Rotor Torque

Major Award For Nrma Careflight Chief

NRMA Careflight’s Executive Director, Ian Badham, has become the first Australian to be awarded the international Association of Air Medical Services’ Marriott-Carlson Award for significant contributions to the air medical industry. The award recognises Mr Badham’s 23 years involvement in developing and promoting aeromedical helicopter services in Australia.

His involvement dates back to 1971 when he initially trained to carry out surf rescue using a small helicopter in Auckland as a volunteer surf lifesaver. When he returned to Sydney he established Australia’s inaugural Surf Rescue Helicopter Service, securing sponsorship from the then Bank of New South Wales, funding and emergency services permission for the untried concept. He also recruited, screened and trained the initial rescue crews and arranged for the installation of a radio network to connect surf life saving patrols throughout Sydney.

With Mr Badham’s guidance, similar coastal rescue helicopter services were later established in Newcastle, Wollongong, Melbourne, Adelaide and Perth. In 1986 Ian Badham and other experienced rescue helicopter personnel established NRMA Careflight as a medical rescue helicopter service based at Westmead Hospital, the largest trauma centre in Sydney’s west.

AAMS presents the prestigious Marriott-Carlson Award annually to recognise an individual who has made significant contributions to the overall enhancement, development and promotion of the air medical industry. The award is named after the pilot of a Bell helicopter who flew the world’s first civil medical rescue mission in New York in January 1945. Mr Badham was presented the award at AAMS’s annual Scientific Conference in Detroit in mid October in front of more than 4000 attendees. Well done Ian.

Russian Ems Agency Orders Bo 105s

Russia’s EMERCOM (the Ministry for Civil Defence, Emergencies and the Elimination of Consequences of Natural Disasters) has ordered two brand new Eurocopter BO 105 CBS EC Super Five helicopters for emergency services work. The two EC Super Fives will be configured with a rescue hoist, searchlights and auxiliary fuel tanks for SAR and EMS missions. The Super Fives will be attached to EMERCOM’s emergency unit which operates specialist rescue equipment.

The unit uses Il-76 freighters to fly its equipment to the location of natural disasters and accidents throughout Russia, but as many of the disasters take place in remote areas away from airfields, helicopters are chartered to support rescue missions. The delivery of the two Super Fives to EMERCOM in mid 1995 will mean the agency will no longer have to charter helicopters that are often ill equipped for such missions. EMERCOM will also make available its Il-76s and Super Fives to the United Nations in support of international disaster and emergency relief operations.

Eurocopter says EMERCOM’s decision to order western helicopters was a result of Eurocopter’s continuing strategy of not to compete with Russian helicopter manufacturers in their home markets, but rather to cooperate with them. Eurocopter says that Russian manufacturers do not offer a model directly comparable to the EC Super Five. The EC Super Five is the latest production version of the venerable BO 105 light utility twin. New rotor blades significantly improve performance.

Nh 90 Deliveries Delayed By A Year

The four nation NH Industries consortium is likely to delay initial deliveries of the NH 90 military utility helicopter by a year to accommodate additional work and specific modifications for customer nations. Originally the first deliveries were scheduled to occur in 1999, but this is now expected to be pushed back a year following an agreement to defer the decision on production of the NH 90 to late 1997.

A decision to proceed on production was scheduled for late 1995, while a separate decision on production workshare was slated for late 1996. Instead the two key decisions are being combined into a single production decision. Development of the NH 90 meanwhile remains on track, with Eurocopter Deutschland delivering the all composite centre fuselage section for the first of five prototype aircraft. The first complete fuselage was expected to have been assembled in late November, with the mating of the Eurocopter France built nose and cockpit with the main fuselage section and the Fokker built tail. Agusta is expected to deliver the first prototype’s dynamic components early next year. First flight is planned for late 1995.

Nz Helo Safety Record Under Microscope

Recent helicopter crashes in New Zealand have only served to heighten awareness of NZ’s worsening helicopter safety record. Two Squirrel crashes in October claimed nine lives, one was a tourist flight near the Fox Glacier on the South Island with seven people on board.

New Zealand CAA figures show that an average one in ten of the country’s fleet of 300 helicopters crashes each year, and that since 1989 there has been 166 helicopter accidents in which 42 people died. Apart from the high human costs of these accidents, helicopter insurance in New Zealand is becoming prohibitive, with some foreign based insurers considering refusing to insure NZ helicopters.

Eurocopter Establishes South African Subsidiary

Eurocopter has established a South African division, Eurocopter Southern Africa, to maintain South Africa’s large civil and government fleet of Eurocopter helicopters. The new division is based at Lanseria airfield, and its premises were officially opened on October 19 this year.

It will handle marketing, sales of new civil aircraft and customer support of existing aircraft for southern Africa. There are 55 Eurocopter helicopters flying in South Africa with government and commercial operators, of which 35 are twins. The Eurocopter twins account for 77% of South Africa’s fleet of twin engine helicopters. Most of the Eurocopters in South Africa originated from Aerospatiale, as France continued to trade with South Africa despite trade embargoes during the time when apartheid was official government policy.

Dispute Delays South Korean Built Mi-17

An argument between Mi-17 designer Mil and the helicopter’s manufacturer, Kazan Helicopter Production has set back South Korean industrial conglomerate Daewoo’s plans to build the Mi-17 under license as the MK-30. Daewoo’s plans are being stalled by a legal disagreement between Mil and Kazan over who holds the rights to the Mi-17’s design documentation. Originally Daewoo was to sign an agreement with Kazan over production of the Mi-17 in Korea, however Mil wants a share in the programme.

The programme has also been set back by South Korean defence chiefs’ reluctance to order the MK-30 as it resembles the large numbers of Mi-8s and Mi-17s in North Korean military service. Initially Daewoo had hoped to fly a prototype of the MK-30 in November, however first flight is now not expected to take place until mid 1995. The MK-30 will feature western avionics, a new 28 seat interior, or nine to 11 seat executive interior, and a reprofiled nose. The MK-30 is intended initially for domestic sales, but Daewoo plans to achieve European JAA and US FAA certification.

Army Recce & Fire Support Helo Progress

The Australian Army’s much delayed project to acquire reconnaissance and fire support helicopters is at last underway. Headquarters Australian Defence Force currently has a small team of operational and logistics staff visiting European and US helicopter manufacturers, while the Defence Science and Technology Organisation is researching available sensors and other systems as part of a Project Definition project, known as AIR87.

This aims to fill a recognised gap in the capability of the Australian Defence Force to detect and defeat incursions in the wide open northern parts of the country. In particular, the ADF needs to augment its existing resources with a flexible reconnaissance system with the capability to detect and monitor enemy activity over vast areas of the remote and inhospitable north in a timely and cost effective manner, to enable the threat to be dealt with in an appropriate way.

Studies to date suggest that a helicopter based system is likely to be the only cost effective means of meeting this requirement. A second requirement is for a means of providing accurate and sustained fire support for a range of tasks over wide areas, but particularly in support of infantry and their Black Hawk helicopters during air-mobile operations. This need is especially critical during and immediately after insertion and extraction of the infantry company group, when the presence of the helicopters prevents the use of conventional fire support even if within range, which is generally unlikely.

At present, only dedicated fire support helicopters appear able to meet the ADF’s requirements, due to the size of the area which must be covered and the speed of response which is paramount for the successful engagement of an enemy involved in covert operations. The Project Definition Study currently underway aims to identify and cost potential technological solutions to both requirements, to enable refinement of the project in preparation for acquisition of appropriate helicopter based systems late in this decade.

World Lynx Fleet Grounded

The fatal crash of a British Army Air Corps Lynx helicopter in late September is thought to have been caused by a tiebar failure and has prompted most of the world’s Lynx operators to ground their fleets. The British Army and Royal Navy, plus the Dutch, German and French navies have all grounded their Lynx fleets in response to the accident.

Investigations into the crash identified the failure of the tiebar as the likely cause. As a result tiebars of UK Lynxes are being removed, inspected and tested, with similar action being taken by other Lynx operators. The initial decision to ground the Lynx was taken by the UK Ministry of Defence, with all other Lynx operators being informed of the circumstances of the accident. The tiebar, a metal rod coated in elastic resin, absorbs torsional and centrifugal stresses exerted on the rotor blades.

W-3wb Huzar Development Suspended

Poland’s PZL Swidnik has suspended development work on its W-3WB Huzar battlefield support helicopter equipped with South African weapons and systems following a lack of domestic and international interest. Swidnik invested several million dollars into the W-3WB programme and had hoped to achieve significant export sales, as it claimed the W-3WB could perform 70 to 80% of the roles of a dedicated battlefield helicopter for half the acquisition cost.

The Huzar is based on the Sokol medium utility helicopter, with the W-3WB variant fitted with Denel subsidiary Kentron equipment. Kentron equipment included a turret mounted Denel GA-1 20mm cannon, an optronic sight with thermal imaging and laser designator and a helmet mounted sight. Swidnik had hoped to sell the W-3WB to Poland firstly to provide a production base for export sales, although this did not occur, largely due to a lack of funding.

Small numbers of Huzars are in Polish military service though in W-3W form, with Polish weaponry and equipment. Meanwhile Swidnik is also looking at fitting Euromissile HOT anti tank missiles and Oerlikon-Contraves 20mm KAD cannon to the Polish armed Huzar. Poland plans to order more for an army rapid response force it is forming.

French Military Orders Boost Eurocopter

The French Defence Department has brought forward FF800m ($A205m) worth of orders for military helicopters with Eurocopter to boost its order covers six new AS 550 Fennec missile firing light attack helicopters and four AS 532 Cougars, two troop transports, one configured for SAR and one with the Horizon battlefield surveillance radar for the French Army, plus four AS 565 Panthers for coastal patrol and ASW for the French Navy. In addition the French government has pledged to fund an additional FF500m ($A130m) in 1995 and 1996 for the NH 90 programme.

Briefs

A Coroner’s inquiry into a fatal helicopter crash in late September found that the pilot’s actions had contributed to the accident. Coroner Ann Macdonald found that the helicopter had most likely crashed after ingesting a chunk of snow or ice into the engine, thus causing it to stall. The coroner found that the pilot had contributed to the crash by leaving the aircraft parked overnight uncovered in poor weather conditions, allowing ice or snow to enter the engine. She also urged that it become a requirement for all charter flights to file a flight plan with the CAA, and to keep in contact with ATC during flights in remote areas.

A permanent helipad has been set up in the grounds of Canberra’s Woden Valley Hospital. The pad has been equipped with lighting and wind gear to handle adverse weather operations.

The US based Flight Safety Foundation has found that the accident rate of aeromedical helicopters has dropped markedly. It found that the accident rate for the seven years to December 31 1991 was 3.14 per 100,000 flight hours, while between 1980 and 1986 the rate was 13.42 per 100,000. The improvement in the rate is credited to higher weather minimums, improved training, modern avionics and autopilots, and a greater use of twins.

A Sikorsky S-76 helicopter was used for supply missions between Australia’s Davis and Mawson Antarctic bases for the first time. Previous supply missions to Mawson were by ship. The flight to Mawson from Davis took three hours, including a refuelling stop at Sansom Island.

Seair Adventure Charters of Wynyard in Tasmania has purchased a new helicopter to be based at Cradle Mountain for tourist flights during the summer months. During winter the helo will be based in Wynyard.