helicopter life€¦ · emergencies across the continent, such as fires, floods, and earthquakes....

HELICOPTER

HELICOPTER LIFE is the HIGH LIFE

Autumn 2013 / £3.99

www.helicopterlife.com

including gyroplanes

LIFE

LIFEHELICOPTER

AuTumn 2013AuTumn 2013

HELICOPTER LIFE, Autumn 2013 3

RotorwayRoughnecksGeorgina Hunter-Joneslearns to fly theRotorway helicopter,thanks to the supportof the Roughnecks.

Helicopter MakeoverSteven Swattonhas his 1980 Bell 206JetRanger re-paintedand revamped bySimon Edmondson atThruxton.

Merline casts a spell@ DSEIGerald Cheynevisits the dfence showand hears the latest onthe Merlin andWildcat.

German GhostsTommaso Muntforticelebrates the life andpassing of theGerman F-4Phantoms

Book Reviews 58

CAA Legislation changes 59

RNAS Yeovilton Ian Turner 62

Accident Reports 64

House & Helicopter 66

COVER STORYCOVER STORY

Flight Show & Tell Guide 4Aviation shows and conferences.

The Editor’s Letter 5

Aerial Forum 6 & 7 Canadian Chinooks

Letters to the Editor 10

Flying Crackers 8 & 9

Helicopter BusinessThe business of heli-copter companies- Stimulation andloans

Little Nellie BowsOutG Hunter-JonesLooks back at the lookand creative life ofKen Wallis who diedon 1st September2013 aged 97.

Aerial PeepersG Hunter-Jones, on the continuingimplementation of theNational Police AirService and what itmeans.

HeliTechG Hunter-Jonesexamines the show tosee how the new siteworks for HeliTech2013.

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46

26

24

12

14

52

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HELICOPTER LIFE, Autumn 2013

24 February - 27 February 2014HELIExPO

Anaheim, California, USA

http://www.rotor.com

13 March - 16 March 2014

AUSTRALIAN GRAND PRIx

Melbourne, Australia

http://www.grandprix.com.au

9 April - 12 April 2014AEROFRIEDRICHSHAFEN

Lake Constance, Germany

http://www.aero-expo.com

22 May - 24 May 2014

HELIRUSSIA

Crocus Forum, Moscow

www.helirussia.ru/en/index.html?src=englishlink‎

30 May - 1 June 2014AEROExPO

Sywell, Northamptonshire, UK

www.expo.aero/uk/‎

2 June - 4 June 2014

HELIExPO UK

Sywell Aerodrome, Northamptonshire, UK

http://www.heliukexpo.com

19 - 21 June 2014EUROPEAN HELICOPTER SHOW

Hradec Kralove, Czech Republic

http://www.eurohelishow.com

14 July - 20 July 2014FARNBOROUGH AIR SHOW

Farnborough, near London, UK.

www.farnborough.com

24 September - 26 September 2014

HELITECH

Amsterdam, Holland

http://www.helitechevents.com

4 November - 6 November 2014DUBAI HELICOPTER SHOW

Maydan Racecourse, Dubai

www.dubaihelicoptershow.com

4

HELICoPTER LIFE is published quarterly by FlyFizzi Ltd.

59 Great ormond Street

London, WC1N-3Hz.

Copyright © FlyFizzi Ltd. 2013.

ISSN 1743-1042.

All rights reserved. opinions expressed herein are not neces-

sarily 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.

COVER PHOTOGRAPH

Rotorway Roughnecks Ian Bown flying

GKARN. Photograph courtesy Georgina

Hunter-Jones

AuTumn 2013

EDITOR-IN-CHIEF / PILOTGeorgina [email protected]

CREATIVE [email protected]

COPY EDITORSEvangeline Hunter-Jones, JP Gerald Cheyne

CONTRIBUTING EDITORSArjan Dijksterhuis, Simon Edmondson,Tommaso Montforti, Ian Turner, GeraldCheyne, Russian Helicopters, Peter Foster,Stephen Swatton, John White,

CONTRIBUTED PHOTOGRAPHYArjan Dijksterhuis, Ian Turner, Gerald Cheyne,Russian Helicopters, Peter Foster, StephenSwatton, Simon Edmondson, TommasoMontforti

SPECIAL THANKS TODave Smith ATPL(H)IR, The RotorwayRoughnecks

ADVERTISINGTelephone: +44-(0)20-7430-2384,[email protected]

SUBSCRIPTIONSGo to our website or turn to page [email protected]

WEBSITEwww.helicopterlife.com

Bloghttp://www.helicopterlife.blogspot.comSee Helicopter Life on Facebook & Twitter

HON. EDITORIAL BOARDCaptain Eric Brown, CBE, RN

The Lord Glenarthur, DL

Jennifer MurrayMichael J. H. Smith

LIFEHELICOPTER

Show & Tell

Guide


looking into new avenues. In this

issue we feature not only their new

Ansat from Kazan Helicopters, which

has just received commercial certifi-

cation, but also the new Ka-62 and,

on a smaller scale, the first flight of

the Berkut VL. of the coming years

there will continue to be more and

more from Russia, and it looks to be

innovative.

Finally, our cover story is about the

Rotorway kit helicopter. This is cur-

rently the only kit helicopter certified

by the UK CAA to fly in the United

Kingdom, although there are moves to

increase the types available. I am per-

sonally interested in the Rotorway as I

have been asked to become a

Rotorway examiner. To do this I need

to fly 15 hours and pass a test with

another examiner. I will let you know

how these flights go and how success-

ful the Rotorway is as an examining

platform in future issues. However,

one thing that has already become

very clear is how much Rotorway

owners and pilots value their

machines, and how much they enjoy

flying them.

August, only a few weeks after they

had been reinstated, there was a

AS332L2 Puma crash on the North

Sea. An initial investigation showed

no mechanical failures and the

AS332L2 and the EC225 were all

returned to service.

However, this has not satisfied the

unions, who are asking for a deeper

investigation into why the Super

Puma L2 crashed, killing four people,

and a general look at safety on the

North Sea. The CAA has recently

announced it will be doing a review:

“The Civil Aviation Authority

(CAA), the UK's specialist aviation

regulator, today announced a review

of offshore helicopter operations in

the North Sea. 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 opera-

tions, previous incidents and acci-

dents and offshore helicopter flying

in other countries to make recom-

mendations aimed at improving the

safety of offshore flying.”

As well as changes and updates to

legislation, this issue looks at the

HeliTech conference and show move

from Duxford to the Excel Centre in

London.

This move was apparently made

after pressure from the European

Helicopter Association, who felt that

it needed to be a more international

show to reflect the business needs of

the majority of the participants, many

of whom were, naturally, outside the

UK. It probably also reflects the

changing position of the UK in the

helicopter industry, which is no

longer the major player it was in the

early years of helicopter aviation.

If the UK has lost its position in

the helicopter market, Russia has

gained status and growth in its place.

Russian Helicopters are constantly

5

The ediTor’S leTTer

one excellent recent develop-

ment from the UK CAA is its

new online service.

The UK CAA said:

“As part of a process to improve

the way it handles official transac-

tions, the UK Civil Aviation

Authority (CAA) will from today

accept more applications online,

including secure online payments.

Pilots, aircraft maintenance engineers

and air traffic personnel can now

apply for a replacement licence or

certificate online.”

I consider this to be very good

news, and, with any luck, means

there will be far fewer documents

misplaced or lost, and a far speedier

service. Well done the CAA.

The CAA has also sent out

reminders to pilots that the National

Licences will no longer be valid for

most aviation from 8th April 2014.

“The UK Civil Aviation Authority

...reminds holders of ‘national’ pilot

licences of the need to convert to a

European equivalent by 8 April 2014

to maintain their current flying privi-

leges. The deadline affects all com-

mercial and private pilots holding a

valid non-JAR licence (sometimes

also referred to as a CAA licence),

which would have been issued before

January 2000. With only six months

to go to arrange the switch over, the

CAA said it was concerned some

pilots would be left with invalid

licences if they failed to meet the

deadline. Flight instructors, in partic-

ular, could be caught out and face

disruption to their training sched-

ules.”

There are exceptions to this,

including older aircraft, kit built heli-

copters and gyrocopters, which

remain with the national authority.

This summer has been much busier

than in the last few years both in the

industry generally, and in the flying

schools. However, at the end of

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AeriAl Forum

DnD issues fact sheet on

Chinook helicopter acquisition

As part of the Government's commitment to

strengthening the Canadian Armed Forces

(CAF), the Department of National Defence

(DND) is acquiring 15 advanced, multi-mission, medium

to heavy-lift helicopters, or more specifically the

Canadian version of the F-model Chinook (also known

as CH-147F). This will continue to position the CAF as a

first-class, modern, flexible force capable of defending

Canada and Canadian interests well into the future.

The purchase of this fleet of 15 aircraft meets our mil-

itary's requirements and enables the CAF to project itself

effectively across Canada and abroad.

The Canadian CH-147F Chinook represents a new

capability for the CAF that will enhance its ability to

operate in remote and isolated areas and increase its

capacity to respond to a wide variety of humanitarian

emergencies across the continent, such as fires, floods,

and earthquakes.

As part of the Medium-to-Heavy Lift Helicopter

Acquisition Program, Boeing has committed to providing

Industrial and Regional Benefits equal to US$1.25 bil-

lion, which will ensure significant benefits for Canadian

industry from this procurement. Boeing is currently on

track to meet its commitments.

This procurement project remains both on time and

within budget since the contract was signed with Boeing

in 2009.

Projected Costing

The total estimated cost for acquisition and in-service

support for the Medium-to-Heavy Lift Helicopter

Program is CAN$5 billion. The breakdown is

as follows:

The total project acquisition cost is estimated at

CAN$2.3 billion, which includes the 15 helicopters, in-

service support set-up, equipment procured directly from

the U.S. government (Foreign Military Sales cases) new

infrastructure in Petawawa, project management costs,

and a complete maintenance and aircrew training pro-

gram, including simulation devices and courseware.

The 20-year in-service support program for the heli-

copters, which includes the training systems and equip-

ment procured directly from the U.S. government

(Foreign Military Sales cases), has an estimated value of

CAN$2.7 billion.


The estimated costs associated with 20 years of per-

sonnel, operations, and maintenance (excluding GST) are

approximately CAN $1.7 billion.

Acquisition and Support Costs

Acquisition costs: $2.3B

In-Service Support (20 yrs): $2.7B

ToTAL: $5.0B

N.B. The Foreign Military Sales program is the U.S.

method for selling U.S. defence equipment, services, and

training that is not available for individual companies to

purchase, even if they are American. Equipment that falls

under this program are typically sensitive, such as spe-

cialised weapons, high-performance engines, and classi-

fied communications systems. In programs like the

Medium-to-Heavy Lift Helicopter, Canada procures cer-

tain equipment through Foreign Military Sales, and then

provides it to the company for assembly and integration

into the aircraft.

Chronology of Events

• June 2006: The Government of Canada announced

its plan to acquire a new fleet of medium-to-heavy lift

Chinook F-model helicopters to meet the CAF rotary-

wing transport requirements for the next 20 years. To

ensure a fair, open, and transparent process, an Advance

Contract Award Notice was published on Government

Electronic Tenders Service (MERX) to give notice to

supplier community of the intent to award a contract to

the Boeing Company. Boeing was assessed as being the

only compliant supplier.

N.B:

◦ December 2008: Separate from the Medium-to-

Heavy Lift Helicopter Program, Canada acquired six

used Chinook D-model helicopters (CH-147D) in order

to meet an urgent need for a medium-lift capability in

Afghanistan. These helicopters were procured directly

from the U.S. government (Foreign Military Sales cases).

This capability lasted until the end of the mission in

2011.

◦ Two of the original six Chinook D-model helicop-

ters were damaged beyond economical repair while in

operation in Afghanistan. DND is pursuing disposal

options including the sale of the remaining four helicop-

ters of the Chinook D fleet.

• August 2009: The Government of Canada announced

a contract to the Boeing Company valued at approxi-

mately US$1.2 billion to build the helicopters and pro-

vide initial in-service support set-up.

• December 2009: The Government of Canada

announced Canada's new fleet of 15 Chinook F-model

helicopters will be based at Canadian Forces Base

Petawawa, ontario. The new helicopter squadron will be

designated 450 Tactical Helicopter Squadron.

• March 2010: The Government of Canada announced

that Montréal-based CAE would be the single opera-

tional training systems provider for the Chinook F-model

helicopter fleet. CAE was awarded a contract valued at

approximately CAN$250 million to establish and main-

tain a comprehensive aircrew training solution.

• october 2010: The Government of Canada awarded

Ellis Don Company a contract valued at CAN$134.8 mil-

lion to construct first and second line maintenance bays,

CAE and Boeing training schools, a back shop and ware-

house, a DND command suite, and a fenced-in parking lot.

• June 24, 2012: Canada's first Chinook F-model heli-

copter successfully completed its maiden test flight at a

Boeing test facility, kicking off the year-long Test and

Evaluation phase of the program which is comprised of

both ground and flight-test activities.• September 24,

2012: A second Canadian Chinook F-model helicopter

began the Test and Evaluation phase of the program and

completed its first test flight.

• February 5, 2013: Boeing-led training began for air-

craft technicians, loadmasters, and flight engineers at a

training site near Philadelphia. Approximately 45 gradu-

ates were available to support the first Chinook helicop-

ter that arrived in the summer of 2013.

• March 24, 2013: The Government of Canada

announced the awarding of a CAN$5.7 million subcon-

tract by Boeing to Weatherhaven, of Burnaby, BC, to fit

made-in-Canada portable repair and maintenance shelters

for the CH-147 helicopters. These portable shelters can

be trucked and/or airlifted to locations to meet the

Canadian Armed Forces' various needs in the field, both

domestically and internationally.

• June 21, 2013: The Government of Canada finalized

a contract amendment with the Boeing Company to pro-

vide the first five years of 20 years of in-service support

for the helicopters.

• June 24, 2013: The Government of Canada accepted

the Canadian Armed Forces' first new CH-147F Chinook

helicopter at a ceremony at Boeing's facility in

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

• June 27, 2013: The Government of Canada wel-

comed the delivery of the Canadian Armed Forces' first

new CH-147F Chinook helicopter in Canada at a cere-

mony in ottawa.

Next Steps

Aircraft will be delivered at a rate of approximately

one aircraft per month with all aircraft being delivered

over the next year. The operational readiness of this fleet

will be developed in a progressive manner that is in step

with testing and training on the Chinook. This will

ensure that the impressive capabilities of this aircraft can

be fully and safely exploited when responding to future

emergencies or military operations.


FlyinG CrACkerS

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project would continue and that they

will be developing a diesel option

for the company's Sportsman air-

craft. The diesel project should stim-

ulate the company's worldwide mar-

ket. Glasair is working with

DeltaHawk on the task. DeltaHawk

in 2011 acquired $720,000 in low-

interest loans from the state of

Wisconsin. DeltaHawk's Dennis

Webb said that a test aircraft was

approximately six to eight weeks

from flying. Meanwhile, Glasair's

involvement with Build-A-Plane has

already seen success.

Build-A-Plane is an eight high

school project selecting students

from a competition involving some

30 high schools. After selection, the

students participated in Glasair's

Two Weeks To Taxi (TWTT) pro-

gram, and completed two Glasair

Sportsman aircraft, mentored by

Glasair's standard TWTT support.

Financial support for the experience

was arranged by GAMA. After com-

pletion, each student flew in one of

the two aircraft that they built. For

more information on Build-A-Plane,

visit Build-A-Plane online.

Jet Pack NZ Approved

Martin Aircraft Company is on

track to begin deliveries of a

first responder version of its per-

sonal air vehicle; the Martin

Jetpack now that the New zealand

government has approved manned

testing of the aircraft. The govern-

ment will allow Martin test pilots

to fly the twin-ducted fan device up

to 20 feet above ground and 25 feet

above water at first and then

expand the flight envelope as the

concept proves itself.

George Hislop dies aged 99

The aeronautical engineer, George

Hislop, who played a major devel-

opment in the development of

British rotary flight, died in July

2013 aged 99.

Born in 1911, Hislop got a first class

degree from London university. He

then got the James Caird scholarship

to Cambridge to do research in aero-

nautics. Here he learnt to fly fixed

wing. He was first introduced to hel-

icopters during his wartime work for

the A&AEE (Aeroplane and

Arnament Experiment

Establishment) at Boscombe Down.

In 1944, a Sikorksy R4 arrived there

for testing and he worked on that

before moving to Farnborough

where he had his first rotary flight.

He spent a lifetime involved in heli-

copter development including the

possibilities of a large inter-city pas-

senger carrying helicopter for Fairey

Aviation. He was involved in testing

the 40 passenger Fairey Rotodyne.

This project was cancelled in 1962.

Hislop was later involved in the

development of ‘ultralight’ helicop-

ters which led to the Scout and

Wasp!

When Westland took over Fairey

Aviation Hislop became Technical

Director and in 1973 became Vice

Fuel Testing Autogas 93UL

Piper and start-up fuel distributor

Airworthy Autogas jointly tested

the fuel company's 93 octane unlead-

ed fuel on an Archer as part of the

lead-up to Airworthy Autogas's

launch later this year.

Toronto Team wins out

The elusive $250,000 Sikorsky Prize

has been won by a Canadian

engineering team. AeroVelo's Atlas

human-powered helicopter satisfied

the requirements of the Igor I.

Sikorsky Human Powered Helicopter

Competition in a flight inside a soc-

cer center near Toronto. The flight

took place on June 13 and the

announcement was made Thursday

after the flight was verified by the

competition committee, who saw the

videos.

Terrafugia First Flight

Terrafugia Transition flying car flew

for the first time at a public

event on Monday afternoon at EAA

AirVenture in oshkosh. The aircraft

drove away from its exhibit on the

south side of the field, with the

company's chief test pilot, Phil

Meteer, at the controls. He drove

down Celebration Way and onto

Phillips 66 Plaza, steering the air-

plane like a car, trailed by a crowd

of curious onlookers, with the wings

folded up. once on the ramp, the

wings unfolded, and Meteer stepped

out of the cockpit to conduct a pre-

flight before driving down to the

end of the runway for takeoff.

Diesel for Glasair

Glasair Aviation LLC was acquired

in 2012 by Chinese company zhuhai

Hanxing General Aviation Co. Ltd.

(zHGAC) of China and announced

at AirVenture that its Build-A-Plane

Ken Wallis who died in

September aged 97

flying his autogyro


FlyinG CrACkerS

Chairman. During his time there they developed the

Wessex, Sea King and with Anglo French coopera-

tion the Gazelle and Lynx projects. He was awarded

a CBE in 1976.

USAF Fuel Testing Flights

Two U.S. Air Force C-17 aircraft flying in formation

showed how to save the Air Force up to $10 million

per year in fuel costs. The test flights, conducted in

July, departed from Edwards AFB in California and

flew to Hawaii and back. The trailing aircraft's

autopilot software was tweaked to enable it to main-

tain the optimum fuel-saving position, about 3,000

to 6,000 feet behind the lead aircraft. "Maintaining

position in the [fuel-saving] formation is no more

task-saturating for the aircrew than flying at cruise,"

said Maj. Kyle Clinton, one of the pilots who flew

the trailing C-17. Air Force oficials said that the tests

demonstrated in-flight rendezvous, day and night

operations, and several hours of flight on autopilot.

China looks for Foreign Pilots

Chinese airlines, reacting to rapid industry growth,

are seeking to attract experienced pilots by offering

salaries and benefits roughly double that of the

average U.S. airline captain, The Wall Street Journal

reported Friday. Top salaries offered by some

Chinese airlines exceed $225,000, and the country's

current pay leader, Hainan Airlines, is advertising

pay packages up to $270,000 per year. That

push is part of a surge that has over the past 18

months seen pay offers to foreign pilots rise by up to

30 percent, the Journal said.

Increased Refurbishment Market

A new report by marketsandmarkets.com says the

aircraft refurbishing and repurposing market will

grow to $4.3 billion in 2017, up from about $3 bil-

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lion in 2012. The report, which covers aircraft from busi-

ness jets to heavy transport, looks at the existing opportu-

nities and areas of future growth and covers opportunities

all over the world. New airplanes sales may be a little soft,

but there is an increase in doing up older aircraft; every-

thing from new panels to fresh paint to full-up interiors.

Stowaway Survives

A Nigerian teenager who survived a stowaway flight in a

main gear well of an Arik Air airliner was captured after

hopping onto the ramp at Lagos International Airport on

Sunday. The flight from Benin to Lagos (153 miles) is a

short one and the aircraft only reached 21,000 feet on the

30-minute hop, no doubt contributing to the survival

of the boy.

Teenager Survives Crash in Mountains

McKenzie Morgan, while flying part of a long cross coun-

try Tuesday, crashed the Cessna 172 she was flying in

mountains near Meeteetse, Wyoming. Fortunately, she

crashed not far from a cabin once owned by Amelia

Earhart and within sight of two hunters. Morgan, a student

pilot, told reporters she had become disoriented, flying in

nearly the opposite direction of her intended destination.

She entered a valley with rising terrain that evolved into a

box canyon. The plane eventually impacted the ground

near 13,150-foot Francs Peak and the aircraft flipped.

Buy a Cessna in a Car Boot Sale!

A Minnesota man found a ready market for his 1946

Cessna 140 when he included it in a garage sale he organ-

ized for his father. "We just put it in there as a last-minute

deal," Robbie Love, of East Grand Forks, told

GoodMorningAmerica.com. "We were going to have a

garage sale for my dad, and I just figured I'd put it in there

to see what interest there was in the local area. And geez,

I've gotten calls from all over."

A Pilot Reports

Flying back from Belfast to Blackpool several years ago, I

heard a GA pilot behind me cleared for take-off by the

tower. The tower then reminded him of the local noise reg-

ulations. The pilot replied that he understood and added

helpfully that he would only be using one engine in this

instance.

59 Great ormond Street, London WC1N-3Hz, England.

Telephone: 020-7430-2384, Email: [email protected].

Please include your name, and email or phone.

Rotorway Scottish Challenge

Dear Georgina,

I believe I am the only operator of the 162F in

Scotland and it was a big decision to buy it knowing I

would need to bring it to Takeley each year for the

Annual Permit renewal. But after listening to my type

rating instructor (John Jackson) say he had heard of

one being flown to Ireland, I reckoned the 400 mile

trip to Scotland would be `doable`.

I already had experience of helping to ferry Robinson

22 and 44 from north of the border to service facilities

near Milton Keynes and with a bit of thought it should

be no more difficult in the Rotorway.

My preferred routing is:

Fife to Millfield (gliding site) or Eshott for fuel

(110nm)

Eshott to Bagby International (90 nm ) hanger the

R612F overnight, refuel in the morning.

Bagby to Wickenby ( 70 nm) top up fuel.

Wickenby to Fenland (40 nm) top up fuel.

Fenland to Takeley, south perimeter of Stansted

(55nm)

Total approx 370 nm

I treat all of the above as short bite size `nav ex` trips

with a fairly big fuel reserve margin, topping the tanks

at each stop and carrying an emergency 20 ltr in the

cargo box between the skids.

The max range I adhere to is to fly no more than 1.5

hours without refueling,hence the frequent stops.

Needless to say I must do this solo to keep all in bal-

ance and within CofG.

There is surprisingly enough room for an overnight

bag, the handling wheels,one full fuel can and one

empty 20ltr can.

I fly this trip over two days,treating it as a mini holi-

day and not being stressed out by time scale there is

plenty time for the fuel stops,each time approx 2 hours

from landing to take off again.

Last year was a challenge as the trip coincided with

the olympic Games and also had to file a flight plan

through Atlas at Fenland to allow zone transit over

head Stansted for Takeley and Southern Helis, at least

I wont need to do that this time!!

The return trip is just a reverse of the above, but if I

was friendly with people en route I could obviously fill

up with `Mogas` and avoid dropping into airfields!

We are blessed in Scotland with fantastic places to fly

and mostly in uncontrolled airspace but I look forward

to my trips south of the border and the nav challenges

being in unfamiliar territory bring.

My wee heli G-WHoo has exceeded my expecta-

tions and performs surprisingly well given most of

these only do around 20 hours a year, (my total on this

machine will be around 90 hours in the 18 months

since it arrived up here and when i take it back for the

annual in September)

Hopefully more pilots up here will give the 162 a try

and find out what fun this little helicopter can be.

Wishing you all the best with Helicopter Life

John White

continued on page 13

leTTerS To The ediTor

10 HELICOPTER LIFE, Autumn 2013

Letters are continued on pages 23, 24, 25


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Bristow Helicopters Ltd yesterday appointed

Balfour Beatty as its infrastructure delivery partner

to support the development of its UK Search and

Rescue service.

As the main contractor, the company will now begin

outsourcing various aspects of the building works to local

contractors in the communities in which the bases will be

established.

The contract, worth in excess of £40m will see Balfour

Beatty delivering infrastructure projects at nine sites

across the UK between 2014 and 2017 including the con-

struction of seven new build search and rescue helicopter

bases at commercial airports in Inverness, Manston,

Prestwick, Caernarfon, St Athan, Humberside and

Newquay, and the refurbishment of an existing facility in

Stornoway. The ninth SAR helicopter base which will be

used by Bristow to deliver the contract is an existing

Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA) facility at Lee-

on-Solent and a final tenth base shall be an existing

Bristow facility at Sumburgh.

At the forefront of sustainability, the new helicopter

bases include a raft of environmental technologies includ-

ing PV solar panels and rainwater harvesting systems.

Bristow Helicopters was awarded the ten-year UK

Search and Rescue contract by the Department for

Transport in March 2013 and is due to take over the serv-

ice on behalf of the MCA from April 2015.

Construction is due to commence in early 2014 with

developments continuing until early 2017.

visit Bristow SAR website www.bristowsar.com

BuSineSS For heliCopTerS

new

Balfour Beatty to support uK SAR


Bond benefits from £1billion of new Lending

The Government’s Business Finance Partnership

scheme is said to free more than £870m of new

lending since March. The scheme is designed to

create new private sector sources of lending for small and

medium sized businesses, to fill the gap left by the reduc-

tion in bank lending. It has so far raised £5 of lending for

every £1 of taxpayers’ money.

Six new lending funds have been created by the

scheme and are backed by investors that previously lent

to large businesses but are now re-directing their money

to medium sized companies. A further seven non-tradi-

tional sources of lending for smaller businesses have also

been supported, such as peer-to-peer platforms and sup-

ply chain finance providers.

So far, 18 medium-sized businesses have received a

total of £827m of lending through the scheme. These

businesses have an average turnover of £80m and around

550 staff. A further 880 small businesses have also

received loans totalling another £50m.

The Chancellor, George osborne, visited Bond

Aviation in Gloucester in September, one of the compa-

nies to have received loans. Bond Aviation provides air

ambulance, search and rescue, and other helicopter sup-

port, and the loan from the Business Finance Partnership

will help the business to expand in the UK.

continued from page 10

Ken Wallis Dies aged 97

Dear Georgie,

I was saddened to hear of the death of Ken Wallis on

the 1st.September. What a nice man.

I attach a photograph I took of him on his stand at

Fly! The London Air Show with his autogiro "Little

Nellie" from the Bond movie back in April 2005.

I hope the photo conveys the fact that he always had

all the time in the world to give to people, as well as

being a consummate professional in an area of avia-

tion that he could almost call his own.

Kindest Regards,

Aussie Brown

Photographer

To The ediTormore leTTerS

Bond Aviation (Bond) is based in Gloucester and

Aberdeen. Part of the UK-based Avincis Group, Bond

companies in the UK operate a mixed fleet of over forty-

five helicopters and employ around 630 staff. The loan

they have received will refinance existing lending more

flexibly, releasing cash flow to grow the business. In the

next 12 months Bond companies in the UK intend to

invest many millions in new medium and heavy helicop-

ters, as well as hiring and training skilled staff and

expanding their bases around the UK.

HELICOPTER LIFE Autumn 201314

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Ken Wallis the pinoneer inventor and gyrocopter

pilot dies aged 97

Little nellie Bows Out

Wing Commander Ken Wallis died on 1st

September 2013. He had a life spanning most

all types of aviation but, in spite of being an

Honorary Editor of Helicopter life, never had a helicop-

ter licence, preferring instead to fly autogyros. This, he

said, was because he did not like the instability of heli-

copters!

He explained: “rotor systems in flight follow a shallow

cone relying oncentrifugal force to control the blades..

both helicopters and autogyros flywith the point of the

cone at the bottom, but with helicopters the air comes-

from the top whilst with autogyros the air comes from

underneath. Strictly speaking,” he adds, “the term heli-

copter could actually be applicable technically to an aut-

ogyro. Heli implies a twisting screw shape, while opter

can imply a wing. Helicopters screw up through the air,

while autogyros screw down!”

Ken Wallis learnt to fly in 1937. Having been twice

turned down by the RAF because of a problem in his

right eye, he decided to learn to fly as a civilian at

Cambridge. He paid £14 for his ‘A’ licence, including

helmet, goggles and a gosport speaking tube and

received an Aviators Certificate issued by The Royal

Aero Club. However, he only once used his certificate:

when he was in his Austin 7 saloon with a girl in 1940

(“we had the lights out we weren’t breaking the black-

out”) and a policeman open the door to investigate. Ken

showed his certificate and the policeman overcome with

admiration insisted he must do whatever he liked (as

long as it didn’t interfere with the blackout).

In 1938 Wallis applied for a short service commission

and was again turned down on the grounds of poor eye-

sight. The doctor said: “You would never be able to land

an aeroplane, Wallis.” When Ken explained he already

had an ‘A’ licence the doctor added, “I am speaking of a

high-speed aeroplane like a Hawker Hart.”!

Undaunted, in 1938 Wallis joined the newly inaugurat-

ed Civil Air Guard as a pilot, thanks to his ‘A’ Licence.

Knowing he would be called up for medical tests when

the war came, he learnt the Bishop Harman binocular test

by heart, which, as he puts it; “was indeed of value when

I was called up for the tests at RAF Uxbridge in october

1940.”

In 1941 Wallis flew Lysanders. “There was no co-

Helicopter After-life

HELICOPTER LIFE Autumn 2013

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pilot,” he explains, “the pilot had to write up his log,

undertake the navigation etc while rattling away on the

Morse key sending messages back to the Corps HQ.”

The strangest thing was the lack of communication with

the gunner: there was an armour plated wall between

him and the pilot. “As I recall it,” says Wallis, “the pilot

could pass a written message such as ‘3 degrees port on

the camera’, which was in the gunner’s compartment,

through a small door in the armour plate bulkhead.

Hopefull, the gunner saw this as it fell in.

However, even if the gunner could have tried to write

to the pilot it would not have succeeded. It would have

fallen behind the seat unnoticed.” Later these were

amended and a cord was drilled through the metal wall

and attached to the pilot’s shoulder which the gunner

could pull for attention.

Ken explains: “When this ‘great breakthrough’ in

communications occurred the pilot’s shoulder harness

on the side from which the attack was being made

would be pulled. one pull would indicate an attack on

that side and below, two pulls for level...etc...the pilot

would respond by a tight turn into the attack; if he was

not already being shot down!”

In 1941, Ken moved on to flying the Wellington.

“There were no special navigation instruments, just a

compass and a watch, we had to rely on Dead

Reckoning. We had to hope the wind was right but if we

couldn’t find the target we were supposed to bring the

bombs back.” Consequently many crews ran out of fuel.

on one such occasion Ken was returning from a run

and was almost out of fuel when he was told the whole

of England was under fog and he would have to divert

Ken in his

office

to Scotland. With the gauges already showing empty he

tried to make an approach to Binbrook in Lincolnshire.

After a number of attempts to land he thought “there was

little sense in the rest of the crew staying aboard while I

was making these suicidal passes. Luckily, while I was

asking Binbrook if the crew could bale out she was climb-

ing like a bird, being so light, and then both engines

stopped. I was, of course, the last to leave, and just in

time.”

His next accident was when the Wellington was brought

down by a British balloon barrage, allegedly set up to stop

low flying German planes bombing strategic places such

as ports they brought down 90 British planes as well as

233 enemy planes.

In January 1942, Ken was flying the Wellington over

Emden, “when a reconnaissance flare went off in the bomb

bay due to iced-up bomb doors. We jettisoned all the

bombs and they went down flaming, but we were also on

fire for quite a bit of the way back.”

After the third raid on Rostock, Ken was moved in May

1942 to Moreton in Marsh, where he flew the Anson carry-

ing six wireless operator/air gunners.

“They would take turns at the Morse key as we flew the

usual training routess over the North Sea..to give the

Germans the impression that training was proceeding as

Ken in the

garden!


usual. In fact the training Wellingtons were bombed-up

and waiting for the orders for the first Thousand Bomber

raid.”

After flying in the Navigation Flight for a while Wallis

applied to go back on operations, flying the exciting new

Mosquito night fighters. But when his eyes were checked

the problem with his defective right eye once again sur-

faced. However, this time he was sent to a specialist,

who, pronouncing: “I’d rather have a pilot with fire in

his belly than good eyesight,” gave him specially adapted

goggles.

Unfortunately, he missed out on the chance of flying

‘Mossies’ and instead took command of ‘X’ Flight Aerial

Gunnery Training, before going back on bomber opera-

tions in the Wellington in Italy and Morocco in 1944.

When the war ended Ken wanted to stay in the RAF

but by this time his special goggles had been found and

another row about his eyesight had broken out, so Ken

opted for the air armaments division. However, in those

days if you had been a pilot you were allowed to borrow

planes like a Proctor or Chipmunk from Hendon and fly

yourself home at weekends or on duty flights. Ken’s new

reformed licence said he could fly with a passenger (of

course it meant safety pilot) and Ken seeing that

assumed he could fly with more than one passenger, so

he used to fly clients around the country on military

business and made good use of his plane privileges.

In 1953, when posted to the Air Ministry job, Ken was

given the opportunity to convert on to jet aircraft and

gain a green instrument rating on them, but first he had

to do a refresher course on Harvards. When this found its

way onto the bureaucratic table there was another excite-

ment over his eyesight, increased by the discovery that

he had been flying passengers. But Ken was clearly too

good to lose as, in spite of all these misdemeanours, he

remained in the RAF.

In 1955, flying a Chipmunk out of Hendon, he had an

engine failure at 300 feet. Although it was a built-up area

he managed to land in a small park, through a couple of

trees and narrowly missing a park bench covered with

nannies and children. For this he got a green endorse-

ment on his licence for special conduct. only his wife

was unimpressed. He says: “She had been a WAF officer

on my Bomber Station at Elsham Wolds, Lincs 1941 &

‘2. Her attitude was, ‘what is all the fuss about? There

was no one shooting at him!”

Remaining in the RAF, he was seconded to the USAF

to Strategic Air Command where he flew the 10 engined

RB36H carrying atom bombs. These planes had 6 piston

and 4 jet engines and flew for 36 hours at a time without

refuelling. There were 22 in the crew including 4 pilots

and Ken describes it as ‘flying a small village’. In this

plane he flew over the North pole.

While still in the military Ken had continued his inter-

est in building and inventing both aircraft and other

machines, for example having seen the smallest camera

available for spy work he noticed that while the film was

small the mechanism was not. So, employing “a focal-

plane shutter of my own design, reducing the amount of

mechanism involved and using the space for a bigger

picture format capable of bigger enlargement” he created

the tiniest possible camera at that time.

In 1936, he made some models of the flying flea,

although his had not yet flown when they were banned

Ken loved showing

visitors his gyro

collection


from flying.

His father and uncle had already built a Wallbro

Monoplane in 1910, (the world’s first steel tube plane, it

used conventional ailerons instead of wing warping for

roll control,) so in some ways Ken, and his cousin

Geoffrey who helped him, were following in the family

tradition with their aircraft building, but Ken took it

much further. Ken also made a replica of the Wallbro and

flew it in 1978. It is now in the Norfolk and Suffolk

Museum at Flixton in Suffolk.

In 1947, Ken modified one of the WW2 German jet

engines, a 270cc 2 cylinder 2 stroke engine (which in his

post war armament work he was involved in ‘killing’)

and fitted it to a Petrel glider. one evening at Redhill,

after, he says “I had carried the complete assembly,

together with a champagne bottle filled with fuel on the

train from Brighton to London, on the underground to

my Kensington office and then by train to Redhill,” it

was flown in 10 successful flights by Test Pilot Hugh

Kendall his glider pilot wife.

Post-war, Ken became aware of a number of small

rotorcraft experiments, including the rotor-kite towed by

U-boats and the UK ‘Rotachute’ designed by Raoul

Hafner, a rotary winged parachute which could be

steered to a chosen landing site. It was not used opera-

tionally but did inspire several other designs including

Dr Benson’s ‘Gyroglider’. While in the US Ken pur-

chased plans for the Bensen B-7 Gyroglider but was

determined he would make his with conventional con-

trols rather than the control column hanging from the

rotor head as in the gyroglider. He was also determined

to have an engine and propeller. The Bensen versions

also soon flew under power, now called the Bensen

‘Gyrocopter.’

By 1958, Ken was seriously experimenting with auto-

gyros. He did his first tests at Shoreham, where he met

the Miles brothers, who convinced him this should have

a military capability. Wallis agreed. However in 1959,

when displaying at the Battle of Britain display at RAF

Tangmere, Sussex, “a fast pass which should have been

followed by a smooth climb quickly became steeper than

I had intended. I had been flying long enough to recog-

nise pitch instability problem. I duly issued a warning on

this aspect in the Third Flight Test Report to the then

Ministry of Aviation...on this potential hazard.”

This led to a change in direction and Ken designed a

completely new autogyro. He says: “I had always felt

that...my version of the Bensen B-7 would serve as a

‘stepping stone’ to a more practical autogyro. The Miles

brother’s interest, together with possible military roles in

mind, spurred me to take the design of a completely new

autogyro very seriously. It incorporated many patented

features. The prototype G-ARRT, designated the Tyne

WA-116, first flew in August 1961.”

Miles Aircraft Ltd., received the Contract to Joint

Services operational Requirement for three autogyros for

Army Air Corps Trials following a number of demonstra-

tions done by Ken. Unfortunately the 62/63 winter was

so cold and snowy that most of the Army Air Corps

pilots, when faced with Ken’s outdoor autogyro or a nice

cozy cockpit helicopter knew where to put their mark

Ken says: “it was undoubtably a premature trial.”

In 1964, Ken finally left the Air Force as the RAF

were cancelling many projects, such as the Fairey

Rotodyne, from lack of finance. He and cousin Geoffrey

set up a business in Cambridge building autogyros. Ken

says: “The Norfolk and Norwich Aero Club at Swanton

Morley “acquired one to ‘test the waters’. Any qualified

aeroplane pilot could become a day member of the club

continued on page 48

He was still flying

well in his 90s


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Around the WorldCommercial Certificate for Ansat

Russian Helicopters announced that the light multi-

role commercial Ansat with hydro-mechanical

controls produced by Kazan Helicopters has

obtained type certification from the Aviation Register of

the Interstate Aviation Committee.

Kazan Helicopters, the Russian Helicopters company

that designed and produces the Ansat, began work on

certification of the commercial hydro-mechanical version

of the helicopter in 2011. Previously Kazan Helicopters

produced a fly-by-wire version of the Ansat; however, no

commercial fly-by-wire helicopter had obtained certifica-

tion anywhere in the world, and there were no estab-

lished requirements for such a helicopter. To bring the

helicopter to market more quickly it was decided to

adjust the Ansat programme accordingly by switching to

a traditional hydro-mechanical system. The helicopter

retains the same take-off weight and technical parameters

with the new controls.

Experts say that the modernized Ansat has a number

of important competitive advantages over other models

in its class. It is reliable and easy to operate, can tolerate

a wide range of climates and temperatures, and is suit-

able for outdoor storage. Russian Helicopters has already

demonstrated the new Ansat in key markets including the

CIS, South-East Asia, Africa and Latin America.

The fly-by-wire Ansat programme continues to make

successful progress in the military sector. The Russian

Defence Ministry is buying the Ansat-U training model

for its flight-training schools. Institutes of the Russian

Air Force's Military Training Centre will also receive a

consignment of Ansat-Us in November 2013 under the

current contract.


new Kamov Ka-62 at mAKS

Air BP expands its presence in Spain with the

opening of two new refuelling services. Leading

international aviation fuel supplier, Air BP, con-

tinues to expand its presence in Spain with the opening

of two new into-plane refuelling services for all general

and business aviation traffic. Effective immediately, new

Air BP installations at Palma de Mallorca Airport (PMI)

and Don Quijote Airport, near Toledo are now fully oper-

ational enabling added convenience and time saving effi-

ciency for its customers.

Air BP Expands Presence in Spain

Russian Helicopters, a subsidiary of oboronprom,

part of State Corporation Rostec and a leading

global designer and manufacturer of helicopters,

presented the first prototype of the new medium multi-

role Ka-62 at the MAKS International Aviation & Space

Salon, which took place on August 27 in the Moscow

Region town of zhukovsky. The helicopter was built at

the Company's manufacturing plant in the town of

Arsenyev in Russia's Far East, and has already arrived at

the Gromov Flight Research and Development Institute

aerodrome, where it will be based before taking part in

the exhibition as part of Russian Helicopters' static dis-

play.

The Ka-62 is the first helicopter that Russian

Helicopters has created in international co-operation with

European partners who worked on individual compo-

nents. The Ka-62 is fitted with the latest Ardiden 3G

engines made by France's Turbomeca, which meet the

highest environmental and fuel-efficiency standards. The

engines' dual-channel FADEC system ensures reliability

and ease of operation.

Another French company, zodiac Aerospace, a global

leader in aviation systems, has supplied the helicopter's

fuel system. In addition, the transmission has been made

by Austrian firm zoerkler, which has many years' experi-

ence and the advanced technologies necessary to engi-

neer high-precision drives and gears.

The Ka-62 is equipped with the latest avionics system

including a glass cockpit developed by Russian company

Transas and a navigation system that supports GPS and

GLoNASS. In future it may also add support for

Galileo, the satellite navigation system being developed

by the EU and European Space Agency in collaboration

with China, Israel, South Korea, Ukraine and Russia.

The first customer for the Ka-62 is Brazilian company

Atlas Taxi Aereo, which has placed an order for seven of

the helicopters. The first consignment is planned to be

used in offshore work for Brazilian national oil company

Petrobras.


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ing in neonatal resuscitation. Its features are designed to

focus on the critical and the resuscitation skills required

in the first ten minutes of a newborn baby’s life. The air-

way is designed to allow for training in all aspects of

newborn airway management, and allows the use of air-

way devices. Anne accurately represents a full term (40 week)

newborn female measuring 21 inches and weighing 7lb.

A team of specialist Doctors and Consultants across the

region are providing education and training as part of the

Advanced Paramedic Practice (Critical Care) Programme.

Dr Farhad Islam, Consultant in Emergency Medicine at

Royal Bournemouth Hospital said, “These simulation

tools will provide the paramedics with scenarios and

emergency critical incidents, tailored and modified quick-

ly in preparation for real patient encounters.

“A critically ill patient’s condition can change in a mat-

ter of seconds, so being able to react quickly and precise-

ly is paramount. The mannequin is similar to the ones we

use in hospital to teach doctors and is particularly useful

for practising less frequently encountered but critical life

saving procedures, as well as improving team working

skills with an added sense of realism.”

Providing such tools come at a cost (just over £40,000)

and with no direct Government or National Lottery fund-

ing, the charity relies on the public to help it raise the

funds to purchase items such as these.

Bill Sivewright, Dorset and Somerset Air Ambulance

Chief Executive officer We believe that the training value

of these simulation tools, make them a valuable invest-

ment in the future of our service.” Dorset and Somerset

Air Ambulance has attended more than 9,350 emergen-

cies since its launch in March 2000.

Dorset and Somerset Air Ambulance has purchased

three new simulation manikins as part of their

vision to provide maximum patient benefit to the

people of the two counties.

The manikins, all realistic in size and weight, will

have a large part to play in the training and development

of the Charity’s paramedics. ‘SimMan Essential’ (with

patient monitor), ‘Crash Kelly’ and ‘Newborn Anne’

became the latest members of the team when the life-sav-

ing service took delivery earlier this month.

‘SimMan Essential’ is a wireless patient simulator and

will help with learning core skills of airway, breathing,

cardiac and circulation management. The added realism

helps the air ambulance crew to practice life saving drills

and skills, both in the classroom and in the tricky envi-

ronments that they may encounter. It also features a vari-

ety of eye movements and pupil dilation levels, simulated

spontaneous breathing and abnormal breathing sounds,

vascular access, manual drug recognition and a number

of cardiac features.

The wireless touch screen simulated patient monitor pro-

vides the training team with concise clinical feedback The

monitor provides multiple simulated parameters, each pre-

senting multi-level alarms, snapshots of ECG’s, patient X-

rays, CAT scans, MRI’s and other diagnostic tools.

‘Crash Kelly’ is a durable, rugged training manikin

with an intubation head for advanced airway manage-

ment training and realistic articulation allowing the

manikin to be placed in various settings for extrication or

rescue. The head can be tilted forward, backward or

rotated 90 degrees to either side.

‘Newborn Anne’ is a manikin designed for skills train-

Dorset & Somerset manikins


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Eurocopter has successfully demonstrated new

landing procedures relying on augmented satellite

guidance that can be tailored to more completely

comply with the local environmental requirements.

These new landing procedures were validated with a

twin-engine Eurocopter EC155 during flight tests per-

formed as part of the company’s participation in the

Green Rotorcraft Integrated Technology Demonstrator

program – which is part of Europe’s Clean Sky Joint

Technology Initiative.

Eurocopter’s validation flights demonstrated signifi-

cant reductions in the helicopter’s perceived sound foot-

print - consistent with predictions. They also confirmed

that such automated low-noise approaches could be tai-

lored to local environmental requirements, thereby opti-

mizing Eurocopter helicopter operations for even the

most sensitive environments.

The flight testing involved the use of optimized noise

abatement flight paths compatible with Instrument Flight

Rules (IFR) operations. During the EC155’s landing

approaches, vertical guidance was provided by EGNoS,

the European Satellite-Based Augmentation System

(SBAS), with the helicopter’s Flight Management

System (FMS) coupled to the Automatic Flight Control

System (AFCS). This enabled the new approach profiles

to be flown accurately, minimizing the pilot workload

with an automatic monitoring of speed profiles and

ascent/descent rates.

“Improving the neighbour-friendly aspects of rotor-

craft continues to be a priority for us, and these new tests

underscore how advanced flight guidance systems can be

brought together with the latest navigation technologies

Eurocopter Quieter Helicopters

to reduce perceived sound,” said Yves Favennec, Vice-

President of Research at Eurocopter.

The Green Rotorcraft Integrated Technology

Demonstrator program that supported Eurocopter’s

EC155 flight evaluations is part of the Clean Sky Joint

Technology Initiative, which is Europe’s most ambitious

aeronautical research program ever. Clean Sky’s goal is to

develop breakthrough technologies that significantly

increase environmental performance of the air transport

sector, resulting in quieter and more fuel efficient aircraft

and rotorcraft

Eurocopter is a founding member of the Clean Sky

Joint Technology Initiative, and recently joined with its

other members to propose an extension of this effort dur-

ing the 2014-2024 time period.

EC155


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owner and Chairman Graham

Avery, who acquired the

PremiAir last year, has spent

the past six months restructuring and

reshaping the UK helicopter charter

and maintenance brand. The result is a

lean, debt free business, focused on

one operational base at Blackbushe

Airport in Surrey, an AoC and a team

of 60 engineers, technicians, design

specialists, admin and sales executives

- all eager to rebuild the business.

In parallel he has also acquired a

world leading E-learning training

organisation for airline pilots – with

bases in London (Gatwick), Dubai,

Houston, New York, Seattle and

Singapore and integrated it into

PremiAir to create PALS (PremiAir

Aviation Learning Systems).

They will be exhibiting at HeliTech

at Excel.

The First Flight of

Helicopter Berkut VL

new Improved PremiAir

The first demonstration flight of the unique light

helicopter «Berkut VL» will be held at the

International aviation and space salon MAKS’13.

This twoseater coaxial model is intended for serial pro-

duction and has no analogues on the Russian market.

«Berkut VL» creates a new class of multi-purpose heli-

copters. Due to its low price and low operation cost it

gives the possibility to widen the use of helicopters in the

economy.

At MAKS

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Tiger’s First Growl

Chaff and Flare for EC725

Eurocopter’s Tiger combat helicopter program had

the maiden flight of the initial Tiger HAD/E vari-

ant assembled at Eurocopter's Spanish facilities in

Albacete, Spain.

The milestone helicopter assembled in Albacete, des-

ignated HAD/E-5002, will be the first unit to enter serv-

ice with the Fuerzas Aeromóviles del Ejército de Tierra

Spanish Army helicopter unit, with delivery planned by

the end of 2013. It follows the first prototype (HAD/E-

5001) – assembled at Eurocopter’s Marignane, France

facilities – which has been performing the certification

and qualification flight campaign in Spain since 2010.

There are 93 Tiger helicopters in service, 44,430 total

flight hours.

Helibras has successfully completed flight testing

of a chaff and flare countermeasures dispensing

system for EC725 helicopters, completing a first-

of-its-kind system integration project in Brazil and mark-

ing another key phase in Eurocopter’s contract to supply

50 of these Super Puma/Cougar family rotorcraft to the

Brazilian armed forces.

Six flights were performed with the self-protection

system – which is used to detect and identify threats to

the aircraft and confuse heat-seeking and radar-guided

missiles – validating its operation and integration with

the helicopter’s other functions. The system was devel-

oped by Helibras’ Engineering Center under the supervi-

sion of Chief Engineer Walter Filho.

Performed by a Brazilian Helibras crew of flight test

pilot Patrik Correa and flight test engineer Dreyfus Silva,

the airborne evaluations checked the dispensing of flares

and chaff throughout the EC725’s entire flight envelope.


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Aerial Peepers go national

The National Police Air Service (NPAS) was

launched in the United Kingdom on 1st october

2012. The aim is to consolidate the present system

of regional police aviation support services into one sys-

tem of borderless tasking, overseen by a central Despatch

and Flight Monitoring Service based in Bradford, West

Yorkshire. Integration is taking place region by region so

the system will not be fully implemented until January

2015. Interestingly, the idea of a national police aviation

support service was actually first proposed in 1964, so,

by the time it is fully implemented it will have taken 51

years!

Ever since the police first used an airship for surveil-

lance at the 1921 the police service has been aware of the

value of aviation. The government was not always so

committed, but has been involved in many trials includ-

ing using the military and the four ‘Aerial Peelers’ trials

(one of which was nicknamed the Peeping Peelers Saga!)

In 2004, the UK government initiated a research project

to look into the air assets used by the ‘blue light’ (emer-

gency) services and to assess the financial and opera-

tional efficiency of the current operational models

(including Search and Rescue) to suggest ways in which

efficiency might be improved in the future. The results

were published in 2011 and led to the Nation Police Air

Service.

There are forty-three territorial police forces in the

United Kingdom and, prior to NPAS, these were support-

ed by twenty-nine police aviation units, either locally

based or in small consortia, (for example, the South East

Air Support Unit, which supported Surrey, East and West

Sussex and Hampshire). Each aviation unit was

autonomous, choosing their own air power as required

and funded by the central government. one region was

co-ordinated with the air ambulance service and one

region did night air ambulance work. Eighteen of the avi-

ation units had EC135 helicopters, seven had MD902s,

three had EC145s, and there was one BK117, one

AW109E and one AS355, there were also two fixed wing

aircraft. It is said that when NPAS is fully implemented

these 33 aircraft will be reduced to 23, located at region-

al bases chosen by NPAS and available to the police

force in any area on a first called basis. However,

Matthew Woodward Communications officer of West

Yorkshire police said: “All existing police aircraft will

transfer to the office of the Police and Crime

Commissioner for West Yorkshire under the terms of the

National Collaboration Agreement. Any future decisions

regarding the composition of the NPAS fleet is a matter

for the NPAS Strategic Board”..

At the time of writing, two thirds of the police avia-

tion support units are already integrated into the service,

with one third (including the Metropolitan Police) still

outside. on April 1st 2013, the North East aviation units

Georgina Hunter-Jones looks at the implementation of NPAS

(National Police Air Service) to date


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(Cleveland, Durham, Humberside, Northumbria, North

Yorkshire, South Yorkshire and West Yorkshire) joined

NPAS. North East aircraft are now being based at Carr

Gate Wakefield, Sheffield, Humberside Airport,

Newcastle Airport, and Durham Tees Valley Airport.

Then, on 3rd July, Devon & Cornwall, Dorset, Avon &

Somerset, and Gloucestershire also joined the service.

Their aircraft will be located at Bournemouth Airport,

Exeter Airport, Filton, and Gloucestershire Airport.

However, Dyfed Powys and South Wales (who shared

a helicopter with Gwent police force,) who were also

supposed to join NPAS in July, refused to do so, stating

that it would give a decreased level of service.

Alun Michael, South Wales Commissioner, said, “The

National Police Air Service is a coalition government

decision, which has been imposed on police services in

England and Wales.”

The Dyfed Powys commissioner, Christopher Salmon,

said that he remains very much in favour of maintaining

access to a helicopter for the second largest force in the

UK. However, he pointed out that while the justification

for NPAS is clear, his force’s “great challenge” is its

geography, with the area of almost 4,200 square miles,

which is predominantly rural. He said that he is continu-

ing “in positive discussions with NPAS”.

The Home office spokesman said that NPAS would

give all the police forces access to modern helicopter sup-

port 24-hours a day and save up to £15million a year.

The spokesman added: “North Wales Police are

already members of NPAS, while Dyfed Powys, and

Gwent and South Wales Police are committed to joining

and we continue to work closely with them. A joining

date for these forces is expected to be agreed shortly.”

Under the former system two police services also gave

support to the Air Ambulance Service. Wiltshire, which

had an integrated service sharing a helicopter and a heli-

copter base, and Cambridgeshire, whose police helicopter

worked as a night time air ambulance service.

Wiltshire police service is currently due to join NPAS

in the last trench and will be active as part of NPAS from

December 2014. From that date, Wiltshire Air Ambulance

will have to work in an independent basis, funded entire-

ly by public donations. David Philpott, the CEo of

Wiltshire Air Ambulance, said that the air ambulance

service would be capable of meeting the ‘stand alone’

challenge. He said, “Wiltshire Air Ambulance does face

an enormous challenge … Wiltshire is the smallest coun-

ty and ...was only raising £750,000 per annum. However,

… since the new charity was formed we have gone from

being the worst air ambulance charity in terms of

fundraising to third best ... our income target in the cur-

rent financial year is £1.6 million and it looks like we

will comfortably smash that.”

Wiltshire Police and Air

Ambulance in co-operation

until 2014

There is no suggestion that the Wiltshire police avia-

tion support unit will not join NPAS in December 2014.

Critics of the old system complained that some areas

had a surfeit of aircraft available while other areas were

out of reach. They say that NPAS, under the lead force of

West Yorkshire Police, will deliver operational benefits

while still allowing for necessary financial cuts.

However, critics of the new system worry that this is

merely a cost cutting exercise by the coalition govern-

ment and that there will not be enough helicopters avail-

able and that important attempts to avoid crime may be

missed if all the helicopters are busy on routine work.

These critics also point to the differing areas served by

the police and suggest that a ‘one size fits all’ service

will not work. They point to the mountains of Scotland

and Wales and compare them with low-lying Devon and

Cornwall, where fogs and flooding are major problems.

They suggest that West Yorkshire, being considerably to

the north of the country, is too far from the centre and in

particular the capital city of London, where two-thirds of

the population live.

At present, though, both the government and the

majority of the police units are synchronised and want to

work with this system. Given the financial restrictions of

the time it is understandable that the government wants

to reduce the financial costs, and it is good that they

remain committed to aviation in the air and they under-

stand how policing is enhance by the use of aviation.

With luck this compromise of price and service will work

and the police will be able to continue the job for which

they are employed: catching criminals.


,

HeliTech @ Excel

HeliTech International 2013, was held for the first

time at The ExCeL Conference Centre in

London, and was held in association with the

European Helicopter Association. The helicopter flights

that accompanied the Duxford show were sadly miss-

ing, as was the buzz of the previous shows. However,

this was a business event, no longer the gentleman pilot

at work, but the businessman at his trade. But, was it as

good as the conference company - Reed Exhibitions -

predicted? Helicopter Life went to find out.

Bell had a B429 in the car park, which was doing

demonstration flights to Rochester for potential cus-

tomers, and there were some static aircraft, including

the AgustaWestland AW101, a medium-lift helicopter

displayed in a very magnificent civil VIP configuration.

Inside, there was an AgustaWestland AW189 mockup

Georgina Hunter-Jones reports on HeliTech in its

latest new home

27HELICOPTER LIFE, Autumn 2013

But was it Excellent?

and a South African AW139, with an amusing colour

scheme. Eurocopter had an EC130 T2, the EC145T2,

and a mock-up of the EC175 on their booth.

Sloane Helicopters displayed the Robinson R66,

sadly still on the N-register as EASA has still not

agreed to certification, in spite of the manufacturer and

distributors claims that this is due any moment.

There were also some announcements at the show.

The most wide-reaching was the Teal Group forecast

that 16,126 rotorcraft worth $193.1 billion will be pro-

duced between 2013 and 2022. This forecast only cov-

ers turbine helicopters and tilt-rotors and does not deal

with the ‘lower’ market of pistons and kit helicopters.

They forecast that the five major companies (Sikorsky,

AgustaWestland, Textron Bell, Eurocopter and Boeing)

will continue to dominate the market, something that

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Russian helicopters might dispute. Analyst Richard

Aboulafia does, however, give a slight nod to the enor-

mous number of helicopters produced by Robinson hel-

icopters when he remarks: “Very high barriers to market

entry remain firmly in place, with only Korea

Aerospace establishing any kind of new market pres-

ence, We also have Robinson's R66 light turbine heli-

copter. Since our forecast excludes piston engined heli-

copters, this model represents Robinson's sole presence

in our numbers.”

Charter company PremiAir announced its return to

the market under new management. Graham Avery, the

new owner and CEo, told the gathered journalists that

not only is the company intent on regaining and

improving its previous position as European market

leader, but that they will be marketing Blackbushe

Airfield as the West London Heliport. For the business

owner there is a package which will allow helicopter to

be left at the West London Heliport for training and

maintenance, while they take a car to the centre of

London or the local international airports, Gatwick and

Heathrow.

The Helicentre Aviation Academy in Leicester, who

are known for their generous training scholarships,

announced that they have just bought a third Cabri from

the Guimbal company. Furthermore, they have been

granted the National Grid contract for another seven

years, something that allows their new trainees to move

quickly onto employment once trained.

Bell Helicopters, whose UK distributor HeliCharter,

had a new facility opened by John Garrison only days

before HeliTech, were buoyant thanks to sales of the

Bell 429. Two Bell 429s were at HeliTech one, owned

by discount retailer Home Bargains, is of the higher

7,500 lb all up weight. Under the Isle of Man register

the Bell 429 has the higher weight limit of 7500 lbs, a

weight increase of 500 lbs more than the FAA and CAA

registered Bell 429s.

Gary Slater from Heli Charter told Helicopter Life

about the excitement that has been generated by the

announcement at Paris Le Bourget Air Show of the new

Bell ‘JetRanger Lite’. “If I could take deposits now I

would have already have enough to build several

machines,” he said humorously. “There has been so

much interest generated by that machine it is exciting.”

Eurocopter announced that:

“PDG Helicopters’ Squirrel fleet attains 200,000

flight hours as the Scottish on-shore helicopter operator

marks its 40th anniversary” and “Eurocopter

International Services extends its operational quality

management support for Starlite Aviation Ireland”.

Robinson were not actually at the show but sent a

press release in association with Russian Helicopters to

congratulate four Russian aviators - Michael Farikh,

the expedition’s leader, Alexander Kurylev, Vadim

Melnikov and Dmitry Rakitsky. These four pilots flew

two Robinson R66s around the world. They flew

24,512 miles, in a range of temperatures from 40

degrees centigrade to 1 degree, took 220 flight hours

and began and ended the trip in Moscow.

“The R66s performed exceptionally well from start

to finish, demonstrated a high degree of reliability and

required only routine maintenance.” said Mikhail

Yushov, CEo of Aviamarke.

Eurocopter EC145T2

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Opening of the new

Bell UK dealership

Heli Charter

John Garrison, Bell CEO, at

HeliCharter the Saturday before

HeliTech with Ken Wills, Cllr

Kay Dark and Cllr Clive Hart

Although only company helicopters could fly into

Excel itself, it was possible for private owners to

fly to Daymns Hall and get a bus to the show -

weather permitting

HeliTech started in Aberdeen. It then moved to

Redhill in Surrey, from there it went to Duxford in

Cambridgeshire, now it has moved to the Excel Centre

in London. Next year it will be in Amsterdam. on the

one hand, this shows the excellence of the brand,

which has been able to transport itself from a small

Scottish show to a major international one, on the

other hand it speaks loudly of mankinds love of uni-

formity and dislike of diversity. The movement is, as

one of the organisers reassured me, to make it a much

more B2B show, and, of course, that works perfectly.

only the question is - where were the pilots? Do you

need pilots to make a helicopter show thrive, or are

marketers and salesman quite sufficient?


Hey Georgina,

Last Saturday we, the Joint Helicopter Pilots

(www.jhp.aero ) organized the first Dutch Heli Day.

With over three thousand visitors on a rainy day, the

Dutch Heli Day was successful.

Visitors were allowed to take a look at the aircraft,

pilots were on hand to explain how everything

worked. The nice thing was the variety of visitors:

aspiring helicopter pilots, technically interested and

skeptics, but also fathers with sons.

There was a range of very different helicopters on

display from an R22, R44, S300, EC120, to the Royal

Flight Alouette III, the HEMS EC-135 and the off-

shore EC-155. Also there was a MI-2 and 2 drones of

the NLR.

In total, there were 17 helicopters on site this day!

There were also RC (Radio Controlled) helicopters,

and many helicopter corporate company’s demonstrat-

ing their logos to the visitors.

There are now plans for a second show. Given the

amount of preparatory work, that will not be next year,

but certainly in a few years. We are planning to

extend the day with more activities.

In this link you can download the big format

photo’s.

http://we.tl/m2GG9CuHpE

More info in Dutch on the website of JHP Joint

Helicopter Pilots: http://jhp.aero/pages/nieuws.php

And 2 movies of this day:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4M_gGEkLYD4

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=crChU_Lopj0

Best wishes,

Gerben van Beek

First JHP.Aero Dutch Heli Day


HEMS EC135

Alouette 111

Off shore EC155

M24 Magnigyro

32

Georgina Hunter-Jones seeks out the secrets of

kitbuilt fliers

Rotorway

The Rotorway Company was first incorporated in

1961 and since then has been under several differ-

ent owners and has had time to develop a variety

of different models, these range from the original

Scorpion to the current model, the Talon. Were the

Rotorway a certified model, that would mean that it

became a training helicopter, and, given its much cheap-

er costs, a popular model. However, kit helicopters are

different, and that is not just because many of them were

actually built by their owners.

There are currently about 40 Rotorways in the UK, of

these about 20 are flying: 2 Rotorway Execs, 7

Rotorway 90s, and 11 Rotorway 162Fs. After 1996, you

could only buy 162F, and you cannot buy new 162Fs, as

the company only makes Talons. However there is a

dilemma here: the CAA does not allow Talons in the

country. This, a problem itself, became more acute for

Bruce Alexander AME, who having bought a 162F body

to build needed an engine (and various other pieces)

when none were available. This was eventually solved

33

Autumn2013

Roughnecks

when Alexander was allowed to put a Talon engine into

a 162F body.

Nine of the British Rotorways are kept at Southern

Helicopters, based at the Bull Brother’s farm near

Stansted. This is also the engineering base where all the

annuals and many of the 25 hourly checks are done.

The Bull brothers have been the UK Rotorway dealers

for seventeen years and are well respected in the com-

munity, receiving nothing but praise from all the

Rotorway owners I talked to.

All the Rotorway helicopters are on a CAA permit.

This is different from fixed wing kits in the UK, which

are on a LAA (light Aircraft Association) permit. In the

USA and some Europe countries there is also an experi-

mental category, which allows different privileges

including training. There are also other drawbacks to

the CAA permit; no flying over built-up areas, no hire

or reward (with the exception of training of the owner

on his or her own machine) however, this is the same

permit on which ex-military helicopters are run.


Although the Rotorway is a conventional helicopter

with all the normal controls it does have a few differ-

ences, some are general for all kit helicopters, others are

Rotorway specific.

Tail rotor and belt

Firstly, there is the tail rotor shaft, which in all the

Rotorways until the Talon has been a belt. In the 162F

this is made up of three single belts on swinging arms

that stretch down the tail boom to the tail rotor in lieu of

a shaft. The good thing about this is it negates the need

for a gearbox at the tail rotor, and thus saves a lot of

weight. In the Talon the long belts are replaced by a

shaft, but that too has a small belt at the tail rotor end to

take away the need for a gearbox. Rotorway owners are

a little cynical about the change, feeling that this change

was inspired by complaints from non-Rotorway pilots,

as the belt has never failed to date.

The disadvantage of the tail belts is that when they

are new (and they must be replaced every two years) the

machine must be hovered for 3 hours to fully stretch

them into position, they are then tightened and there is

usually no need to stretch them any further. However,

there is a special belt tool to check the belts and most

pilots do that before and after every flight (see picture).

The belts are tightened at the tail rotor end.

The belts are made of Kevlar and this is an advantage

as Kevlar tightens when it gets warm, this is a fail-safe

factor. Kevin Longhurst, owner of G-KEVL, says,

“check the tail belts before and after every flight.” He

keeps his test-belt-plunger under the seat.

Balance weight

The next difference is the moveable weight. This is a

weighted hood that sits on the front skid for solo flying

Rotorway

engine

and on a specially designed shaft behind the engine for

dual flight. The weights are between 25 – 33 lbs, and

the exact weight depends on the model of Rotorway and

the size of the pilot. The Exec 90 had 25 lb weight and

very light pilots can opt to have a lighter weight.

Rotorway Engine

The engine is specially made by Rotorway at their

factory in Arizona. It is a piston engine (although in

other EASA countries they have experimented with the

Chinook APU used in the FAMA Kiss, the CAA does

not allow that here). The engine has an alternator belt

but no magnetos, so it runs directly on battery power.

This means that battery power is important and most

Rotorway pilots fly with that option on the ‘FADEC’ so

they can see battery charge condition.

“However,” Geoff Connelly points out, “this is not a

problem and as long as the alternator belt is working the

battery will be charging.”

Rotorway pilots prefer to see the battery charge

above 12 volts.

Another difference is that the engine is water-cooled.

This is very unusual in aircraft because of the additional

weight. However, Jonathan Ball explained, “in this case

it is not actually carrying much weight and water cool-

ing is much more efficient.”

While the 162 running system is called a FADEC, it

is not actually a Fully Authority Digital Engine Control,

as the helicopter has a manual throttle, nonetheless it is

a nearly FADEC system and known by that name. The

older Rotorways, such as the Exec, are not FADEC run

and have normal carburettor piston engine, while the

162s are fuel injected.

Rotorways are all designed to run on unleaded fuel

and mogas. This makes it cheaper to run and also allows

for the convenience of popping down to the garage to

get fuel in a can.

Rotorhead

The Rotorway blades run clockwise as opposed to the

normal American mode of anti-clockwise tractor. For

those taught on the American models this means a bit of

early training to get use to right pedal with power

instead of left. However, for the newer generation of

pilots taught on the French Cabri this is normal.

There are elastomeric bearings in the head, these are

similar to those used in the Schweizer but are specifical-

ly made for the Rotorway in their factory.

The reduction gearing in the head is a chain in a bath

of oil, for safety and cooling, this sits inside the dog-

house under the main rotor and has to be changed every

five years or 100 hours. In the Talon, instead of having

chains for reduction, the company has introduced a

broad belt. This is a dry system which the company says

is cheaper and avoids leaks.


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Kevin Longhurst taking

off from his garden

Jonathan Bull

checking the tail

belts

Weight in front

for flying solo

Position of the weight with

two in the cockpit

Rotorway Modifications

Modifications are allowed, however each one costs

£89 in CAA fees. So far this cost has been met by the

distributor as they assume that many different pilots

will want the mod once it has been seen to be useful.

Test Flight

A walk round before flight is indispensable in the

Rotorway as, as well as normal checks, the pilot must

ascertain if the machine is going to be used for solo or

dual flight and decide where to put the balance weight.

He must also test the tail rotor belt for play. on a full

pre-flight check the cowlings are removed and the

engine checked. However, for smaller checks there is

dipstick for fuel levels, and the oil is easily reachable.

Start-up is unusual, the collective is raised to set the

elastomeric bearings to their mid position to reduce the

sheer stress on the bearings and reduce collective loads

in flight. There should be no throttle on startup except

on the Talon engine, which needs a little. The MAP

will be around 29" prior to start-up, ie atmospheric

pressure.

There is a setting on the FADEC to see these, as

well as the pilot’s own judgement.

Tail belt tool


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“The pressure,” John Jackson, Rotorway instructor,

explains, “is not a direct concern at start up.”

In the 162 it is necessary to have the fuel pumps on

to start, however, this is different in the Exec 90 as

there are only booster fuel pumps. In the 162 turning

off the pumps is a way to stop the engine, in the Exec

90 the pilot turns off the fuel to stop the engine.

once the engine and blades are running the pilot runs

through his checks. These include checking various

‘pages’ on the FADEC.

Checking done, we are ready to take off. Lots of

right pedal is needed on lift off.

In flight, I took control to do turns left and right. The

controls felt a little stiff in my hands and there is an ini-

tial tendency for the machine to move up and down in

pitch. This gets better with time, but increases again

with speed. Geoff Connelly explained that this was spe-

cific to the Rotorways. It is caused by there being no

washout on the main blades so the lift generated is con-

centrated toward the outboard section meaning that disc

flapping is effectively amplified. John Jackson says, “I

wouldn't describe it as a 'fault', more of a 'handling

characteristic’.

Having got used to cruise flight we tried a few emer-

gencies. Geoff Connelly, Rotorway examiner, explains,

“most emergencies in a Rotorway are combated by an

autorotation: if the engine fails, autorotate; if the tail

rotor fails autorotate, so it is very important to get the

autorotation right.”

Autos are done by putting the lever fully down –

while this sounds normal, it is in fact something rather

different in a helicopter which is started with the collec-

tive slightly raised (at seat height) rather than on the

floor. Close the throttle and descend at 60 knots. The

rate of descent is about 2000 feet a minute, similar to

the R22 or H300. We did a go-around and the power

Talon panel

Bruce Alexander

with the pre-Talon

hybrid he built

himself

Iain Brown

fuelling G-KARN

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came back in easily, without problems.

Interestingly, the manufacturers do not recommend

practicing engine failures to the ground, as the structure

of the undercarriage is designed to deform during heav-

ier vertical impacts - rather like car crumple zones.

John Jackson explains, “They're not encouraged in

order to protect the undercarriage.”

However, these have been done in practice in experi-

enced hands.

We returned to the airfield to do some hovering. It

does take a little while to get used to hover the

Rotorway. This is, I think, because the controls are a lit-

tle stiff and have more lag than their manufactured

brothers. However, after a few minutes I started to be

able to hover the 162F like any other helicopter. It is

notable that where there is instability, it is in pitch

rather than in roll.

Landings were a little hard at first, as the machine

likes to land directly downwards, like an R22, rather

than slightly forward, like a H269. one I understood

this, it seemed easier to land. Taking off was unprob-

lematic.

overall, I thought this was a nice helicopter. Like all

kits it is lighter than the majority of factory made heli-

copters, and has a few things that most owners would

G-KARN

Console

Rotorway dipstick

Iain Brown with

G-KARN

like to change. However, the Rotorway has one great

advantage of most kit built helicopters, and that is time.

They have been around for more than twenty years, the

company has had the flexibility to make changes,

moreover, there is a general feeling that they will only

get better. of course, most of the owners would proba-

bly secretly prefer a non-kit helicopter but they would

not like to pay the non-kit price. Certainly, if there is

ever going to be another mass-market helicopter, there

is a good chance, give the current legislation, that it

will be a kit.

Fuel burn on the 162F is 30 litres an hour, which

costs about £41. other costs are: renewing the permit

every year, maintenance which costs about £2,500 a

year. There is also the cost of hangarage and insurance.

However, the majority of the Rotorway pilots kept their

machines at home. Since it has two blades it can be

folded away easily into a small space and would fit in

the average garage. John Jackson points out, “For stor-

age, the blades don't readily fold - but as a 2-blader, it

takes up minimal space anyway. one owner has a 40ft

hi-cube shipping container as his hangar.”

Recently there have been many Rotorway purchasers

from China and Indonesia. This would seem to reflect

the general interest in helicopters in the Far East.

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The Roughnecks

In my experience helicopter owners tend to be

individuals who like their own space and are not

concerned with forming groups, Rotorway pilots

appear different from this, they appear to me to be

guys who enjoy coming together to discuss their

machines and share information. This is in many

ways more like the owners of light aircraft, who

are generally quite sociable and like to do things

together. While this is obviously a generalisation

based on the small number of kit helicopter fliers

available, it was definitely the feel I got with my

day at the Rotorway Roughnecks.

Kevin Longhurst keeps his Rotorway in a shed

in the garden. He reckons it costs him £200 an

hour total cost, based on 30 hours flying. Kevin

did not build his own machine, as he did not have

time, and bought one that had already been used.

He loves flying the machine.

Bruce Alexander AME built his own Talon

engined Rotorway 162F. Bruce used to own a

H300 in South Africa but wanted to try building

one. He has a Talon engine in his 162F because no older

engines available. It has single injectors instead of the double

injector system of the 162Fs, this was allowed this because

there has never been an injector failure, but did cause difficul-

ties with the CAA when getting a permit.

Bruce explains that, “every new thing he put in required

full circuitry and each of these was a mod to be paid for and

checked by the CAA. He was also allowed an extra 10 lbs of

weight. His empty weight is 985 lbs.

Paul Vaughan used to fly radio-controlled helicopters.

However, his wife found it so annoying when he would fly

them round her head, she suggested he went and had a trial

lesson to try out the real thing: he never looked back. He pre-

viously had a share in a R44 but found the cost was too high,

he then decided to buy the Rotorway and loves it.

He bought the helicopter that was featured in the pro-

gramme a Chopper is Born.

Paul says the 162F is “more stable than an R22” and is

“fantastic in auto.”

Iain Brown named his Rotorway 90 in memory of his late

wife, who supported him in his Rotorway ventures. The

machine felt more stable and ironically is actually quieter

G-CBJV has an

extra luggage pod

Paul Vaughan and the

Rotorway guru and dis-

tributor Jonathan Bull

next to GCBJV

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Rotorway Specifications:

Total kit price USD $60,850*

Powerplant RotorWay RI162F (162 cu.in.)

Seats 2

Gross Weight 1,500 lbs

Empty Weight 975 lbs

Pilot & Passenger Load 425 lbs

Fuel Capacity 17 gal

Rate of Climb 1,000 FPM

Hover in-Ground Effect 7,000 ft

Hover out-of-Ground Effect5,000 ft

Service Ceiling 10,000 ft

Range, Max. Fuel Cruise 180 miles/2 hours

Normal Cruise 95 MPH

Max. Airspeed (SL/ISA) 115 MPH

* Price for complete Exec 162F kit except for paint

and avionics.

Kevin Longhurst and

GKEVL

GKEVL showing

the Rotorway

FADEC system

Rotorway Dateline

1961 The Javelin Prototype

1967 First flight of the Scorpion

1972 The Scorpion 11, which had two seats

1980 The Rotorway Exec has its first flight

1980s to 1990 The Elite is developed

1990 The Exec 90

1994 The Exec 162F

2007 The A600 Talon takes flight.

Rotorway Company History

The Rotorway company was incorporated in 1961, in Chandler

Arizon. It began by developing its first kit helicopter, the

Scorpion, which flew at oshkosh in 1967. In 1980 it devel-

oped the Executive. However, these were not financially good

times for a kit helicopter company and the company assets

were sold in 1990. A group of British investors led by John

Netherwood bought the assets in 1990, re-employed many of

the staff and started a new company Rotorway International

(RI). In September 1990, they brought out an improved ver-

sion of the Exec, the Exec 90. In 1994, John Netherwood

moved the company to a larger and more efficient factory,

where they brought out the Exec 162F. In 1996, John

Netherwood sold the company, which was bought by the

employees and remained in their hands until 2007, when it was

acquired by an ownership group led by Grant Norwitz, who

became CEo in 2006. Inspite of a brilliant South African inita-

tive, RI went into Chapter Eleven in 2007 and is, by all

accounts, still there.

from the outside than the 162. However, since these are

kits and individually built, it must be stressed this might

be because of the love and attention put into that partic-

ular machine.

Chris o’Neill a former Rotorway owner and still a

Roughneck is thinking of buying another machine.


hi

Helicopter

Georgina Hunter-Jones reports on the refurbishing of an elderly

Bell 206 JetRanger.

Photographs courtesy of Stephen Swatton and Simon Edmondson.


make-Over


N5735Y Bell 206111 JetRanger was originally built in 1980. It

was bought from the factory by the Dallas Fort Worth police and

used in a variety of police activities.

Then, fourteen years ago, the DFW Police bought new helicopters and

the JetRaner was sent to Edwards in the USA to be refurbished. After

that it was sent to the UK by sea transport and advertised for sale.

The Bell206 already had 23,000 hours, so it seemed like an old

machine, and at first buyers were skeptical. However, Stephan Swatton

liked the look of the machine. He asked Mike Green to look at it and

Mike flew it, declaring it, Ston says, one of the best machines he had

seen, so Stephen Swatton bought it and re-registerd it as GBXKL. He

says, “it has been really good ever since.” Swatton suggested that as

Dallas Fort Worth is in the heart of Texas, and consequently very dry it

was probably an excellent way of preservatiing the machine.

The helicopter was given a new design and then leased to Fast

Helicopters. Very little has been done to the machine since, it had two

sets of blades and a tail rotor delaminated 100 hours shy of its full life.

Then, in 2012 Swatton decided it wa time to give KL a full makeover,

so he wheeled it along to Edmondson Paints at Thruston.

Simon Edmondson explains how the painting is done:

“In very brief terms, every access panel, engine cowlings, doors and

skids are removed from the helicopter, and we mask off the fibreglass

areas ready to strip the metal areas of the aircarft.

Chemical stripper is applied and once stripped, it is thouroughly jet

washed to leave the bare substrate and we would then see if there are any

dents or corrosion, etc.

Although this aircraft had hardly any corrosion whatsoever, it did

indeed have its fair share in dents.

We then de-corrode and scotchbrite the metal areas with thinners

before we start applying any filler. Full fibreglass areas are rubbed thor-

oughly and then the whole aircraft and panels are thoroughly cleaned

again before we reseal the aircraft seams. once dry, we apply the corro-

sion resistant epoxy primer. The fibreglass areas usually get the high

Bell 206 JetRnger 111 in its

Dallas Fort Worth Police colours

build epoxy primer so that we can make the panels

smooth once again. once flatted, we are ready for

the first overall colour (in this case, dark blue) once

this has been applied, we completely re-fit up the

aircraft in order to line out the paint scheme and

one by one, the colours go on.

once all colours are on, the aircraft is de masked,

placards are applied and then we give the whole

thing three coats of lacquer. The aircraft is then de-

masked and handed back to Inaer so that they can

fit it up ready to fly.”

Areas not for painting are

masked off

Once all the colours

are on the helicopter is

demasked

Fibreglass areas get high

build epoxy primer

Although the aircraft

hardly had any corro-

sion it did have its fair

share of dents


More than 23,000 hours

and still feels like new

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Merlin Puts a Spell on the Show

Gerald Cheyne visits the defence show at Excel

The 2013 Defence and Security Event took place at

Excel in September. There were more that 30,000

visitors over the four days of the show from more

than fifty different countries and 1500 exhibitors.

During the show it was announced that CoMMANDo

Helicopter Force and Royal Marines will be using

Merlines on deployment for the first time in Albania.

The iconic Sea King helicopter will be retired after

nearly 50 years’ service by 2016 to be replaced by anoth-

er ‘Green Giant’ the much more modern and powerful

Merlin.

Although the Fleet Air Arm has been flying Merlins

since the late 1990s, it’s a different version – designed

principally, though not exclusively, for submarine-hunt-

ing. The RAF has been flying the battlefield versions of

the Merlin – the Mk3 and Mk3A – for the past decade

and has extensive experience of operations in

Afghanistan and Iraq.

The Naval Wildcat (shown left middle opposite page)

was in evidence on the back of HMS Sutherland, and

was said to be giving a display on a later day. other mili-

tary helicopters included the Eurocopter EC645 T2 Light

Utility helicopter (LUH), fifteen of which will be used

by the German Federal Ministry of Defence, according to

a recently signed contract with the manufacturer. This

contract, worth 194 million Euros includes packages for

special operations packages.

on the smaller side, once again the show had a strong

emphasis on unmanned vehicles, with a conference dedi-

cated to unmanned systems and several unmanned heli-

copters on display, including the Bruker Detection heli-

copter. on the fixed wing side BHE, the Hungary based

company, had completed a UAS which can fly to 4,000

feet for 90 minutes, sending back video and telemetary

data to the ground station.

DSEI was larger than in previous years with 40 inter-

national pavilions compared to 30 in 2011.


HMS Sutherland which hosts the

Naval AgustaWestland Wildcat

Commando Marines MerlinRoyal Navy Wildcat Bruker unmanned helicopter

detection system


Little Nellie in Ken’s workshop

continued from page 17

for 7/6d and fly the autogyro solo after only a verbal briefing!

over 100 pilots did this. However, there were some upsets and

tip ups and the RAF got fed up with the noise of the thing doing

little circuits, so in the end I got it back. The only one I don’t

own belongs to Nigel de Ferranti.”

Ken designed many different variations of autogyro including

a two-seater.

He started with a MacCulloch radio controlled target engine

but also experimented with a Hillman Imp car engine, a Norton,

a Rotax, several Rolls Royce engines, Limbach (a German

engine) and a twin engine Rotax, as well as an Italian radial

engine which, as he recalls, “was like an Italian soprano singing

in a high voice then sulking!”

Even while he was inventing and experimenting Ken got

involved in flying in films. An Italian film company Film Studio

Roma wanted to make a spaghetti James Bond movie called

Agent 2.007. In this film Agent 2.007 has a Vespa 2000 motor

scooter which can go on water and sprout a pair of rotors and

fly. They wanted Ken to fly these scenes in his autogyro in

Brazil.

The BBC’s Tony Scase, interviewing Ken

about his film role before he left the UK (with

his best autogyro already on the boat to Brazil)

asked Ken if his autogyro would be up to a fight

with helicopters! “Give me half a chance!” Ken

replied.

The radio interview was heard by Ken Adams,

Art Director of Eon Productions, makers of the

James Bond films, allegedly while he was shav-

ing next morning, and Wallis was immediately

contacted by Group Captain Hamish Mahaddie

of the war-time Pathfinder Force, the Aviation

Consultant for Eon Productions and known to

Ken. “He said that I had to bring one of my auto-

gyros to Pinewood Studios to do with a ‘James

Bond’ film. I said I was about to leave for Brazil

and that my aircraft was on its way there by sea.

Hamish became even more insistent and at the

last moment I took to Pinewood Studios on of

the ex-military trials version, G-ARzB, which

my cousin had had a prang with, but was rebuilt

and on test.

At Pinewood Hamish took me to a tiny square

of concrete saying, ‘this is where you can take

off and demonstrate to Cubby Brocolli (the pro-

ducer) and others.’ He had not realised my little

aircraft needed a short run for take-off. I soon

found a piece of pathway, with all sorts of junk

on either side and a huge pile of railway sleepers

at the end. (I later learned that these were for the

construction of the largest set ever made for any

film; the ‘volcano’ in You only Live Twice.)

Hamish subsequently said my demonstration

was very dramatic, after I had disappeared in a

could of dust heading for the pile of sleepers,

then surprising the onlookers by climbing steeply

into the blue sky. After I landed Cubby Brocolli

stood looking at little G-ARzB, saying: ‘We

shall want her in Japan in six weeks time, with

the cosmetics on’ (the weapon systems and paint

scheme.)”

So it was off to Brazil for the ‘spaghetti’ and

on to Japan for the real thing.

Making the film sequence for You only Live

Twice involved Ken in 46 hours of flying, 85

flights and was mostly over 6,000 feet. He says:

‘it was a serious operational exercise, not just

fun. If my little aircraft had not started every

time it was required to fly I would soon have

been reminded how much it was costing in

stand-down time for the helicopters!”

Some of Ken’s most testing moments in the

autogyro came during filming one or other


movie. While flying from Gloria Beach 40 miles from

Rio, a storm built up with huge vertical gusts but Ken

kept on flying his little machine.

“It is so stable,” he said, “it simply rode through the

storm.” When he returned to Gloria Beach he asked

about the gust velocities. “We do not know,” they

replied, “today we expect the Ventana...there have been

no airline flights today.”

This had a more important point for Ken than merely

being a good story. After seeing that his autogyro was

so stable in the storm compared to machines with larger

tail fins he discarded the large tail concept on the auto-

gyro which he had previously been playing with, feel-

ing this would only upset their good pitch stability.

About this time Ken joined the HCGB. “I had been

honoured by the award in 1963, of the Henry Alan

March Medal by the Helicopter Association of Great

Britain. The Association decided that my machines

qualified, even though they flew in autorotation all the

time! I was soon involved with the Rotorcraft Section

of the Royal Aeronautical Society and was giving a

speech, which Tony Everard heard and invited me to

join the HCGB soon after its inauguration.”

In May 1968, Ken flew his first record on the auto-

gyro (he has 18 records, the only one broken was an

altitude record, which he had held for 30 years, and was

broken by an autogyro with a turbo-charged engine).

The first was an altitude record to 15,220 feet breaking

an original record of 7,280 feet set by Igor Bensen in a

Bensen B8, 90 hp engine. Perhaps an additional pleas-

ure in the achievement was that the Wallis autogyro had

an engine that was only 72 hp.

Duration records such as Ken’s record from Lydd to

Wick in 6 hours and 25 minutes are no longer recog-

nised by the FAI, something he was told while setting a

new 7 hour 50 minute flight in 1988.

In the 60s, 70s and 80s Ken was creating and break-

ing records: altitude, speed and duration, whilst doing

other jobs using the autogyro. He worked on photo-

graphic shoots in Saudi Arabia, London, Great Britain,

Australia and Europe, and had a job detecting bodies

for the police. His police work involved a new kind of

colour sensitive film which allowed his photographs to

be reproduced in the laboratory to give pictures of bod-

ies under the ground, in this way they found many

graves of slaughtered sheep and cows (insurance fraud)

and even the graves of many dead pets. The autogyro

was chosen for the task by Plessey Radar Research

Centre because of the low vibration level, its natural

stability and the lack of any down wash when flying

low and slow. He even searched for Lord Lucan’s body

for the police using an aerial camera, but nothing was

found and Ken believed that Lucan was still alive.

In the late 60s and early 70s there was a lot of interest

from the military in an unmanned version of the autogyro,

but post Cold War there was a definite move away from

these kind of defence items and the autogyro was passed

over. Moreover, now there are many versions of

unmanned vehicles, most of which are much smaller and

more streamlined than the autogyro.

I asked Ken if he had ever looked towards the civilian

market for building his autogyros and he replied that while

he would have considered such a thing he only wanted a

contract if the machine would be built properly: no one

wants to see their invention causing rather than saving

deaths owing to faulty building.

In the 1990s, Ken ran into problems with his medical,

which was taken away and necessitated a fight to retrieve

from the bottom drawer of the bureaucracy. However, life

being full of ironies, he was able to get his medical back

with the new JAA changes, so while the rest of us cursed

the increase in bureaucracy these have brought, Ken was

cheering.

overall Ken Wallis was a Renaissance man and the aut-

ogyro was the project of a highly unusual person. He

designed it, built it and then flew it, not tentatively as

many engineers do with their machines but to its limits,

regularly testing it in air shows, photographic stunts, films

and in every kind of situation. The basic design is still the

same as the first autogyro Ken created (apart from the ear-

lier model he did away with) but there were minor

changes that Ken called ‘sophistications’.

My last memory was of Ken smiling as he said, “in the

early days I made some very intelligent guesses”.

Like his machines Ken was one of a kind. The kind that

designs and flies by intelligent instinct. Dying at 97 is an

amazing achievement and be sure that Ken Wallis will

really be missed, not only by his family but by the avia-

tion industry.


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Arecently completed painting of Sea King zA 298

by accomplished military artist and army veteran

Tony Byrne from Bideford in Devon was pre-

sented to 845 Naval Air Squadron at RNAS Yeovilton in

Somerset.

Sea King zA 298, or King of the Junglies as it is col-

loquially known is no stranger to the world of media. It

was the central focus of a BBC documentary, The Sea

King - Britain’s Flying Past presented by the renowned

television correspondent Jon Sergeant. This particular

aircraft, which is still fling today, has seen service in all

of the major conflicts since the Falkland’s war and has

been hit by enemy fire on a number of occasions. The

most recent was in Afghanistan where it was hit and

badly damaged by an RPG round fired by the Taliban.

on completion of the presentation to 845 Squadron’s

Executive officer, Lieutenant Commander Matthew

Punch, Tony explained, “I approached 845 Squadron

some time back to see if they would be happy for me to

produce a painting of this iconic aircraft. It was a

tremendous honour and privilege to be told they would

be delighted for me to do so. The work took over 3

months to create and was an incredible challenge, espe-

cially as it was my first painting of a Junglie Sea King.

The response to the finished product has been fantastic

and at times overwhelming.”

Lt Cdr Punch added, “In many ways zA298 epitomis-

es the Junglie Ethos. She has travelled the world, been to

the frontline of most conflict regions over the past 30

years and, when at home, continued to work tirelessly for

training and exercises, all this with a smile on her face.

There is good reason she has become known as the King

of the Junglies. Tony is clearly an extremely talented

individual doing excellent work for many service chari-

ties. We are pleased that he has captured zA298 in such

impressive fashion. I, and 845 Naval Air Squadron, thank

him for his excellent gift. The Squadron will be using it

as a feature in our future charity auction and expect it to

bring in a very good price for a good cause.”

King of the Junglies Painting


Goodwood HeliExpo

Helicopters from around the country will be flying

into Goodwood Aerodrome this Sunday (october

6th) for an exposition in aid of Kent, Surrey &

Sussex Air Ambulance.

Phoenix Helicopters Academy is hosting the fly-in

with a special visit from the life-saving crew of the

Helicopter Emergency Medical Service (HEMS).

Members of the public will get the chance to see the

twin-engine MD902 Explorer aircraft and meet the pilot,

doctor and paramedic between 10am and 1pm - subject

to emergency call-outs.

There will also be pleasure flights courtesy of Phoenix

Helicopters who have again chosen the Air Ambulance

as their Charity of the Year after raising more than

£2,500 two years ago.

Flight operations Manager Toby Chamberlain said:

“The Air Ambulance is a very fitting cause for us to sup-

port as a helicopter training school.

“our students and clients immediately take an interest

in the charity and it enables us to raise money from like-

minded individuals who not only have an interest in heli-

copters but also understand the in-valuable service that

the air ambulance provides.

“This expo is open to members of the public and we

welcome local people to come and have a look at the air-

craft on show and learn more about the Air Ambulance.

“The success of the event relies on an enthusiastic

response and we hope many of you will decide to come

along and make the event a success.”

The expo starts at 10am with a barbecue at midday

and visitors can find out about the air ambulance from

volunteers at the charity’s exhibition unit.

* Phoenix Helicopter Academy is a helicopter training

school and Charter operator based at Goodwood and

Blackbushe in Hampshire.

For more information call 01243 790900 or go to

www.phoenixhelicopters.co.uk


After 40 years of more than honorable service, on

June 30, 2013, the German F-4s have been

finally retired. The German Air Force wanted

celebrate this important change not only with a simple

ceremony, but with a two days airshow that brought back

Germany into the airshow circuit after a long stop start-

ed in 1988 after Ramstein tragedy.

Unfortunately, the event was characterized by very

bad weather conditions, low clouds and rain was quite

constant until the end of the flying display on Saturday,

like the sky were crying for not having the opportunity to

guest the F-4 any more.

Despite of the weather, however, about 130000 avia-

tion enthusiasts arrived at the home of the

Jagdgeschwader 71 "Richthofen" to say goodbye to the

Spooks.

on Friday, a rich and well organized spotter day let

the participants walk free without any limits, around the

static display and see the last arrival. Many Phantoms

were available in front of their shelter without any fences

… perfect condition to take the last shots.

The Luftwaffe confirmed once again its skill is air-

plane camouflage, preparing four beautiful special

schemes: three planes were in the past paint scheme and

the last one, the 37+01, was dressed in a “Phantom

Pharewell' suite. on this plane was also readable : “ first

in - last out” to mark that 37+01 was the first F-4 deliv-

ered to Luftwaffe in 1973.

The Luftwaffe WTD-61, the only unit still operating

the F-4F until the end of July, sent both their plane, one

of them in black and orange color and the tail title:

"Don't let me die - I want to fly"!

Many other planes were in visit as the German A-319,

the P-3 orion, the “artic tiger” dressed Tornado ECR

from AG51 and the tiger tailed Eurofighter from JG 74,

British Tornado GR4's and Hawk T1, three Belgian F16,

two of Spanish F18 and if not enough warbirds like

YAK-52, Bucker Bu-131 Jungmann, Boeing PT17 and

the red Fokker DR1. We cannot forget that the JG71 is

titled to Von Richthofen, the WWI Red Barron.

The helicopters line was made up of a Luftwaffe

AS532 Cougar in VIP configuration, a new EC135, the

big CH-53 and the Bolkow Bo105, which also took part

at the flying display.

on Saturday June 30,2013, it was the official flyout

for f-4s. The flying display limited and reduced by the

weather conditions, was opened by the Bücker and the

Boeing PT17. We will never forget the exhibition of the

Douglas A-4N Skyhawk operated by the BAE System,

but without any doubt the stars were the phantoms.

The four special colour filled more than one hour with

low passages, touch and go, smoke and sound and maybe

smoke again, until the arrival of the new EFA. After a

combined flypast and the landing of the two Typhoons,

there was only the time for the last shots to the old phan-

toms just before the last brake, helped by a welcome

sunny window.

The day ended with the phantoms and EFA in line

together as to be ready for a new the mission.end.

German F-4 Phantom Farewell

Words and pictures by Tommaso Munforti


Bolkow BO105Luftwaffe AS532

Cougar

CH-53

Inset showing

control panel


To introduce more opportunities for entrepreneurs

to contribute to aerospace innovation, Sikorsky

Innovations today announced it has launched its

fourth Entrepreneurial Challenge, a competition to accel-

erate companies and individuals with applications in the

vertical flight market.

Sikorsky unveiled a new set of challenge questions,

refreshed rules and rewards – all aimed at attracting

entrepreneurial companies to address some of the tough-

est challenges facing the vertical flight community.

"The Sikorsky Entrepreneurial Challenge has been

successful in expanding the contact and in exploring syn-

ergies between agile and innovative businesses and

Sikorsky. There is value in expanding our reach to larger

and more mature small companies as well as to business

ventures already associated with Sikorsky,” said

Laurence Vigeant-Langlois, Director of Business

Development for Sikorsky Innovations.

“As a leading aerospace oEM (original equipment

manufacturer), Sikorsky has a flexible and dedicated

partnership channel that is focused on transformational

technologies, products and business processes. That con-

tinues to be the Entrepreneurial Challenge’s main value

proposition to small businesses,” Vigeant-Langlois

added.

The modifications to the Entrepreneurial Challenge

include: Qualified applicants are any small business

between 1 and 100 employees; no annual revenue cap is

now imposed. A portion of the Challenge Questions will

be “evergreen,” remaining constant throughout the next

few iterations of the competition. A repackaged prize pack

accompanies the launch of the fourth Entrepreneurial

Challenge. Winning teams will be granted shared services

within the CTNEXT entrepreneurial ecosystem, and, upon

completion of the year, an investment evaluation by

Sikorsky. A period of rent-free access to the Stamford

Innovation Center, which has been part of the winning prize

pack since the inception of the Challenge, will now be

optional for all winning applicants.

The fourth Entrepreneurial Challenge features five

Challenge questions. To take the Challenge or learn

more, visit the Challenge’s website at

http://bit.ly/1cjH2dH. Applications are due to Sikorsky

Innovations by 5 p.m. EDT on Friday, Nov. 1.

With the announcement of the revised competition,

Sikorsky Innovations also announced it has recognized

John Clark, founder of Gamechanger Technologies Pty

Ltd, with an Honorable Mention as part of the Third

Entrepreneurial Challenge. The Honorable Mention

award allows Clark to leverage the Sikorsky Innovations

network through introductions to industrial partners.

“The Entrepreneurial Challenge is more than a recog-

nition of achievement, it is an opportunity to open new

channels of communication with dynamic small busi-

nesses,” said Chris Van Buiten, Vice President of

Sikorsky Innovations. “Sikorsky Aircraft is celebrating

its 90th anniversary, a milestone it has reached because it

is a company that constantly innovates. Creating strategic

relationships with innovative entrepreneurs is an impor-

tant dimension of the innovation process that will enable

us to continue being the leader in vertical flight solu-

tions.”

Sikorsky’s Challenge


SE3169 Alouette 111

In May this year a SA.316B Alouette III reached the

10.000 flying hours mark during a training mission.

Reason enough to paint 10.000 HRS largely in gold

on the fuselage.

The particular Alouette III with serial A-301, is one of

the four remaining Dutch SA.316B Alouette IIIs of the

Defence Helicopter Command and is based at Gilze-

Rijen Air Base in the Netherlands. The A-301 with con-

struction number 1301 entered active duty on the 4th of

August 1965 as a SE.3160 Alouette III. It was repainted

in a royal blue livery after it received deep maintenance

at RUAG Aerospace at Alpnach, Switzerland. Some

modifications were made there and it returned to the

Netherlands on the 24th of August 2004 as a SA.316B.

Just in time for the 40th anniversary of this type of heli-

copter within the Dutch defence. Nice detail was that the

price for the modification in 2004, was slightly higher

then the actual purchase price back in 1963.

Nowadays the helicopters are still going strong on a

variety of duties, but the primary tasks are the royal

flights and VIP flights.

Alouette 111 Reaches 10,000 Flying Hours

Arjan Dijksterhuis report and photographs

56

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The Royal Navy Air Service

International Air Day at Yeovilton

was a great and varied success with

the Navy being able to demonstrate its

AgustaWestland 159 Wildcat HM2A on the

static display for the first time. Historic air-

craft like the Gazelle continue to take their

place, as did the Sea King.

The flying display was also inspiring

with the Red Arrows in glorious multi-

colour and the Boeing Chinook HC2, doing

a fabulous impression of a flying moun-

tain!

By luck and with joy for all the weather

was lovely and the skies were blue, not

always the case at the Yeovilton Air Day,

the crowds were magnificent and the week-

end was enjoyed by all.

RNAS Yeovilton Air Day 2013

Pictures by Ian Turner


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Marine Lynx

tail

Royal Navy Sea King

Wildcat Lynx

Gazelle Marine Lynx

Apache

58 HELICOPTER LIFE ,Autumn 2013

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What the Apache is to

Afghanistan the

Westland Whirlwind

clearly was to the Indonesian

Conflict of 1962-1966.

Borneo Boys tells the story

of the helicopter action in

Borneo during the Indonesian

conflict as seen through the

eyes of 17 pilots, an engine fit-

ter and a station supply officer.

Roger Annett looks at the

background to the conflict,

how the boys became involved

- mostly they just wanted to

fly- and their stories, often in

their own words. Much of this

is the day to day workings of

the squadron during the post-

ing; lack of equipment, spares

and having to work extra shifts

because there were not enough

helicopters - something that

rings as true to today as in the

1960s.

There are stories that reflect

the technology of the helicop-

ters of the time, for example,

when the pilots cannot see

because of the rain:

They reduced speed to 20

knots, open the window and

try and pick out landmarks to

find their way.

There are also stories about

the pilots’ interaction with the

local tribes, Dyaks and Iban,

with whom they were work-

Book review

Borneo BoysRAF Helicopter Pilots in Action Indonesian

Confrontation 1962-66

Roger AnnettPen & Sword Aviation

£25.00

ing. The brilliant navigational

skills of the locals and the use

of helicopters to hastily carry

a pregnant mother to hospital

in the case of a problem birth.

As well as Westland

Whirlwinds, the Borneo con-

flict included the use of the

Belvedere load carrying heli-

copters. These were unfortu-

nately prone to instability and

for were known as the ‘Bristol

Widowmaker’. However,

when they worked well they

were very useful.

The ground crew, though,

were rather cynical about their

insect like appearance and

Annett tells a story about one

new fuller who asked: “Sir, do

we refuel it, or does it just eat

other helicopters?”

The pictures in the book are

excellent and sometimes you

are surprised that any of the

pilots had the gumption to

record the event, for example

with Brian Skillicorn’s landing

in ‘a hole in the trees’ and the

wreckage of his Whirlwind

being flown back under a

Belvedere.

A fascinating book about a

conflict that has not had much

publicity and the helicopters

and ‘boys’ who worked there.

It is available from Amazon

both new and used.

“Do we refuel

it, or does it

just eat other

helicopters?”

59HELICOPTER LIFE,Autumn 2013

.IN-2013/102: Regulation 1149/2011 changes to Part-

66 syllabus and examination requirements

This Information Notice details the changes to the Part-

66 syllabus and examination requirements as detailed in

Commision Regulation (EU) No. 1149/2011.http://www.caa.co.uk/docs/33/sarg_lts_Reg%201149_

2011_Changes%20to%20Part%2066%20Syllabus-

v1_July%202013.pdf

IN-2013/107: The requirements applicable when

training for a Multi-Pilot Helicopter Type Rating

using a Helicopter that may be flown Single Pilot

The purpose of this Information Notice is to clarify the

applicability of the Part-FCL requirements that must be

complied with to obtain a Type Rating with multi-pilot

privileges using a helicopter that has a Type Certificate

that allows single-pilot operation.http://www.caa.co.uk/application.aspx?catid=33&pag

etype=65&appid=11&mode=detail&id=5644

IN-2013/098: Amendment of the Requirements to

Renew an Instrument Rating that has lapsed by more

than seven years

This Information Notice advises of a change to the

requirements for the renewal of an Instrument Rating

that has lapsed by more than 7 years for pilots who have

held an Instrument Rating on a non-European licence

during that period.http://www.caa.co.uk/docs/33/lts_sarg_Amd%20to%2

0Renew%20IR%20lapsed%20by%20more%207%20

yearv1_July2013.pdf

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.http://www.caa.co.uk/docs/33/20130IN%20curtail-

ment%20of%20Lic%20Privileges-.pdf

N-2013/131: The transition of Registered Training

Facilities to Approved Training Organisations

This IN explains the approach that the CAA is intending

to take to enable current RTFs to convert to AToshttp://www.caa.co.uk/application.aspx?catid=33&pag

etype=65&appid=11&mode=detail&id=5697s

IN-2013/115: Flight Time Limitations under

CAA Legislation Changesconcerning helicopters and gyroplanes

Commission Regulation (EU) No. 965/2012 – Air

Operations

The purpose of this Information Notice is to provide a

briefing to all EU-oPS AoC holders engaged in two-pilot

fixed-wing scheduled and charter operations on the devel-

opment of European regulations for Flight Time

Limitations (FTL), the expected time scale for implemen-

tation, the development of guidance material, proposed

briefing seminars to be held at Aviation House Gatwick

and expected transitional processes.http://www.caa.co.uk/application.aspx?catid=33&page

type=65&appid=11&mode=detail&id=5653

SN-2013/011: Policy change to CAA requirements for

check flights

This Safety Notice (SN) details the change in CAA policy

regarding the requirements for check flights for UK regis-

tered aircraft.http://www.caa.co.uk/application.aspx?catid=33&page


IN-2013/113: UK Strategy for Human Factors in Civil

Aviation - Consultation

This Information Notice is to correct the email address

(previously given in IN 2013/064) for submitting com-

ments on the UK Strategy for Human Factors

Consultation and to advise that the closing date for com-

ments has been extended.http://www.caa.co.uk/application.aspx?catid=33&page


IN-2013/111: Acceptable Means of Simulating IMC for

Initial IR Skill Tests

This IN sets out guidance on the means of simulating

instrument conditions in aircraft used for IR training and

testing.http://www.caa.co.uk/application.aspx?catid=33&page


IN-2013/118: Guidance for ATOs conducting PPL(A),

PPL(H), LAPL(A) or LAPL(H) courses, for which

there are new Theoretical Knowledge (TK) require-

ments.

Guidance to those ATos seeking approval to provide

PPL(A), PPL(H), LAPL(A) or LAPL(H), Flight and

Ground instruction, and associated EASA Part-FCL

Theoretical Knowledge instruction requirements.http://www.caa.co.uk/application.aspx?catid=33&page



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LONG TIME COMING

Italian Army’s CH-47F takes a step nearer

Words and pictures by Peter R Foster


With 11 Gruppo of 1 Reggimento at Viterbo now

struggling to maintain its aging fleet of Boeing

Chinook CH-47C, or ETH-1, helicopters for

not only its national commitment but also to maintain its

six aircraft and six crews in Afghanistan as part of the

current NATo support structure, the first flight of the

first of an eventual 16 state of the art CH-47Fs on June

24 2013 must surely project a welcome light at the end

of a very long tunnel.

The Boeing CH-47 Chinook has been an integral part

of the Italian Army’s support structure since as long ago

as 1973 when Army aviation was beginning a major

structural reorganization. Rationalisation of army assets

continued throughout the seventies before finally stabi-

lizing in 1980. By 1976 the Chinook had its own support

unit, the 4 RRALE [Reparto Riparazione ALE], that had

formed on June 15 of that year at Viterbo whilst the

operating unit, 1 Reparto Elicotteri Medi [1 REM], that

had been formed to evaluate and develop the type, split

into two frontline squadrons.

111 and 112 Gruppi Squadroni under the control of 11

Gruppo Squadroni Aviazione dell’Esercito “Ercole” with-

in the structure of 1 Reggimento Aviazione dell’Esercito

“Antares” stood up on February 1 1976 and have operat-

ed the type since.

The initial order was for 26 helicopters, MM80822

through to MM80847 with assigned codes ‘EI-800 to EI-

825’. Attrition has been relatively light given the nature

of the work that they undertake. Two were lost early in

their career, MM80823 on April 10 1978 in Lake

Bolsena, and MM80825 whilst on loan to the manufac-

turer for demonstration in Dubai on March 30 1980. This

resulted in a small follow-on attrition order of two heli-

copters, MM81168 and MM81169.

Three more orders were to be placed over the next

decade for 12 helicopters in batches of four [MM81229-

232], two [81386–87] three [81439-41] and three

[81458-60] all built in Italy under the Agusta Meridionali

Boeing umbrella bring the total procured to 40.

However there is only just so much you can achieve in

keeping old platforms in front line use in spite of the

excellent facilities offered by 4 RRALE. Therefore short-

ly after the turn of the millennium a number of ‘cabs’

had started to dwindle not helped by the increase in

demands of this effective but small force. Currently there

are believed to be some 19 examples stored out of use

leaving just 18, or under half the fleet, to maintain com-

mitments that includes maintaining two helicopters on 30

minutes readiness to assist in fire fighting with their cus-

tom built 5,000 litres bucket throughout the summer peri-

od as well as the Afghanistan deployment as well as

other routine army support missions. official releases

still give a fleet figure of 40 but as can be seen from the

above this is to some degree stretching the imagination.

The need to replace the aging CH-47C version of the

versatile Chinook was well realized and discussions with

Boeing began shortly after the turn of the century. In

April 2007 it was announced by Boeing that it expects

that Italy will buy 16-20 CH-47Fs, through a joint pro-

duction agreement with Italian conglomerate

Finmecccanica SpA. The deal has reportedly been in the

works for a while, and Boeing said it expects the orders

around 2008-2009.

Boeing spokesman Joseph LaMarca said that the

expected Italian purchase would be a Direct Commercial

Sale, with AgustaWestland as the prime contractor and

Boeing as the lead subcontractor. In 2006, the 2 compa-

nies signed a new memorandum of understanding that

laid out an industrial agreement for further Italian

Chinook production.

In July 2008 Boeing and Finmeccanica SpA subsidiary

AgustaWestland signed an agreement that defined the

terms for the joint manufacture of new CH-47F Chinook

helicopters to replace earlier models used by the Italian

Army. AgustaWestland had been Boeing’s European

partner for other versions of the CH-47, and this new

agreement continued and extended that relationship. As

prime contractor for the Italian CH-47F, AgustaWestland

would be responsible for design and systems integration,

and for aircraft delivery to the Italian Army. Boeing

Rotorcraft Systems will build the fuselage in Ridley

Park, PA.

It was however not until May 13 2009 that Italy’s

ARMAEREo procurement agency signed the EUR 900

million ($1.23 billion equivalent) contract for 16 ICH-

47Fs, with an option for 4 more with delivery of the first

aircraft planned for 2013, with final deliveries in 2017.

The new more powerful ICH-47F Chinook will, it is

believed, offer the Italian Army enhanced operational

effectiveness to perform multiple roles including trans-

port missions, disaster relief and fire fighting due to its

high payload, long range and high cruise speed. The

ICH-47 Chinook features an advanced communication

system providing high situational awareness and

enabling the aircraft to meet the latest Italian Army and

Allies digitalization programmes requirements. The new

helicopter will provide high operational interoperability

in a network-centric environment while keeping through

life costs low in the wide range of scenarios where the

Italian service is called upon to perform its duties.

The ICH-47F customised version incorporates a secure

communications system, self-protection system and

advanced datalink system. This new ICH-47F Chinook

variant has a Maximum All Up Weight (MAUW) of 23

tons, is equipped with two Honeywell T55-GA-714A

engines giving it excellent “hot and high” capability and

is suitable for all weather operations.

The contract also includes a five-year logistic support

service. The delivery of the first aircraft is planned in

early 2014 with final deliveries in 2017. The initial air-

craft, CSX81778 c/n M7801, will now undergo a sus-

tained period of flight trials both at Vergiate and no

doubt Cascina Costa the company’s test and evaluation

facility before being handed over the Esercito’s own test

facility at Viterbo prior to eventual entry into service.

The older Boeing Chinook

CH-47C


ACCidenT reporTS

carrying out his pre-takeoff checks, the helicopter startedto yaw to the left. The pilot lost control of the helicopterand both the tail and main rotor blades struck the groundin its ensuing manoeuvre. The fuselage section came torest in a nearly vertical position, resting on the back ofthe engine compartment and the rear of the skids, the tailboom having fractured and lying parallel to the ground.The pilot, who was uninjured, vacated the helicopterthrough the rear right cabin door. He attributed the unex-pected yaw to slippery surface conditions. The pilot was47 years old and had 130 hours with 110 on type.

Bell 214B C-GTWV

The Bell 214B 1 helicopter was fighting fire approxi-mately 20 nautical miles northwest of Lillooet, BritishColumbia. The helicopter lost power, touched down hardon uneven terrain, and rolled over onto its side. The twopilots escaped with minor injuries.After the pilots successfully carried out 12 water dropswith the helicopter, the engine lost power. The pilot-in-command, seated in the left-hand seat, turned the heli-copter left and downhill and descended toward an openarea to land. As the helicopter neared the ground, the PICleveled the helicopter and reduced the rate of descent;however, the main-rotor struck the terrain on the right-side, and the helicopter came to rest on its left side facinguphill. The tail broke off, and the tail rotor assemblylanded 30 feet away. The helicopter was substantiallydamaged, and there was a small post-crash fire.Investigators found that the engine fuel control unit(FCU) was contaminated with metallic debris, whichlikely disrupted fuel flow and caused the engine to losepower. A review of maintenance procedures was under-taken by the TSB, which revealed that overhaul proce-dures and documentation were unclear and lacked detail,and that recurring component failures were not trackedand monitored as required by the approved maintenanceorganization. The absence of tracking and monitoringFCU failures increases the risk that component problemswill not be fixed before failure. The investigation furthernoted that inspections did not include complete disassem-bly of sub-component parts of the FCU, and some FCUswere misidentified when incomplete modifications werecarried out. Honeywell, the FCU manufacturer, hasissued 2 service bulletins for the misidentified FCUs,reducing the time between overhauls from 2400 hours to1800 hours, and later recalled all these FCUs.

Westland Scout AH1, G-BXRR

The helicopter departed Thruxton at 1416 hrs, with thepilot and three passengers aboard, and arrived over the

Robinson R22 Beta, G-BTHI

G-BTHI was on an instructional flight and the instructorwas the handling pilot. The helicopter was on finalapproach to Runway 24, at approximately 150 to 200ftagl and 50 kt, when severe vibration was felt through theairframe and controls. The pilot stated that the vibrationwas so severe he could not read any of the instrumentsand he instinctively increased airspeed and made a shortMAYDAY call. While he was transmitting, the clutchwarning light illuminated followed immediately by thelow rotor rpm light and warning horn. The pilot enteredautorotation but, instead of yawing left as expected, theaircraft yawed right despite the subsequent application offull left yaw pedal. The helicopter was turning towardsa public road and so the pilot increased the rate of turnusing the cyclic control to ensure that the helicopter didnot pass over it.The helicopter had turned through approximately 280° asit approached the ground. The pilot applied full up inputon the collective control to try to cushion the touchdownbut the aircraft landed heavily, with little forward speedbut considerable right yaw, and rolled onto its left side.The student exited the helicopter through the rightdoor and the instructor exited through the broken frontwindscreen. Both occupants were treated at the scenefor minor injuries.Pilots operating Handbook (PoH)The R22 PoH states that a loss of tail rotor thrust inforward flight is usually indicated by nose right yawwhich cannot be corrected by applying left yaw pedal.Pilots are advised to enter autorotation immediately,maintain at least 70 kt airspeed if practical and performan autorotation landing.Pilot’s assessment of the causeThe pilot assessed that he had suffered a tail rotor fail-ure.After inspection of the wreckage, he found that:The tail rotor drive had failed at the intermediate flexplate coupling, which is just aft of the clutchactuator.here may be scope for additional developmentof this part of the drive-train, the larger diameter shaftrepresents an improvement in service experience in com-parison with the previous version. The pilot was 72, hehad 526 hours of which 365 were on type.

Robinson R44 11 Raven 11 G-MRRY

The pilot was preparing for a local flight when the acci-dent occurred. The weather was fine and dry, with a lighteasterly wind. The helicopter was on a small concreteparking area adjacent to fuel pumps. As the pilot was


trees; the pilot thought it struck the ground in an uprightattitude but then rolled over onto its left side.Photographs of the wreckage and general area, takenbefore the wreckage was recovered, showed that thehelicopter had descended through the trees with littleforward motion. A noted anomaly was a tear in theaircraft skin at the forward base of the upper vertical fin,forward of the enclosed tail rotor. Trapped in the foldedskin material were leaves from a fir tree, which was nota type found in the immediate vicinity of the crash site.Further photographs of what is believed to have beenthe intended landing area showed a substantial fir treeof a matching type, with what appeared to be damageto branches at less than half its height. With no heightreference, an accurate height of the damage aboveground could not be determined, but was estimated tobe in the order of 15 to 20 ft. The pilot was 51, with5400 hours of which 49 were on type.

Bell 206L-3 Longranger III, G-LVDCThe pilot had dropped passengers at Silverstone

Circuit and was taking off to return to the “feeder

site”, some 12 km to the east. In the climb, at about

300 ft, the low rotor rpm warning horn sounded and

he immediately lowered the collective lever to enter

autorotation and carry out a forced landing into a

field. The warning horn remained on throughout the

autorotation but the landing was successful with a

short run-on, although the pilot noticed some “rock-

ing”. He lowered the collective lever and closed the

throttle to idle. He then opened the throttle and lifted

into the hover, watching the engine gauges.

Everything appeared normal, so he transitioned out of

the field and returned to the feeder site without further

incident. After shutdown, he noticed that the vertical

fins on the horizontal stabilisers were damaged and

that there was associated damage to the main rotor

blades.

In his report, the pilot linked the damage to the land-

ing in the field but was unsure of the reason for the

low rotor rpm. He concluded that there was either a

“transient reduction in engine power” or that the throt-

tle was not fully open on departure. Subsequently, the

engine, fuel, fuel system and

associated controls were examined by a maintenance

company and no faults were found. The engine was

also run on a test bed at an engine test facility but,

again, no faults were detected. The pilot was 52, had

1737 hours of which 126 were on type.

landing site in Northamptonshire after an uneventfulflight. The site was a grassed area with no ground mark-ings adjacent to a hotel car park. The weather was fine,with a surface wind from 330° at 5 kt and a temperatureof 19°C.The pilot flew a “full recce” of the site before making anapproach to the grassed area. The helicopter was calcu-lated to be approximately 80 lbs below its maximumlanding weight at this point. As he flared the helicopter itdid not slow down as quickly as he expected so heincreased the flare attitude, following which the heli-copter’s tail struck the ground. The helicopter started toyaw to the right, so the pilot immediately lowered thecollective lever, which resulted in a heavy landing.The pilot and his passengers were uninjured and able tovacate the helicopter normally. The pilot was 49 yearsold and had 206 hours of which 49 were on type.

SA341G Gazell 1, G-WDEV

The helicopter had a pre-flight and normal inspectionwith no faults noted. The two passengers arrived in goodtime and the helicopter took off at 09.10. Fuel load ondeparture was 220 kgs and takeoff weight was 1706 kgs,nearly 100kgs below the maximum. The short flight tothe private site near Salisbury was uneventful and thepilot flew a reccee of the site at 500 feet. He approachand settled into a low hover, but then felt the tail was toolow and decided to reposition for a better site.The pilot manoeuvred the helicopter upwards andrearwards, whilst keeping the landing area in sight.After initially lifting to about 30 ft with the tail clearof obstruction, he was unable to determine a morefavourable landing area so continued the climb. At about60 to 70 ft the pilot noticed the tone of the main rotorRPM (RRPM) change, suggesting a reduction in RPM.He did not check the RRPM indication, but instinctivelyreduced collective input, believing the decline in RRPMwould be transient. However, RRPM did not appear torecover and the helicopter started to sink.At this point, the helicopter was to the side of theintended landing site and over tree tops. As it startedto descend, the pilot pulled the collective lever uppositively. He then heard pronounced popping andcracking noises and sensed a further reduction in RRPM(his perception was based on sound alone). He did notrecall any appreciable yawing motion.With RRPM dropping significantly and the flightcontrols appearing to lose effectiveness, the pilot steeredthe descending helicopter towards an area where thetree tops were lowest, whilst attempting to keep its nosefrom dropping. The helicopter came down through the

65

ACCidenT reporTS


And

Picture shows Stephen Swatton hovering at the hotel in newly painted GBxKL

Dogmersfield Park was originally named “Docce

mere feld” in Saxon times, meaning “a field by

the water lily lake”. Both the manor and the vil-

lage are mentioned in William the Conqueror’s

Domesday Book of 1086.

Early in the twelfth century close links were estab-

lished with the Church and Dogmersfield Park passed

several times from the King to the Church and back,

before Henry I granted the manor to Godfrey, Bishop of

Bath and Wells, when it became a medieval palace.

Henry VI often stayed at the house and in 1501, Henry

VII visited with Prince Arthur, heir to the throne, to meet

his future wife, Catherine of Aragon. The young Prince

Henry was also in the party. Prince Arthur died soon

after the marriage, and his brother was crowned Henry

VIII and made Catherine the first of his six wives.

The house became a private estate in 1547 when

Edward VI gave the house to Lord Wriothesley, the first

Earl of Southampton, this honour was accompanied by

his peerage as Lord Chancellor, and was part of grant of

Crown lands.

The Wriothesley family owned the estate for almost

100 years, then it passed through several families until

the early 1700s.

In 1728, Martha Goodyer and Ellis St. John had the

existing Georgian Manor House built. The estate passed

uneventfully through three generations of the St. John

family.

In 1786, Sir Henry Paulet St. John married Jane

Mildmay, later taking the family name of Mildmay.

Sir Henry Mildmay had the Basingstoke Canal re-rout-

ed around Dogmersfield Park in the late 1780’s for

approximately £2,000.

The property remained in the hands of the Mildmay

family until 1933 when Sir Anthony John Mildmay was

forced to sell the estate. He was charged with adultery

and breach of promise owing to another marriage and

had to pay large fines. Sir Anthony was the first person

in England to be sued for not marrying a woman he had

promised to.

During World War II, Dogmersfield Park was used to

billet Dutch and Polish airmen.

Following the War, the estate became Reed’s School

for girls, who were awarded bursaries to attend this high

standard grammar boarding school, in honour of their

fathers who were killed during the war.

Throughout the 1950’s and 1960’s, the manor was a

seminary for Catholic priests, several of whom are buried

on the grounds behind the South Wing.

In the 1970’s, Daneshill Preparatory school for girls

and boys occupied the site until it was sold in 1979.

In August 1981, a fire gutted three quarters of the

house. The only remains were the manor house and the

ruin that can be seen in the courtyard by the glass link.

The East Wing, designed by architect Robert Adam,

was opened in June 1986 by H.R.H. Princess Anne.

Early in 2001, the Four Seasons Hotel Hampshire

project began. The Hotel’s South and West Wings were

built, and the stable block is creatively restored into The

Spa.

Four Seasons Hotel Hampshire opened on 14th

February 2005.

houSe heliCopTer

Dogmersfield Park

Four Seasons Hotel Hampshire

helicopter life€¦ · emergencies across the continent, such as fires, floods, and earthquakes....

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