helicopter life winter 2012

LIFEhelicopter

WInTER 2012WInTER 2012

helicopter LIFE, Winter2012 3

Bell 407 Test Flight 32Georgina Hunter-Jonesflies the Bell 407GXcourtesy of its new UKdealers HeliCharter atManston in Kent andsees the differences.

CH-47F Handover 40Carlo Kuit & Paul Kievit/Bronco Aviation298 Squadron receive CH-47F model Chinooks.

The Cost of Ownership 42Georgina Hunter-Jonestalks to James Wilsonabout the cost of run-ning his Robinson R44both as a private enter-prise and with a lease-back at the local flyingschool.

Golden Gate Coastguard 44Carlo Kuit & Paul Kievit/Bronco Aviation

Training - Calidus and Magni gyros 48Chris Jones, a gyrocopter instructorcompares and contraststhe two popular modelsrecently on the marketand vying for their ownposition.

AMREF Flying Doctors 52Helicopter Life looks at an ingenioussystem which gives bothtourists insurance coverthrough East Africa andaerial health care for thelocal population.

Book Reviews 58

Peter Foster on Sirio upgrade 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 Doctors & Pilots against knife crime

Letters to the Editor 10

Flying Crackers 8 & 9

New Technology from Claus Richter 12G Hunter-Jones puts the R44 Raven 11Gyronimo performancepad on her ipad andevaluates its usefulnessas a weight and balancetool, performance andflight time checker.

105HU Daring Eagles 14Phil Camp and SimonWatsonvist the largest helicop-ter troop in India basedin Uttar Pradesh andsee how they use thehelicopters they needfor their work.

World News 18A variety of writers, look at how companiesin the old world workto beat the recessionand how the new worldis benefitting from thegrowth in and use of helicopters.

Green Blade Pegasus 26Arjan Dijksterhuisgoes to Belgium to seecombined forcesincluding the specialservices training andpracticing how to gethostages out of a ‘hot’situation.

helicopter liFe, Winter 2012

26 February - 1 March 2013AVALON

Geelong, Victoria, Australia

http://www.airshow.com.au

5 March - 7 March 2013

HAI HELIExPO

Las Vegas, Nevada

http://www.rotor.org/Events/HELIEXPo2013.aspx

24 April - 27 April 2013

AERO FRIEDRICHSHAFEN

www.aero-expo.com

+49 (0)7541 708367

[email protected]

9 May - 11 May 2013EUROPEAN HELICOPTER SHOW (EHS)

Hradch Kralove LKRK

Czech Republic

0044 208 549 3917

Email: [email protected]

Astrid Ayling

Tel: 0044 208 549 5024


21 May - 23 May 2013

EBACE

Geneva Airport, Switzerland

www.ebace.aero/

31 May - 2 June 2013AEROExPO (UK)

Sywell Aerodrome

Northamptonshire

for more information contact

Paddy Casey on +44 (0)20 8255 4218

17 June - 23 June 201350TH INTERNATIONAL PARIS AIR SHOW

Le Bourget, Paris, France.

www.paris-air-show.com

20 July - 21 July 2013FAIRFORD ROYAL INTERNATIONAL

AIR TATTOO

Fairford, Gloucestershire, UK

www.airtattoo.com/airshow

24 September - 26 September 2013

HELITECH

Excel, Docklands, UK

http://www.helitechevents.com

4 helicopter liFe, Winter 2012

Well done the CAA, an excellent

way of fund raising in these hard

times: Charge for the licence, don’t

send it and then insist that the owner

pays a second time for transport of the

licence.

over the next week we had a vari-

ety of correspondence which ended

with the CAA agreeing to resend the

licence by post, although with dark

threats that should it get lost again I

would be expected to pay for a dupli-

cate licence.

However, there are really two

points here that I think have got lost.

one is that the charges most com-

mercial pilots have to bear are too

high. Pilots are not particularly highly

paid and they do spend a significant

proportion of their income on training

and re-training costs. Adding to the

burden with huge regulatory costs

does not help.

The other is that we are now in a

digital age. Why can the new licence

not be sent by email, reducing both

the cost and the liklihood of the

licence getting lost. I might say when

I suggested this to the CAA employee

he behaved like a train drivers’ trade

union representative when faced with

the possibility of driverless trains.

Happy Christmas!

may want to watch out for, specifical-

ly that if a PPL holder allows his

licence to lapse by more than 3

months he will need to do retraining

at an ATo (Aviation Training

organisation) before he can apply for

a PC (proficiency check, the former

LPC). If it is less than three months

he will have to get a certificate from

the ATo, and if it is over 3 years he

will need to do the complete type rat-

ing again - ie five hours.

While in some cases, notably low

time PPLs, this may be sensible, it

seems the current legislation has no

flexibility to deal with pilot who,

owing to have a number of types on

their licence, do not revalidate the

types they are not currently using

until they need them. If this turns out

to be more than three years it may

not be cost effective for them to

renew the type at all.

What EASA changes do not appear

to have looked at, though, is useful

things like national regulatory varia-

tions: if the experimental category of

helicopter is legal in Italy and

Greece, why is it not legal in the

UK?

Below is a transcript of a letter I

received from the CAA in November.

In october, I renewed my examiner

rating and thus had to change my

licence to EASA at once. I did this at

a cost of £477. However, my new

licence did not arrive. I emailed the

CAA to ask about it, they said it had

been sent three weeks before. I then

asked them, as it had not arrived, to

send it to me again. This is the reply:

Dear Mrs Hunter-Jones,

Thank you for your email.

In order for us to re-issue a dupli-

cate EASA licence and EASA examin-

er certificate, we require the fee of

£52.00 as per our scheme of charges,

which includes the £6 FedEx fee.

Please see the payment form

SRG1187 attached and submit to our

Licensing Department. ..

5

HELICoPTER LIFE is published quarterly by FlyFizzi Ltd.

59 Great ormond Street

London, WC1N-3Hz.

Copyright © FlyFizzi Ltd. 2012.

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

Bell 407GX over Manston Harbour in Kent by

Paul Cordwell.

WInTER 2012

EDITOR-IN-CHIEF / PILOTGeorgina [email protected]

CREATIVE [email protected]

COPY EDITORSEvangeline Hunter-Jones, JPGerald Cheyne

CONTRIBUTING EDITORSBronco Aviation, Carlo Kuit & Paul Kievit,Arjan Dijksterhuis, Chris Jones, Peter Foster

CONTRIBUTED PHOTOGRAPHYPaul Cordwell, Gerald Cheyne, ArjanDijksterhuis, Bronco Aviation, Carlo Kuit &Paul Kievit, Chris Jones, Peter Foster

SPECIAL THANKS TODave Smith ATPL(H)IR, Flight Path Ltd

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.com

See Helicopter Life on Facebook & Twitter

HON. EDITORIAL BOARDCaptain Eric Brown, CBE, RN

The Lord Glenarthur, DL

Jennifer MurrayMichael J. H. SmithWing Cdr. Ken Wallis, MBE, RAF

LIFEHELICOPTER

The ediTor’S leTTerShow & Tell

Guide So, the new EASA regulations

are now out and ready for use

after several delays. Already

there is vast confusion. Hopefully, as

time progresses so will the new regu-

lations develop, but one anomaly is

already causing a financial problem

for many pilots and schools: the med-

ical.

As many readers know I am an

examiner. For many years I used to

test students for skill tests in Jerez.

This was a school set up by Germans,

in Spain using the British system, all

completely authorised by the British

CAA/JAA. The majority of students

were German, although there were

also many Russian (not in the EASA

system and so not covered by the

change in regulations), Dutch and so

forth. As these students returned after

gaining their licence to their own

countries they were required to have

a medical from their own national

authority, this is perfectly understand-

able, given that they would be flying

in that national airspace and the med-

icals, from various countries, were

accepted by the CAA. Now under

EASA, whose plan is to draw us clos-

er to European integration, this has

changed. Now if you wish to have a

British licence you must have a

British medical.

The upshot of this change means

that anyone who got a licence away

from their home country is now left

in a dilemma; do I travel to the UK

every year to renew my medical, or

do I get a new licence in my home

country; both options are clearly

going to increase costs highly.

Incidentally, all the medicals were

compliant with JAA requirements, so

clearly this is not a safety issue, it is a

financial one. The CAA wish the

money to come to the UK via the

medical staff and not to other coun-

tries. This appears to me to be a short

termist issue which will hurt helicop-

ter aviation in the long run and it

worries me.

There are other changes that a PPL

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helicopter liFe, Winter 2012 helicopter liFe, Winter 20126 7

AeriAl Forum

Doctors and Pilots against Knife CrimeLondon Air Ambulance and The Liverpool Projectwork together to help the victims of violent attacks

London’s Air Ambulance, the Charity which runs

London’s helicopter emergency medical service, is

pleased to announce its collaboration with The

Liverpool Project, a project that has been set up to teach

young offenders the basic medical skills necessary to

manage victims of violent attacks.

Young offenders, who are often present at the scene of

violent incidents are trained to provide immediate haem-

orrhage control in the vital minutes after injury until the

arrival of the emergency services.

Training shows young people how to how to recognise

the symptoms of blood loss, how to manage a penetrat-

ing wound, how to carry out the recovery position, how

to perform CPR, how to calm the victim and how to

respond when medical teams arrive.

The Liverpool Project is led by recently qualified doc-

tors and medical students. Medical students are selected

for their ability to engage and use appropriate communi-

cation skills with Young offenders. In doing so The

Liverpool Project team are able to highlight the conse-

quences of penetrating trauma and therefore have a direct

impact upon young people’s attitudes towards high risk

behaviours thus helping to prevent further violence.

Recent successes have encouraged the expectation that

the teaching provided by the young doctors working for

the Project will directly result in a reduction in morbidity

and mortality from penetrating injuries in the UK.

Although the project started in Merseyside, it has been

cascaded to several other cities in the UK.

Dr Nick Rhead from Aintree University Hospital in

Liverpool and one of the founders of the project said,

“The need for this sort of public health intervention is

there in most of the cities in the UK. Young people in

general, and particularly those who are known to the

criminal justice system are witnessing more and more

penetrating trauma. We therefore train these young peo-

ple to deliver immediate care as they are all too often

present at the scene of a violent attack – essentially pro-

viding a reservoir of potential health care providers.

They are therefore able to act positively to help save a

friend’s life in the moments that matter providing a

healthier victim for services such as London’s Air

Ambulance.

“That’s why collaboration between London’s Air

Ambulance and The Liverpool Project is particularly

beneficial. The Liverpool Project will benefit greatly

from the skill and experience that London’s Air

Ambulance provides and this will ultimately improve

training provided to the young people - reducing morbid-

ity and mortality from penetrating trauma, the third

biggest cause of death amongst this age group.”

London’s Air Ambulance attends stabbings and shoot-

ings on a daily basis and this category of callout is the

most common after road traffic collisions in the Capital. ,

London’s Air Ambulance doctors and paramedics per-

form life saving procedures at the scene of the incident

when minutes are vital for survival, however any emer-

gency response times can never be as quick as that of a

bystander. While bystanders’ are generally not medically

trained, there are important simple interventions that can

be done that, with the right training, may help to improve

the chances of survival.

Commenting on the collaboration, London’s Air

Ambulance Research and Development Lead, Professor

David Lockey, said: “Unfortunately knife and gun crime

is high amongst the young population of London and our

doctors and paramedics witness the negative effects of

this daily. We are delighted to collaborate with this inno-

vative project run by committed and dynamic young

medics and believe it has the potential to impact on this

growing and destructive problem in London and else-

where. London’s Air Ambulance will provide support to

the project as it develops and expands. “

Nils Mordt and Ben Spencer of

the Saracenes are supporter of the

London Air Ambulance scheme


FlyinG CrACkerS

Air to Fuel - for a price

A small British company claims to have made fuel

from air, and now hopes to use a similar processes to

produce aviation fuel, but there are still some reasons

they probably won't be creating vast quantities of fuel

from air anytime soon. Since August, the systems and

processes developed by Air Fuel Synthesis in

Stockton-on-Tees has produced “five litres of petrol”

from carbon dioxide and water vapor. The company

reportedly says it hopes that within two years it will

be able to build a commercial-scale plant that will

turn out one ton of petrol per day from the conver-

sion. Researchers have long been aware of the science

behind the processes -- and the inefficiencies and

costs that likely explain why no one other than Air

Fuel Synthesis is attempting it now.

Enstrom new Website

Enstrom Helicopter underwent a website redesign in

the early part of summer this year. Enstrom teamed

up with Burnham Richards, a brand elevation compa-

ny out of Green Bay, Wisconsin, to complete the

upgrade. The goal of the redesign of the website is to

make the page easier to navigate, more interactive,

and easier to find information for visitors.

The recent redesign included adding Responsive Web

Design as a feature for the company’s website.

Responsive Web Design is a function that allows a

website to respond to the screen size on different

devices, such as computers, mobile devices, and

iPads. Having this feature allows Enstrom’s website

to be available virtually anytime and anywhere to vis-

itors.

Burnham Richards also revamped Enstrom’s

Facebook page, giving it a more attractive look and

adding to the content the page delivers.

FlyinG CrACkerS

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Helicopter aviation is a high-growth

market in Africa, and Russian

Helicopters is well positioned to be a

market leader on the continent for

years to come,” said Russian

Helicopters CEo Dmitry Petrov.

“We see great potential for our heli-

copters in countries across Africa,

and are delighted to be working with

Denel Aviation to provide a com-

plete customer care programme for

our clients on the continent,” Mr

Petrov said.

Rolls Royce for Scott’s Bell 47

Rolls-Royce, the global power sys-

tems company, has signed a

Memorandum of Understanding with

Scott’s – Bell 47 Inc. (SB47) to

examine the application of its

RR300 engine to the Model 47 mul-

tipurpose light helicopter.

The Bell 47 helicopter is world-

renowned, with over 1,000 in opera-

tion.

The RR300 engine embodies new

technology and advanced design

methodology. The engine draws on

the proven record of other Rolls-

Royce turbine engines to deliver a

powerful and dependable engine at a

competitive price. The RR300 was

FAA type certified in 2007 and since

that time over 500 engines have

been delivered and it has accumulat-

ed over 12,000 operational hours.

Key attributes of the RR300 include:

lower acquisition and operating

costs; low-weight, compact design;

improved specific fuel consumption;

an embedded engine monitoring sys-

tem; and the ability to burn a variety

of commonly available jet fuels.

Scott Churchill, President & owner

of SB47 said, “We are very pleased

to be working with Rolls-Royce on

the RR300 engine. The capability of

the current Bell 47 M250 powered

STC helicopter speaks for itself and

the potential for a factory built

RR300 powered Model 47 is very

exciting for both us and our cus-

tomers.”

50 year record broken

Skydiver Felix Baumgartner stepped

from his space capsule on Sunday

14th october at 128,000 feet. He

broke two records that had stood for

more than 50 years.

“When standing up there,” he told

reporters, “the only thing you want is

you want to come back alive because

you don't want to die in front of your

parents, your girlfriend."

His was the highest-ever parachute

jump and the highest manned

balloon flight. Baumgartner is report-

ed to have reached Mach 1.24

during freefall, which made it the

fastest freefall. At four minutes

and 18 seconds it was not the longest-

duration freefall. That record

still belongs to Col. Joe Kittinger,

who waited until 4:30 to pull the

chute on his 1960 jump.

Baumgartner's successful jump took

place exactly 65 years, to the day,

after Chuck Yeager first broke the

speed of sound in the rocket-powered

X1. Like Yeager's flight,

Baumgartner's jump had its poten-

tially dangerous moments.

Felix is also a helicopter pilot and has

a CPL. Concluding his record he said,

he wants a nice job flying rescue heli-

copters.

JetPack Record

The president of Jetlev Southwest,

Dean o'Malley, flew (tethered to a

floating powerplant and not without

stops) over 26.2 miles of open

ocean from Newport Beach, Ca,

USA to Catalina on Saturday, Sept.

29, to promote the company's jet-

pack product.The promotional stunt

aimed to set a record for longest jet-

pack flight. Jetlev

(http://www.jetlev.com/) manufac-

tures a jetpack that uses water pres-

sure for thrust. The water is pumped

from a floating power unit

through a hose to two downward-

facing nozzles attached to a back-

pack worn by the pilot. The system

handled the trip in about four hours

but its 200-hp four-stroke marine

engine emptied the craft's 22-gallon

fuel tank twice along the way.

African Aviation Expands

Denel Aviation, South Africa’s

largest defence equipment manufac-

turer, and UIC oboronprom, the par-

ent company of Russian Helicopters,

announce that they have signed a

Teaming agreement to create a serv-

icing hub for Russian-made military

and commercial helicopters in Sub-

Saharan Africa.

Mike Kgobe, the Chief Executive of

Denel Aviation, said that the agree-

ment will significantly expand the

company’s business in Africa and

strengthen its position as the premier

provider of MRo services in the

Sub-Saharan region.

“our objective is to become the

maintenance hub for most of the

modern commercial and military air-

craft operating in Sub-Saharan

Africa,” said Mr. Kgobe. “The agree-

ment represents the culmination of a

long-standing partnership between

the two companies.”

HEMS Hairy Fund Raising

The London ‘Hair’Ambulence have been raising money

using their ‘Movember’ page which encourages hair growth.

More than £600 so far.

Chinese owned

Sikorsky S76D

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

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

Please include your name, and email or phone.

Weight & Balance App

Dear Editor,

My name is Claus Richter, I am a commercial heli-

copter pilot. Recently, I recently developed a new kind

of iPad and iPhone app for weight and balance and

performance:

www.gyronimosystems.com (see New Technology)

At this time these apps are only available for

Robinson R44 / R22 helicopters. I know that many

pilots don't like to do cumbersome weight and balance

and performance calculations (including myself) so I

thought it is time to develop a computer program for

this. This is not the ‘usual’ weight and balance matrix,

the apps can do far more!

- In Ground Effect Hover Ceiling

- out of Ground Effect Hover Ceiling

- Max Continuous Power

- Never Exceed Speed

and much more.

Best Regards

Claus Richter

SOS Italian Helicopter Rescue Operations

Dear Georgina,

I have finally realized a my dream, a very long work:

I have published a book about the heli-rescue.

It is titled " SoS Italian Helicopter Rescue operations

from Mediterranean Sea to Mont Blanc".

I wrote it in English, and it is in high quality 170gram

glossy paper: (see advert inside front cover for more

details.) All images and words are by myself.

If you or someone working there, or your friends,

wish to buy it, please please look at the inside front

cover advert with order details. (If it is possible unify

orders of two or three book with a single payment and

single delivery address it is possible to save a lot of

money in international forwarding charges).

The book is ready to be sent from 11-December.

Thank you for your attention.

Ciao

Dino Marcellino.

Australia comes 6th

Dear Georgina

Australia is now 6th in the world for the number of

helicopters – not bad for a nation of only 22.5 million.

(Same population as Shanghai, China). The long term

growth rate of over 10% is probably the highest in the

world and reflects our sound economy – good news in

the current international financial climate.

Full coverage of opportunities to participate at AHIA

events during trade days at Avalon 2013. Conference

speakers and proposed papers wanted urgently. (No

costs involved).

Kindest regards,

Rob Rich

Company Secretary

Australian Helicopter Industry Association Limited


leTTerS To The ediTor


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Claus Richter has designed an App for the ipad

which, as he puts it, allows pilots to avoid doing

cumbersome calculations. Called the Gyronimo

Performance pad it is at present only available for the R22

and R44, though there will no doubt be further types in the

future. I evaluated the App for the R44 Raven 11.

The Gyronimo App has a variety of different screens,

giving weight and balance charts, performance charts and

flight time plus a quick run down of the helicopter sys-

tems, data, limitations and definitions.

The weight and balance, performance and flight time

screens are interactive, so, as you put in, for example, the

differing weights of the pilot and passengers, so the com-

puter adjusts your longitudinal and lateral limitations in

the graph. You also have a choice as to whether you prefer

to see your analytic data in a chart view or a table view.

TeChnoloGy For The ipAd

new

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on the performance charts, you put in outside air tempera-

ture, local altimeter setting and elevation and the computer

works out your pressure and density altitudes placing them on

the screen in relation to your actual height. In certain places

this could well be a lifesaver.

on the flight leg, you can change winds and strength and

watch the effect it has on your track, you have the already cal-

culated pressure and density altitudes and this information is

presented on a table to the side of the main screen.

There is also a ‘Helicopter’ section on which you can see

helicopter data, airspeeds and limits and definitions, and in

the Weight and Balance section you have a side screen for

conversions, which is extremely useful; how many

times have I ground my teeth moving from the

Robinson to the JetRanger trying to remember how

many pounds equates to 25 US gallons or something

similar.

I loved it. It made calculations much easier, it

brought my students’s attention to the difference

between PA and DA and as well as being useful it was

great fun to use. Plus, as the app costs only £6.99, you

can download it, give it a try and move on if you don’t

like it.

Brilliant.

helicopter liFe Winter 2012 helicopter liFe Winter 201214

words and pictures by

Simon Watson and Phil Camp

105HU DaringEagles

Gorakhpur Airbase in Uttar Pradesh is home to the

Indian Air Force’s second oldest and currently

largest Helicopter Unit. the 105 HU.

The 105 HU known as ‘The Daring Eagles’ have a

long and distinguished career over the skies of India hav-

ing been created in Jorhat on 23rd November 1959.

In the early years The Daring Eagles operated with the

Bell 47G and S55, later receiving two Chetaks in 1962

before converting to the Mil-4 on 30th September 1963.

The first eighteen years of their existence they operated

around the demanding environs of Eastern Air

Command. They saw action in the Indo-China conflict of

1962 where a three aircraft detachment at Lumpo per-

formed reconnaissance, CASEVAC and re-supply mis-

sions in support of the Indian Army’s 4th Division. Their

impressive performance included the evacuation of 135

casualties from the front and the supply of 14.6 tonnes of

stores.

The unit saw further combat during the 1971 Indo-Pak

war. Here, in the Eastern Sector at Sylhet, together with

110 HU and 111 HU they airlifted a force of Indian

Army troops across the Meghna River at night, under

enemy fire. This was followed by an advance on

Daudkandi and then onto the outskirts of Dacca.

The combined helicopter force completed 409 sorties

in 36 hours, lifting a total of 6023 men and 5,500 kgs of

supplies during the Sylhet Airlift. Throughout the con-

flict, 105 HU flew an impressive 94,972 kgs of supplies.

The Daring Eagles converted to the Mil-8 on 1st

September 1981 and moved to their current home of

Gorakhpur in August 1987. They have also taken part in

various rescue missions over the decades as part of the

remit to assist the civilian powers with disaster relief,

predominantly with regard to floods and earthquakes.

Their first major mission was to West Bengal in 1976

to assist in flood relief and since then they have been

called into action nearly 20 times, with virtually nonstop

deployments since the year 2000.

In october 1987, they were deployed to the Jaffna

Peninsula in Sri Lanka to assist the Indian Army with

peace keeping duties during ‘operation Pawan’. In

March 2008, they were awarded the ‘Presidential

Standard’ for services to India and in September 2010

they converted to the Mil-17.

Today, the unit continues in its civil relief missions, as

well as standard re-supply, Army support and VIP mis-

sions. In June 2011, the unit took over the mission of

supporting the Indian Military and Police in their opera-

tion against Naxal guerrillas in India’s ‘Red Corridor’.

The ‘Red Corridor’ consists of several Indian States

that extend from the borders of Nepal and China, south

the border of Tamil Nadu state in southern India. The

states concerned are amongst the most under developed

and poorest in India and include, Andhra Pradesh, Bihar,

Chattisgarh, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, orissa, Uttar

Pradesh and West Bengal. Naxalite is a generic term used

to describe the various militant communist groups oper-

ating in the corridor. The insurrection by the Naxalites is

the result of under development in the most rural of areas

and exploitation of the locals by corrupt officials and

major Indian Corporations.

The activities of the various groups increased between

2000 and 2010 leading to the Government of India

declaring them to be terrorist organisations predominant-

ly funded by foreign powers. The Government of India

has attempted to resolve the situation with the introduc-

tion of an integrated action plan that broadly seeks to

develop economic regeneration projects in the effected

areas as well as increasing police funding for the better

containment of the communist influence. The increased

The Daring Eagles were created in

November 1959


funding has led to four IAF helicopters being deployed

into the area, together with three Border Security Force

HAL Dhruv’s based at Ranchi in Jharkhand. This heli-

copter force has aided the various police and paramilitary

groups such as the Central Reserve Police Force, Border

Security Force, Indo Tibetan Border Police and various

local state forces. The helicopter force has been vital to

the various ground units with their ability to deploy re-

enforcements, re-supply and casualty evacuation.

The Indian Air Force commitment, known as

‘operation Triveni’, was previously performed by 152

Helicopter Unit, home based at Sarsawa in Western Air

Command. However the baton was passed over to 105

HU in 2011 and the size of the unit rose as a conse-

quence, from the customary 8 to 14 helicopters. Currently

they have four aircraft detached to Raipur to support

operations in Chattisgarh and surrounding areas. The

Daring Eagles bear the brunt of the work due to ongoing

serviceability problems with the HAL Dhruv and on aver-

age each crew will spend approximately twenty-one days

on rotation.

Indian rules of engagement do not allow for use of the

UB32 rocket pods against their own civilian population.

However, they do take incoming fire whilst flying and

are allowed to return fire in self defence. The Mil-17s are

particularly vulnerable in the hover, especially whilst tak-

Original historic workplace

Mil 17s are particuarly

vulnerable in the hover

ing off and landing. Rocket propelled grenades and mor-

tars have been used against them and to counter this they

are equipped with AK47s and 7.62 mm machine guns

located in the port side cabin door and first window of

the starboard side. Furthermore, the attachment of bolt on

armour around the cockpit gives added protection to the

crew against small arms fire, which normally consists of

the pilot, co-pilot, engineer and air gunner. In the first 6

months of operations in the ‘Red Corridor’ has seen the

unit come under fire several times and several of the crew

men have been put forward for commendations. The

Indian Government action plan appears to be having posi-

tive results as the number of effected states has started to

decline. By the end of 2011 they were reporting that the

number of Naxalite related deaths and casualties nation-

wide had decreased by nearly 50% in the preceding year.

The IAF has been a big user of Mil Helicopters from

the Kazan plant having ordered 130 Mil-8’s, 93 Mil-17’s,

50 Mil17-IV’s, 80 Mil-17V5’s and with the prospect of

more. The older Mil-8’s are gradually being replaced as

newer Mil-17’s enter the inventory.

Each crew will spend 21

days on rotation


Around the WorldKamov Ka-226T Emercom

This light multirole Ka-226 is certificated by the

Interstate Aviation Committee to AP-29 standards

and holds ST 225-Ka-226 certificates. The Ka-

226’s coaxial rotor system and original fuselage layout

give it important benefits of modularity thanks to its

advanced flight characteristics, simplicity and ease of

flying. Distinctive features include its modular fuselage

structure, which can be used for various purposes in one

helicopter.

The latest version – the Ka-226T – is equipped with

powerful and economic Arrius 2G1 engines (certificated

by the EASA in 2011) and the latest Russian VR-226N

gearing system. It is the first time that the Arrius 2G1 has

been used in a coaxial helicopter. This gives the Ka-226T

unprecedented levels of safety – even with just one

working engine it has enough power to manoeuvre (up to

750hp). The combination of advanced engines, an acci-

dent-proof fuel system and energy absorbing seats make

this one of the greenest and safest helicopters in its class.

King of Spain flies nH90

His Majesty Juan Carlos I, King of Spain, flew

from the Cuatro Vientos Air Base in Madrid for a

flight in the Spanish variant of the cutting-edge

NH90 helicopter, fitted out and tested at the company's

facility in Albacete.

The first deliveries of this aircraft to the Spanish Army

Airmobile Force (FAMET) are scheduled for next year.

His Majesty King Juan Carlos I is an experienced pilot

with 3,740 helicopter flight hours. Most of these flights

have been in aircraft built by Eurocopter, particularly the

Super Puma but also the EC135, EC145, EC225 and even

the Tiger attack helicopter.

Bond in Lerwick Harbour

Crews of Lerwick Harbour pilot

boats and Bond offshore

Helicopters’ aircraft working

together to ensure the high level of skill

required in Bond’s search-&-rescue

operations in Scottish waters. Exercises

take place once a week, this the 100th.

Bond’s offshore search and rescue

operation comprises two dedicated,

specially-modified Super Puma

AS332L Mark II helicopters made

available under a long-term contract

with BP to provide 24 hour airborne

search-&-rescue and medical evacua-

tion for its workforce in a unique UK

North Sea system known as Jigsaw.

one of the high-specification, twin-

engine aircraft is based at Sumburgh

Airport. Shetland, the other on the

Miller platform, in the central North

Sea.

Russian Helicopters, is to join the interna-

tional “Carbon Valley” project, which

aims to develop next-generation com-

posite materials for the aviation sector. These

innovations – particularly carbon-fibre rein-

forced polymers and hybrid airframe parts –

will substantially reduce helicopter production

and operating costs and improve aircraft relia-

bility and lifetime.

Helicopter manufacturers use glass or carbon

fibre composites in the main rotor blades and

fuselage. Composite materials have a much

longer fatigue life than metals, which substan-

tially reduces servicing needs and the total life-

cycle costs of the aircraft. Composite materials

generally comprise at least 20 per cent of new

helicopters produced today.

Most helicopters produced by Russian

Helicopters are equipped with composite main

rotor blades. Fully 50 per cent of the Ka-62’s

airframe, for example, is made of composite

materials, making the aircraft much lighter and

more economic to operate.

Russian Helicopters’ HingelessTorsion Bar in the Ansat

Composite materials are also used in the light multirole Ansat,

shown above, which has a hingeless, maintenance-free rotor/shaft

assembly. The hinges have been replaced by a rigid rotor with a

flexible element – a composite torsion bar. The four-blade assembly

consists of two crossed bars, with two blades affixed to each. With

hingeless rotor system, the helicopter is more controllable and

manoeuvrable, is lighter, and costs less to manufacture and substan-

tially less to operate. The hingeless torsion bar assembly is a

Russian innovation and has great prospects for further development.

helicopter liFe, Winter 2012 helicopter liFe, Winter 201220

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Northrop Grumman and AgustaWestland are partner-

ing to offer total solutions without compromise: proven,

advanced rotorcraft, built in the United States, and fully

integrated with the most advanced mission suites, inte-

grated onboard sensors and communications systems

available in the world today – systems that will meet the

future needs of both programs. The AW101 system is a

mature, reliable, highly capable and combat-proven

multi-mission aircraft that affordably meets the needs of

the nation’s combat search and rescue (CSAR) forces

and will serve the Nations’ Presidents far into the future.

“This is a strong partnership between two companies

that combines each company’s strengths,” said Paul

Meyer, vice president and general manager of Advanced

Programs and Technology at Northrop Grumman

Aerospace Systems sector. “While Northrop Grumman

has broad expertise in systems integration of large air-

craft programs, AgustaWestland has world-leading

expertise in global rotorcraft and vertical-lift. We believe

that this industry partnership will bring together the best

experience, expertise and resources, ensuring that the

customer receives the best solution.”

“We are delighted to have Northrop Grumman as a

partner, with their impressive history of supporting the

U.S. Department of Defense," said Bruno Spagnolini,

CEo of AgustaWestland. "We strongly believe that the

AW101 is the right aircraft for both missions and that

this team can succeed."

Northrop Grumman Corporation and

AgustaWestland, a Finmeccanica company,

announced in September that they have signed a

comprehensive teaming agreement to respond to antici-

pated requests for both the new Air Force Combat

Rescue Helicopter and the Navy’s recently announced

program to develop a new ‘Marine one’ Presidential

Helicopter. A US built helicopter based on the AW101

platform will be offered by Northrop Grumman to meet

these requirements.

The teaming of Northrop Grumman’s proven manage-

ment and systems integration expertise with

AgustaWestland’s world-renowned rotorcraft manufactur-

ing and advanced helicopter design/development, offers

both programs an optimum mix of capability to success-

fully bring the best possible new combat rescue helicop-

ter to the Air Force and the best possible new Presidential

helicopter to the Navy-Marine Corps team.

Northrop Grumman’s successes in managing the

development of complex air systems are unequaled—

from fully autonomous strategic unmanned systems like

the Fire Scout, to the E-2D Hawkeye, the B-2 bomber

and the E-8 Joint Stars. Couple that with the continuous

investment in rotorcraft technology development

AgustaWestland has made to field the world’s most

advanced, rugged and reliable helicopters, and both the

Air Force and the Navy will receive and field the best

possible affordable systems.

Presidential Helicopter Agreement

The Robinson Helicopter Company has received

FAA certification for the R66 Turbine Police

Helicopter. Robinson’s R66 Police model is spe-

cially configured for law enforcement and meets the lat-

est FAA crashworthiness regulations.

The four-place R66 Police helicopter combines R66

power, altitude performance, and capacity with the latest

in surveillance systems. Turn-key ready, the R66 police

comes standard with FAA-approved technology including

the FLIR Ultra 8000 thermal imaging camera, a 10-inch

fold down color monitor, the new Spectrolab SX-7

searchlight with

30-million candlepower, and a dual audio controller.

Robinson believes the modest price tag of US $1,104,000

and simplified maintenance schedule will appeal to both

large and small police agencies. The first production R66

Police Helicopter will be delivered in october of this

year to Southern California’s Fontana Police Department.

Fontana is the lead agency in a four city alliance and has

used Robinson R44 Police helicopters since 2005.

Performance specifications of the R66 Police Helicopter

include a cruise speed of up to 120 kts (138 mph), pay-

load of 800 lbs with full fuel, and a hover ceiling oGE at

max gross weight of 10,000 ft.

Robinson will continue expanding the R66 line with an

ENG (Electric News Gathering) version and a float ver-

sion both targeted for release in 2013.

Robinson R66 Police Helicopter

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Bond Air Services started operations to support

Greater Gabbard offshore wind farm in october

this year. The company’s support of the Greater

Gabbard offshore wind farm is the first helicopter opera-

tion of its kind in the UK.

With a generation capacity of 500MW and a total of

140 turbines, the Greater Gabbard wind farm, located

25km off the Suffolk coast, is currently the world’s

largest offshore wind farm. Under the contract, Bond will

provide helicopter services in delivering maintenance

technicians by hoist to the turbines of the wind farm.

Bond Air Services anticipates that wind farm operators

and turbine manufacturers that choose to include helicop-

ters as part of their operations & Maintenance strategy

will ultimately benefit from increased productivity.

Stephen Rose, offshore Wind Generation Manager at

Greater Gabbard offshore Wind Limited, said: “Safety is

our number one priority at all times, and by using heli-

copters it means that we can get greater access to the tur-

bines in conditions which may have been otherwise

impossible by boat.”

David Bond, Commercial Manager for Marine

Services at Bond Air Services said: “We’re delighted to

have started operations at Greater Gabbard. It marks an

important milestone for the company which strengthens

our reputation for innovation and reinforces our position

as the UK’s market leader in the provision of helicopter

services”.

David Laws, MP for Yeovil, thanked Graham Cole

the UK Chairman of AgustaWestland for his tire-

less work over more than three years culminating

in “almost £100,000,000,000 to create and safeguard jobs

for the local community. It will be,” he said, “a game

changer for the local community in the South West” (of

the United Kingdom).

AgustaWestland has been selected to go forward to the

contracting phase for their bid of up to £46 million from

the Government’s Growth Fund. This involves a match-

ing investment from AgustaWestland which will mean

£100 million invested to establish a Civil Helicopter Hub

based in the South-West.

Four and a half years ago it became clear that

AgustaWestland would need a civil strategy to replace

the declining needs of the military helicopter market.

Graham Cole was certain that civil and parapublic heli-

copter requirements were set to expand. He proposed to

the Regional Growth Fund (RGF) that three things were

vitally necessary to the economy:

A world class company supplying 30 plus helicopters

a year for home use and export.

An established research facility where work could be

done on present and future technologies such as fly-by-

wire and tilrotor technologies.

The integration of these technologies into development

work done in the factories where key technologies are

understood thanks to an experienced and training engi-

neering workforce.

AgustaWestland joins groups all over the UK that

have benefitted from £1 billion given by the RGF.

Bidders also put £6 billion of their own money into these

enterprises and the government stresses that the RGF not

only gives the tax payer £6 of private sector investment

for every £1 of taxpayers money, it increases employ-

ment and is a key to sustaining jobs in the long term.

The RGF fuding will support development work in the

AW609 Tiltrotor, which is expected to get certification in

2016 and enter the civilian market shortly after.

£46 million for AgustaWestland UK civil rotorcraft projects

Bond Air Services operation to supportthe Greater Gabbard offshore windfarm

helicopter liFe, Winter 2012helicopter liFe, Winter 2012 252524

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Anew Russian helicopter could put out a fire at the

top of the 163-story Burj Khalifa – the tallest

building in the world at 828 metres – when the

complexities of high altitude make using traditional fire-

fighting techniques impossible, a Russian Helicopters

official told the High-Rise Aerial Firefighting & Rescue

conference at Dubai Helishow 2012.

The Ka-32A11BC is an all-weather coaxial rotor heli-

copter that can be equipped with special horizontal fire-

fighting equipment.

“Today this helicopter is a unique and highly effective

tool for tackling fires in high-rise buildings and sky-

scrapers,” Russian Helicopters’ Dmitry zuikov said.

“The Ka-32A11BC’s coaxial rotors give it a crucial edge

in terms of stability and manoeuvrability in the turbulent

air found in fire zones, making it a high-precision tool

that can fight fires with maximum efficiency.”

The Ka-32A11BC is highly configurable with more

than forty different options available to buyers, This

includes Bambi-Bucket and Simplex fire-fighting sys-

tems of various capacities, stowable lifting cabins for

transportation and rescue operations, and other equip-

ment such as water-canons for horizontal fire-fighting,

which would be perfectly suited to tackling a blaze in

any of Dubai’s skyscrapers, like the Burj Kalifa.

The Ka-32A11BC proved its fire-fighting credentials

in April 2012, when a blaze engulfed more than 300

meters of the 67th floor at the Federation Tower in

Moscow, more than 270 meters above ground level.

More than 20 fire brigades were called out to respond to

the incident – the highest altitude fire in Moscow’s histo-

ry – but the fire was only contained after two Ka-32As

belonging to the Russian Emergencies Ministry were

called into action and ferried in water from the nearby

Moscow River.

More than 70% of fires worldwide occur in towns and

cities, while only 30% are wildfires. Experts say that

fires in high-rise buildings pose a real problem for

today’s cities, and fire brigades, rescue workers and other

emergency services all say that tackling them is a highly

complex operation that requires specialised equipment –

primarily helicopters – and training.

The capabilities of the Ka-32A11BC and other spe-

cialised Russian-built helicopters – such as the modified

medium Mi-8/17 and light multirole Ansat and Ka-226T

– were highly recommended.

Dubai Helishow 2012 ran from 6-8 November in

Dubai, with more than 100 companies from around the

world exhibiting. The show focused particularly on the

potential uses of helicopters for security and rescue oper-

ations.

Sikorsky and Ruili Jingcheng Group announced the

signing of two contracts for the introduction of a

S-92® helicopter and a S-76D™ helicopter. This

is Sikorsky’s first S-92 helicopter sale to a private

Chinese operator and the first ever Sikorsky S-76D heli-

copter sale into China. Both aircraft will be configured

for airline use.

“Today’s announcement signals a major milestone for

Sikorsky’s business development in China,” said Ed

Beyer, Vice President, Sikorsky Global Helicopters.

“We are truly feeling the warmth of the fast-growing

helicopter market here as more S-76 and S-92 helicop-

ters keep flying into China. We are even more pleased

that our newest customer here has chosen Sikorsky

because of the popularity of our products in this market

and the high reputation we have built over the past 30

years.”

Ruili Jingcheng Group, a private conglomerate based

in Ruili, Yunnan province in southwestern China, is

expanding its business into the aviation sector by estab-

lishing three aviation subsidiaries, including a helicop-

ter operating company. RJG will be the newest Chinese

commercial customer for Sikorsky, and will be the first

operator in China of the Sikorsky S-76D helicopter, the

newest S-76® helicopter model. The S-76D was grant-

ed type certification by the FAA on oct. 12.

Sikorsky has been highly successful in China for the

past decade. Currently, there are 31 S-76 and four S-92

helicopters of various configurations flying in China. on

China’s intermediate market segment (7,000 to 15,000 lbs

gross weight), the S-76 occupies more than 40 percent (the

highest) of the segment. The S-92 helicopter continues to

gain in popularity and is becoming the helicopter of choice

among offshore oil companies.

Designed for safety, reliability and efficiency, the S-76D

helicopter’s standard equipment features are all-composite,

flaw-tolerant main rotor blades; an advanced THALES

integrated avionics system and autopilot; health and usage

monitoring system, active vibration control; and powerful

Pratt & Whitney Canada PW210S engines. Rotor Ice

Protection System for all-weather capability will be avail-

able as an option. There have been more than 800 S-76

helicopters delivered to the global fleet since 1979, con-

tributing daily to a growing 6 million-plus flight hours.

S-92 helicopters perform search and rescue (SAR) mis-

sions as well as a variety of transportation missions for

VIPs including Heads of State, offshore oil and gas crews,

utility and airline passengers. The worldwide fleet of 151

S-92 helicopters has accumulated nearly 400,000 flight

hours since deliveries began in 2004. The S-92 helicopter

was certified to FAA/EASA harmonized Part 29 require-

ments, as amended through Amendment 47. The S-92 heli-

copter remains the only aircraft to have been certified to

this rigorous airworthiness standard without exception or

waiver.

Russian Helicopters at Dubai HelishowSikorsky in China - private sale of S76

and S92 marks a new milestone

26 27helicopter liFe, Winter 2012 helicopter liFe, Winter 2012

,

Green Blade Pegasus

The Belgian Air Component, ably supported by

Luxembourg, hosted the joint and combined heli-

copter training and Special Forces 2012 exercise,

Green Blade/Pegasus, at the Kleine Brogel Air Base,

Belgium in october. The exercise was hosted by the

EDA (European Defence Agency) Helicopter Training

Programme.

Kleine Brogel Air Base is the home of the 10th

Tactical Fighter Wing. This Air Base served as a

Deployed operating Base (DoB) for both the Green

Blade exercise and that of Pegasus.

Pegasus 2012 relied on using the helicopter as part of

their training. Combining both exercises into one not

only offered the right training opportunities for both

Words and pictures by Arjan Dijksterhuis

2828 helicopter liFe, Winter 2012 helicopter liFe, Winter 2012

Boarding the Italian

Chinook

helicopter crews and Special Forces, but also had the

effect of reducing costs, both a good example of the

pooling and ‘sharing’ concept of the European Defence

Agency and saved a lot of tax-payers money during

these difficult financial times.

Pegasus

Pegasus 2012 was organised by the Belgium Special

Forces Group and is a biennial exercise with an interna-

tional character. Special Forces from Belgium (21st

Company 3rd Parachute Group from the Special Forces

Group in Heverlee), Italy (IX Battaglione “Col

Moschin” in Livorno) and Spain (Escuadrón de

zapadores Paracaidistas in Murcia and Fuerza de

Guerra Naval Especial in Cartagena) gathered at Kleine

Brogel, Belgium. The commander of the Special

operations, Lieutenant Colonel Tom Bilo; “A combined

exercise like Green Blade and Pegasus gives a very

good opportunity to the task groups from different

countries to train and to cooperate with task groups

from other countries. A lot can be learned by just com-

ing together and sharing the experiences. With this

combined exercise, a unique and challenging opportuni-

ty is offered to the special forces to train and to improve

their tactics, techniques and procedures while also train-

ing with allied Task Groups and improving the interop-

erability using rotary and fixed wing assets. Last but not

least, as an international exercise, Pegasus also fosters

comradeship between the different nations and commu-

nities”.

Green Blade

The Green Blade exercise had three objectives: To

enhance the interoperability at the tactical level in a

realistic and challenging environment, to manage the

deployment of the helicopter units and to conduct oper-

ations in a multinational environment.

About 550 personnel and fifteen helicopters arrived

at Kleine Brogel on Monday 17 September. Host nation

Belgium took part with five Agusta A.109BA

“Hirundo” utility helicopters from 1 Wing which is

based at Beauvechain. Transporthubschrauberregiment

30 (THR30) from the German Army (HEER) arrived

with six UH-1D Hueys from their homebase

Niederstetten, Germany. The Aviazione dell’Esercito

Italiano (Italian Army) participated with two types of

helicopters, a pair of Agusta A.129C Mangusta attack

helicopters and two CH-47C Chinook transport helicop-

ters. The A.129C Mangusta helicopters are operated by

5° Reggimento “Rigel”, based at Casarsa della Delizia

(located North-East of Venice), while the Chinook heli-

copters came from Viterbo (North of Rome), Italy and

are assigned to 1° Reggimento “Antares”.

The exercise followed a ‘step by step’ approach using

three different modules while increasing the complexity

of the missions.

In the first week the participants familiarised them-

selves with the exercise area, the equipment and proce-

dures of the other foreign units as part of the Combat

Enhancement Training/Force Integration Training

(CET/FIT) phase. on Tuesday 18 September, familiari-

sation briefings and flights were made to make the

Special Forces familiar with the different types of heli-

copters and the procedures for boarding and disembark-

ing in a safe way. Pinpoint navigation flights were made

over the provinces of Antwerp, Liége, Limburg and

Namur to make the aircrew familiar with the landscape,

local flight rules and exercise specific operating proce-

dures. Non tactical training flights including night fly-

ing with Night Vision Goggles (NVG) and Nap of Earth

flights were made as well. Workshops were given on a

variety of subjects like Medics, Forward Air Controller

(FAC)/JTAC (Joint Terminal Attack Controller),

Communications, Sniping, Tactical Site Exploitation

and demolitions. The Special Forces practiced free fall

parachute jumps from a C-130H Hercules of the

Belgian Air Component, shooting, balloon jumping and

practiced Fast Roping and SPIE Rig (Special Purpose

Insertion/Extraction Rig) extractions, both day and

night. Fast-roping is a technique to deliver personnel

from a helicopter onto places that a helicopter can not

land on or is too restricted for a safe low level hover.

The forces quickly descend on by one using a thick

rope. This technique was developed by the British and

first used in combat during the Falklands war. The

SPIE Rig was developed by the US Marines to insert

or extract personnel rapidly while wearing a harness

with a carabiner. The descenders hook up to a D-ring

on the SPIE rope and secure themselves with a second

safety line. The helicopter climbs vertically until the

rope and personnel are clear from obstacles, and the

helicopter will proceed in forward flight. The cross-

training with the Special Forces started from Sanicole,

a small airfield near the Leopoldsburg Barracks, close

to Kleine Brogel Air Base.

During the next two weeks, the Field Training

Exercise section took place. In the second part of the

exercise, the units had to analyse, plan and execute a

wide variety of Special operations Forces related mis-

sions such as insertion, extraction, hostage rescue, per-

sonnel recovery and on request also the more tradition-

al helicopter missions such as airmobile operations,

MedEvec, Recce and Surveillance flights. Direct

actions, such as the capture of High Value Targets

(HVT) and Hostage Release operations (HRo) were

practiced, combined with platoon size raids, Tactical

Air Land operations, Medevac/Casevac, Close Air

Support and Close Combat Attack missions. F-16s

from Kleine Brogel also participated in this part of the

exercise) using a Forward Air Controller or a Joint

Terminal Attack Controller. Personnel Recovery

(CSAR, Combat Search and Rescue). This was demon-

strated by an Italian A.129 Mangusta when the

‘downed’ crew was evacuated while sitting on the

undercarriage of the main landing gear.

The nature of the missions in the third part of the

exercise were similar to the previous one, but the heli-

copters were temporarily deployed to a Forward

operating Base (FoB) in the south-east of Belgium.

The FoB also operated as a Forward Arming and

Refuelling Point (FARP) point during the this part of

the exercise.

Helicopter Life closely witnessed one of the opera-

Entering the targeted

house

Extraction of

rebel leader

Special forces going to the

extraction zone


Member of the

Speical Forces

head and to provide top cover. ‘BEAST55’ is contacted

by the JTAC and approved to approach for the target

area and is cleared to land to the north-west of the

house. one minute later, the Italian Chinook pops up

behind the trees to insert the diversion force by fast

rope to attract and fix the insurgents on the west side of

the house. In the mean time the HUSKY formation is

prepared to fly in for the insertion of the Assault Force.

one minute later, the Chinook leaves. Within twenty

seconds, the first of two UH-Ds is hovering on the

southeast side of the house, delivering the Assault

Force by fast rope. Their task is to force their way into

the house by breaching the door and also to the capture

the target.

one team member was injured during the assault and

“Samaritan60” was contacted to evacuate the injured

team member. A few minutes later, a pair of A109BA

helicopters arrive on the scene. The first helicopter

lands while the second one provides top cover with the

machine gun installed. After the departure of the

Medevac helicopter, the UH-1Ds returns to pick up the

captured leader and the Assault Force. Both helicopters

tions in a simulated scenario. In this scenario a radical

revolutionary group is active and is terrorizing the

local population and is kidnapping people with an

increasing number of civilian casualties each day. An

International Security Force has been mandated to

intervene. Human Intelligence (HUMINT) and Signal

Intelligence (SIGINT) indicated that the leader of this

radical group is using a house in the woods as a hide-

out. The leader was identified as a High Value Target

(HVT) and a Belgian Special operations Task Unit

had been ordered to capture the leader alive. The plan-

ning and preparation started and is supported by a

combined Rotary Wing Special operations Air Task

unit.

Four phases can be recognized during the mission;

Clear and secure, insertion of the assault and diversion

force, extraction of the assault force and extraction of

the diversion and cordon force.

The target is observed by a Special Reconnaissance

team for two days to identify his pattern of life. Their

observations showed that the target was present in the

house and based on this info, the Special operations

Commander decided to execute the pre-planned mis-

sion in order to capture the target alive. Just before

dawn a platoon of the Special Forces Group were

dropped by parachute in order to secure the perimeter

of the target. Just minutes before the start of the mis-

sion, a F-16 equipped with a sniper pod, flew over-

head the target to provide the Joint Terminal Attack

Controller with the latest situational awareness needed

to guide and control the helicopters during the mis-

sion.

The information from the reconnaissance F-16,

together with the information from the Special

Reconnaissance team confirms that most of the insur-

gents, including the target, are in the house and that

one armed vehicle is patrolling in the surrounding.

After a correct read back of the coordinates the JTAC

contacts the CoBRA formation, consisting two Italian

A.129 attack helicopters, that “the High Value Target

(HVT) is localized in a house in grid Fox Sierra six

zero eight three six three four eight. We spotted an

enemy vehicle with a heavy machine gun in grid Juliet

Four. You are approved for the attack after a PID, how

copy?”

Cobra45 responds; “Juliet Four, clear to run in,

Cobra45”. Seconds later the sound of rotor blades is

swelling and an Italian A.129 comes behind the trees

for its first run. “Cobra45, this is Dagger, confirm you

are on the target”. “Confirmed, we are on the target,

hold on” is followed by a pair of explosions. After the

vehicle is destroyed, this is reported to the CoBRA

flight and they are instructed by the JTAC to fly over-

Removing an

injured soldier

Fast roping from

the Huey

The forces are trained the way

they fight - collaborating and

working in unity

Agusta 109BA

Arrival of

Samaritan 60

depart as quickly as they arrived. In the mean time the

Diversion Force is returning to the extraction zone with

the swelling sound of the Chinook in the background.

one minute later, the Italian Chinook is on the ground

ready to extract all the remaining soldiers. After take

off the quietness of the woods returns as though noth-

ing had happened.

After three weeks, 49 missions and 487 flying hours

later, the participating helicopters and ground forces

left Kleine Brogel Air Base for their home base. Andy

Gray, in charge of the Helicopter Training Programme

of the EDA said; “we have to train the personnel the

way we fight. Collaboration is the only option and

Green Blade is an excellent example of how far we get

by working and training together”.

Everybody made a tremendous effort and delivered

on time. The exercise objectives were reached, exceed-

ing initial expectations. operational experiences were

exchanged and lessons learned were shared. The capa-

bilities were enhanced through a better mutual under-

standing and the level of interoperability increased.

3332

Winter2012

Georgina Hunter-Jones flies the Bell 407Gx

Bell’s Gentle Xenium

Pictures Paul Cordwell

The Bell 407 was original conceived in 1993 as Bell’s

‘New Light Aircraft’ considered to be a replacement for

the Bell 206 series. A Bell 206L3 was modified to pro-

vide the pre-prototype model and was first flown in 1994, and

announced at the 1995 HeliExpo. The first prototype was flown

in June 1995 and the first production model was built in

November of that year.

helicopter liFe, Winter 201234 35helicopter liFe, Winter 2012

P

The original 407 used the Bell 206L4 airframe but

with a carbon fibre composite tail boom. The four-blade

rotor and hub was originally built for the oH-58D and

the blades are composite without life limits.

Last year at HeliExpo 2011, Bell showed the new

improved and modified versions of the Bell 407GX,

with the Garmin 1000 for civilian use and the Bell

407AH in military mode.

The major difference between the Bell 407GX and

the original Bell 407 is the instrumentation. The origi-

nal 407, had an analogue panel while the Bell 407GX

has the Garmin 1000HTM with digital screens. The

Garmin 1000 has similar functions to the Garmin 500

so it is easy to move between Garmins. The new Bell

407GX has also, reportedly, been said to be smoother

than the previous Bell 407, however, this may also be

the result of better blade tracking in the demonstrator

model. All the 407 models do have vibration reducers in

the head.

other differences in the new machine are that there is

a camera on the tail and that all the lights have been

changed to the more environmentally friendly LED

(light emitting diode) form and these are very clear and

‘clean’ looking.

The tail mounted camera pictures can be viewed on

the left hand screen of the Garmin 1000. This, rather

like modern cars, gives a clear view of the tail rotor and

the back of the boom, useful for reversing and for

assessing any damage that might have been caused to

the tail in flight. It is capable of ‘seeing’ up to 25 feet in

complete darkness.

I flew the Bell 407GX with Aimé Girouard, Bell test

pilot from Canada. We flew from HeliCharter in

Manston, who have recently become the Bell UK dis-

tributor. Their dealership was announced at

Farnborough this year.

We started the flight with a walk round, commencing

with a look at the rotor head. Unlike the two blade

rotorhead of the 206 series the Bell 407 has four blades,

which allows lower angles of attack in flight and thus

lower disc loading. This increases the ability to get into

the ‘quiet mode’ described later. There are also vibra-

tion reducers in the rotor bay to help the smooth

progress of the machine.

We move on to the engine bay. The engine is a Rolls-

Royce 250-C47B and is FADEC controlled. In the

engine bay there is a combined engine oil and fuel

assembly (CIFA) with LRB (little red button) that pops

out in the event of a blockage.

The outside of the 407 is very much the LongRanger

but on this machine there are wide pocket ‘viewing

windows’ which improved visibility enormously. These

have been fitted to N-407GX, the demonstration model

both in the cockpit and in the back so the visibility from

one side to another is excellent and you can imagine

that if this was being used on a tourist trip there would

no longer be any ‘bad’ seats.

We examine the tail rotor and see the new camera

display, which we will later view from in the cockpit.

The tail rotor has four blades and, thanks to early prob-

lems with the design, sits some distance away from the tail

boom. (In the early models extravagant movements by the

pilot allowed the tail rotor to touch the boom and so the

shaft length was extended). However, Aimé reassures me,

they have had no further problems with the tail rotor since

its position was moved and there is a pedal lock in the

cockpit to prevent extravagant movements by the pilot.

This is standard on all Bell 407 models.

once in the cockpit there are two display screens, the

PFD (primary flight display) on the right and the MFD

(multi flight display) on the left. If one screen fails all the

information can be brought up on the remaining working

display – called ‘composite mode’. You can, however, only

see the camera on the left hand screen, perhaps because it

is one of the less important displays.

Garmin and Bell have worked together on the screens to

reduce pilot workload (something that is very much the

catchphrase of the moment) and improve situational aware-

ness. on the PFD main screen display you have direction,

altitude, VSI and NR and NG (known as the PSI - Power

situation indicator). You also have an artifical horizon and

an engine out warning. You can insert onto the screen a

map display, a flight planning display and a ‘pathways in

the sky’ display. Garmin say it is a very clear, easy to scan

layout and certainly I found I quickly got used to using it.

on the left hand screen you have a range ring display

showing distance away from the helicopter, a flight plan-

ning display, a map display (you can do a split screen here

with the tail camera pictures) and a power assurance check

display, which has warnings in amber and red. It is also

possible to have weather radar on this screen.

We did a series of machine and computer pre-flight

checks and these were shown on the screen.

We then moved on to start-up. This is very easy as it is

done by the FADEC and monitored by the pilot using the

It is a responsive

and fun machine

to fly

The FADEC will

assign ‘pathway

boxes’ for flight

The camera allows the pilot to

check tail rotor clearance using

the screen

There are vibration

dampers in the head

37helicopter liFe, Winter 2012

screens. Warnings are coloured amber and dangers

in red, as is standard and intuitive.

I have flown the 407 once before, in Texas in

2006, and I regularly fly the Bell 206, so I am used

to Bell models and I like them. Even given that

level of bias, I think most people would find this a

nice machine to fly. It is, dare I say it, quite easy. It

flies with a nice balance and it takes off and lands

smoothly, yes with left skid low, but that is expect-

ed anyway, and hovering even with a tail wind is

comfortable and there is a nice lot of power avail-

able: we were flying with only two of us and half

tanks, but Aimé averred it feels just as good with

five people in the back.

To give an example of what I mean. We flew

from HeliCharter, over Manston airfield and did the

photo shoot. We then went off to see what the

machine could do.

Having done some turns left and right Aime´sug-

gested I bring the 407 into a hover out of ground

effect at 2000 feet. I did and saw we were only

using 60 torque. I then did then pedal turn left and

right without any descent and with no increase in

torque or any feeling of ‘weakness’ in the machine.

It was a nice feeling.

Back into normal flight and we positioned for an

autorotation to a hover recovery. The Bell 407 does

descend quite fast, we went down at 2500 fpm, and

there was a much greater sensation of ground rush

With the wide ‘safari vision’

windows there are no ‘bad’

seats in the back

Rolls Royce 250-C47B

gas turbine engine

Garmin 1000 showing

tail camera view

on left screen

Garmin 1000 in

the cockpit can

be easily learnt

by former

Garmin 500

pilots

than there is in the more benign Bell 206.

The Bell 407 is a heavier machine with

greater drag and four blades.

We flared at about 60 – 80 feet above the

ground and the machine slowed and stopped

beautifully, with a nice, controlled recovery

back into the hover. We did not go to the

ground as we were not ‘at home’ and insur-

ance costs and other factors often make that

necessary in the current climate.

We then moved on to testing the

hydraulics. Closing off the hydraulic switch

I was ready to immediately reduce the speed

but Aimé said, “wait, if you use small inputs

it makes the machine perfectly easy to con-

trol even at 120 knots.”

He was, of course, absolutely correct and

this is something I have subsequently prac-

ticed with my students in the R44 and Bell

206. Small movements worked beautifully

fine, even at 120 knots in the B407, and as

long as I did not move the stick violently

there was none of the familiar hydraulic-off

‘stonewall’ resistance.

We then slowed the machine continuing

to use very small inputs and saw that it was

controllable even right on to the ground

using this method. Aime says the greatest

problem that pilots have with hydraulic fail-

ure is over-controlling the machine by mak-

ing large movements and having to compen-

sate for them.

In the case of a genuine hydraulic failure,

the procedure is the same as the Bell 206:

After confirming that the switch is in the

oN position, you have to pulled the C/B in

order to check if the pressure will restore. If

so, it means that the failure is due to the

electric solenoid. If pressure does not

restore, then push the C/B back in, turn the

hydraulic switch oFF and carry out a pre-

cautionary landing as per Flight Manual rec-

ommendations.

FADEC failure is something that sepa-

rates the former piston pilots from those

who learnt only on more advanced

machines. For someone used to playing

with the throttle (for example a Hughes 269

pilot) the lack of full automation is not the

disaster it is for turbine-only pilots. once

the FADEC has failed you are back to basic

flying and need to move the throttle to keep

the RPM in the green arc. The difference

here is that while the green arc on the H269 is fairly large, forgiv-

ing overly enthusiastic movements, the green arc here is very small

and the pilot does need to be quite sensitive with his throttle move-

ments when lowering or raising the collective. However it was

clearly workable and with practice, which you would do if you

owned it, it would become second nature.

Concentrating back on the Garmin and we decided to use the

pathway boxes to fly back to the airfield. These are little interlinked

box which, once you have assigned a height and direction on the

FADEC, pop up on the Garmin screen. By holding the helicopter


Aimé Girouard

Bell 407Gx test pilot

Bell’s quiet mode

reduces flyover noise

level by 3.8dBA

B407Gx with

viewing doors

Limitations applicable to the operation:

Maximum gross weight: 5000 lbs;

Maximum aft longitudinal

CG location: 127 inches instead of 129

Maximum lateral CG location: limits reduced to -1.1 to

1.3 compared to -2.5 to 3.0

Take off weight increases (graph included in relevant

Flight Manual Supplement)

Minimum indicated airspeed: 50 kts

Vne at 92% Nr: 100 KIAS;

Minimum height above ground: 200’

(The Height velocity curve changes since the rotor

speed is not at 100%. That is why the minimum height

above ground is 200’.)

Maximum altitude: 6000’ Density altitude;

Engine torque: limited at 93.5%, which corresponds to

the Green area on PSI (Power Situation Indicator) gauge-

93.5% Torque.

Aimé Girouard explains theBell 407GX Quiet Mode

Electric selector switch

on the collective

Bell 407Gx Specifications

Empty weight 2,754 lbs

Gross weight 5,000 lbs

External load gross weight 6,000lbs

Max external load 2,646 lbs

Cruise speed sea level ISA

standard fuel 121 knots

Range (as above) 326 nm

Max cruise speed 132 knots

Endurance 3.7 hours

Engine Rolls Royce 250-C47B with Full Authority

Digital Electronic Control

Take-off Hp 813 SHP

Max continuous 701 SHP

Fuel Capacity

Standard tanks 127.8 US gals

Auxilliary 19.0 US gals

IGE hover ceiling ISA/sea level 19,200 feet

oGE hover ceiling ISA/sea level 17,600 feet

The installation of the Quiet Cruise Mode kit permits

flight operations at 92% Nr when above 50 KIAS and

200 feet AGL. Flyover noise level is reduced by 3.8 dBA

SEL when in Quiet Cruise Mode.

The kit consists of an electrical selector switch, which

can be found on the collective, applicable CAS messages

and additional marking on dual tachometer.

This means that all the pilot has to do is, when making

sure that he is within the applicable limitations (see pic-

ture to left for limits), he switches the quiet mode switch

(located on the collective next to the landing light

switch) to ‘QUIET’ mode and the computer will reduce

fuel flow to obtain 92% Rotor RPM. on the Nr indicator,

a magenta maker will appear at 92% and rotor speed will

stop at that setting. When he wants to get rid of the quiet

mode, he returns the switch to the ‘Normal’ position and

the rotor speed will crank back up to 100% Nr. (Refer to

image left).

This kit is much appreciated by several USA Police

forces, who often patrol over cities at night with helicop-

ters. It reduces noise levels produced by the rotors and

therefore reduces complaints from noise sensitive neigh-

borhoods.

It can be an excellent asset for operators who do a lot

of sightseeing tours, reducing the noise levels and there-

fore reducing the possibility of noise complaints for

repeated flights in same neighborhood.

sights inside the boxes it is possible to use them as

an instrument method of flying. It is a very good

test of the accuracy of your flying and you can

monitor the other traffic on the screen. However, it

is not a bad idea to have someone also on the

lookout if things get very busy.

For those who get bored of putting in frequen-

cies by hand there is an audio box so you can talk

to the B407 and it will change frequency for you.

The one caveat here is that it needs to be able to

understand your accent and there were some diffi-

culties with regional accents. An English teacher’s

joy, perhaps! one other clever little conceit in the

machine is a ‘radio last transmission recorder’.

This means that if you did not quite catch the last

ATC message you can play it back to yourself by

saying ‘say again’ while applying the intercom

button, thus you can hear the message a second

time through the helicopter’s own system without

holding up a busy ATC.

The Bell 407 uses 50 galls of avtur per hour,

rather more than the Bell 206. The Direct

Maintenance Cost for the 206L4 are

U$283.52/hour and the 407 are U$347.90/hour

Cost of a basic machine is 2.1 million dollars

and the one I test flew with its extras would be

apparently be around $3.2 million dollars. It is

also possible to convert analogue instruments to

the Garmin 1000HTM.


hi

CH-47F HandoverText and Photographs

by Carlo Kuit and Paul Kievit of Bronco Aviation

During a ceremony on Monday the 8th of october

2012 held at Gilze-Rijen Airbase the 298th

“Grizzly” Squadron took delivery of the first two

Chinook CH-47F(NL). Representatives of Boeing, the

Defence Material organization (DMo) and the Minister

of Defence Kees van der Knaap were present.

The two new helicopters (D-892 and D-891) are the

first of a total of seven new F version Chinooks. The

new seven will bring the total of Chinooks (D and F ver-

sion) up to seventeen. All Chinook come under the com-

mand of the Defence Helicopter Commando (DHC) sta-

tioned here at Gilze-Rijen Airbase. Two of the newly

delivered Chinooks were bought to replace the ones that

were lost in Afghanistan (D-104 and D-105).

The rest of the fleet will fulfill the need for middle-

heavy transport helicopters during crisis situations. The

new methods of war means this kind of helicopter is get-

ting an even important role in combat. Moreover, nation-

al problems like big forest fires also take a lot of time

and flying hours. With the total of seventeen, the Royal

Netherlands Air Force hope it will have enough helicop-

ters to meet the increasing demand.

Six of the eleven Chinooks of the D models (D-661

until D-667) are modified Canadian Air Force examples

that are now up between 10.000 – 15.000 flight hours, so

these helicopters have been extensively used during all

kinds of exercise and missions aboard. The other five D

models (D-101 until D-106) are recently delivered from

Boeing.

The decision to purchase the CH-47Fs was made in

2003, and the contract was signed in 2006 at Soesterberg

Airbase in the Netherlands. The initial first delivery date

was in July 2009 and now three years later the first

Chinook of the F model has been delivered to the Air

Force, a delay of just three years.

The Commander of the 298th Squadron, Lieutenant

Colonel Hermans was very pleased with these two new

helicopters. “We can now fulfill the need for transporta-

tion, for example the transportation of our Marines

(Korps Mariniers) Commandos (Korps Commandocontinued on page 51

4342 helicopter liFe, Winter 2012helicopter liFe, Winter 2012

How much cost? The R44

The cost of owning an R44 with thanks to Flight Path Ltd

James Wilson, whose company Flight Path Ltd owns

G-MUSH and is now selling it to buy a Bell

JetRanger, kindly complied the figures which allowed

me to write this article about the running costs of a small,

light helicopter the Robinson R44. Flight Path has owned

G-MUSH from new and it now has 1039 hours on the air-

frame. Contact Nigel Burton at EM Helicopters for sales.

Two things stand out immediately when looking at the

figures: firstly the cost of insurance, but this has to be

tempered by the fact that the helicopter was leased by a

school, Wilson says that when a helicopter is flown pri-

vately the cost of insurance is around £9,000 a year. on

the plus side these costs are should be defrayed by the

income gained from hiring.

The other large cost is VAT, more than £16,910 over

eight years. In certain circumstances, however, as this is a

working helicopter, that can be claimed back.

Hangarage was an expected large cost but I was sur-

prised to see how much it had increased in the time peri-

od, from £150 to £250 ie a 75% increase in eight years.

This may be like rental costs in the housing market due to

lack of suitable housing, or it may be that with the reduc-

tion in private helicopter flying hangar owners are also

feeling the pinch.

The Wilsons

with their new

helicopter

Insurance costs were increased

by putting G-MUSH with a

school but ameliorated by

income from the students

Costs over eight years

when leased to a flight

school £

Average annual costs £

Maintenance 57,148 7,143

Hangarage 20,225 2,528

Fuel 11,122 1,390

Insurance 137,341 17,167

Sundries 2,983 372

Pilotage (ie cost of hiring a pilot) 4,568 571

Total 223,389 27,923

VAT 16,910 2,113.75

Total including VAT 250,300 31,287

The R44 runs on piston fuel, and here again the costs

have risen. Car fuel, which is less refined and made in

greater abundance, has similarly increased in cost over

the past few years, so it was not surprising to see the

amount of increase in avgas, which is used by a limited

market and requires special processes to refine.

The largest cost apart from insurance is maintenance. I

talked to Gordon Paton of East Midlands Helicopters

Engineering Ltd who has been maintaining the helicopter

since 2004. He said G-MUSH was a tidy and reliable

machine.

“R44s are in general good to maintain, they don’t

often break down and are nice to work on. The panels

are easily removed and access is mostly pretty good.”

As well as the normal inspections, the R44, like all the

Robinson family, has to have a major inspection every 12

years or 2,200 hours. Paton says it is very rare for the 12

year check to be done without the 2,200 hour check as

the 12 year does not reset the hours and the helicopter is

likely to have flown around 2,000 hours after 12 years.

All these checks, inspections and maintenance can now

be done in the UK, so the helicopter does not have to

return to California for ‘renewal’, the way the early

Robinsons did, which is a big saving.

The annual cost of running the R44 is thus around

£31,287, probably the equivalent of running a second

home in France, or indeed of paying the school fees.

Having the helicopter leased by a flying school roughly

doubles the expenditure, but, depending on usage, also

should give a good income. Second-hand prices for the

R44 in the UK are currently between £125,000 and

£155,000 depending on the model. As an investment,

buying and renting out a house might be more reliable

but is probably less fun.


Guardians of the Golden Gate

US Coast Guard Air Station San Francisco, also

based at the San Francisco International Airport

in San Francisco, is one of four air stations in the

Coast Guard’s 11th District. This encompasses the states

of California, Arizona, Nevada and Utah, the coastal and

offshore waters of more than one thousand miles and the

offshore waters of Mexico and Central America extend-

ing to South America. The Coast Guard’s 11th District

operational units are located throughout the state of

California, with the District and Pacific Area headquar-

ters located on Coast Guard Island in Alameda, along the

eastern side of San Francisco Bay. Most of Air Station

San Francisco’s operations are conducted in the San

Francisco Bay area and the Sacramento River delta.

The Coast Guard is one of five armed forces of the

United States and the only military organization within

the Department of Homeland Security. Previously, the

Coast Guard operated as part of the Department of

Transportation. The attacks of 9/11 served as a catalyst

for the transition to Homeland Security. The Coast Guard

officially became part of the Department of Homeland

Security in 2003, further expanding the role of the avia-

tion units beyond Search and Rescue duties. The passing

of the Homeland Security Act in 2002 brought increased

emphasis on the maritime security role. The Coast Guard

is responsible for conducting security patrols over

America’s major maritime infrastructure. For the Air

Station at San Francisco, this includes the enormous port

facilities at San Francisco and oakland, along with the

waterways which lead inland to Stockton and

Sacramento.

By law, the Coast Guard has eleven missions to sup-

by Carlo Kuit and Paul Kievit of Bronco Aviation

47helicopter liFe, Winter 2012 helicopter liFe, Winter 2012

port: Ports, waterways and coastal security, drug interdiction,

aids to navigation, search and rescue, living marine resources,

marine safety, defence readiness, migrant interdiction, marine

environmental protection, ice operations and law enforcement.

Air Station San Francisco operates four MH-65C Dolphin

helicopters, which are used to carry out their search and rescue

missions. These helicopters allow the unit to provide coverage

along 300 miles of coastline from Point Lucia, located south of

Big Sur (CA), to Point Arena to the north.

The history of Coast Guard Air Station San Francisco dates

back to 1941, when the unit was established. The construction

of the station was completed on February 15, 1941. The first

aircraft employed by the station was a PBY-5 Catalina and two

RD-4 Dolphins. on November 1, 1941, the station’s aircraft and

personnel were placed under the command of the U.S. Navy,

where they continued to conduct search and rescue and coastal

patrol missions through to the end of World War II. The air sta-

tion resumed normal operations under Coast Guard command

after release from the Navy on June 30, 1946.

The first helicopter stationed in San Francisco was the

Ho3S-1 Dragonfly in 1947. In the early 1950s, the Grumman

HU-16E Albatross replaced the air station’s aging WWII fixed-

wing inventory. This general purpose amphibian aircraft proved

to be a highly adaptable platform for search and rescue mis-

sions. The Air Station received the HH-52A Sea Guard helicop-

ter in 1963, which was a significant improvement over its pred-

ecessor with its improved flight characteristics and capabilities.

In 1978, the station’s C-130s were relocated to the newly-

constructed Coast Guard Air Station Sacramento, ending 37

years of Coast Guard fixed-wing aviation in San Francisco. In

1991, Air Station San Francisco received its first HH-60 Jay

Hawk to replace the H-3 Pelican as the medium-range search

and rescue helicopter. Aviation restructuring throughout the

Coast Guard meant a short stay for the HH-60 in San Francisco;

in June 1996, four HH-65s were moved to San Francisco from

San Diego. In autumn 2001, the air station transitioned to the

HH-65B, with an upgraded avionics package. In the spring of

2006, the HH-65B was upgraded to the HH-65C after the instal-

lation of new Turbomeca Ariel 2C2-CG engines.

The MH-65 Dolphin has been in the Coast Guard’s inventory

since 1984, and is expected to remain in service until 2027.

The Coast Guard is upgrading the helicopters with state-of-the-

art enhancements that will extend mission capabilities and

improve their reliability and maintainability.

“With the introduction of the MH-65D, we are using the lat-

est technology,” said LT Ian Culver, a pilot based at Air Station

San Francisco. “The conversion to the MH-65D will be com-

pleted during one flight, mainly focusing on the new avionics

package. The transition to the MH-65D will be mostly complet-

ed by visiting personnel from the Aviation Training Center in

Mobile, Alabama. Remaining aircrew members will be trained

by unit instructors” said Culver.

The conversion and sustainment project is modernizing the

aging helicopters with digital technology. The upgrades

include GPS and inertial navigation, as well as updated

cockpit instrumentation. The MH-65 conversion and sus-

tainment project is accomplished in six phases or com-

plementary discrete segments. The Coast Guard upgrades

the aircraft at the Aviation Logistics Center in Elizabeth

City, North Carolina.

Coast Guard Air Station Atlantic City (N.J), maintains

the Coast Guard’s largest MH-65D fleet, with ten recent-

ly updated MH-65Ds, which are responsible for support-

ing missions throughout New York, New Jersey,

Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, Washington, D.C.,

and parts of Virginia. Air Station San Francisco is

expected to receive their upgraded MH-65Ds before the

end of 2012.

The Coast Guard is relying on new student pilots to

join the force as well as former U.S. Army, U.S. Navy,

U.S. Air Force, and U.S Marine Corps pilots to bring

additional skills and experience to the units.

Approximately forty percent of current aviators have a

background in one of the other branches of the U.S. mili-

tary. “For many of them, it is a culture shock. However,

bringing in these experienced pilots helps keep us at a

higher level of skill,” said CDR Brian Glander, Air

Station San Francisco’s Executive officer. “The training

of new student pilots is conducted at the Aviation

Training Center in Mobile, Alabama. It takes a lot of

time before we can deploy them to one of the units.”

“Student pilots begin their training at Naval Air

Station Pensacola, with pilots from other branches of the

U.S. military,” explained Culver. “We start with approxi-

mately 25 hours flying time in the Cessna. Then we tran-

sition to the T-34/T-6 for an additional one hundred hours

of flying. To complete the training, helicopter pilots tran-

sition to the TH-57 for nearly 125 hours. After complet-

ing the training successfully the new pilots will move to

their assigned unit to learn more about search and rescue

flights and working in a team,” said Culver. New pilots

start with about four to six familiarization flights. “We

learn how to conduct search and rescue operations spe-

cific to our area of responsibility,” said LCDR Harper

Phillips, operations officer at Air Station San Francisco.

“The majority of the flights we conduct are training

flights in order to prepare ourselves for real-life action”.

Every six months, each pilot has to pass a number of

qualifications for hoisting, boat missions and operations

utilizing night vision goggles.

of the station’s four MH-65Cs, there is always one

helicopter available for deployments aboard of one of the

Coast Guard’s ‘cutters’ – a term for a vessel longer than

65 feet. “Basically, we can do our operations in the San

Francisco Bay area with three aircraft,” explains Philips.

“one of our recent deployments to the Arctic region was

to oversee the oil drilling conducted by Shell, which

clearly show how far we reach in our missions.”

Besides search and rescue and oversea deployments,

the station is also involved in a new mission introduced

in 2007, called airborne the use of force. For this pur-

pose, the MH-65s are able to carry both the M-14-T and

M240H machine guns to conduct missions. CDR

Glander was involved in the introduction of this new

type of mission to the Coast Guard. “My personal goal is

to fully institutionalize the new law enforcement role in

the business processes of the unit, so it can be modeled

as a standardized template for other Coast Guard units.

We’ve come a long way and we want to find the best

method of operating and training dedicated crew mem-

bers for new missions.”

MH-65 Dolphins preparing for a

flight downtown

MH-65 Dolphins has been with the

Coast Guard since 1984

MH-65 Dolphins are expected to

remain in service until 2027

48 helicopter liFe, Winter 2012 helicopter liFe, Autumn 2012

Rotorsport Calidus left of picture

Magni M24 right

Rotorsport Calidus

The latest offerings within the gyroplane world are

two seat, fully enclosed, turbo charged, touring

aircraft with helicopter like landing characteristics

and a VNE of 100 + mph.

As an independent Gyroplane Instructor and examiner

with over 5000 hours on gyroplanes and having both test

aircraft based at Kirkbride Airfield in Cumbria, I’ve been

able to fly both for several hundred hours including fly-

ing both aircraft around Scotland. My comparisons are

my views on the aircraft and not the importers or manu-

facturers.

Seating

The obvious difference between the two aircraft are

the seating positions, the Magni M24 having a side by

side position with P1 being on the left where as the

Calidus has a tandem configuration with P1 in front. The

cabin of the Magni measures a generous 46 inches which

is slightly more than the R22 plus the fact that the seats

are offset so giving far more room for the two occupants.

The Calidus with its tandem seating provides a prone

fighter pilot position in front with a large amount of

space for the rear seat passenger including space for sev-

eral overnight bags.

Seat cushions in both aircraft are minimal (weight sav-

ing!) so for touring at 4 hours plus extra foam will be

required but for local flying the seats and seating posi-

tions are reasonable. The rear seat of the Calidus requires

the passenger to locate their legs either side of the front

seat so can feel slightly confined on long trips.

Access

The one piece canopy of the Calidus lifts easily from

the starboard side and has several vents for fresh air, the

closing mechanism is positive and as a safety feature you

cannot pre rotate unless the canopy catch is locked into

position and it also has a warning light if the canopy is

open. The Magni has two gull wing doors, a safety fea-

ture being that a warning light indicates if either door is

still open and the Pre rotator display is blank until the

doors are locked in place.

Handling

First the Calidus, as expected the reduced drag means

a faster aircraft with VNE being 120 mph and a comfort-

able cruise at 100mph. So a real going places gyroplane,

you could fly this aircraft around the world and I’m sure

someone will very soon. Reduced instrument visibility

from the rear seat means that it’s not the easiest to use as

a training aircraft but it is possible.

It is very manoeuvrable, light in roll, with an actual

climb rate of 830 fpm fully loaded to its 500kg mauw,

fuel burn 14 lts of (Avgas or mogas) in the cruise,

endurance being five hours with a 70 lt tank. All round

visibility being excellent from both the front and back

seats with no obstructions.

The M24 with its side by side seating is more sociable

and lends its self to being a training as well as a touring

aircraft but due to the increased drag the VNE is 100mph

and a steady cruise is 80 with a burn rate of 18 lts per

hour and an endurance of four hours, climb rate is 625

fpm at an mauw of 500kg.

The controls feel heaver in roll especially with the

central pivoting cyclic and slightly more stick vibration

as you near VNE but otherwise responsive in pitch and

yaw. All round visibility is good with the roof supports

being unobtrusive and the doors being completely clear

and as the sides of the aircraft are much lower than that

of the Calidus you have a great view of the ground.

Rotorsport Calidus and Magni M24

Gyrocopters ComparedChris Jones, gyrocopter instructor, looks at the relative merits

Magni M24

51helicopter liFe, Winter 2012 helicopter liFe, Winter 2012

Controls

Gyroplanes are uncomplicated aircraft to fly, no col-

lective, no flaps, no mixture controls, automatic carb

heat but that doesn’t mean they aren’t great fun to fly.

The cyclic controls roll and airspeed and the power con-

trols height (in a level attitude) the rudder pedals control

yaw and as they are connected to the nose wheel they

also control steering on the ground.

The main difference between the two test aircraft are

that the Magni has a U shaped cyclic which is connected

between the two seats meaning that to roll left the left

cyclic should be pushed down which in turn raises the

right hand stick and vice a versa. The Calidus has the

conventional cyclic which pivots at the bottom of the

stick and the rear stick can be removed if not required,

the rear seat does have its own set of rudder pedals and

these can be folded out of the way to provide more leg

room.

The Calidus has both pitch and roll trim which is a

pneumatic system and the Magni has a electric pitch trim

but the roll trim is only ground adjustable and once set

for a particular weight doesn’t need adjustment.

Engines

Both aircraft have the Rotax 914 UL engine 100 bhp

with an extra 15 bhp available for five minutes, due to

the reduction in drag the Calidus is available with the

Rotax 912ULS engine which offers 100 bhp and reduces

the cost of the aircraft by a significant amount. Both

engines can use Mogas or Avgas and service intervals are

every 100 hours (approx service costs £450 for a 100 hour

service)

My conclusion

In conclusion the Magni is a good training aircraft, very

sociable, with more of a conventional layout and therefore

slightly sluggish due to the drag but it does have more of

a small helicopter feel once it’s up in the air. It does have

excellent side visibility with the ‘invisible’ doors but it

does lack the overall finish of the Calidus but I believe

this is being addressed by the manufacturer.

The Calidus is for those who want the fighter jet expe-

rience, you could also throw a bag and a tent in the back

and explore the world. Less cockpit noise means an

almost surreal experience of flying across the countryside

at 800 feet but with piece of mind knowing that if the

engine were to fail then you can land almost anywhere.

Both are great aircraft and I have enjoyed flying them

not only in the circuit and around the Lake District but all

around Scotland and up to John o Groats. Being fully

enclosed and having short takeoff and landing capabilities

they have opened up a new way of touring, a way of safe-

ly enjoying the journey without it costing the earth and

they bring the fun back into flying.

Chris Jones gyroplanes.com

Rotorsport Calidus

Magni M24

Four FLIR balls

were purchased with

the CH-47Fs

Specifications CH-47F(NL)

Full Glass Cockpit

Honeywell Avionics Control & Management System

Block -6

Digital Automatic Flight Control System (AFCS)

714A Engines with Engine Air Particle Separator

EAPS; This system protects the engine from harmful

effects of dust and sand erosion, snow and foreign

objects and salt spray fouling and corrosion.

Fast rope Installation

Armament; 3x 7.62 mm (NATo Standard) and/or 3x

.50 caliber.

Electronic Warfare Aircraft Self Protection Equipment

(CHASE); The Chinook will carry two CHASE pods

installed on each side of the helicopter. Each pod con-

tains three missile warning sensors and one laser tur-

ret. The pods are mounted directly on the helicopter

main frame to minimize dynamic in-flight impact,

which could otherwise cause optical sensor distortion.

The six-sensor solution provides a 360 deg spherical

coverage against missile attack as shown on the sketch

to the left.

Electro optical Infrared (EoIR)/ Forward looking

Infrared (FLIR) and Weather Radar.

Continued from page 41

Troepen) and Special Forces (Luchtmobiele Brigade)

which is one of the main tasks of our squadron”

Lieutenant Colonel Hermans continued: “Having more

helicopters will make all our tasks easier to realize”.

Two of the new CH-47Fs are going to be stationed at

Fort Wood, Texas in the United States where the basic fly-

ing training of the Dutch pilots is conducted.

Before being delivered to the 298th Squadron the CH-

47F’s were at Woensdrecht Airbase in the Netherlands for

the final modification, such as installing map holders and

treating the window with a sort of permanent Rainex to

ensure clarity of vision at all times.

Major Ton Schattorie and Captain Michel Dekker flew

the first two CH-47F’s into Dutch airspace. “We were

trained on the F model and that makes us the test pilots

for this type at the moment,” Major Schattorie said

humorously, after arriving at Gilze-Rijen Airbase. “We are

the only two pilots now in the Netherlands that are quali-

fied to fly this F version”. The helicopters were shipped

from Baltimore in the United States to the harbor of

Antwerp in Belgium. From there they went by truck

towards Woensdrecht Airbase.

Four Electro optical Infrared (EoIR)/ Forward looking

Infrared (FLIR) balls were purchased with the F version.

“This FLIR is a forward-looking infrared camera mount-

ing in a bubble under the helicopter's chin enables the

pilots to fly low level, at night and in marginal weather

like heavy rain and snow,” explained Major Schattorie.


For the tourist AMREF (African Medical and

Research Foundation) Flying Doctors has an

unusual concept. You go to Kenya and other coun-

tries in East Africa for a holiday, you sign up for their

service and you pay £15. If you have a crash or accident

somewhere in the country the Flying Doctors will come

and rescue you by plane or helicopter, for no extra

charge. As infrastructure is limited, roads across the

country are subject to degradation by the rains and in

towns roads are stalled by the excess of traffic, it is pret-

ty much an emergency service you cannot do without.

But of course, that is only a very small part of the work

they do.

The AMREF Flying Doctor Service was founded in

1957 by three reconstructive surgeons: Michael Wood,

Archibald McIndoe and Tom Rees to improve the health

of people in East Africa. It started with ‘under the wing’

clinics as they called them, where the doctor and helpers

would fly small aircraft in to strips (these were often cre-

ated from the bush) near villages to give out drugs and

equipment and medicate the patients on the spot. Later

this modified into mobile clinics, which were taken

around the country in planes and landrovers.

AMREF now has a fleet of 14 aircraft, which provide

emergency evacuations and bring-in drugs and equip-

ment where necessary. They do sometimes use helicop-

ters but, as the Chief operations officer, Sean Culligan,

explains, this is fairly rare as this part of Africa is well

stocked with bush strips and is highly accessible for

aeroplanes, which are faster, cheaper and use less fuel.

Fuel, on the other hand, is expensive and not so widely

available, and helicopters do not have the weight carry-

ing capacity of aeroplanes.

Aircraft available are Cessna 208 Caravan, Beechcraft

Super King Air B200 and B350, the Cessna 550 Citation

Bravo and 560 Citation Excel and when they do need

helicopters AMREF will use the AS 350 B3 Squirrel.

AMREF regularly covers Kenya, Tanzania and

Uganda, with an increasing frequency of evacuations

from the neighbouring countries and beyond, covering

the whole of Africa, The Middle East and Europe. They

can also provide medical escorts on commercial carriers

and help repatriate patients across the globe in private

ambulances.

They employ one full time doctor with eleven part

time doctors and there are eleven flight nurses, all

employed on a full time basis. The service is available

24 hours a day, 365 days a year. The control room, at

Wilson Airport, as well as being the hub of the aircraft

control, is staff by qualified medical personnel who can

give advice at all times of day and night.

Case History

There are, however, exceptions to this rule and times

when helicopters are a necessity and, as Sikorsky point-

ed out, aeroplanes only useful to drop the flowers on the

body. one such case took place in Tanzania, when an

employee of a mining company was badly injured in a

road traffic accident. This part of rural Tanzania has a

small hospital with limited facilities and the patient was

taken there after the accident. While trauma and neuro-

surgical facilities are more developed in Kenya than

Helicopters are not widely used

as fuel is expensive and they are

slower than aeroplanes

Words and pictures courtesy of AMREF

AMREFFlying Doctor Service in

Kenya

The Beechcraft Super King Air

is a useful fast ‘aerial clinic’

Road traffic is a very

great problem in this

part of the world


pital to accept him. However, once the insurance company

had been called and verified the case the hospital took in

the patient.

AMREF points out that hurdles can be overcome with

thought and logistics and sometimes other unexpected dif-

ficulties arise but that all their personnel are good at think-

ing flexibly and dealing with problems as they arise.

For the future, AMREF continues both to develop and

to fundraise. When the Flying Doctor Service was started

in 1957 it visited four hospitals, it now serves 150 hospi-

tals across East Africa. There are few hospitals in this area

and there are large distances between them. They have

very little equipment and few drugs. Consequently,

AMREF have started the outreach Programme, which in

the 2011 period provided 7,906 major operations, 27,665

consultations and a number of training workshops. Their

Tourist Evacuation Programme also continues with 155

new Tour operators joining in 2011.

Tanzania, the employee only had insurance for

Tanzania and no travel documents that would allow him

to leave the country, it was therefore decided to transfer

him to Dar es Salaam for treatment.

Normally, it would have been possible to transfer the

patient in one of the fixed wing aircraft, however, in

this case the airstrip close to the hospital was unavail-

able as a local road had been closed and the traffic

diverted across the airfield. A helicopter could be used

but the flight in a AS350 B3 from the rural hospital to

Dar es Salaam would take four hours, something the

patient could not sustain in his critical condition, so it

was decided to pick up the patient by helicopter and

then do a transfer from the helicopter to a King Air

Aeroplane at the nearby airfield of Mwanza.

When the helicopter arrived at the hospital hundreds

of people from the local area gathered to watch the

arrival and soon were getting so close to the helicopter

that the pilot was forced to take off again and land at a

neighbouring football pitch where the crowds could be

controlled.

In hospital, the patient was assessed and diagnosed

with a head injury, possible spinal injury and a broken

arm. He was stabilized and immobilized and transferred

to the waiting hospital. The pilot then flew the fifteen-

minute fight to Mwanza, where the patient and medical

staff were transferred to the King Air.

From Mwanza the King Air flew for two hours to

Dar es Salaam, where the patient was transferred to a

ground ambulance, finally arriving in hospital 24 hours

after the accident. Unfortunately, the patient’s notes had

been lost and there was some difficulty getting the hos-

1957 - On the foothills of Mt Kilimanjaro,

AMREF Flying Doctors is founded by three

reconstructive surgeons: Michael Wood,

Archibald McIndoe and Tom Rees.

1957 - AMREF’s Outreach Programme is

launched, initially servicing four hospitals in

remote Kenya.

1961 - Mobile Outreach Clinics are introduced

to Southern Kenya to treat nomadic Maasai pas-

toralists.

1964 - Anne Spoerry or "Mama Daktari" joins

AMREF Flying Doctors.

1980 - AMREF forms what will become a long

time partnership with Kenyatta National

Hospital, taking medical specialists by air to

Wajir, Garissa and Mandera in Kenya.

1985 - AMREF Flying Doctors Founder Michael

Wood receives a knighthood from Queen

Elizabeth II.

1996 - The first Cessna Grand Caravan is intro-

duced into the AMREF Flying Doctors Fleet.

It can be hard to find

suitable places to land

Flight Nurse Charles

Atemba and Dr Raitt

Flight Nurse Charles

Atemba treating the

patient in the King Air

2000 - In partnership with Phoenix Aviation,

AMREF Flying Doctors begins to operate a

Cessna Citation Bravo Jet.

2005 - AMREF is the first African organisa-

tion to be awarded with the Gates Award for

Global Health.

2007 - AMREF Flying Doctors celebrates the

opening of its Visitors Centre, with Founder

Tom Rees present.

2007 - AMREF Flying Doctors becomes the

first operator outside of Europe to receive

‘Full Accreditation – Special Care’ from the

European Aeromedical Institute (EURAMI).

2010 - AMREF Outreach Programme expands,

150 hospitals in Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda,

Rwanda, Ethiopia, Somalia and Southern

Sudan, training 6,200 doctors and nurses and

undertaking over 26,000 consultations.

2011 - AMREF Flying Doctors receives the

ITIJ 2011 Air Ambulance of the Year award.

2012 - AMREF Flying Doctors launches

Maisha, annual air ambulance cover for indi-

viduals and corporates.

AMREF Flying Doctors History

helicopter liFe,

Winter 2012helicopter liFe, Winter 2012 57

Book review

Ivory, Apes and PeacocksAnimals, adventure and discovery in the wild places of Africa

Sea King AEW Falklands Warthe 16th Harold Penrose Lecture Royal Aeronautical Society Yeovil Branch

Alan Root Chatto and Windus

£20

Jim Schofield, Commander Sharky Finn and

Lieutenant Commander Andy Rose

Alan Root has been through a hippos

mouth, been bitten by a puff adder,

charged by a silverback gorilla and

now comes back to tell us the tale. And what

tales they are; as well as having lived and

filmed Root is a master story-teller.

He started life in Britain, but after the

Second World War, when he was a young boy,

his parents moved to Kenya to start a new life

for themselves and their children. Even that

early part of the book is an interesting tale of

unwary Brits moving into a new and challeng-

ing environment.

Alan fell in love with the country and even

moreso with the animals. As he grew up he

started to realise he was a natural with a cam-

era (although not always with the ‘suits’ who

ran the film companies) and this, combined

with his previous loves, meant he made films

from a different perspective. Here too he met

his first wife and helpmeet Joan Wells and

together they created such masterpieces as The

Serengetti Shall not Die (1958), Survival

(1961) and many many more.

The book follows Alan and Joan’s progress

through many films, adventures and delights.

one moment we see Alan’s mother ‘saving the

local post office’ when she picks up an almost

escaping beetle, the next we enter the Congo

and see the first meeting of Dian Fossey with a

gorilla. There is also search for the elusive

Congo Peacock, and the rather amusing result

of finally finding this bird. As well as finding

many unknown or partially known species they

also discover unknown things about known

species, such as the nesting habits of the

flamingoes and the underwater ballet of the

hippos. Both of which he was able to film.

Aviation is a theme throughout the book,

both as used in the films and in their research.

Later in life Root learns to fly a helicopter.

There is great humour in the book and also

great sadness. Towards the end of the book

Alan suffers from some kind of breakdown. His life for a while

spirals out of control, he gets divorced, moves in with a new love

who then develops a terminal illness. His ex-wife, Joan, is killed

by criminals and his description of finding her body is horrific and

heart-wrenching. There are also some sad pieces where he reflects

on a very different Africa from the one imagined by conservation-

ists and animal lovers. There is, however, a happy, and unexpected

end to the story, and it is a very enjoyable book to read.

To mark the 30th

Anniversary of the

Falklands, the Royal

Aeronautical Society Yeovil

Branch, the Penrose Lecture was

on the Sea King AEW and its

developments, which were made

in time for the war.

The Royal Navy lost its air-

borne early warning capability

when the Gannet AEW3 retired

with HMS Ark Royal in 1979.

The need for a replacement

became obvious during the 1982

Falklands War with the fleet

unable to see past the radar hori-

zon and therefore direct fighters

against incoming enemy aircraft.

A helicopter was the only possi-

ble AEW platform that could fly

from the Invincible class carriers

so two Sea King HAS2s were

hurriedly modified.

Jim Schofield was the Chief

Weapons Engineer at Westland

Helicopters at the time

and in charge of the modi-

fications. He explained

how the tight timetable

meant they had to have

priority over the work-

force and how even a

strike was delayed to help

the war effort!

Commander Sharkey

Finn and Lieutenant

Commander Andy Rose

the Commanding officer

of 849 Naval Air

Squadron spoke about use

of the Sea King airborne

early warning systems.

Sea King AEW at

Farnborough 2008

58 59helicopter liFe ,Winter 2012 helicopter liFe,Winter 2012

Your mission Howard, should you decide to accept

it is to organize a fighting force to defend the

Afghan Pakistan border, however you have to

find your own men, helicopters and equipment.

In an echo of the 1960s TV series Mission Impossible

Howard Leedham, an ex-Marine and special forces offi-

cer currently flying executive jets in the US, is asked by

the Air Wing of the US State Department to form a fight-

ing force in Pakistan to defend the Afghanistan Pakistan

border and to do some special jobs with them. The only

drawback is that he has to find his own men. Moreover,

the helicopters that were sent from the US for their use

are currently impounded by the Pakistanis, who have lit-

tle faith in their American allies. oh, and the US

Embassy in Pakistan do not like the project. The TV

series request always concluded:

“As always, should you or any of your I.M. Force be

caught or killed, the Secretary will disavow any knowl-

edge of your actions.”

In spite of the high odds against him, Leedham decides

to accept the task and goes out to Islamabad, where he

deals with the US Embassy and is somewhat hampered

by the bureaucratic infighting between departments, and

to Quetta, where he finds his Pathan fighting force. He

manages to get the helicopters released, they are got

ready and supported by DynCorp. By various means

(some more legal than others) he manages to get most of

the equipment he needs, including guns (which for some

bizarre reason he is originally not supposed to have) and

NVGs (night vision goggles) although here his troop

have to work with the out-of-date models given to them

by their allies.

once he has what he needs he is able to improve the

training of the already very brave and fit Pathans and

between them they create an incredible force, which is

then put into service by General Sadaqat and led by two

Pathan captains and Latham himself. Then the jobs, and

for us the adventures, begin.

Leedham writes well, his narrative flows and although

he spends more time on the operational details than the

action, both are gripping reading.

The events take place in 2004 but they are as a result

of the aftermath of the 9/11 World Trade Centre aero-

plane invasions in New York and the other simultaneous

events around the USA. His actual time in employment

by The Service is only a year, but it was one very intense

year.

It is an intriguing book, both for the operational work

done by Leedham within Pakistan and for an insight into

the level of interference he got from those who were sup-

posed to be his employers and his helpers within the US

Embassy. The forward is by Frederick Forsythe, who is

known to be a stickler for accuracy and sharp factual

detail, so I think it is possible to assume that it is entirely

factually correct. I found it fascinating.

Ask Forgiveness not PermissionBell Huey in Pakistan after 9/11

Howard Leedham MBEBene-Factum Publishing

£12.99

www.bene-factum.co.uk

GPs to issue medical certificate for new European

pilot licence

General practitioners (GPs) in the UK will be able to

assess the fitness of pilots applying for the new pan-

European Light Aircraft Pilot's Licence (LAPL). The

licence, which comes into effect on 17 September 2012

as part of major reforms to pilot licensing across the EU,

will only be valid if the applicant holds a valid medical

certificate. In the UK this can be obtained from his or

her GP. As before, however, only GPs with specialist

training in aviation medicine, approved by the UK CAA

can do the test.

CAA issues first EASA pilot licences

The UK Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) has begun issu-

ing the new European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA)

pilot licences. The first licences, which will replace JAR

and many older 'national' versions, were printed for the

first time at the CAA's Gatwick headquarters earlier

today. The transition process to the new pan European

format is expected to last five years.

A pilot with an existing JAR licence, such as a PPL, will

have it replaced with an EASA equivalent whenever the

licence is sent to he CAA for renewal, revalidation or

any other reason.

The EASA licences, which are in a new format and look

quite different to the JAR and national licences, will be

valid for the owner’s lifetime. Because of the new for-

mat, different information will be required by the CAA

before it can issue a new EASA licence, and new licence

application forms have been prepared accordingly. Pilots

are advised to read the detailed information on the CAA

website - www.caa.co.uk/eupilotlicensing - which

includes a section explaining the new licence format.

This also includes a LAPL for helicopter pilots, like the

former National Licence for Aeroplane pilots. See the

CAA website for details.

Ray Elgy, Head of Licensing and Training Standards at

the CAA, said: “We are pleased to be issuing EASA

flight crew licences. It has been a long process getting to

where we are today, and there is still a long way to go

before the transition is complete. However, I am very

confident that we will see the benefits of standardising

licensing across the EU from the outset.”

The implementation of new rules for pilot licensing

(including medical certification) across the EU is part of

a process that has already seen EASA take responsibility

for other areas of aviation regulation, such as airworthi-

ness. Most UK pilots, private and commercial, will be

CAA Legislation Changesconcerning helicopters and gyroplanes

affected by the switchover and will have to obtain new

EASA licences to continue to fly aircraft that have EASA

airworthiness certificates. However, some pilots, such as

those who fly microlights, ex-military and kit built air-

craft, will continue to use their existing licences as EASA

does not regulate these categories of aircraft.

There have been significant changes in all the helicop-

ter licences: see the CAA webiste for more information

This document sets out the guidance for examiners and

applicants taking the CPL Skill Test for the grant of a

Commercial Pilots Licence (CPL) (Aeroplane). The infor-

mation will help applicants prepare for this flight test, but

it must be remembered that aspects mentioned here are of

a general nature only and do not give the precise details

of each exercise or manoeuvre.http://www.caa.co.uk/application.aspx?catid=33&page

type=65&appid=11&mode=detail&id=1198

SN-2012/012 Revised Introduction of Visual Flight

Rules (VFR) at Night in the UK

The purpose of this Safety Notice is to give details of the

postponed introduction of VFR at night. It also contains

the responses to the comments received in response to

SN-2012/007.

Standardisation and certification of examiners

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

type=65&appid=11&mode=detail&id=2985

IN-2012/156: Designation of Examiners for Skill Tests

for initial issue of Licences, Ratings and Certificates

Examiners, even at PPL level, must now be authorised if

they wish to test non-UK passport holders for a UK

licence.

ORS4 No. 946 Extension of validity of a certificate of

test or experience for an aircraft rating in a Private Pilot's

Licence (Gyroplanes) This exemption allows for the

extension of the period of validity of aircraft ratings in

United Kingdom Private Pilot's Licences for Gyroplanes

when meeting alternative requirements to maintain those

ratings and if meeting these alternative requirements for

certificates of revalidation in licences to replace certifi-

cates of test or experience in pilots' personal logs.

N-2012/170: European Commission Public Consultation

in view of Simplification, Clarification and Modernisation

of the Single European Sky Legislation (SES II+) and

Alignment of SES and EASA Rules.

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The arrival of AB.412 ESC-5 MM81354/EI-463 in

the past month from overhaul at 1 Reggimento di

Sostegno AVES ‘Idra’ at Bracciano brings the

compliment of the larger ‘412’ helicopters with the unit

to five. Three more are expected, one from storage at

Bracciano, and two from 7 Reggimento ‘Vega’ at Rimini-

Miramare, as that unit continues its upgrade to the NH.90

that will ultimately replace the AB.205s with 25 Gruppo

and the AB.412s with 53 Gruppo.

2 Reggimento will become the major of the AB.412

although one will be retained within the structure of 7

Reggimento and a further two examples with 26 Gruppo

within the structure of 1 Reggimento ‘Antares’ at

Viterbo. This particular unit is also transitioning to the

NH.90 but it is accepted that this helicopter is not neces-

sarily suitable for all the missions undertaken by the unit

in its ‘Special Forces’ role and therefore two of the

smaller AB.412s will be retained.

Back at Lamezia-Terme 2 Reggimento with operate

the AB.212 ESC-4 and AB.412 ESC-5 side-by-side and

will continue to support its UNIFIL role in Lebanon

where it currently deploys four AB.212 helicopters. It

had been the intention to increase this to six but as yet no

funding has become available. There are no plans to re-

introduce the AB.412 into the UNIFIL role. Although

faster and capable of a slightly heavier payload its low

speed handling qualities are not considered as good.

2 Reggimento is the sole user of the AB.212 in Italian

Army operation and the UNIFIL role draws on crews

from the other services for the rotational six monthly

deployments. In July the unit lost one of the helicopters

Upgrade Continues at 2 Reggimento Esercito ‘Sirio’

words and pictures by Peter R Fosterdeployed in Lebanon in a very heavy landing. The ‘cab’,

MM81123/EI-407 [UN281], was not destroyed and the

crew only suffered slight injuries. However the damage

was severe enough to see the helicopter withdrawn from

use. It has since been returned to the Bracciano mainte-

nance facility by ship departing Beirut on September 10,

2012 where it will be returned to its standard ‘Bravo’

configuration and eventually placed on display at

Lamezia-Terme alongside the units memorial to fallen

comrades of a AB.206A and Piper L-18 Cub. This memo-

rial was dedicated on october 3rd 2012.

June 8th 2012 should have been the day that the men

and women of 2 Reggimento Aviazone dell’Esercito

‘Sirio’ at Lamezia Terme dedicated a newly presented

memorial to fallen comrades of the Regiments compo-

nent 20th and 30th Gruppo Squadroni. However the two

earthquakes in the north of Italy have seen this date

delayed although by the time these words are read the

dedication should have taken place.

The memorial in honour of the personnel lost on oper-

ations has been erected at the entrance to the units main

base in Calabria. Supporting the actual memorial are

currently two aircraft representing some of the types

operated. A Piper L-18C Cub rescued from the now

closed Esercito facility at Salerno-Pontecagnamo has

been cosmetically restored and marked as ‘I-EIJG’ to

represent a period when army aircraft were not operated

with military serials.

The cub had not been identified whilst at Salerno and

I-EIJG itself later become MM54-2506 and was dis-

posed of on July 16, 1981 and allocated the US civilian

registration N14218 although this is not believed to be

current at present. The airframe was in a poor condition

when received and its authenticity as to its exact identity

remains a mystery.

Joining it at the memorial is a Agusta Bell AB.206A,

MM80631, the serial of which was confirmed from the

helicopters manufactures plate although it does bear its

authentic Esercito coding of ‘EI-570’. This airframe

came from the large store of the type held at the 1

Reggimento di Sostegno AVES ‘Idra’ at

Bracciano/Campo dell’oro.

The unit are also hoping to gain a Siai Marchetti

SM.1019E from the same source at Bracciano although

its arrival is by no means confirmed.

The unit has all surviving 18 AB.212s on strength,

MM81119/EI-403 having been lost in March 1999; this

figure includes the five ‘Charlie’ versions acquired from

the embargoed Iraqi AB.212ASW order. These five do

Foster with

the in-crowd

helicopter liFe, Winter 2012helicopter liFe, Winter 2012

There are now five

412s with the unit

Memorial in honour

of personnel lost on

operations

not figure in the UNIFIL deployment whilst eight of the

other 13 helicopters have received a number of modifica-

tions for operation in Lebanon as well as the ‘UN’ white

colour scheme. It is assumed a further example will now

be upgraded to replace the damaged EI-407

helicopter liFe, Winter 2012 helicopter liFe, Winter 2012

helicopter started to sink. At this point, the helicopterwas to the side of the intended landing site and over treetops. As it started to descend, the pilot pulled the collec-tive lever up positively. He then heard pronounced pop-ping and cracking noises and sensed a further reductionin RRPM. He did not recall any appreciable yawingmotion. 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 thetrees; the pilot thought it struck the ground in an uprightattitude but then rolled over onto its left side. The pilotswitched off the engine, but was unable to identify theengine throttle or manual fuel cut-off lever in the dam-aged roof panel. The front seat passenger appearedunconscious. The pilot exited the aircraft through thebroken front windscreen area and saw that flames werecoming from behind the engine cowlings. With some dif-ficulty, he was able to locate the throttle control andretard it to idle. This action reduced engine speed andnoise but the flames persisted. He retrieved the BCF fireextinguisher from the cabin and discharged it fully intothe engine air intake, the engine stopped and the flamesdied down. He helped the rear seat passenger from thehelicopter and then the front seat passenger, who hadregained consciousness. onlookers from the industrialsite soon arrived, including one with a large Co2 extin-guisher which was discharged into the engine area. Thepilot was 51 years old and had 5400 hours of which 47were on type.

Westland Scout AH1, G-BXRR

The helicopter departed Thruxton with three passengersaboard, and arrived over the landing site inNorthamptonshire. The site was a grassed area with noground markings adjacent to a hotel car park. The weath-er was fine, with a surface wind from 330° at 5 kt and atemperature of 19°C. The pilot flew a ‘full recce’ of thesite before making an approach to the grassed area. Thehelicopter was calculated to be approximately 80 lbsbelow its maximum landing weight at this point. As heflared the helicopter it did not slow down as quickly ashe expected so he increased the flare attitude, followingwhich the helicopter’s tail struck the ground. The heli-copter started to yaw to the right, so the pilot immediate-ly lowered the collective lever, which resulted in a heavylanding. The pilot and his passengers were uninjured andable to vacate the helicopter normally. The pilot was 49and had 206 hours of which 34 were on type.

drive shaft in an inboard direction in response to a leftyaw pedal demand. The absence of the flange wouldresult in the remaining part of the bearing being left at alocation on the shaft defined by the aerodynamic/dynam-ic neutral position of the tail rotor. However, a right yawpedal input would cause the outboard shoulder of theball bearing assembly to push directly on the pitchcontrol link, thereby changing the pitch of the blades.This scenario accords with the pilot’s report of beingable to yaw the aircraft only to the right.The bearing failure is likely to have had its origin ina crack that initiated somewhere on the flange. It was notpossible, in the absence of the flange fragments, to deter-mine why the crack occurred. Sintered bronze is speci-fied for its suitability for use in bearings and, in thisapplication, is unlikely to be subjected to significantaxial loads. Possible explanations could include a materi-al flaw, or an excessive load resulting from a violent yawpedal input. The latter seems improbable unless therewas a resistance arising, for example, from the inner raceof the ball bearing assembly becoming temporarilyseized to the pitch change bearing due to corrosion fol-lowing a period of inactivity.

SA341G Gazelle 1, G-DWEV

The helicopter took off from a private site near Bath to alanding site adjacent to an industrial estate nearSalisbury. Fuel load on departure was 220 kg, and take-off weight had been calculated as 1706 kg, 100 kg belowthe maximum allowed. The weather was suitable with alight westerly wind. The intended landing site was aclearing in a wooded area between an industrial site anda river. The pilot had not previously landed there but hadpreviously seen the landing area from the air.The pilot approached the site from the west, before turn-ing to conduct an overflight at about 500 ft agl. Hereported flying a steep approach into the site and estab-lishing in a stable hover in ground effect. As he loweredthe collective lever and the helicopter started to settle, itreached what the pilot considered to be an unacceptablytail‑low attitude. He therefore lifted into the hover againwith the intention of re-positioning. The pilot manoeu-vred the helicopter upwards and rearwards, whilst keep-ing the landing area in sight. After initially lifting toabout 30 ft with the tail clear of obstruction, he wasunable to determine a more favourable landing area socontinued the climb. At about 60 to 70 ft the pilotnoticed the tone of the main rotor RPM change, suggest-ing a reduction in RPM. He instinctively reduced collec-tive input, believing the decline in RRPM would be tran-sient. However, RRPM did not appear to recover and the

6564

ACCidenT

& inCidenTS

reporTSACCidenT reporTS

weather at the landing site was fine, with the surfacewind estimated to be from 030° at 14 kt. The landing sitewas at an elevation of about 250 ft amsl and was a heli-pad on the roof of a private house, part of the construc-tion of which was below ground level. The helicopterapproached from the south-west; the helipad was identi-fied only late on the approach and trees immediatelybefore it were noted. In the latter stages of the approach,the second pilot requested that the pilot break off theapproach to reposition for an approach from the oppositedirection, as this was the approach path which was to beused for a subsequent night landing. The pilot, therefore,flew a downwind approach from the north-east andestablished the helicopter in a 10 to 15 ft hover over thecentre of the landing area. Keeping the edge of the build-ing in sight as a reference, the pilot manoeuvred the heli-copter over the helipad and turned it into wind for thelanding. After engine shutdown, it was discovered thatthe tail rotor blades had struck a fence, which ran adja-cent to the western side of the helipad and would havebeen behind the helicopter after it had turned into wind.The pilot had experienced no unusual vibrations or cock-pit indications. He recalled seeing the fence but reportedthat his attention was focussed on keeping the edge ofthe building roof in sight, whilst positioning over thehelipad. He was not aware that the helicopter had struckthe fence. The pilot was 57 and had 1900 hours of which1000 were on type.

Enstrom 280FX Shark G-OJMF

The pilot was conducting a navigation exercise when,at the first turning point, he experienced a “feeling oflack of full tail rotor authority”. More specifically, therewas no response to left pedal inputs. He conducted agentle turn to the right and elected to return to the air-field, which was approximately 20 nm distant, and trans-mitted a PAN call on arrival. He decided to conduct arun-on landing on grass Runway 14. Although the initialtouchdown was straight, the helicopter veered to the rightand encountered rough, frozen ground at the side of therunway. This caused the helicopter to bounce on its skidssuch that the tail rotor struck the ground prior to comingto a halt. As a result the tail rotor assembly, together withthe rear of the tail boom, were damaged. The pilot wasuninjured. The pilot was 38 and had 3905 hours of which3890 were on type.The available evidence indicated that the tail rotor pitchchange bearing had suffered an in-flight failure, in whichan integral flange at the inboard end had detached. Theflange normally abuts the inboard shoulder of the ballbearing assembly and is thus pulled along the tail rotor

Robinson R44 Raven 11 G-ROADThe helicopter was being manoeuvred at a private

landing site prior to departure. The pilot lifted the

helicopter to an approximate 8 ft hover height and

taxied at about 5 kt towards a gap between trees. The

pilot’s attention was mainly on a tree on the left side

and, in trying to ensure adequate clearance from it, a

rotor blade clipped the branch of a tree on the right

side. The pilot was 32 years old and had 3000 hours

of which 401 were on type. There were no injuries.

Robinson R44 Raven G-SRPH

The pilot was attempting a takeoff from a confined sitewith various small buildings in the immediate vicinity.The surface wind was westerly at 8 kt and there was nosignificant weather. The pilot said as the helicopter liftedoff, it yawed to the left. He applied opposite pedal tocounter the yaw but over‑corrected. He then appliedmore collective in an attempt to escape from the situa-tion but the helicopter yawed through about 180° andreached a height of about 25 to 30 ft, before descending.Before the helicopter hit the ground, the pilot pulled thecyclic control aft, to slow down. The tail struck theground and the main rotor blades struck a nearbyPortakabin, causing it severe damage. The helicoptercame to rest upright on its skids. The pilot, who had notflown for 90 days, attributed the accident to over‑con-trolling on pedals and collective. The pilot was 63 andhad 113 hours, all on type. There were no injuries.

Agusta AW-109 M-EMLI

on arrival at the landing site, the passenger, who was ahelicopter pilot, requested that the aircraft be landed ona path to avoid damaging a lawn, which was “boggy”.He said that he had established on a previous visit thatthere was sufficient clearance from a line of trees to thenorth‑west. The pilot agreed to the request and alsojudged that there would be sufficient clearance.However, the rotor blades clipped a small branch of oneof the trees while the helicopter was manoeuvring. Thepilot believed he had allowed himself to be persuaded totake an inappropriate course of action. He would notnormally have landed so close to obstacles and, althoughhe saw the trees, he did not see the overhanging branch,which was not in leaf. The pilot was 37 had 2099 hoursof which 162 were on type.

Agusta 109S Grand G-STGR

After refuelling at Hawarden Airport, the helicopterdeparted for a flight to a private landing site at Helsbyin Cheshire, with two crew members on board. The

From

Pictures by Georgina Hunter-Jones

There are two types

of zebra in Kenya,

the Grevy’s and the

common zebra.

This is a sequence of a

mother and foal in

November, the month of

the short rains and conse-

quently fertility, a month

in which lots of young

animals are born and are

out on the plains learning

how to defend themselves.

horSe heliCopTer

Ol Pejeta in Kenya

helicopter life winter 2012

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