Rotor Torque

The opening of the facility will also see the introduction of a composite blade repair shop which will avoid the necessity for local rotor blades and tail rotors to be sent overseas to either Singapore, the USA or France. A special shop with tooling worth $A1m dollars will be included, with an Aerospatial specialist due in June to train up to ten local staff in the techniques required.

Currently about $A1 million worth of Australian blades are repaired overseas each year and the turnover of the Bankstown workshop is expected to reach about $A10 million yearly when work from overseas operators is received. Another $A1. 5 million is to be spent on a dynamic components workshop which is expected to have a turnover of more than $A4 million a year.

Spare parts held at the facility will total $A10 million. The company is also planning to introduce a computerised inventory system costing $A500,000. Total investment in the 4500 square metre facility by the French companies will exceed $A40m.

New TW in Squirrel Operation

Townsend Helicopters from Hoxton Park Aerodrome between Bankstown and Camden Airports is operating a new Aerospatial Twin Squirrel on charter and tourist flights in the Sydney area.

The helicopter, imported new from France, has had its electrical and communications system modified for charter work with Sydney television channels when their own helicopters are in for maintenance. It is also used by Care Flight as a temporary replacement for its Dauphine EMS machine. The helicopter is chartered out at the rate of $A950 an hour.

Lloyd Offshore

Lloyd Helicopters has commenced operating two Sikorsky

s-76s off the south coast of India. The two helicopters were

transferred from the north of Australia to the new work area on the offshore rig which will be used on the new contract.

The company is also opening an office in Singapore and will probably change the name of its international company to avoid confusion with Lloyd Helicopters in Singapore.

Several of Australia’s established helicopter charter companies are seeking work in the Asian area, which has been opened up to international operators in recent times.

New Navy Helicopter Carrier

A Major Force Structural Review of the Australian Defence Forces due for completion next September will include in its study the possible acquisition of a Logistic Support Ship or Helicopter Carrier for the Royal Australian Navy.

The need for the support ship followed an analysis of the Australian military response to the coup in Fiji when the Navy was on standby for a possible evacuation of civilians from the islands. Recent problems in Bougainville and Port Moresby have reinforced the view that such a ship would be of benefit in a crisis and also in times of natural disaster such as earthquakes or for cyclone damaged city relief.

Despite many predictions in the daily media, the decision as to the type of ship, be it purpose built or a converted container ship, has not been made. Also the types and numbers of helicopters to be carried have not been decided. Long term use of Army Black Hawks would require modifications to overcome salt water damage.

Senior Navy officers back peddle on earlier reports the ship would also carry BAe Harriers.

In a recent briefing the Chief of Naval Staff, ViceAdmiral Michael Hudson, said if a choice was required he would opt for the helicopter carrier in front of two new submarines

Review of Sea King’s Future

The RAN is reviewing the future of its Westland Sea King helicopters which currently have no viable seagoing platform for prolonged deep ocean operations. Only seven of the big helicopters remain operational, working from the Navy base, HMAS Albatross, at Nowra, about 160kms south of Sydney.

Although the Sea King’s dunking sonar system has some advantages in certain conditions over the MAD facility on the Navy’s new Sikorsky Seahawks, the complexity and cost of the big British built helicopter may weigh against it. The Sea King is currently the biggest helicopter operational in Australia following the withdrawal of the RAAF Chinooks. They carried out invaluable work in the recent flooding around Nyngan in north western NSW.

Currently the Sea Kings are used for work with the Army’s SAS troops and for general utility work,but the absence of a ship suitable for long term operations at sea restrict their cost/benefit to Canberra’s budget conscious defence bureaucrats (refer Defence Update, this issue).

New Heliport and Car Park for Sydney Airport

One of the least used parts of Sydney Airport has recently become a hive of activity with three projects underway in the south east sector near the radar installations adjacent to General Holmes Drive.

The Federal Airports Corporation (FAG) is constructing a heliport and a long term car park, and is temporarily stockpiling materials for building pavements on the airport. The Airport’s General Manager, Mr Peter Snelling, said the projects were part of the FAC’s $300m upgrading of the airport up to 1992.

“The rock stockpile is crushed recycled building material which will provide about 100,000 cubic metres of pavement material for projects already underway on the airport,” Mr Snelling said. “Some of the material is from city demolition sites and is being refined by a rock crusher at the airport which processes about 2,000 tonnes per day. It is among the first such recycling of building materials in Australia”, he said.

The $300,000 heliport is being relocated to the south-east sector from the General Aviation area, adjacent to Joyce Drive. “The relocation means that fixed wing and rotary wing aircraft no longer have to operate in the same zone”, he said.

The first stage of the public long term car park, being built in three stages, will be completed by the end of March. The space left by relocating the heliport and the long term car park will provide extra aircraft apron space for existing domestic airlines and for new airlines which enter the market after November this year.

New Landing Site Rules

The long awaited dream of rooftop landings for helicopters, long forbidden in Australia, has come to fruition with the release of new regulations covering helicopter landing sites by the CAA. The new rules no longer require the need for a forced landing area on approach and departure paths and permit left or right turns at any stage on approach or landing. The helipads are now categorised as Basic, Standard, Offshore and Marine. A Basic Landing Site is of a temporary nature, situated outside controlled airspace and used for private flying, aerial work and resource developmental work. Their use is restricted to daylight and Helicopter VMC. They also allow for helipads on buildings and for downwind operations. The site must be able to safely accommodate the helicopter and able to carry to static and dynamic loading involved in the operation. Operations from buildings require the landing site to have separate emergency escapes and a 1. 5 metre wide safety net around the site. The CAA is keen to remind operators that all the State and Local Government Rules will also be required to be overcome by the operator before he can start the rooftop flights.

Rotortech Reorganised

The Helicopter Association of Australia has cancelled this year’s Rotortech Trade Show and Convention. Originally planned to be held at Melbourne’s Flemington Racecourse, the local committee responsible for the show has advised the HAA that it was not confident the event would be a success and profitable. A new show is now being planned to be held at either Coolangatta, Sydney or Canberra in March or November 1991. It is possible the event will seek greater public involvement, both as a means of offsetting its cost and increasing public awareness of the benefits of helicopters to the community. Also being looked at is the holding of a Helicopter Pilot Competition in conjunction with Rotortech which is thought would greatly increase the show’s appeal to both the public and the industry. The competition does not take too much ground area and could be held in the middle of a racecourse. It is hoped the sporting event would greatly appeal to military pilots, some of whom have participated in similar events in Britain. The HAA committee decided against replacing its 1990 Rotortech with involvement in the Aviation Trade Fair being planned for Canberra this November.

Chopperline

The Caloundra, Queensland-based companies of City & Country Helicopters and East Coast Helicopters have restructured their 27 helicopter & aeroplane operation under the name Chopper line. The Chopperline Group will provide the same services provided previously, but will operate as three divisions in the fields of Operations, Engineering (including Maintenance, Sales & Brokering) and Flying Training. The Chopperline name was used for operations as the official Expo ’88 helicopter supplier in Brisbane and has since become an internationally recognised name for flight training in Australia. The Flight Training Division, Chopperline Flight Training, is now one of the largest schools in Australia offering combined Fixed Wing/Rotary Wing/Ground School training. The company provides training to CPL standard for both aeroplane and helicopter, with specialist training in such areas as helicopter instructor, agricultural ratings, mustering endorsements, etc. Current enrolments include a large contingent of Japanese students. In addition, the Company is training rescue helicopter pilots for the Republic of Fiji. The school offers complete and comprehensive ground school, rotary and fixed wing training. The Chopperline Engineering Division provides extensive services including an approved Robinson R22 2 000 hourly workshop. As well as maintaining the Company’s fleet of helicopters and fixed wing aircraft it provides complete helicopter servicing for customers ranging from the Queensland Government’s SES helicopters to the Brisbane Media aircraft,and has a component overhaul service for Bell, Robinson and Hiller helicopters. The company was recently awarded a five year Customscoastal surveillance contract for which it will base an AS3 50B Squirrel at Horn Island.

Boeing Sikorsky Reveals Full Scale Light Helicopter Mock-up

The Boeing Sikorsky Light Helicopter First Team has revealed for the first time a full scale mock-up of its proposed armed reconnaissance/light attack/air combat aircraft for the US Army. The unveiling occurred at the opening of the annual convention of the Army Aviation Association in Orlando,Florida.

Built by Advanced Technologies Inc, Newport News,Va, the mock-up was funded by Boeing Sikorsky to serve as an engineering tool in continuing Manprint (Manpower personnel integration) studies. These evaluations will focus on pilot/cockpit integration, refinement of weapons loading and maintenance procedures, and streamlined airframe, dynamic system and mission equipment maintenance techniques.

The Light Helicopter (LH) mock-up has an aluminium keel beam, plywood bulkheads, a foam core and fibreglass exterior skin. Landing gear and weapons bay doors operate hydraulically to demonstrate operational and maintenance procedures. Cockpit instrumentation and controls are sufficiently realistic to solicit responses from the pilots’ perspective. Beginning later this month, Boeing Sikorsky plans to transport its LH mock-up to several US Army installations for critical evaluations by Army Aviation personnel. This feedback will be used to refine final design details.

Boeing Sikorsky’s LH design features a five bladed bearingless main rotor and highly efficient Fantail antitorque rotor. All composite rotor blades and airframe assure high mission readiness, immunity to corrosion and_ high resistance to ballistic damage. Composites’ high strength to weight ratio will allow the First Team to meet the Army’s strict empty weight goal of 7,500Ibs (3,402kg).

The compact, streamlined design greatly reduces electronic or visual detection. Air-to-air and air-to-ground missiles are concealed in mid fuselage weapons bays. The stowable 2 0mm cannon is contained in a low profile turret faired into the forward fuselage. Landing gear is fully retractable.

Boeing Sikorsky’s LH includes technical advances not available in current helicopters. Some of these advances can only be introduced in a new development aircraft. These systems are critically important for survivability. For example, an advanced target detection/classification system will give Boeing Sikorsky LH crews the ability to ‘see first/shoot first’.

Survivability will also be enhanced by Boeing Sikorsky’s innovative use of ‘low observables’ – stealth technologies that reduce the aircraft’s radar, infra-red and acoustic signatures, thereby greatly complicating the enemy’s ability to detect and engage the aircraft. The Army is currently conducting demonstrations to validate these systems and to reduce the technical risks of their development.

LH is crucial to the US Army’s Aviation Modernisation Program. The Army needs 2,096 LHs to replace some 3,000 technologically obsolete and expensive to maintain light helicopters. About three hundred LH aircraft are scheduled for fielding in Europe. Most are needed as replacements for ageing helicopters with Army units in the United States and Far East. Full scale development is scheduled to begin in January 1991,with initial operational capability by late 1996.

LH is needed to counter increasingly sophisticated threats emerging in second and third world countries. Nearly 100 nations have already fielded modern tactical weapons, including tanks and armoured personnel carriers, towed artillery, man-portable surface-to-air missiles, anti aircraft guns and armed helicopters. These weapons, if used to support aggression, represent potentially serious threats to American security interests in Latin America, the Middle East, Africa and the Far East.