East Coast Helicopters Expand Operations

From that initial expansive step the network has grown to include Charters Towers- opened in 1982, Gatton, Longreach and Marlborough in Queensland and Tamworth in NSW – all begun during 1983, Mareeba, near Cairns in 1984 and the newest operation, in Tasmania in early this year, 1985 will also see development of the Mount Isa area. Activity at these bases has fluctuated both seasonally and as a result of aircraft commitments in other areas but, nonetheless, the East Coast Helicopter presence remains firm.

Since those early days of field operations, ECH has been a forerunner in the Australian rotary-wing industry. Bold steps were taken to challenge the previous domination of fixed-wing aircraft in agricultural operations and as a testimony to the success of this challenge, the company has grown from modest beginnings as a pioneer in the field to the stage where the DoA both acknowledge and respects their professional dedication to a specialised application of helicopters in agriculture which is still in its infancy in this country.

Innovation and bold decision-making have been a trademark of East Coast Helicopters from the outset and nowhere is this more evident than their use of a helicopter at night- in an operation especially approved by DoA – to save millions of dollars worth of Queensland Macadamia nuts from damage by frost.

This application is now a routine part of the East Coast Helicopters repertoire. Other agricultural operations that have regularly proven cost-effective include the aerial spraying of:

Avocado, Groundsel, Sugar Cane, Banana, General Weeds, Thistle, Bracken, Lantana, Tussock, Blackberry, Soyabean, Wheat (broad-acre) and the general application of fertilisers.

For the sceptics, it was only timely intervention by ECH aircraft which saved thousands of acres of NSW wheat from “stripe rust” damage during the 1984 season when fixed-wing agricultural aircraft were unable to operate from rain-soaked airstrips.

Apart from their agricultural interests, East Coast Helicopters are one of the largest cattle-mustering operations in Australia, with established clients covering a major percentage of Northern and North-Western Queensland. This facet of business has also involved hundreds of hours of flying for the Department of Primary Industry and has extended from the deep South of NSW to the Kimberley Ranges in far North WA.

Working under the principle that sound diversification is the secret of success, an impressive depth of experience has been obtained in fields that include: geological survey, mustering, agricultural operation, numerous Government contracts, the entire campaign against plague locusts in NSW including an “on-loan” basis to the SA government to assist with their plague problems, general charter, flying training, helicopter Sales and Servicing. To support such widespread activity, a staff of over 40 – from Tasmania to Mt Isa, are all computer co-ordinated from Caloundra. In addition, a fleet of 17 aircraft, including almost every Hiller UH-12E in Australia, (including two Soloy conversions) two R-22 for training, a C210 and C182 are carefully utilised to support field operations as effectively as possible.

With such a fleet of aircraft to operate and maintain, it is clear that any successful company must have an integrated engineering programme. For East Coast Helicopters, the major portion of this programme is an autonomous engineering facility at Caloundra and another at their Longreach base.

At Caloundra, under the supervision of Chief Engineer, Lew Webb, major overhaul and/or repair functions are carried out whilst Longreach is primarily responsible for general maintenance of both rotary and fixed-wing aircraft throughout central-west Queensland. In general, routine maintenance of the East Coast Helicopter fleet, including 100-hourly inspections, is accomplished by using company fixed-wing aircraft from either base to position engineers wherever the aircraft may be working. This has a major advantage in that it allows the aircraft to keep operating and reduces inconvenience to the client.

Also at Caloundra is the flying training organisation – a survivor from the early days in Sydney, which must owe a portion of its success to what is arguably the best location for a school in Australia. Quite apart from the natural appeal of living on Queensland’s beautiful Sunshine Coast, students benefit from operating at a non-controlled aerodrome, outside controlled airspace which in real terms means that no valuable flying time is wasted waiting for Air Traffic clearances. Flying training areas are literally minutes away and, as the student progresses to the navigation phase, Maroochydore, Archerfield and Brisbane-controlled airspaces are all within easy reach. Rotary wing is presently the growth industry of aviation training as helicopter licences have doubled over the past four years.

Boasting two Grade One Instructors and one Grade Two, the school is able to offer flying training in almost every facet of helicopter operations. Says the General Manager, Mr John Mccaw, “The student who comes to us is generally very committed to flying as a career – we respect that commitment and do our best to give him the best start we can. Here you must remember that there is more to a course of flying training than just sitting in an aircraft and learning how to fly it- right down on a personal level the student has to eat, he must have accommodation, there may be transportation difficulties and so on. With worries such as these, he is not very well placed to give attention to the things he should be concentrating on, and his performance may suffer. It has been our experience that the more relaxed and hence receptive – a person is, the easier and quicker this learning becomes and this will, in the long run, save him money.

We believe that the best way for us to approach flying training – and this has been proven time and time again – is to start from a personal level, ensure as far as possible that the “annoying” realities of day-to-day living do not impose a distraction and then build from there. We also believe in the “all work and no play. . . ” principle and a student who works hard for five or six days a week should have the opportunity to “play hard” occasionally and get it all out of his system – and the Sunshine Coast certainly allows that!

The aircraft used primarily for training is the Robinson R-22 although endorsements are available in the Hiller. All training, from private to commercial and instructor ratings, is conducted in the Robinson, whereas Mustering and Agricultural ratings are flown in the UH-12E. Turbine endorsements are flown in the UH- 12ET (Soloy conversion) and either this aircraft or the piston Hiller are used to conduct training for NGT VMC ratings.

Whilst no promises are ever made to prospective students, East Coast Helicopters are quick to recognise potential and prefer to employ those who are company-trained, a statement which can be borne out by a number of experienced staff pilots. The Chief Flying Instructor, Mr Peter Doyle, comments “We look for more than just flying ability in a student – the right attitude is just as important. The best manipulator of the controls does not necessarily turn out to be the best pilot”.

East Coast Helicopters are in a unique position in the helicopter marketplace. They are amongst the largest operators of their type in Australia and are able to judge students according to a wide variety of future applications. Those who may occasionally be selected for employment first receive engineering instruction under the guidance of Lew Webb and his team and cover such essential topics as periodic inspections, approved pilot maintenance and a much more thorough knowledge of daily inspections than would otherwise be gained by a newly-licenced pilot.

Lew considers it essential for commercial helicopter pilots employed by East Coast Helicopters to be able to have a sound knowledge of the machine they will fly. “The company have proved many times the value of a pilot to detect and understand abnormal conditions of unserviceability found during daily inspection. Unnecessary wear and tear is prevented when a pilot understands the reason why periodic inspections, greasing, ‘cleaning etc, are essential to safety and serviceability. East Coast Helicopter, recognise that this knowledge can only come from the ‘r,teres1 and experience provided by the engineering staff. ”

And what of the plans by DoA to increase the minimum hours required to obtain a CPL(H)- does this mean that those people who are contemplating a rotary-wing career should jump in and start flying helicopters right away? Not according to Peter:

The DOA have now issued AIC 17/85. We have all been waiting for it to happen for the last couple of years and really there are no surprises. However, in view of the increased hours, we would still prefer to see prospective students obtain an unrestricted private fixed wing licence. Based on the new requirement it is probably to be less expensive than going straight through on helicopters and the pilot comes out at the other end with two licences rather than one. In our experience, the private fixed-wing pilot almost always makes the better ab-initio rotary student. We are fortunate to have a very close liaison with a fixed wing training organisation and many of our students co-ordinate from aeroplane to helicopter training here at Caloundra.

Once the training is complete- then what?

“No one in the industry denies that jobs for low-time pilots are very difficult to come by. Jobs are available, especially to those who have received sound training and can show a good attitude towards the industry- it all then depends very much on how hard the individual is prepared to work to find those jobs. As far as is possible we look at all our students for employment potential. If a vacancy arises within the company, we would look very closely at pilots who had been trained by us before considering anyone from outside because then we know that he has been trained properly and we know his background, performance etc. On occasions we have actually held on to a particularly promising pilot even though a vacancy has not been immediately available and then allowed him to progress at a controlled rate as opportunities arise.