are undoubtedly an excellent alternative, enabling us to get humanitarian aid to totally devastated and inaccessible zones. This humanitarian organization collects and distributes food and basic necessities and is one of the entities working together with the Mexican authorities under the 18 Civil Emergency Plan for natural disasters, known as the DN-III Plan The operations began last September 28 with a reconnaissance flight by an EC120 in the state of Veracruz. It is hugely satisfying for Eurocopter to see first-hand how our helicopters are helping those most in need and drastically affected by these hurricanes, said Guillaume Faury, Chairman of the Board of the Eurocopter Foundation. The provision of support to humanitarian organizations forms part of our company s fundamental values and we are quite content with this first urgent humanitarian action by our foundation together with World Vision Mexico. Meanwhile, on October 3, World Vision Mexico began its operations in Guerrero, the state worst affected by the tropical storms, with an EC130 B4. Based at the NGO s operational center in Ometepec, this helicopter has already airlifted more than a ton of food and personal hygiene items to people living in Ometepec, Cuajinicuilapa and Xochistlahuaca. photographs courtesy of eurocopter

18 AS365n3+ Dauphin for nagoya City Fire Eurocopter Japan has signed a contract to supply Nagoya with an AS365 N3+ Dauphin for operation by the Nagoya City Fire Bureau as an upgrade for the service s existing helicopter resources. Delivery of this new rotorcraft is planned in 2015 to the Pacific Coast city of Japan, which is the country s fourth most populous urban area. The Nagoya City Fire Bureau has been using Eurocopter products for over 40 years since introducing helicopters into its equipment inventory, and it currently operates two AS365s. The aircraft are used for firefighting, disaster prevention, emergency medical transport and rescue missions. Including this contract, Eurocopter Japan has booked four orders this year for Dauphin family helicopters involving the AS365 and EC155 versions. Nagoya s contract follows orders received so far in 2013 from Hyogo Prefecture, Hiroshima Prefecture and the Metropolitan Police Department. We are greatly honored to have signed another contract with city of Nagoya, with which we have a longstanding relationship that spans more than 40 years, said Stephane Ginoux, the President and CEO of Eurocopter Japan. This fourth Dauphin family order in 2013 demonstrates a strong endorsement for our services in Japan. We are committed to offering the best and most comprehensive support and service to meet our customers needs. The 4.5-ton class AS365 N3+ is part of Eurocopter s Dauphin family, and is a highly popular helicopter type for firefighting services, disaster relief organizations, police agencies as well as news media in Japan and around the world. Currently, more than 50 AS365s are operated in Japan. Eurocopter leads the Japanese firefighting segment with a 60 percent market share, thanks to its wide range of products, in-country support and services network. Popular models used for firefighting and disaster relief missions in Japan include the AS365, the Super Puma family, and the BK117 which is a light twin-engine helicopter developed jointly with Japan s Kawasaki Heavy Industries. 19

19 South African AW139 for EMS AgustaWestland has delivered a second AW139 featuring a highly customized exterior painting scheme to a South African private customer. This aircraft is also the 600th AW139 delivered to the global market and it will be used to perform corporate and passenger transport in South Africa and Emergency Medical Services utilizing a quick convertible EMS pod. In addition it will perform the unconventional mission of performing aerial game counting to monitor the populations of wild animals typically found in African game reserves. Equipped with a particle separator system, the performance of the AW139 allows for operations anywhere in Africa and in hot and high conditions. This AW139 s cabin is provided with a mix of six backward/forwardfacing seats with the possibility of quick reconfiguration on a mission by mission basis. The unique aircraft s paint scheme provides a glimpse of Southern African art and cultural tradition with its primary focus on nature. First AW139s certified in Tanzania AgustaWestland announced that Bristow and Everett Aviation have taken delivery two AW139s, the first to be certified for operations in Tanzania. Representatives from the Tanzanian CAA have completed training in the United States and will be licensed to certify future AW139s in-country. A third aircraft is expected to be delivered within this year and will be dedicated to search and rescue. 20 Everett Aviation has operated for nearly 20 years, the only East African commercial operator of twin-engine helicopters. Everett is a member of the European Helicopter Operators Committee. In addition to the provision of helicopter support to offshore Oil and Gas companies, they provide onshore services to international mining companies, and medevac services to governments and government agencies. photograph agustawestland

20 Russian Helicopters new Helicopters hotographs courtesy of russian helicopters Russian Helicopters carried out testing of the new Mi-171A2 and Mi-38 helicopters at the National Helicopter Building Centre (NHBC) in Tomilino, Moscow Region. The tests were attended by Vladimir Kozhin, Chief of the Presidential Property Management Directorate. The NHBC is currently carrying out the first round of testing on the medium multi-role Mi-171A2 and the third round of tests on the transport and passenger Mi-38. The helicopters were demonstrated at the MAKS airshow in August, and can be used for VIP transport and corporate purposes. In line with the testing programme, the Mi-171A2 successfully completed testing of its on-board systems and new Klimov BARK-6S-7V automatic engine management system, which increases engine efficiency in various modes of operation. It is expected that the developer will start ground tests and flight-testing of the Mi-171A2 by the end of December The NHBC is simultaneously carrying out the latest stage in the third phase of testing for a prototype Mi-38 fitted with Russian-made TV7-117V engines by Klimov, including ground-based testing. Vladimir Kozhin was briefed on the progress of testing of the new Russian-built helicopters. He praised the potential of the Mi-38 and Mi-171A2, and noted that Russia has always been a leading producer of medium and heavy-lift helicopters. Kozhin stressed that today s Mi-8 series helicopters are the mainstay of the fleet of the Russia Special Flight Detachment, which provides air transport services for senior state officials. The new multi-role Mi-171A2 and the new transport and passenger Mi-38 are core projects for Russian Helicopters in the medium sector and can be configured in specialised VIP versions. 21

21 AW189 Maiden Flight AgustaWestland announced that the first production AW189 8 tonne class twin engine helicopter performed its maiden flight at Vergiate plant on 2nd october The aircraft is expected to be delivered to Bristow Helicopters Ltd. by year end to carry out offshore transport missions in the North Sea, with operational readiness planned in early Two AW189 helicopters are currently under assembly in Vergiate. Daniele Romiti, Chief Executive Officer, said Completing the very first AW189 which will enter operational service is a tremendous programme achievement to AgustaWestland and to our customer. With this event we ve brought to life the first and only new generation production aircraft in its category with an extremely reduced time to market, meeting the most stringent requirements set by the relevant authorities and by the market. With many orders by a number of major customers already logged to date, we re confident that this will be just the first of hundreds of AW189s to be delivered in the coming years. 22 Bristow introducing AW189s Bristow Helicopters Ltd. is set to introduce the first of six AgustaWestland (AW189) helicopters to its oil and gas customers. The eight tonne aircraft, which is capable of carrying 16 passengers, will support GDF SUEz E&P UK s rapidly expanding E&P operations in the Central and Southern North Sea from Q The twin engine helicopter will be based at Bristow s Norwich facility. Bristow is the first helicopter operator to introduce the AW189 and has six on order for use in the oil and gas sector with the remainder expected by The company recently signed a contract for 11 Search and Rescue AW189s to be used in the delivery of the UK Search and Rescue contract which the company was awarded by the Department for Transport. Mike Imlach, Director of European Operations for Bristow Helicopters, commented: We are delighted that GDF SUEz E&P UK Ltd is set to become the first oil and gas company to introduce this new state-of-theart helicopter to its North Sea operations. Designed to operate in harsh conditions and capable of undertaking long range flights, the AW189 effectively fills the gap between the medium and heavy helicopter markets. We look forward to introducing the remaining five to our fleet and the oil and gas sector. The AW189 is a second Bristow aircraft for GDF SUEz E&P UK Ltd with an existing contract for a Sikorsky S-92 operating out of Aberdeen. Jean-Claude Perdigues, Managing Director, GDF SUEz E&P UK Ltd said: The AW189 is of the highest technical specification and we are privileged to provide this new generation aircraft for passenger transfers as we move towards first gas from Cygnus, the largest gas discovery in the Southern North Sea in the last 25 years, in photograph Bristow helicopters

22 Life Flight s 10th AW119Kx photographs: eurocopter and anthony pecchi Unveiled in October 2012, the AW119Kx is the latest evolution of the proven AW119 single engine helicopter which features the Garmin G1000HTM integrated flight deck system, AW119 s performance, cabin space and payload. The new avionics system includes a synthetic vision system, moving map, highway in the sky and obstacle/terrain avoidance systems for enhanced situational awareness and safety. Agusta Westland has delivered the 10th aircraft in support of Life Flight Network s air medical transport missions. The aircraft is also the 150th AW119 from the Philadelphia assembly line. Life Flight Network, the launch customer for the AW119Kx, exists to provide air and ground critical care transportation for seriously ill or injured patients from the scene of accident or from one hospital to another. Phillippine Air Force buy AW109 Powers AgustaWestland announced that the Philippine Air Force has signed a contract for eight AW109 Power light twin-engine helicopters. The aircraft will be used to perform duties including homeland security, armed reconnaissance and close support. Deliveries will start in The contract includes initial logistics support and training for aircrew and maintenance personnel. This expands the presence of AW in the Philippines and adds another military customer for the AW109 Power model in this country, following an order for three aircraft by the Philippine Navy earlier this year. The AW109 Power configuration will feature a dedicated mission and equipment package including a range of weapon systems. 23

23 The Times they are a-changin 24 Georgina Hunter-Jones looks at the history of Helicopters in Search and Rescue in the United Kingdom From Summer 2017, a civilian company, Bristow Helicopters Ltd, will run the Search and Rescue service in the United Kingdom. This is a change from the original military service, but in fact the civilianization of the SAR service has been being slowly taking place since 2001, with the final phase being implemented in stages from As there has been some anxiety from the general public, and in particular from people living on the coast, the government has declared in writing that there will be a better coverage for all, and that it was with this in mind that the bases used were chosen: These base locations are strategically placed near areas with high SAR incident rates. Based on historic incident patterns, the government estimates an average flight time of nineteen minutes instead of the previous twenty-three, and believes that the new service will raise the percentage of high-risk areas reachable within thirty minutes from 70% to 85%. Historically there has been a search and rescue service since 1809, when the Preventative Water Guard was established. Its primary role was to prevent smuggling, but it was also responsible for giving assistance to shipwrecks. By the Second World War, there were sufficient numbers of aircraft flying for aircrew to need as much assistance as sailors so, in 1941, the RAF created a Search and Rescue team using Supermarine Spitfires and Boulton Paul Defiants. The RAF used fixed wing until the early 1950s, when helicopters took over the SAR role using Sea Kings. They also worked in the mountains of Great Britain and coordinated with the mountain rescue services. It was not until 1971 that civilian companies took over a few of the SAR roles. The first civilian company to do so was Bristow, its Sikorsky S55 helicopters replacing the RAF Whirlwinds at RAF Manston in Kent. In the North Sea, Bristow took over more SAR roles and became the main SAR provider as part of their greater service provision to the oil and gas industry. In 1982, Bristow took over Sumburgh in The Shetlands. BP founded the Jigsaw Project in the North Sea, which was used for SAR and to assist sick or injured oil-rig employees. It became fully operational in 2006, when Bond Helicopters won the SAR contract for rescues previously done by the RAF and Coastguard. Efficiency drives in the 1990s led to the introduction of Her Majesty's Coastguard, a government executive agency. In 1998, the Marine Safety Agency and the Coastguard Agency were joined together to become the Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA). In 2001, a government study emphasized the benefits of increasing the private financing of public projects and in 2006, the government announced plans to completely privatize provision of search and rescue helicopters in photograph courtesy Bristow helicopters

24 photograph courtesy of Bristwo helicopters order to replace the aging helicopters (predominantly Sea Kings) currently in use. A contract was put out to tender. In February 2010, the consortium Soteria SAR was announced as the preferred bidder for the UK SAR programme. However, on 8 February 2011, only a few days before the contract was due to be signed, the UK Government halted the process after Soteria admitted that it had unauthorised access to commercially sensitive information regarding the programme. The government announced it would then have to renegotiate the SAR project and while that was happening a Gap contract was tendered for the existing MCA bases. On 28 November 2011, the Department for Transport began the procurement process for UK Search and Rescue (SAR) helicopter services by issuing a contract notice in the Official Journal of the European Union. In February 2012, it was announced that Bristow Helicopters would take over the running of Stornoway and Sumburgh, using four Sikorsky S-92s, while CHC Helicopters, using AgustaWestland AW139s, would retain Portland and Lee on Solent. This Gap contract was to run for four years and would involve working with the Maritime and Coastguard Agency. It started in the summer of In March 2013, the Department for Transport announced that it had a signed a contract with Bristow Helicopters Ltd to provide Search and Rescue Helicopter Services in the UK, operations commencing progressively from The new service is expected to be fully operational across the United Kingdom by Summer Bristow Helicopters will use both the original Sikorsky S-92s and AgustaWestland AW189s, based in ten locations around the UK, an increase from the current four MCA bases at Stornoway, Shetland, Portland and Lee-on- Solent. The new service will operate in a similar manner to the existing MCA contract and will run for 7-10 years. The contract will be managed by the MCA. All bases will be operational 24 hours a day. These base locations are strategically placed near areas with high SAR incident rates. Bristow Helicopters Ltd and the MOD have agreed a special transition between spring 2015 and early 2016, to allow Service Personnel who wish to continue to work in UK SAR to do so without risking the current military service provision. Civilian personnel currently working for UK SAR will also have the opportunity to work with Bristow Helicopters Ltd The RAF and RN SAR bases: RAF Boulmer; RAF Valley; RAF Lossiemouth; Royal Naval Air Station (RNAS) Culdrose and HMS Gannet at Prestwick, plus Wattisham, Chivenor and Leconfield will revert to their pure military roles and their future will no longer be linked to the UK SAR. Sikorsky S92 helicopters will continue to be based at the existing MCA bases at Stornoway and Sumburgh, and at new bases at Newquay, Caernarfon and Humberside airports, while the AgustaWestland AW189 helicopters will operate from Lee on Solent, Prestwick airport, and new bases at St Athan, Inverness and Manston airports. The remaining working Sea Kings will now be retired from SAR service. The S-92 can carry its crew of 4, plus 3 stretchers and up to 10 passengers, to an operational radius beyond 250 nautical miles. The ten smaller AgustaWestland AW189 twin-engine helicopters will operate from Lee on Solent and Prestwick airport, and from new bases at St Athan, Inverness and Manston airports. The eleven AW189s will be built at AgustaWestland s Yeovil facility in Britain, these will be brought into service with Bristow between The AW189 can carry its crew of four, plus two stretchers and up to six passengers, to an operational radius beyond 200 nautical miles. Each base will host two SAR helicopters, which will be on-call at all times, and are expected to be fully serviceable. Since no machine has a 100% readiness record, it is presumed that Bristow will keep one spare helicopter of each type as the gap-filler. S-92 on GAP Search and Rescue contract 25

25 , Balkan Hawks Paul Kievit and Carlo Kuit visit the Macedonian Police Photographs by Bronco Aviation Macedonia, officially the Republic of Macedonia, is located in the central Balkan Peninsula in Southeast Europe. It is one of the states of former Yugoslavia, from which it declared independence in Macedonia became a member of the United Nations in The Republic of Macedonia is bordered by Kosovo to the northwest, Serbia to the north, Bulgaria to the east, Greece to the south and Albania to the west. Macedonia is a member of the UN (1993) and the Council of Europe. Since December 2005 it has also been a candidate for joining the European Union and has applied for NATO membership. Law enforcement in the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia is the responsibility of the Ministry of Internal Affairs (MOI). Headquartered in Skopje and headed by a Government-appointed Director for a four-year mandate, the Ministry s Bureau for Public Security runs the national Police Force. The Macedonian Police is playing a vital role in the country s security; an important role is played by the Macedonian Police Aviation Unit which has a long and rich history in the region. The Macedonian Police aviation unit Hawks (Helikopterska Edinica Jastrebi ) operates currently a small fleet of various helicopters out of Petrovec Airport and Indrizovo, the latter is the main Macedonian Police station, located about 15 kilometres to the east of Petrovec airport. Various types are currently in use ranging from the AB.206, AB.212, AB.412 to the in the 2008 procured Mi-17V5 (2) and Mi

26 The Macedonian Ministry of Internal Affairs Policija Na Republika Makedonija, operates two Mi-171's and two Mi- 17V-5's in its Helikopterska Edinica Jastrebi out of Petrovec-Skopje. (2) heavy transport helicopters. The latter were originally planned to be delivered to the new established Iraqi Air Force. As this deal did not materialize the Macedonian Police acquired these helicopters to support their tasks and expand capabilities especially night operations and support of the Special Task Unit (STU). The official name of the Macedonian Police Aviation Unit is Oddel za vozduhoplovni edinici, which translates as Aircraft Unit of the Macedonian Police. Macedonian Police helicopters are used by the Ministry of Internal Affairs (MOI) for various tasks: VIP transport, transport of cargo and the special police units (STU/ Special Task Unit), Border monitoring, Search and Rescue (SAR) missions, Medevac and Traffic surveillance. The Hawks unit was formed in 1969 and for 40 years has been operating Bell-designed helicopters. 27

27 Members of the Special Training Unit (STU) exercise a tactical deployment from the sole Bell 412EP in use by the Macedonian Police. 28 The addition of the four Mi-17 helicopters came as a surprise in both Macedonia and abroad, especially considering the experience the MOI has with its small western-made fleet and at the same time, the logistical problems the Macedonian Air Brigade is currently having with its Mi-17 and Mi-24V helicopters in terms of spare parts. The Mi-171 helicopters are currently part of an extensive upgrade under the so-called Balkan programme. Elbit Systems is involved in the upgrade which seems similar to the Alexander upgrade to both Mi-17 and Mi-24s of the Macedonian Air Brigade though detailed information remains scarce at the moment. Dragi Micev Head of the Aviation Department details The first stage of the upgrade consists of adding Night Vision Capabilities and has been implemented by now. Stage 2 comprises of a Moving Map, upgraded Radio and GPS amongst others. Both Police Mi-171 helicopters should be upgraded by the end of Further details were not revealed during the Authors visit. The Hawks are currently working with reduced numbers of staff, which puts a lot of pressure on pilots and technicians. Our pilots and mechanics are mainly ex Air Force staff the Head of the Aviation Department Dragi Micev continues. We have experienced senior personnel; however there is a continuous pressure as we work with a team of around 30 people in total. Maintenance of our helicopters is executed on base by the Unit. After 600 hours of flight the helicopters are overhauled abroad. There is always a challenge to allow for holidays, but also keep a 24/7 alert in case of emergency. Currently three student pilots are being trained within the unit to relieve the pressures of the senior pilots on base also acting as examiners. Two of them are expected to finalize their training soon. We could easily double our headcount in order to achieve all our activities and put less pressure on the current team. Dragi Micev says. Our main challenge is to expand the number of pilots and work with the budget we are provided by the MOI. In the most optimal scenario we would like to have forty-eight pilots. The Macedonian Police student examiners consist now of the Head of the Aviation Department Dragi Micev and the former Head of the unit. It takes up to 135 flight hours to complete the training phase. As of 2014 it is expected the first student class of Police pilots will be trained by the newly established Pilot Training Center (PTC) at Petrovec Air Base. The PTC is a joint venture between Elbit Systems of Israel and Macedonian Ministry of Defence dating back to May Currently the PTC trains two classes for the Air Brigade utilizing zlin 142s and a sole AB.206, in total four AB.206s will be operated by the PTC over the next year to allow for a smooth transition on the Mi-17 and Mi-24 helicopters. The main difference in requirements for the Police pilots is we do not require an academic background says Dragi Micev. The Augusta Bell AB.206 and Agusta-Bell AB.212 have been in the Macedonian inventory since the early 1970s. During 2000, Taiwan announced it would donate one Bell UH-1H utility helicopter to the Macedonian Air Force and Air Defence Forces. This decision of the Taiwan Government was later changed, owing to objec- photographs Kuit and Kievit

28 tions from the United States. Taiwan decided instead to donate US 5 million to the Macedonian Government to be used for procurement of one new helicopter from Bell Helicopter TEXTRON. The Macedonian Government decided to acquire one Bell 412EP which was delivered to the Macedonian Police Aviation Unit on November 22, The helicopter received the serial z3-hhc and is has recently been recoded to MAP as part of new legislation of the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) where MAP is the abbreviation of Macedonian Police. The main roles for the Macedonian Police Aviation Unit, since its establishment in 1969, focus on monitoring the borders of Yugoslavia with Bulgaria, Greece and Albania, humanitarian missions and other activities to preserve and protect the interests of Macedonia. The full Border Patrol role, with all those responsibilities, was taken over from the Air Brigade some years ago. One of the new roles that came up as a new task for the Police is conducting Commercial flights. In practice everybody can hire one of the Police helicopters for travel in Macedonia, a pricelist is available. The cost of one flying hour is (between euro) around Euro per hour depending on the helicopter type. The drug enforcement role has become more important, the harbor of Thessaloniki, Greece is very nearby and Macedonia is been used as one of the transit countries according to Dragi Micev. Of course, the general crime fighting and prostitution problem from neighbouring The history of the Special Task Unit (STU) dates back to The Bell 206 is used for training photographs Kuit and Kievit After the independence of the Republic of Macedonia in 1991, under the Ministry of Interior, the Militia became a Special task unit an elite part of the Ministry of Internal Affairs. The STU operates with Macedonian Police Aviation Unit 29

29 The two Mi-171's (710 and 711) are the Iraqi machines that were stored in Poland country Albania needs constant attention. The Macedonian Police is working with other European Police Forces. Tasks are becoming more intensive and more complicated, the Head of the Aviation Department concludes. During the Autumn of 1972 the initial AB.206 was completely destroyed in an incident near the village Lojanje, Shar Planina, near Tetovo. Shortly thereafter, the State Secretariat for Internal Affairs ordered a new AB.206 helicopter from Agusta. The unit was left without a helicopter until 1973, when new AB.206B JetRanger II was made available to the unit. As a result of their work in the 1990s, the unit received the prestigious Gold Medal for their work in the field of civil protection. After operating a small fleet of Bell helicopters for thirty-five years the Macedonian Police Aviation unit acquired two Mi-171 and two Mi-17V5s late The helicopters were not procured directly from the Russian helicopter production plants Ulan-Ude Aviation Plant (UUAz) and Kazan Helicopter Plant (KVz). Instead, they have been purchased on the European market in order to meet the urgent need for helicopters that could perform a wide range of demanding missions, such as disaster relief and civil operations under the Ministry of Internal Affairs responsibility. The first two Mi-17s were purchased on Nov. 27, 2008, with Lithuanian, Kaunas-based Aviabaltika Aviation. The second agreement was signed on December 23, 2008 with a Finnish registered company under a deal for two KVz-produced Mi-17V-5s. All four helicopters are now operational within the Ministry s Helicopter Hawks unit located at Petrovec airport. These new helicopters brought us new challenges Dragi Micev outlines The heavy Mi-17 helicopters have been acquired for new tasks previously not in scope of our work. Besides SAR, VIP, standard police tasks we are now also involved in border patrol activities and work closely together with the Special Task Unit (STU). The crew of Mi-17 consists of a crew of three, whereas we normally work with a crew of two pilots operating the Bell helicopters. The Mi-171s (serials MAP-7710 and MAP-7711) and Mi-17V-5s (MAP-7712 and MAP-7714) all display the Macedonian national flag, Macedonian Police emblem, Cyrillic inscription Policija as well as an English translation Police. The new Macedonian Mi- 171 helicopters are easily recognizable by the fact that they have an Iraqi Air Force colour scheme, the two helicopters were part of a group that the Iraqi Ministry of Defence refused to take from the Polish company Bumar before acquired by Macedonian Ministry of Internal Affairs. The Mi-17V-5s are recognizable by their overall olive-green colour. Co-located at Indrizovo Police station is the STU. The history of the Special Task Unit (STU) dates back to 1980 following a decision made by the State Secretary of Interior to form a new unit for specialized tasks. After the independence of the Republic of Macedonia in 1991, under the Ministry of Interior, the Militia became a Special task unit (STU) as an elite part of the Ministry of Internal Affairs (MOI). In the past the STU has been engaged in supporting major 30

30 The Macedonian Police Aviation unit has operated a small fleet of Bell helicopters for forty years events to support the regular police, to execute arrests of criminals, assist in case of natural disasters. Nowadays, following the world trends in the fight against crime, particularly in combatting terrorism the STU performs the following tasks: hostage negotiation, counterterrorism activities, arrest of high risk targets, VIP protection, coordinating actions with other organizational units of the MOI in providing escorts and high ranking foreign delegations, secure shipments of money, support transport of weapons and ammunition, Search and Rescue, selection and admission of new members, conducting appropriate training with the same training and performing advanced training to the other members of the STU. For the successful execution of the tasks by the STU a significant part is depending on international cooperation, this consists of exchange of experience, seminars, sporting events and visits to similar units from other states. The STU is currently collaborating with Police agencies in the USA, France, Germany (RAID/ Research, Assistance, Intervention, Deterrence), France, Hungary, Austria (Cobra) and Italy. Furthermore the STU has a good cooperation with the Ministry of Interior (MOI) of Serbia, special anti-terrorist unit (SAJ) and with Croatia. The STU have the professional capacities to handle challenges when it comes to cross-border crime. The STU is part of the International Law Enforcement Cooperation Unit (ILECU). ILECU is a European Commission funded project, carried out by the Austrian Ministry of Interior. Its aim is to enhance the cooperation and networking among beneficiaries and EU Member States through the establishment of cooperation mechanisms and/or agreements with national and international law enforcements partners. The beneficiary countries are Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, Croatia, Macedonia and Serbia, while the international partners, among others, are Slovenia, Romania, Europol and Interpol. The professionalism of the STU is high and can be deployed in an hours notice. The main issue is to attract new team members and to train them according to one of the senior staff of the unit. Continuation of executing missions is to our utmost importance. The STU is highly recognized by other special forces around the World. The STU has won the 3rd place for Snipers during the World Special Task Force Competition in Hungary (2008). The STU can be deployed at an hour s notice 31

31 The Age of Georgina Hunter-Jones flies the Cavalon This, the Cavalon salesman, Andy Wall, told me, is the era of the gyrocopter. Interestingly, gyrocopters were the first aircraft to be flown in Antarctica, South Pole, during the Byrd Expedition in 1933 and those gyrocopters (the Kellet autogiro see below) were considerably less sophisticated than the current models. The Cavalon is a two seat side-by-side enclosed model designed in 2012, it was, built in Germany in 2012, and selling in the UK from 1st May It has a fibreglass body over a stainless steel frame, unlike previous models it was built with a monocoque structure to 32

32 Aquarius Winter 2013 Cavalon taxying with the overhead rotor in the BRAKE position 3333

33 Cavalon main rotor make it more robust. The engine is a four stroke Rotax, partly air and partly water cooled, you have a choice of two types of engine; the basic 912 hp or the turbocharged 914 model. Both engines can run on UL91, or Mogas, but as they are designed for use with UL91 they will need a bi-annual filter change if they use Mogas. The Cavalon carries a fuel tank of 100 litres and uses 14/15 litres an hour, depending on the mode of flying, so it has an endurance of five hours. The engines need an overhaul at 2000 hours. The Cavalon cruises at 145 km per hour with a maximum speed of 160 km/hr. As the Cavalon was designed in 2012 it has a lot of uptodate features. These include the LED headlights, electrically heated seats with lumbar support, and an ipad mount, on which you can run AirBox, Sky Demon or whatever navigation package you choose. Test Flight I flew with Rotorsport salesman Andy Wall from Booker Airfield, near London. While doing the pre-flight check he explained that the Cavalon is designed to be a simple machine, hence it is easy to check lights, fuel and water states, and any stresses on the airframe or blades. We climb on board and adjust the backrest and lumbar support so the seat is very comfortable. The cockpit is wide and roomy, partly a function of its monocoque structure, but also related to the neat baggage areas behind the seat and the movement of the seat back, which allows for more or less luggage behind both pilot and passenger. The console is laid out in a ergonomic manner. Gerry Speich is on the compliance committee of the Rotorsport Company and many of the necessary 34 implementations were down to his insight. The pilot s seat is on the right, and in the current models there is only one throttle, between the pilots, however, in training models a second throttle can be added. Starting is electric and has a double ignition for safety. This only involves the engine since, as with other gyrocopters there is a knob on the console for Brake or Flight. While on the ground the blades are kept in Brake mode for safety. We taxied out with the blades fore and aft, it is worth emphasising this position as more than one gyrocopter blade has hit a gate or tree when being taxied up to the runway with the blades in the abeam position! Once lined up on the runway the knob is changed from Brake to Flight position. Once the gyroplane is in flight mode, the pre-rotator button on the stick is held down until rotor rpm reaches 250 rpm. (Pneumatics are used to power the pre-rotator, this reduces the number of moving parts in the cockpit and improves reliability.) Once the blades are spinning, the wheel brakes are released and the gyrocopter motors forward, with the stick now held back, until around 300 rpm, when the nose wheel lifts slightly from the ground. At 350 rpm the gyro lifts into the air, and climbs out at 60 mph (all speeds are in miles, not knots). Rpm varies slightly depending on varying wind conditions. I was surprised by the length of ground run before the gyrocopter lifted off the ground. This was longer than I expected and is possibly a function of the drag induced by the wide (relatively) body. There appeared to be touch of squirreling in the ground run (there was no wind) however, this might be because I am more used to the take off run of helicopters than aeroplanes. We climbed up to 2000 feet, rate of climb was around 800 fpm. Once levelled off we did some turns and slow and fast flight. The Cavalon has very good visibility and is very benign in flight. You can easily fly hands off, and although, thanks to the large windscreen, there are no horizon markers and when first doing steep turns the nose tends to drop, its stability allows this to be easily recovered. We did a few engine offs, and apart from the fact I kept expecting to come to the hover, and then hastily remembering that that is not possible, these were fine and clean. Rate of descent is benign and I felt as though I was in a Warrior or other comfortable touring aeroplane. We headed back to the airfield and approached the runway at 60 knots. A nice approach and gentle touchdown with a short ground run. We stopped to return the blades to the fore and aft position and to return the knob to Brake, and taxied in with our aluminium blades held

34 Cavalon panel The Cavalon has an egg-like monocoque structure photograph By georgina hunter-jones safely in position. In conclusion, I would say this is a nice tourer, it is stable, clean, spacious and full of modern technology, but don t look for the fun of a helicopter. It is an aeroplane with overhead blades and a pusher engine not a helicopter, so treat it as a long distance flyer and you will not be disappointed but don t set out for Antarctica without a few more gallons of fuel. Backrest mover and storage space behind the seat Cavalon 912/914 Specifications Minimum crew: 1 plus 1 passenger or 2 crew. Length: 4.6 m (15 ft 1 in) Width: 1.9 m (6 ft 3 in) Height: 2.8 m (9 ft 2 in) Gross weight: 450 kg (992 lb) 912 Powerplant: 1 Rotax 912ULS horizontally opposed four cylinder, liquid and air-cooled, four stroke aircraft engine, 75 kw (100 hp) 914 Powerplant: 1 Rotax 914ULS horizontally opposed four cylinder, liquid and air-cooled, four stroke aircraft engine, 75 kw (100 hp) plus turbo charger. Max power 5800 rpm Cruise power 4850 rpm Main rotor diameter: 8.4 m (27 ft 7 in) Pusher propeller: 3-bladed composite Performance Maximum speed: 160 km/h (112 mph; 97 kn) Cruising speed: 145 km/h (94 mph; 86 kn) Best rate of climb 60 mph, gives 550 fpm in 912 and 750 fpm in 914 Cruise climb 70 mph VNE 100 kph Fuel tank: 100 litres Fuel usage: 14 / 15 litres an hour Endurance 5 hours Fuel: MoGas or UL91, which is approved by Lycoming. Costs Basic model 912 without options around 66,000 plus VAT. NB. An apology: on page 31 of the last issue of Helicopter Life we tittled a picture the M24 Magnigyro. It was actually the Cavalon. I hope this article will clear up the confusion! 35

35 Bruce Charnov on the Byrd Expedition to Antarctica In America a Kellet autogiro would briefly become the most famous autogiro in the world when its corporate owner, the Pep Boys chain of automotive stores, lent it to Rear Admiral and national hero Robert E. Byrd for his second Antarctic Expedition of The Pep Boys Snowman K-3 Autogiro (NC12615) was a converted K-2 that the company had used for advertising purposes. It is likely that the Pep Boys corporate executives had been impressed by the publicity gained by the Champion Spark Plug Company, from the involvement of Lew Yancy and Miss Champion in the Mayan explorations in the Yucatán the previous year. The Snowman left Boston in October 1933, securely placed aboard Byrd s supply ship Ruppert. It was unloaded in the Bay of Whales, after a largely uneventful journey on January 28, 1934, and flown to the expedition s forward base at Little America by pilot W. S. McCormick. By the end of January the K-3 had been employed for sea ice reconnaissance by McCormick, with Byrd as a passenger, and both were impressed with the performance. That autogiro, unlike the Cierva and Pitcairn models, was ideally suited to such exploration, as the side-by-side seating allowed for easy communication between the participants, and the optional coupé top facilitated flying in the cold climate. Byrd was reported as observing: "I was greatly impressed with the virtues of the autogiro. With its singular hovering instincts and its nearly vertical landings, it is the perfect instrument for short-range reconnaissance in the polar regions." On March 24th the K-3, flown by McCormick with Byrd again as passenger, flew out in the face of strong winds to find one of the expedition s fixed-wing aircraft that had not returned. When Byrd and McCormick sighted the missing aircraft, the K-3 landed to check on the condition of the two marooned pilots. The K-3 then returned to base and returned with the leaders of the dogsled teams who would come to rescue the stranded airmen. Although when winter set in all the aircraft were grounded, and the K-3 experienced engine problems, the rescue gained much notoriety and public acclaim. Flying resumed in early September and, when weather permitted it, the K-3 was used for measuring the temperature of the upper air, but the aircraft crashed on September 28, 1934 as it took off. It fell from a height of approximately 75 ft and was completely destroyed. McCormick survived but was found unconscious, in shock, with a broken arm. Investigation revealed that drifting snow had weighed down the rear of the fuselage and shifted the centre of gravity. In September 1989, gyroplane pilot Beverly Johnson, wife of Academy Award winner Mike Hoover asked Ron Menzie (who, along with John T. Potter, had flown photographs couresty of Bruce charnov 36

36 in the 1972 New Television Workshop production of "Between Time and Timbuktu") to build a tandem gyroplane "capable of performing in the harshest conditions on earth while carrying two persons, survival gear and heavy camera mounts and cameras... " Johnson was a veteran of two previous expeditions and had flown a Brock KB 3 gyroplane, but now not only wanted a two-passenger, she and her husband wanted Ken Brock to fly with them in Antarctica while filming a National Geographic TV special. The Ron Menzie Ice 90 gyroplane, was completed in two months, transported to Brock s machine shop in California and tested where further modifications were made before being crated, flown to Santiago, Chile and placed on board a ship for the final southward leg. Brock spent two months and three days in January- February 1990 in Antarctica, during which he flew both gyroplanes for nearly 30 hours and spent three weeks on the polar ice cap. It was the time of his life and, when asked if he would go again, he stated in typical Ken Brock-fashion: "I d go in a minute! It was just a lot of fun and good old time." Such photographic survey work had proven hazardous in the past for naturalists, and Philippe Cousteau had crashed on just such a expedition while exploring Easter Island on October 18, 1976 and broken his tibia and fibula, requiring evacuation to Los Angeles for medical treatment, but Brock s performance under harsher conditions had been flawless. However, five days after Brock left for the trip back to California, another pilot inexperienced with the gyroplane was killed while trying to fly the two-passenger model. This is an extract from a previous article by Bruce Charnov on the Byrd Expedition published in Helicopter Life in Winter The Pep Boys Company gave K-2 to Byrd s expedition The Kellet K-3 wa a converted K-2 with a coupe top and sideby-side seating 37

37 High Hopes HeliAir now has nine bases from which it flies Robinsons, Bells, Eurocopters doing training, charter, aerial work and maintenance HeliAir, originally started in the 1980s has grown since 2008 from a small privately owned school into a large company with nine bases nationwide including one in Scotland. Heli Air s success has come from diversification, said Brian Kane, Head of Sales & Marketing. The company, which started with just pilot training and a few helicopter sales, now embraces helicopter maintenance for many brands, charter, and both oil and gas pipeline patrol work as well as expanding on their sales and training schools. They recently won the IS-BAO(H) award for safety standards. HeliAir started in Wellesbourne and then expanded to Denham and High Wycombe, they later included Fairoaks, Thruxton, and Manchester. In 2010, Heli Air added Silverstone Race circuit to its stable. Here they have a FATO (final approach and take off area) and ground to air radio control. However, this 38 Robinson R66, which still has not received EASA certification eight months after ELOS (equivalent level of safety) words and pictures couresy ofheliair

38 base is exceptionally busy with helicopter traffic during the Grand Prix weekend with an additional GP FATO, and at other times of year they give pleasure flights and trial lessons as well as PPL(H) training. In 2012, they added Gloucester to their company, a start-up operation at that time and now the base is rapidly becoming very busy. This year they added Cumbernauld to start Heli Air Scotland. They have now been operational there for six months. There have been huge changes since 2009, said Kane, but for now we have stopped expanding and concentrate on consolidation and growth at all bases. Although each individual base will grow, we will not be looking to acquire any more at in the short term. FrankRobinson visiting HeliAir in 2012 Pipeline work involves following and checking the pipeline route, ensuring that no damage has been done to the lines Silverstone, once the businest heliport in the UK. Managed by HeliAir words and pictures couresy of heliair 39

39 SKYe is the limit Helicopter Life looks at the growth of the SKYe SH09 Marenco Swiss Helicopter from conception to prototype Photographs courtesy of MarencoSwissHelicopter On 28th November 2013, the prototype of the SKYe SH09 MarencoSwiss Helicopter was unveiled at Mollis Airport in Switzerland. Martin Stuki, CEO and designer of the helicopter said: With a maximum take-off weight of 2,650 kg (5,842 lbs), the SKYe SH09 has seating for up to seven passengers in addition to the pilot. A cruise speed of 260 km/h (140 knots) will allow it to offer a range in excess of 800km (430 nautical miles) with standard fuel tanks. The SKYe design was first unveiled as a mock-up at HaiHeliExpo 2011, but it had been in construction since The aim of the Marenco company was to take all the best bits of previous helicopters, and build a new 40 generation light turbine helicopter, using more advanced materials and modularity and advanced ergonomics. The SKYe SH09, has a standard configuration in the 2.5 ton weight class. It has five composite blades with an advanced bearing free rotor system and a shrouded tail rotor. The aim is to reduce noise levels and maintenance while increasing safety for people and objects on the ground. The body-work is composite and uses the same crash resistant technology employed by the Formula One industry. The ceiling is higher than on most helicopters, perhaps to give more room for medical work inside, and it is easily changed from five to eight seats for differing photograph Matthieu Douhaire

40 roles. There are clamshell doors at the back, again useful for stretcher access, and the tail boom is higher above the ground to prevent anyone accidentally touching the shrouded rotor. There are four doors, the back two are sliding doors and the front two can be jettisoned in case of emergency. A Plexiglas viewing floor allows a pilot to hook loads without having to crane through a side window or alternatively gives a good view for sightseeing. The engine is a Honeywell HTS900 (820 shp takeoff, 750 shp max continuous) and has FADEC (Full Authority Digital Engine Control) with dual channel and manual backup provision. The dual centrifugal compressor in the engine is said to increase power output and reduce engine consumption. Standard tanks carry 800 litres. This performance is one of the most interesting claims. Marenco Swisshelicopter says that the SKYe SH90 will be able to hover at 2,200 kgs at a height of 4,478 metres in ISA + 20 c (this is the height of the Matterhorn). Cruise is 145 knots (27km/h) and it will offer range around 430 nm (800 kms) with standard tanks. Throughout 2013, the Marenco SKYe SH09 was becoming known and approaches were being made for orders. Marenco Swisshelicopter has already taken nine firm orders for helicopters. Left to right: Martin Stuki CEO and Founder; Daniel Schultheiss CAO and Mathias Senes CCO The SKYe SH09 by Frédéric Vergneres showing the high visibility cockpit photograph frederic vergneres 41

41 Air BP s Reward Card In December 2013, Air BP launched their new cashrewards fuel-card. A credit card in a combined venture with Visa, this will allow Air BP to reward their customers for loyalty. Miguel Moreno, Global General Aviation Manager Air BP, explained, this is not a discount card or a price setter, but a way to thank customers for their loyalty by giving them a cash reward. The credit card, which comes in two versions, one for AvGas and one for AvTur, can be used anywhere in the world that has BP aviation fuel, by customers registered for the scheme. They will then be given loyalty points, which will be credited as cash to their rewards card at the end of each month. The rewards card can then be used to purchase certain products. As Biggin Hill Airport was the launch airport customers fuelling here will be given a bigger cash reward than at other airfields. Customers will get 10 cents cash back rewards per gallon, instead of the 1 cent per gallon offered elsewhere. The reason Air BP have opt for separate cards for AvGas and AvTur is that they wish to emphasise the importance of using the correct fuel for each aircraft to pilots, owners and airports. Air BP feel that this separation of cards will ensure ground staff do not use the incorrect fuel. Although the Sterling Card has first been launched in the UK, it is intended that the card will be able to be used world over, from the USA, to Africa, China and the Near and Far East, Australia and New zealand and Europe. Air BP is currently used in sixty different countries and has been at Biggin Hill for over eighty years. Moreno says that there will be further promotions to come and that Air BP is very serious about rewarding their customers. However, for GA buyers with only one or two small aircraft or helicopters this scheme will probably have little effect as, for example at Biggin Hill, the extra cost of the landing fee would negate the small saving in the fuel cost. BP are also looking into getting rid of plastic cards altogether and moving into electronic capture and payment. They already have an enabled system which allows every customer to check their invoices electronically on line. 42

42 Changes in Chinese Airspace and other Helicopter Mishmash Helicopter development like any similar field has its ups and downs, changes are sometimes not improvements and steps can be taken that lead to over-regulation and a diminishing of creativity. However, there have been some positive movements recently internationally. One is in China, which has taken a major step toward opening its airspace for general aviation operations. Reuters reported that the government said that from December 1st 2013, companies and individuals flying in a private jet or helicopter no longer need to have their flight plans pre-approved by the military. Flights will still need to be OKed by the Civil Aviation Administration of China, and civilian aircraft must stay out of designated no-fly zones but this is a significant relaxation of the restrictions.. These change should make it much easier for companies like Eurocopter, Sikorsky and AgustaWestland who have parts and sometimes whole machines built in China and who are also envisaging huge sales in the future. It is no secret that China is one of the most sought after helicopter markets. In 2010, there were only around 200 helicopters in the whole country, then in 2011 China opened its lower airspace to general aviation aircraft. Indigenous companies went into co-operation with major foreign manufacturers such as Eurocopter, Sikorsky and AgustaWestland. Chinese companies bought US manufacturers, such as Chongqing Helicopter Investment Group s purchase of Enstrom. In 2013, the Tanjin Air Show (fairly near Beijing) featured civil as well as military helicopters and it was announced that the government had plans to build or reconstruct 100 heliports in the next decade. As well as countries and air space, there is also a movement to change the design of helicopter, to increase their availability and to create other flying craft. Recently, jellyfish and an owl have inspired researchers with new insights about how to fly more efficiently and with less noise. The oscillating movement used by jellyfish underwater can translate into aerial capabilities, as proven by a tiny hovercraft built by Leif Ristroph, a mathematician at New York University. The tiny 3-inch-wide prototype, which he demonstrated at the recent meeting of the American Physical Society, in Pittsburgh, hovers using four small petal-like wings that open and close. This machine Jaworski explained, achieves self-righting flight using flapping wings alone, without relying on additional aerodynamic surfaces and without feedback control. At the same meeting, engineer Justin Jaworski of Lehigh University said the mechanics of owl wings may help design quieter airplanes. Places, shapes, power units; we are finding more and more light and adaptable power sources and materials. I hope nature keeps inspiring inventors and we keep supporting their creativity. 43

43 Dubai Air Show November 2013 Report by Gerald Cheyne Dubai Airshow takes place every two years and is a key event in the Middle East region. The first Dubai Airshow took place in Participants include global aerospace and defence companies and producers of systems and components interested in expanding their presence in the Middle East. Now, in 2013, Eurocopter showed the company s military helicopters the EC725 and efficient NH90 and the latest generation of corporate aircraft, including the new EC145 T2 and the executive version EC175 presented for the first time in the Middle East. Eurocopter s EC725 and NH90 were presented at Dubai in scale model form to illustrate their capabilities for customers worldwide. To date, 17 military services from 12 countries have ordered 130 helicopters from the EC725/EC225 family for deployment in Afghanistan, Mali, Europe, Latin and South America, as well as Asia. Russian Helicopters demonstrated commercial models currently in production, including the Ka-32A11BC, as well as the new Mi-171A2, the latest Ka-62 and the modernized Mi-26T2. The company and Rosoboronexport jointly presented the military Ka-52 Alligator, the Mi- 28NE Night Hunter, the multirole Mi-35M and the Mi- 17V-5 and Mi-171Sh military transports. Six Bell products were at the Dubai Airshow, each targeted at the challenging environment, geography and diverse missions of the region, including three newly upgraded and enhanced commercial aircraft the Bell 412EPI, Bell 407GT and Bell 429WLG. On the static display were the Bell AH-1z, Bell UH-1Y and the Bell- Boeing V-22 Osprey marks the debut of the Bell AH-1z and Bell UH-1Y at the Dubai Airshow. Dubai Airshow 2013 hosted 60,692 trade attendees with 1,046 exhibitors from 60 countries; deals announced at the show totaled $206.1b, the largest in any airshow history. 44 Ka32A11BC AW139 was used by Dubai Police to monitor the show Mi-28NE Night Hunter

44 m o r e l e T T e r S T o T h e e d i T o r continued from page 13 A Long Career in Helicopters Dear Georgina, Thank you for the most interesting current copy of Helicopter Life. It was of particular interest to me as it touched upon many of the aspects of my long career in the British Helicopter Industry beginning with a Student Apprenticeship in 1945 with Bristol Aeroplane Company and working on the Prototype Bristol Type 171, Sycamore. The apprenticeship was superb seeing us through every department in the Company including Flight test and learning to fly gliders and light aircraft. After completing my doctorate in 1953 for which my main thesis was a theoretical prediction of helicopter vibration, I returned for a while to Bristol Helicopters but then left to assist in setting up a Helicopter Division at Auster Aircraft in Leicestershire. There, after a year attempting, not too successfully, to develop the Auster B9 ram-jet powered Helicopter, I was given full control of the Helicopter Division and went on to design and develop the SkyRover. This was a collaborative programme between Auster and the Rover Car Company at Solihull. Rover had a beautiful little 180 shp Aurora free-power gas turbine engine which, although not suitable as a land vehicle as it used too much fuel when idling at low powers, ideally suited a helicopter with its generally high-power operation. So the 3-seater Skyrover was born. The third seat could face either forward or aft which pleased the Army Air Corps who wished to obtain a number for observation purposes. Within 2 weeks of promoting it, we had ITPs for just over 500 for both Civilian and Military customers. Then disaster struck! The day on which I collected a contract for 40 aircraft with up-front money from the Swedish embassy, Duncan Sandys, the then Air Minister, summoned our managing director to London. Sandys thereupon effectively blackmailed him into ceasing our helicopter activities and I had the ignominious task of telling Rovers and handing back our contracts. He was probably already planning the merger of the then four helicopters companies into one and did not want another successful company to undermine his plans. I mention this because of your references to the Robinson R22 and R66 At Auster we also had plans for a Mk 2 Skyrover a five seater with two Aurora engines, giving an engineout performance when that was necessary to overfly urban areas. We were 20 years ahead of Robinson, and with a potentially better aircraft with better performance. Robinson, to his credit, has demonstrated the demand for small affordable light helicopters. You commented how a successful British Aircraft Industry had declined over the ensuing years. That is just one example of how political interference has dogged the industry there are many others! I then returned to Bristol to work again under Raoul Hafner but I have one reason to thank Sandys for his interference- as there I met my dear Wife-to-be but who sadly died 3 years ago. You report on the sad death of Ken Wallis a remarkable man and both my friend and erstwhile competitor! On one occasion, we were each invited to compete in trials at an RAF airfield on Airfield Damage Surveillance, the winner being given a contract to produce equipment for a number of airfields. Ken, carrying a thermal imager in one of his autogyros and me, then with ML Aviation, operating a Sprite, a small, very stealthy, unmanned co-axial-rotor helicopter which had a range of interchangeable payloads for different tasks, Civilian and Military. On this occasion it was fitted with a payload mounting a Rank-Pullin high resolution thermal imager, Unfortunately for Ken, the Sprite won hands down but we remained friends! The Sprite with its much higher resolution imager could, when a suspicious item was seen ahead, slow down, hover near to it and zoom in to identify it. Something that Ken, of course, could not do. MLA won the competition but, as usual, the MOD found that they had no money, so it was only a pyrrhic victory. Interestingly, whilst this operation was being carried out, we discovered that the imager could detect the steel reinforcement in the concrete about 12 below the surface. This led us to begin the development of a payload with other added sensors which should quite readily detect IEDs and buried landmines and also, in the same payload, have the means of destroying them using either explosive darts or a pulsed acoustic beam developed for us by ISVR of Southampton. This would be done remotely with no personnel boots on the ground. The Sprite System was available with several other 45

45 payloads by 1990 and the anti-ied payload almost ready. It could have been used to our troops advantage, saving many lives, in Iraq and Afghanistan. Returning to Ken s autogyros, although he bought his original machines from Benson in the USA, they actually originated in the UK. During WW2, Raoul Hafner and a team at Airborne Forces developed a small autogyro named the Rotachute. This was intended to be dropped in numbers from a transport aircraft to deploy paratroopers. Its intended advantage was that compared with a parachute, the Rotochute could be descended more quickly and flown under more precise control to a given spot in the drop zone. It could also carry more arms and ammunition. A number of successful trials were carried out but the war ended before they could be used in action. Postwar, they were offered for sale in Government surplus military equipment outlets. Igor Benson, helped by the USAF in the UK, bought one, and flew it. It so inspired him on the concept of autogyros that he took it back with him to the USA where he made improvements such as replacing the 2-blade flapping rotor with a teetering rotor, added an engine and propeller and reproduced them to sell as part-assembled kits. It was there that Ken Wallis purchased one to bring back to the UK and set about making other improvements. So began Ken s stable (or Harem as he called them) of autogyros and very successful life s work. I don t think that story is generally known. I was also intrigued to see the advertisement in your magazine for the book entitled Borneo Boys by Roger Annett. I have obtained a copy. The reason for my interest was the comment of the reviewer that the Bristol Belvedere was prone to instability which puzzled me, especially as no such comment appears in the book! I was closely involved in the development of that aircraft including its stability characteristics. 46 The prototype of the Type 173, a much smaller Tandem Rotor aircraft, a predecessor; of the Type 192, Belvedere, did initially have a problem in that it insisted on turning to port in level forward flight. We expected this as the rear rotor, operating in the downwash of the front rotor used more power and therefore generated greater torque than did the front rotor. We had thought that we had countered that by building in a differential rotor axis tilt. However, the effect was greater than expected so that we added an offset tab to the rear of the fin which sorted that out. The 173 was a technically successful helicopter but the prototype was powered as an interim measure by 500shp Leonides piston engines awaiting the availability of the 850 shp Bristol Janus free-power turbine engine. A number of Type 173s were ordered by BEA on the premise that the production machines would be fitted with the Janus This engine, in final development, was designed by Bristol Engines in collaboration with advice from the helicopter team to make it especially suitable for rotorcraft installation. In the event, however, the Korean war began and the UK government ordered Bristol to cease manufacture of the Janus in order to assist Rolls in the accelerated manufacture of its Avon engines for the Hunter fighter which, however, never made it to the war. Without the Janus, the 173 did not have a reliable engine-out capability so BEA, understandably cancelled their order. Another political gaffe! Moving on to the much larger Belvedere, politics again took control. Whereas the Company concept was of a machine with GE T58 engines, made under licence by De Havilland as the Gnome, mounted atop the fuselage which was to be of a much larger uncumbered crosssection and with a rear-loading ramp, the Ministry insisted on our use of the Napier Gazelle, a much heavier engine with a much larger diameter, which had to be installed within the fuselage Unfortunately, the Ministry also insisted on our use of IPN starters for the engines, in which they had a vested interest, instead of our preferred installation of a Rover Neptune APU mounted in the aircraft sternframe and available to supply electrical power to start the engines and provide power to other aircraft systems while it was on the ground. The IPN starters were a source of unreliability on Belvederes as they exploded causing fires, especially on start-up. An explosion with the aircraft airborne was the cause of one fatal crash of Belvederes during their operations. Another criminal decision by The Ministry. Returning to the issue of instability, the prototype photographs courtesy of treg austin

46 Belvedere did exhibit a bias to port and Dutch roll characteristics. The stalling of the main fin was suspect even though it had a built-in camber in light of the experience with the Type 173. To assess this, the fin was covered in black wool tufts but we did not have a video camera with a sufficiently wide angle lens to cover the field. So I volunteered to be strapped to the outside of the fuselage in a position to view the whole of the fin and passed information to the crew by intercom at progressive values of forward speed. Indeed the fin became stalled at quite low values of speed, due to the rotary wake of the forward rotor impinging upon the port side of the fin. We cured that by adding a quite large trailing-edge tab. However, the Dutch-roll characteristics had not been completely cured so we measured, in flight, the values of the stability derivatives lv (rolling moment with sideslip) and nv (yawing moment with sideslip) and found them to be ill-matched. So changes were required. We made progressive changes to the original empennage in an attempt to provide a measure of anhedral and to increase the effective fin area. (See page 49) Unfortunately none of these relatively simple modifications were adequate We found that a new, fairly widechord anhedral tailplane (affectionally known as the Barndoor ) did the trick and the aircraft was then stable, hands-off, at all airspeeds. We then required that tailplane to become the production standard. Unfortunately, without our knowledge, the production department had proceeded to build an initial batch of 25 of the earlier design of tail plane horizontal, tapered and mounting small tip fins. The Company could not afford to scrap those and build new so we had to cobble together a new tailplane from the parts of the old. This did achieve much the same result as the Barndoor but does not look very elegant! The Belvedere could be flown virtually hands off above about 40 knots. If there were indeed, any instances of instability, it was more likely to have been brought about by the assortment of external loads carried slung from the aircraft. At the Bristol Westonsuper-Mare works, we had a method of ensuring that loads were stable before they were picked up. These included the Spire for the new Coventry Cathedral, which a Belvedere carried and lowered onto the roof of the Cathedral, and a radio dish antenna for Cambridge University. The Borneo Boys would not have had that facility. We also developed a twin-cable suspension system for external loads which used the bifilar principle to stabilise even aerodynamically unstable loads such as large containers onto cargo ships. Unlike the other helicopters in Borneo, the Belvedere could be flown manually should the power controls fail. This ability resulted from Raoul Hafner s often declared maxim We do not seek a solution we seek the elegant solution. Hence the control loads were minimised by balancing springs to oppose the propeller moment from the blades putting a download onto the collective pitch system and the use of Raoul s innovative resonant torsional tie bars which removed loads from the pitch-change bearings. Apart from the availability of manual reversion, this strategy enabled the use of much smaller hydraulic actuators in the control system thus minimising weight and cost. As the author of Borneo Boys says, the Belvederes did sterling work in Borneo. They were the fastest helicopters there by far and carried loads unmatched by any other. The tag the Widow Maker was undeserved as the sole fatal crash, caused by the unwanted IPN Starters, was less than those experienced by the other, singleengined, helicopters. Yes, the height above ground requiring a ladder to reach the cockpit was not clever and a lower front undercarriage could easily have been substituted had The Ministry agreed. 47

47 The reason for the Belvederes being handed down from the Navy was not as given in Ansett s book. The Navy originally used anti-submarine helicopters in a hunter-killer arrangement, i.e. one carrying the sonar equipment and the other the torpedoes / depth charges. Reportedly, it was decided to combine these activities into one twin-engined aircraft and hence the requirement for the Type 191 Naval Version which preceded the RAF Type 192 Belvedere. Then another policy change decided to revert to two aircraft working together so that if one was forced to ditch at sea, the other could rescue the crew. Hence two smaller aircraft were to be used instead and the Wessex was adopted, leaving the 191s redundant. They were then handed to the RAF rather than their specified aircraft. More irrational politics! Another criticism of the Belvederes was the cracking of the base of the rear fin/pylon. Photographs of a Belvedere carrying, underslung, a Wessex (not the smaller Whirlwind) reportedly with full fuel aboard in order to make the flight from Borneo to the mainland indicated that the Belvedere was operating 20% above its maximum design weight. What other loads may have been carried is not reported but may also have caused overloading. Because of this cracking, the aircraft were withdrawn from service and Chinooks instead were ordered for the Service. Shortly after that, the Chinook order was cancelled leaving the UK with a costly financial penalty and no heavy lift helicopter. The money paid to Boeing in compensation could probably have paid for repairs to the Belvederes. Yet another political shot in the foot on a par with today s no aircraft carriers for a while and no Harriers sold to the USA for a knock-down price! We had a very capable and enthusiastic team at Bristol Helicopters, working under the inspiration of Raoul Hafner. Many of the technologies developed then are interesting Boeing and EADS Helicopters today for possible inclusion in their new helicopters These included a simple boundary-layer control system for rotor blades which had no moving parts and simply used the centripetal action to suck in the tired boundary layer and exhaust it at the blade tips, to reduce the net power required by the rotor and by improving the lift on the retreating blade to increase the helicopter speed. Other developments used on the Belvedere were two different types of accurate air data measurement systems, one of which was used to good effect on its record run from Battersea to North Africa, Another under way was the installation of radar wave-guides into a radar-transparent blade trailing edge to convert the front rotor into a high-resolution radar scanner. Sadly, all of these developments were abandoned after the Westland take-over. Other reminders of my past work were the Lynx Helicopter and the EH 101. In 1960, Sandys pushed through a compulsory merging of the 4 UK helicopter companies under the control of Westland. In my view that was a great mistake. It removed all element of competition. I believe that two companies formed, say, of Bristols with Faireys and Westland with Saunders-Roe would have been the better solution. Westland had always produced older-generation Sikorsky aircraft under licence (as did Italy and Japan at the same time) and saw no reason to change that. Shortly after the merger, I was appointed as Chief Project Engineer for the new Group and had to move to Yeovil to set up a small team of designers to produce designs for new aircraft. I soon discovered that this was little more than a front. However, I persisted and discussed, with the Army, the requirements for a medium-sized helicopter to carry a section of soldiers plus aircrew and to carry 4 stretchers and 2 para-medics in a casevac role. i.e. a Whirlwind replacement with greater capacity, better performance and reliability in tropical conditions, including virtually twice the speed of its predecessor. It had to be able to live in the field with minimum maintenance. I had been acutely aware of the problems of the Borneo Boys in Indonesia. In fact I was scheduled to fly out there to discuss their needs for improvement of equipment when the campaign ended and the helicopters were withdrawn. My team outlined a design and estimated phased costs based on the installation of an existing powerplant the Continental T72. I was well aware of the difficulties which could ensue in designing a new aircraft around paper engines. Engines take longer to develop than do aircraft. I wanted a rugged engine and an aircraft whose number one requirement was that, having spent perhaps weeks on standby in tropical rain, it started on the first press of the button. A generous design contract was offered for the design phase which I accepted. I was later called to the boardroom and given a dressing down for having committed the company to develop a new helicopter. I was not popular. However, the die was cast and so the Lynx was born. But that is another story, again of political interference which compromised the design! Re the 101 : The Royal Navy were looking for an anti-submarine helicopter with greater endurance and 48

48 weapon capacity than the then current Sea King. However, their assumption was that it would be operated in similar fashion. We obtained a contract to carry out the preliminary design of a Sea King Replacement but I persuaded the board to let me spend a first third of the contract carrying out Operational Research to determine what should really be the characteristics of the new helicopter. Using sources, I learnt that the new Soviet submarines were now carrying medium range missiles and could operate at much greater depths than their predecessors. It was important therefore that they be intercepted at greater distances from the fleet. I also discussed with the Plessey Company the possibility of dunking sonar systems that could penetrate to greater depths. Another aspect of operation that the war-gaming part of our analysis brought to light was the fallibility of the practice of dunking buoys in a regular pattern. A submarine can detect a ping at a far greater range than the helicopter can detect a return. Therefore, if a regular dunking pattern is maintained, the submarine commander has prior knowledge of where the helicopter(s) will be looking next, and make his attack accordingly. We therefore had to persuade the Navy to pursue a random pattern, even to the extent of dunking again in the same location, say, 5 minutes later. This latter, they found especially difficult to accept! They did, eventually, understand the logic. The aircraft spec was subsequently rewritten and was designated Westland WG26. Shortly after, I left that activity in order to concentrate on the unmanned helicopters ideas which my team had been developing and in which the MOD were showing great interest. But that, also, is another story. The 101 eventually became the Merlin but when Agusta joined with Westland to form the European Helicopter Industries the WG 26 became the EHI 01, i.e. the first helicopter project of the new group. At the next Farnborough, show the model shown was mistakenly labelled EH 1o1 and since then the 101 label has stuck! In conclusion, I would like to say that throughout my long career in the British Aircraft Industry, I have had the good fortune to work with Aviation Enthusiasts and enjoy their company and friendship. There was always a great camaraderie, a total dedication to the task in hand, no matter how many ungodly hours we worked and always conducted with a great sense of humour. This was perhaps exemplified by the slogan: Today we do the possible The impossible we do tomorrow! So much was achieved in spite of the frequent setbacks brought about by the actions of stupid politicians and short-sighted members of the UK financial sector. I have the very good fortune to remain in contact with many of my aviation colleagues even dating back almost 70 years to my student days, although now, sadly, they are in declining numbers. Best wishes, Reg Austin 49

49 Cricket for Helicopter Museum The Helicopter Museum in Weston-Super-Mare has taken delivery of one of the few surviving Campbell Cricket gyroplanes, built at Membury in Wiltshire in the late 1960s as a single-seat development of the original US designed Bensen B.8M gyrocopter. Established by Don Campbell and partner Geoffrey Whatley, the Campbell factory originated in a garage in Reading but relocated to Membury in Here designer Peter Lovegrove modified a Bensen with a partially enclosed cockpit and replaced the original unreliable two-stroke power plant with a modified Volkswagen engine, hand-built for the purpose by Royal Berks Motors in Reading. Final assembly was carried out at Membury airfield, close to where the Membury motorway services on the M4 stand today. Only about 30 Crickets were eventually produced, with examples exported to France, Denmark, Norway, Malaysia and Morocco, and six to Kuwait, each selling for around 1,645 ex-factory. Production ended in 1971 although some kit-builds were revived for a time in The example donated to the Helicopter Museum was the third Cricket built (G-AXRA), which was completed in February 1970 and initially sold to a US citizen living in Harlow, Essex. It later changed owners before finally ending up in Cardiff, complete but in poor condition. Originally the new owner intended to restore the gyroplane to flying condition but eventually abandoned the idea and offered G-AXRA to the Museum, along with a second incomplete example. Led by Collection Officer John Clews, The Museum Volunteers Chris May and Jack Kilmuray collected the cricket on 4th October and it is now planned to refurbish it for static display alongside an original Bensen B.8M for comparison and next to another Campbell gyroplane, the one-off Cougar which was built next door to the Museum in The addition brings the Helicopter Museum collection to over 90 aircraft, including 10 different autogyros and gyrocopters dating from 1935 to the present day, as well as a secondary collection of over 100 engines. photographs courtesy oftthe helicopter MuseuM 50

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51 French Cayman Words and pictures by Kuit and Kievit of Bronco Aviation The Naval Air Station Hyères-Palyvestre started in Now, though, the introduction of the NH- 90NFH (NATO Frigate Helicopter) by the French Navy named Caïman (Cayman) with 31F (Flotille/ Squadron) is adding a new Chapter to its long history. On 4 October 2012, when the unit s Lynx fleet was transferred to 34F based at Lanveoc-Poulmic, the 31F was re-activated after a stand down of two and a half years. The 31F is now operating three Caïmans in Step A version; a fourth, tested by CEPA/10S (Centre d'expérimentations Pratiques de l'aéronautique Navale) during the Authors visit, will be the first in a Step B version. Further Caiman deliveries are planned. Flottille 31F was founded in Algeria, North Africa 1st of August The unit then operated the H-21C Banana helicopter. In March 1960, the H-21C was replaced by the Sikorsky HSS-1 and the unit relocated to Saint-Mandrier. By the 16th of November 1978, after flying hours with the H-21C and HSS-1, the Westland Lynx (WG-13) was introduced to the French Navy. In F moved to BAN Hyères Le-Palyvestre and had been operating the type till June The first Caïman delivery to the French Navy in May 2010, was for initial experimental testing on behalf of the Aeronavale. Each future NH-90NFH following the same path before being delivered to 31F or 33F based at Lanveoc-Poulmic. The latter was the first unit to be declared operational on the new type as of December Currently five crews are operational with 31F; sister 52 squadron 33F has five crews operational. The Caïman has a reduced crew of three due to the 4-axis autopilot only one pilot is required, seated on the right hand side of the cockpit. The tacco (the tactical coordinator responsible for mission management) is seated on the left side, and a senso (sensor systems operator) in the cabin who doubles as the loadmaster and winch operator. The community within 31F is a mixture of experienced helicopter sensos, and former Atlantique NG senso operators. The tacco role is new to the French Naval Aviation and comes with the introduction of the NH-90 said Executive Officer Lionel Le Boursicot We really had to prove the French Navy HQ that this new tacco role would be of value add to us. The tacco has two vital roles to play during operations; most important is the tactical observer responsible for overseeing the big picture during operations, located on the left side in the cockpit. Besides this role we expect the tacco to be a back-up pilot who is able to support the pilot during harsh circumstances as you can imagine when operating over sea. Now everybody sees the value add of the tacco; it is like a contract between pilot and crew. It is a challenge to convert to the NH-90, it is a highly computer driven helicopter which requires a different mindset from other types of helicopter currently in service within the French Navy says LT. Jerome Dagnac (NH-90 pilot and 31F Safety Officer). LT. Dagnac has been operating the SA.321G Super Frelon with 32F and was one of the first three pilots to be involved in the NH- 90 programme testing the aircraft with CEPA/10S and

52 writing the manuals for operations. The first three pilots were trained at Eurocopter, Marseille in 2010 and flew hours before moving on to 31F. One of these three pilots is LT Laureline Beuvelet; the first female NH-90 pilot. For the other pilots we use the train the trainer concept continues LT Dagnac. Besides the three trained pilots by Eurocopter 31F is responsible for the transition to the NH-90 of all pilots for both 31F and 33F. As we have currently only senior pilots in the squadron the conversion can be done in 20-30hrs of flying. To support the pilot training of 31F a Partial Task Trainer, developed by Augusta Westland, is made available. This consists of four terminals which are connected and simulate the set-up of the NH-90 cockpit. On average pilots spend hours familiarizing themselves with specific tasks. A full NH-90 simulator will be available in The aim eventually is to have 50%-60% of the NH- 90 training on the simulator in the future says Commander Barbe so we can push the envelope in learning curve of our pilots. Within two years from now we plan to have a separate NH-90 training squadron at Hyères explains Commander Barbe. First part of the training will be conducted at Le Luc, Base école Général Lejay (French Army/ Armée de Terre) training facility for combat helicopters. The second part, the Aeronautical part will be at Hyères. The helicopters will stay at the existing squadrons; no aircraft are to be assigned to the Training School. The French Navy NH-90NFHs are being shipped directly from the Agusta production plant in two different configurations: 13 for SAR and sea assault, with a rear loading ramp and 14 for pure anti-submarine warfare (ASW) operations, without a ramp. However the cabin of all 27 NFHs is able to be fitted with specific pallet-mounted ASW kit comprising an avionics bay, a sensor operator station and tactical coordinator station, plus dipping sonar and sonobuoy launcher. A magnetic anomaly detector (MAD), in the helicopter s tail boom, completes the ASW suite for the detection and identification of underwater targets. Besides a complete IFF system, the Caïman has a comprehensive communications suite for tactical communications and a navigation suite including GPS, INS, Doppler, air data and a digital map generator. The L11 tactical data link, which provides extended on-board data fusion and total networking with a NATO task force at sea. The FREMM multipurpose frigate designed by DCNS/Armaris and Fincantieri, operates in anti-air, antisubmarine and anti-ship warfare, and is capable of carrying out strikes against land targets. The French Navy plans to operate nine FREMM frigates. 31F's aircraft will be on detachments to Forbin-class air defence ships, while 33F, the other NH90 unit, will deploy its aircraft on the LT Laureline Beuvelet, first female NH-90 pilot Within two years there will be NH-90 training squadrons at Hyeres 53

53 FREMM-class vessels. Typically the primary missions of the NH90 NFH helicopter is in the autonomous anti-submarine warfare (ASW) and anti-surface ship warfare (AsuW) role. In a four-hour 'relocation on call' operation, the helicopter would take: 35 minutes to reach the area of operation; 20 minutes releasing sonobuoys; two hours on surveillance in the area of operations; 30 minutes releasing torpedoes; and 35 minutes to return to ship and land, with 20 minutes in reserve. In a four-hour 'screening' operation, the helicopter would take: 15 minutes to reach the area of operation; three hours and 30 minutes in the operations zone carrying out 11 consecutive cycles of ten-minute sonar dipping; and 15 minutes to return to the ship and land, with 20 minutes reserve. In the antisurface warfare role, the helicopter is capable of detection, tracking, classification, identification and attack of hostile ships, and has over-the-horizon capability. A vital role in the introduction of the Caïman is for CEPA/10S. The unit has been involved from the start onwards of the NH-90 introduction to prepare integrating the NH-90 within the French Navy. Each to be delivered NH-90 is extensively tested before handed-over to either 31F or 33F. Currently the unit is involved in experimenting with the implementation of the MU-90 torpedo which is fore seen to be finalized before the autumn of The first NH-90 Step B was delivered by CEPA/10S during January 2013 and is including now a ECM (Electronic Counter Measures) kit. Based on feedback from 31F crews and technicians CEPA/10S is able to deliver a solution on short notice. We are the toolbox of the French Navy as Commander Henri Mavé explains. Our work is dedicated to experimental flights since the NH-90 has already been certified. We evaluate the NH-90 to make sure it is living up to the standards of the French Navy. Furthermore we are developing operational documentation for tactical use, training and flight safety. For these tasks we have two experimental flight test pilots a crewmember and ten technical staff. Commander Mavé continues We are experiencing some challenges currently as the French Navy has not reached the targeted number of NH-90s in service. We have to deal with availability and operational needs to perform our flights. The NH-90 is still in a development phase through the new versions (Step B) and capabilities (ASW, AsuW, MU-90 torpedoes), we need to find an accurate conciliation between a stable standard and a quick and consistent response to the operational needs of the French Navy. We want to make the NH-90 easy to operate by the crews and make sure they can focus on their missions. Commander Mavé concludes Our work is highly dependent on what the French Ministry of Defence requires. We anticipate starting with experiments with the ANL (Anti Navire Leger/ Light Anti-Ship missile) in the near future. Our schedule is booked for the next two years with developing an electronic warfare doctrine, mission preparation system and ship based Upgrading will continue between 2014 and

54 Lt Jerome Dagnac discussing the NH-90 programme with his crew operations. As CEPA/10S is in the lead of the implementation of the NH-90 there is also a high dependency on the technical support unit of 31F to be able to conduct flying operations. Elementary maintenance is conducted by 31F itself; 50 flight hours (visual inspection, torque check), 100 flight hours and 150 flight hours checks are executed. The helicopter is like an iphone and requires a different way of working then before with the Lynx states the Chief Engineer of 31F. We are now only working with electronic documentation, our crew had to be trained to handle the maintenance. Ever since operations have started some child deceases had to be overcome. We have to be very watchful on corrosion especially of the composite materials on the NH-90, furthermore we had to replace the floating devices numerous times, we found out these were ripped apart during flight operations. Currently too many tasks are in each scheduled maintenance and consumes a lot of time; aim is to further streamline these tasks over the next years concludes the Chief Engineer. To support 31F s maintenance team five Eurocopter technicians are embedded with 31F as part of first contract which runs till May On 21 December 2012 the Directorate General of Armaments (DGA) took delivery of the first standard Caïman. After a short period of evaluation conducted by CEPA/10S, the total number of NH-90s in service will be delivered by end May 2013 to 31F. In total eight Caïmans will be in service by then. The seven earlier delivered Caïmans from 2011 (Step A) will be gradually upgraded to the Step B between 2014 and During October 2012 the NATO Helicopter Management Agency (NAHEMA) awarded Thales a two-year contract, with a three-year extension close, to support 14 FLASH dipping sonars on the French Navy's 27 NH-90 NFH helicopters. The contract will contribute to the operational readiness of the French Navy NH- 90NFH helicopters equipped with the FLASH sonar system and will enable them to fulfill their antisubmarine warfare missions in conjunction with the Navy's FREMM frigates equipped with the Captas-4 variable depth sonar from Thales. The introduction of the Caïman to our unit has been a great adventure so far with major achievements. We have now eight NH-90s delivered over a three year period with two units equipped with the new helicopters and able to perform SAR and MCT missions. Last but not least we have been operating onboard a multi mission FREMM Frégate during 2012 to gain experiences. During the autumn of 2013 we will start experimenting with ASW and AsuW missions, implement the MU-90 Torpedo and Machine Gun MAG- 15 and will start with operating with Chaff & Flare. Within a year from now will be fully SAR and Special Forces capable; in two years time we aim for full qualification on the NH-90NFH concludes Commander Barbe. 55

55 Nordholz Air Day Words and pictures by Arjan Dijksterhuis On the 3rd of May 1913, Kaiser (Emperor) Wilhelm II founded the first two Marinefliegerabteilungen. One for the airplanes and another for the zeppelins. On Sunday the 18th of August, the German Marineflieger, celebrated their 100th anniversary with an Air Day at Naval Airbase Nordholz. Nordholz is one of the oldest airports in Germany and located in the north of Germany, about 25 kilometres north of Bremerhaven and close to the town of Nordholz. It is the homebase of the Marinefliegerkommando (Naval Air Command) with Marinefliegergeschwader 3 Graf zepplin (MFG3) and Marinefliegergeschwader 5 (MFG5). The P-3C Orion and the Dornier Do-228NG are operated by Marinefliegergeschwader 3. The Sea Lynx Mk88A helicopters were transferred from Marinefliegergeschwader 3 to Marinefliegergeschwader 5, that already operated the other type of helicopter; the Sea King Mk41. The Sea Kings were moved to Nordholz in November 2012, as part of the scheduled closure of their, now former, homebase Kiel-Holtenau. One of the highlights at a rainy Nordholz was a pair of Wildcat HMA2 helicopters. AgustaWestland had a booth inside one of the hangars to promote the AW159. One AW159, designated by the Royal Navy as a Wildcat HMA2, was parked inside. The second example was parked outside after a lot of requests and was probably the most photographed helicopter. The AW159/ Wildcat HMA2 can easily be recognized by the infra-red suppressed engine exhausts and the tail boom is far more angular than the original tail boom. A civil EC135P2+ was seen with badges from MFG5 on both sides of the helicopter as well on the nose. This particular EC135 is in use for training purposes with MFG5. Special liveries were applied on both types of helicopter as well as the Orion. The Orion received a blue fuselage top with the text 100 Jahre Marineflieger. Sea Lynx Mk88A with serial and Sea King Mk41 with serial both received the same dark blue livery. An UH-1D Huey and a German Bo-105P1 were present wearing a special livery. This Air day even had a small aerial display with a few military helicopters displaying their capabilities. The Orion also flew a display. Formation flying was done with a Dornier Do-228 and the Dornier Do-28. Both aircraft flew a display afterwards. An Austrian Air Force Saab 105ÖE flew its display in a tiger-livery. A few participants on static display reflected the history from the German Navy. A Dassault Atlantique 2 from the French Aeronavale was present, still wearing the special markings, celebrating 100 years Marine ( ). The German Atlantic fleet was replaced by the Orions that were acquired from the Royal Netherlands Navy. One of the former German examples can be seen at the junction outside the gate of the airbase, with the 56

56 SeaKings were moved to Nordholz in 2012 special painted MFG 3 Graf zeppelin tail. The museum Aeronauticum also has an example preserved. The entrance of the museum can be found close to the entrance of the air base. A few civil aircraft on static display like the Dornier 27 and a Piaggio P.149 reflected the fixed wing part of the history within the German Navy. A Dornier Do-28 could be seen as part of the small flying display. A preserved Sikorsky H-34 was parked out of sight and was in a not so good condition. This particular helicopter was previously preserved at Kiel-Holtenau. The polish Mi-14 helicopter was cancelled a few days prior to the event. Had it been there it would have reflected history: in late October 1979, the East German Navy (DDR-Volksmarine) received the first Mi-14 in two different versions. After the reunification in 1990, fourteen Mi-14s were added to the new inventory, but were quickly phased out in December UH-1D Huey German BO105P1 photographs courtesy of arjan DiJKsterhuis AW159 Wildcat 57

57 B o o k S A T C h r i S T m A S Shelley, The Lifeboat Labrador A True Salty Dog Tale John Periam This is a love story about a dog, and anyone who likes dogs will find it very funny and touching. Not least because you get the feeling Shelley was the first dog in John Periam s life and she took a while to get used to! It is also a Amazon Kindle 2.06 story of country life in the 1970s, which very much rotated around the pub, a tribute to Jazz, and working with the RNLI and a ghost story to boot. It is the story of one man s life. Peckham Diamonds Georgina Hunter-Jones Fly Fizzi Ltd 10 hardback 5 paperback includes p&p The Cruel Companion Graham McLean Amazon Kindle 3.89 The Cruel Companion is the story of one man s fight for survival in the North Sea. A fast moving adventure which takes the hero from a leisurely break in Whitby, N.E. England, to the brink of death on the North Sea until a possible timely rescue, but then... An action packed compelling story, a fight for survival, with an insight into the sometimes dangerous world of a North Sea helicopter pilot. I felt I was in the helicopter with the pilots. Technically brilliant and well informed. Atlantic Warriors Georgina Hunter-Jones Fly Fizzi Ltd 10 hardback includes p&p 58 Aperennial favourite. A detective romance set around a group of UK pilots flying to Moscow in Russia for the 1994 World Championships. There are some surprising twists in this story which took me unawares. Good for fireside reading. Carrie s husband, a pilot in an Orange Freestate game park, sells her house and buys a Piper Warrior in its place. Trying to find out why and bringing the plane back from the USA to the UK leads Carrie into all sorts of trouble and eventually into becoming a pilot herself. HELICOPTER LIFE,Winter 2013

58 CAA Legislation Changes concerning helicopters and gyroplanes IN-2013/158: Withdrawal of CAA Master Minimum Equipment Lists (MMELs) and CAA MMEL Supplements The CAA currently maintains a number of CAA-generated MMELs and MMEL Supplements which modify the Type Certificate Holder s MMEL for use by UK operators. Due to the transition to the new European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) MMEL rules, the CAA has completed an internal review of the status of these CAA-generated MMELs and MMEL Supplements, resulting in a decision to discontinue their support and withdraw them from use. etype=65&appid=11&mode=detail&id=5795 IN-2013/163: Consultation: Replacement of Class F Airspace in UK Flight Information Regions - Addendum Consultation The CAA's proposals to replace Class F ADRs by means of regularisation to Class E airways, enhanced by additional SERA-compliant conspicuity requirements were the subject of a CAA consultation. Comments identified a need for additional airspace 'fillets' in the vicinity of the Aberdeen Control zone/control Area in order to facilitate continued application of current radar vectoring of traffic off what are currently Class F ADRs, but which are likely to become airways ( i.e. controlled airspace) whilst remaining compliant with Manual of Air Traffic Services Part 1 requirements. It is therefore necessary to undertake an addendum consultation on the CAA's proposals for the establishment of this additional airspace pdf IN-2013/156: Consultation: CAP 772 Aerodrome Wildlife Strike Hazard Management and Reduction The guidance in CAP 772 was last updated in September 2008 and was in need of substantial revision. An amended version has been produced for consultation and stakeholders are invited to comment on the revised content. etype=65&appid=11&mode=detail&id=5781 IN-2013/151: Helicopter Pilot Licences - Type Ratings for the Agusta Westland A109 and AW109 The purpose of this IN is to explain: alterations to the type rating endorsements to be included in a licence; and adjustments to the training for type ratings for the Agusta Westland A109 and AW109 helicopters and the HELICOPTER LIFE,Winter 2013 background to these changes. type=65&appid=11&mode=detail&id=5771 CAA announces review of North Sea helicopter operations The review will be undertaken jointly with the Norwegian CAA and the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) and advised by a panel of independent experts. It will study current operations, previous incidents and accidents and offshore helicopter flying in other countries to make recommendations aimed at improving the safety of offshore flying. Led by the CAA s Head of Flight Operations, Captain Bob Jones will work closely with Geir Hamre, Head of helicopter safety for the Norwegian CAA. They are supported by a team of experts who will consult with a wide range of individuals and organisations involved in offshore flying. The final review will also be subject to scrutiny by independent specialists. The review will pay particular attention to: Operators decision making and internal management The protection of passengers and crew Pilot training and performance Helicopter airworthiness It will include a comparison study of UK operations with those in Norway. The findings of the review are due to be published in early type=65&appid=7&mode=detail&nid=2285 IN-2013/147: Reminder of the curtailment of National Aeroplane and Helicopter Pilot Licence privileges with effect from 8 April 2014 To remind pilots that, with effect from 8 April 2014, the implementation of European legislation will limit the privileges of national UK licences. type=65&appid=11&mode=detail&id=5760 CAP 804: Flight Crew Licensing: Mandatory Requirements, Policy and Guidance Notifying the UK requirements for pilot licensing and also a guide to the new European Flight Crew Licensing requirements. Effective on 17 September 2012; LASORS will be withdrawn from that date. A5 paper copies are available from TSO. 59

59 Winter at Fly Fizzi Books SavingS HELICOPTER LIFE CertifiCate YES PLEASE! Send me two full years - 8 exciting issues - of HELICOPTER LIFE 2 Years (8 issues) only (30% savings) I prefer 1 Year (4 issues) only (15% savings) Please add 8 for each foreign order and prepay in UK funds. Aselection of books are available from Fly Fizzi books, including: Benjamin Franklin Book of Recipes half cookbook, half historical, sometimes whimsical, information Atlantic Warrior Peckham Diamonds Dear Best Mother and many children s books Name Address City Name Address City Name Address City YOUR NAME: Postcode GIFT FOR: Postcode SEND ALSO TO: Postcode (PLEASE PRINT) (PLEASE PRINT) (PLEASE PRINT) Payment enclosed (Make cheques out to Helicopter Life) Send form and cheque to: HELICOPTER LIFE Magazine 59 Great Ormond Street, London WC1N 3Hz, England Savings are off the 3.99 per issue price. Please allow 6-8 weeks to receive your first issue. HELICOPTER LIFE is the HIGH LIFE 60

60 HelicopterLife Training and more to place an advert call sue or see also Bagby Airfield, North Yorkshire Bagby Airfield, North Yorkshire Bagby Airfield, North Yorkshire is a grass strip situated 23 miles North of York. It is an ideal location for helicopters to refuel when travelling to or from Scotland. Jet A1 and Avgas are available during the standard operating hours and can be arranged out of hours via PPR. Free parking is granted with fuel uplift. Runway lighting is also available For any further information, call Steve: Size 36 mm wide by 31 mm high FlyFizzi Helicopters Ltd Single advert 35, reduced to 25 each for four issues UNDERWATER ESCAPE/ SURVIVAL TRAINING Southampton, UK JAA approved news and helicopterlife. blogspot.com 61

61 Russian Helicopters Kazakhstan Mi-171E Russian Helicopters has delivered a Mi-171E built at the Ulan-Ude Aviation Plant to the Kazakhstan Ministry of Internal Affairs. The Ministry uses Mi-8/17s for routine patrolling and search-and-rescue missions, and for transporting personnel and cargo. The Mi-171E has a number of features that give it an edge in Kazakhstan s extremes of climate temperatures can range from plus 50 to minus 58 degrees Celsius and geography, marked by extensive steppe and tall mountain ranges. The helicopter can operate across localities from steppe to foothills to mountains, and can withstand temperatures from plus to minus 50. The Mi-171E can operate in all weathers and difficult navigation conditions. The Ministry chose the Mi-171E for its flexibility the helicopter can carry up to 26 passengers or 12 wounded people on stretchers accompanied by medical personnel. In its cargo configuration the helicopter can carry loads of up to 4,000 kg in its cabin or on an external sling. The Mi-171E is fitted with a Safir 5K/G Mi auxiliary power plant and VK engines that support operations at high altitude and turbulent air conditions. Helicopters of this type have a long list of optional extras to extend their operational possibilities. Under Russian Helicopters contract with the Ministry, Kazakh pilots and technical crew will be given theoretical and practical training at the Ulan-Ude plant. Thanks to the Mi-171E s competitive edge, its advanced flight capabilities, reliability and ease of operation, as well as its attractive price point, the Kazakhstan 62 Ministry of Internal Affairs plans to expand its fleet of Russian-built helicopters in the future. Russia and Kazakhstan have been working together on helicopter operations for several years. The Kazakhstan Emergencies Ministry makes active use of the Mi-171E and attests to its outstanding qualities. The Mi-8/17 series are among the world s most effective rescue helicopters. They are widely deployed to help deal with flooding, earthquakes and other disasters including forest fires around the world, and to provide emergency medical assistance in the field. The Mi-171E is one of the latest versions of the Mi- 8/17. It has been developed by the Mil Moscow Helicopter Plant and is built at the Ulan-Ude Aviation Plant, both of which are Russian Helicopters companies. Today more than 4,500 Mi-8/17 series helicopters are in operation around the world.

62 Chinese Helicopters Enstrom Brazilian and Argentinia Type Certificates The Brazil Agência Nacional de Aviaçáo Civil issued a Type Certificate for the The Enstrom Helicopter Corporation has received updated type certification in both Brazil and Argentina. The Brazil Agência Nacional de Aviaçáo Civil issued a Type Certificate for the Enstrom 480 and 480B helicopters. This certification update includes several options that were not previously available. The Brazilian Type Certificate is now current with the FAA Type Certificate. Brazilian operators can take advantage of the latest configuration and options available on the 480B, said Bill Taylor, Director of Engineering at Enstrom. This reflects Enstrom s commitment to establishing and supporting a strong fleet in South America. In addition, the Argentina Administración de Aviación Civil has also updated the type certification for the Enstrom 480B. Two helicopters were delivered September 2013 to the Cooperativa de Trabajos Portuarios Limitada de Puerto General San Martín in to be used as Emergency Medical Services vehicles. The optional Litter Kit has proved to be a valuable asset in this community. We are thrilled to be able to meet our customers varied requirements, said Enstrom s Director of Sales and Marketing, Orlando Alaniz. This updated certification allows us to provide helicopters that are designed to meet the unique missions of each user. Founded in 1959, Enstrom Helicopter Corporation designs, fabricates, assembles, and tests a full line of light single helicopters for sale and delivery to customers in the global market. They are used for training, executive transport, and commercial operations. Enstrom is a wholly owned subsidiary of Chongqing Helicopter Investment Group (CQHIC) and is located in Menominee, Michigan. 63

63 A C C i d e n T r e p o r T S 64 AS332 L2 Super Puma G-WNSB The flight, which was the third leg of a four-leg rotation out of Aberdeen Airport, was between the Borgsten Dolphin semi-submersible drilling platform and Sumburgh Airport. The intention was to refuel the helicopter at Sumburgh, before returning to Aberdeen. The helicopter lifted from the Borgsten Dolphin platform at 1612 hrs, with the commander acting as the Pilot Flying (PF) and the co-pilot as the Pilot Not Flying (PNF) The flight towards Sumburgh was uneventful. Whilst en-route, the crew requested radar vectors to the final approach course for Runway 09; the request was acknowledged by Sumburgh ATC. At 1626 hrs the crew listened to the 1620 hrs Sumburgh ATIS information Whisky. This gave the weather conditions as: surface wind from 150 at 18 kt, visibility 4,000 m in haze, scattered cloud at 300 ft, broken cloud at 500 ft, temperature +15 C, dew point +14 C and pressure 1014 hpa. At 1648 hrs, Sumburgh ATC informed the crew of the latest weather. The visibility was 2,800 m in mist, with few clouds at 200 ft and broken cloud at 300 ft. The commander briefed for the SUB LOC/DME Non-Precision Approach to Runway 09 at Sumburgh Airport. Minimum Descent Altitude for the approach was 300 ft and the Automatic Voice Alarm Device bugs were set accordingly. The plan was that the commander would fly the approach while the co-pilot monitored the vertical descent profile with reference to the published approach chart. The commander briefed that he would reduce the airspeed to 80 kt for the latter stage of the approach. At 1702 hrs, the Approach and Before Landing checklists had been completed. The helicopter, receiving a radar control service from Sumburgh ATC, was vectored to the north of Sumburgh before being turned onto a south-easterly heading and being cleared to intercept the localiser for Runway 09. The autopilot was engaged in Heading and Altitude modes, with the APP push button selected on the Automatic Flight Control Panel. The localiser was captured at 1714 hrs. At 6.4 DME SUB, the commander initiated the descent using the autopilot vertical speed (V/S) mode with a selected rate of 500 ft/min. A crosscheck by the co-pilot at 5 nm and 1,670 ft indicated to the crew that they were on the correct vertical profile. There were further checks at 4 nm and 3 nm, which confirmed that the vertical profile was being maintained. At 3 nm the airspeed was 110 kt and reducing. At approximately 2.3 nm, the commander noted that the airspeed was 80 kt and increased the collective pitch, intending to maintain this speed. However, the helicopter s airspeed reduced below 80 kt and continued to reduce, unob- served by the crew. At 2.0 nm the co-pilot advised the commander that the height at 1 nm should be 390 ft. The co-pilot made a call at 100 ft above the MDA (300 ft); the commander acknowledged. There was then an automated audio call of CHECK HEIGHT, an acknowledgement by the commander, and then a comment by the co-pilot to draw the commander s attention to the airspeed. At this time the helicopter s airspeed was 35 kt and reducing. Shortly thereafter, there was a second automated audio call of CHECK HEIGHT, followed by a 100 FEET automated call two seconds before impact with the surface of the sea. At some point the commander saw the sea, but he was unable to arrest the helicopter s descent and it struck the surface shortly thereafter, at 1717 hrs. The co-pilot, realising that the helicopter was about to enter the water, armed the helicopter s flotation system. After striking the surface the helicopter rapidly inverted, but remained afloat, the flotation equipment having successfully deployed. Of the 18 occupants, 14 survived. The survivability aspects of this accident are the subject of ongoing investigation. To date, the wreckage examination and analysis of the recorded data have not found any evidence of a technical fault that could have been causal to the accident. The ongoing AAIB investigation will focus on the operational aspects of the flight; specifically on the effectiveness of pilot monitoring of instruments during the approach, operational procedures and the training of flight crews. The survivability aspects of this accident will also be examined in detail Robinson R22 Beta G-EROM The student pilot was briefed to carry out his first solo flight which comprised takeoffs, landings and hover practice in the southern hover square at Redhill. The surface wind was calm. Initially, the exercises were carried out dual with an instructor and were performed satisfactorily. The instructor confirmed the student understood the brief for a solo flight. Standing some 10 metres in front of the helicopter, the instructor gave the student the signal to lift into the hover. The student slowly raised the collective control lever, at the same time monitoring the Manifold Air Pressure (MAP) gauge to achieve 18 inches of boost. He had been told that this was the approximate power indication at which the helicopter would start to lift off. As it appeared to lift off, the helicopter lurched to the right and the student instinctively continued to raise the collective lever. The roll to the right increased and was accompanied by the nose yawing to the right, both of which the student was unable to correct before the main rotor blades

64 A C C i d e n T r e p o r T S struck the ground. The helicopter rolled onto its right side, having rotated through approximately 180. The student isolated the fuel and electrical systems before exiting through the left door. The student pilot considered that the cause of the accident was that he had not identified the developing dynamic rollover. He had been taught to lower the collective lever at the onset of this condition but had focused his attention on the MAP gauge and not monitored the helicopter attitude and therefore did not identify the developing situation. The student was 36 years old and had 24 hours of flying all on type. Robinson R44 C-GHZN The helicopter departed Whitehorse, Yukon, on a wildlife survey flight. At approximately 1513, the Joint Rescue Coordination Centre received an emergency locator transmitter signal from the aircraft. A company helicopter was dispatched to the site with emergency medical services personnel aboard. The wreckage was found approximately 5 nautical miles east of Carcross, Yukon, on Nares Mountain. The pilot was fatally injured, one passenger was seriously injured, and another received minor injuries. The passengers were treated and flown back to Whitehorse. There was no post-impact fire. There was no indication that an aircraft system malfunction contributed to this occurrence. As a result, the analysis focused on the operational and environmental factors that contributed to the occurrence. Conducting a reconnaissance pass is an industry standard and is taught at mountain flying schools. The pilot had completed a mountain flying course; however, for unknown reasons, he did not carry out a reconnaissance pass before attempting to land. Downdrafts frequently exist on the lee side of mountain peaks and ridges. Those downdrafts can be severe, and may contribute to additional power demands during the approach for landing. The pilot, upon entering the region downwind of the ridgeline, should have expected higher engine power requirements to maintain altitude in the descending air. Attempting to maintain altitude by increasing rotor pitch likely demanded engine power beyond the aircraft s capability, resulting in a loss of rotor rpm. In this helicopter, the rotors are coupled directly to the engine. When the increased pitch caused a low rotor speed condition, the engine did not have the power to overcome it and slowed down as well. The pilot attempted a landing where the power required exceeded the power available. Numerous warnings from both the helicopter manufacturer and the FAA have indicated the dangers of flying this model in high-wind conditions, and that it may require power that is beyond the limits of the aircraft and power plant. The pilot was not wearing his flight helmet, which contributed to his head injuries. Despite the recognized benefits of head protection, there is no regulatory requirement for helicopter pilots to wear helmets. The operator has implemented a safety policy that requires that all pilots wear flight helmets during flight operations. Bell 206 JetRanger C-GLQI One pilot and four passengers flew VFR from the Kananaskis base Alberta. 13 minutes after departure the helicopter crashed in a steep, snow-covered avalanche corridor, near Loder Peak. 1 hour and 29 minutes later, the operator was advised by the Joint Rescue Coordination Centre in Trenton, Ontario, that the ELT on C-GLQI was transmitting. A company helicopter was dispatched to search the tour route, and found the wreckage. All occupants were extracted from the site. The passengers sustained minor injuries; the pilot succumbed to injuries 5 hours after the accident. The investigation found nothing to indicate any airframe failure or system malfunction before or during the flight. The helicopter was being operated within its weight and CoG limits at the time of the accident. The weather was suitable. Therefore, analysis focused on other factors, including the pilot s experience and training, airmanship, operational control within the company, and environmental factors that likely contributed to the occurrence. Other than 2.6 hours of flight time obtained in February 2012 toward a Robinson R44 helicopter endorsement, there was no record of the pilot having flown for approximately 21 months when hired by Kananaskis Mountain Helicopters. At the time of hiring, the pilot had little or no mountain-flying training or actual mountain-flying experience. Based on the pilot s self-reports of having approximately 500 hours of helicopter flight experience in British Columbia and no accidents, the company considered the pilot to have adequate knowledge, skill, and experience to safely conduct mountain tour flights with minimal recurrent flight training and checkout. That the pilot had a previous accident, no prior mountain-flying training, and minimal mountain-flight experience was not identified. As a result, the pilot received very little instruction from Kananaskis Mountain Helicopters (KMH) in mountain-flying techniques, and a minimal evaluation of abilities in that environment. The pilot s reluctance to fly in close proximity to rock outcrops during KMH flight training heightened the company s confidence in the pilot s ability to safely conduct tour flights within the mountainous local area. 65

65 h o u S e A n d h e l i C o p T e r The first World Helicopter Championships took place in West Germany in Much later, Tony Everard, then Chairman of the Helicopter Club of Great Britain, told me: we thought people s helicopter handling was pretty poor, so we welcomed these trials as a way of raising the standard. Included in the first championships was the Second World War Ace, known as Hitler s pilot Hannah Reitsch. There were only three events, and most of the competitors were either British or from West German, most of the helicopters were Brantlys, Bell 47s or the Hughes 269. The second world championships was held in Britain, in This time there were five events, Time Arrival, Precision flying, Navigation, Slalom, and the non-obligatory Free Style, which was won by Karl zimmerman. Teams came from the USSR, the USA, the UK and West Germany. For the first time, there were a lot of women competitors. The third championships were in Russia, in 1978, and included Polish and Hungarian teams. Both Eastern block teams had female members. The fourth championship was in Poland in 1981, and the fifth went back to Great Britain to be held at Castle Ashby in the presence of Prince Andrew and his wife-to-be Sarah Ferguson. Since 1986, there have been a lot of changes including the rules. The events are mostly the same, with some 66 World Helicopter Championships 1986 at Castle Ashby additions such as the Fender. The USA no long sends teams as it has been otherwise employed and cannot afford the cost. Through the years there have been British winners, notably Q Smith in the Free Style, and Caroline Gough- Copper and Imogen Asker, who won the Ladies Championships in The next WHC will be held again in 2015 and Poland is bidding the FAI-CIG have not fully accepted the bid, but no other country has offered to host the event. Castle Ashby with Prince Andrew and his fiance Sarah Ferguson