Sky patrol

Th e intervening period has seen dramatic changes at the Air Wing, not least of which is the move to new, purpose built facilities, the retirement of old aircraft and their replacement by markedly more capable platforms.

All these changes allow the Air Wing to better conduct a multitude of roles, which includes: aerial observation providing tactical assistance for ground units; regular aerial patrols over Melbourne for crime prevention and detection; search and rescue; medevac; traffi c surveillance and detection of traffi c off enders on state highways; stolen property searches in remote areas; aerial observation support for the Country Fire Authority (CFA) and Metropolitan Fire Brigade (MFB); photographic tasking, such as collecting visual evidence at an accident scene; covert surveillance; and priority transport of police offi cers and equipment.

The Air Wing Today

February 7 2009 witnessed the worst bushfi res in Victoria’s history, which saw the Air Wing fully tasked with assisting the state’s emergency services across the vast areas devastated by fi re. It was also the very day that the Air Wing moved into its new purpose built, $12 million hangar complex adjacent to the Runway 17 threshold at Essendon Airport.

Funded by the Departments of HumanServices and Justice, the facility colocates the Air Wing with Air Ambulance Victoria in a building that boasts a fl ight coordination centre, conference rooms, a procedures simulator, administration offi ces and a six bay hangar. Th is hangar accommodates the Air Wing’s current fl eet of four leased helicopters, which are maintained and fuelled under a contract operated by CHC Helicopters, which has been providing helicopter services to the Air Wing since 1996.

CHC does not, however, lease Air Ambulance Victoria its Bell 412, that occupies the last bay in the shared, Emergency Services hangar complex. Th is machine, known as HEMS (Helicopter Emergency Medical Service) 5, performs medical retrieval for patients needing priority transfer from country Victoria and specialist health care in Melbourne, and does not participate in any policing tasks.

Th e remainder of the bays are occupied by Air Wing rotary wing aircraft, comprising three Eurocopter AS365 N3s and a recently acquired Eurocopter EC135.

New Assets For The Air Wing

Th e move to the new complex has also seen the passing into retirement of the well loved Aerospatiale AS365 C1 Dauphins and the AS350 Squirrel.

Th e venerable AS365 C1 Dauphins have been replaced by the much more capable AS365 N3, which, with its FADEC engines and much improved hot and high performance is better suited to provide police support over metropolitan Melbourne. Th e N3 fi rst joined the Air Wing in 2001 and one of the Wing’s examples (VH-PVH) is thought to be the world’s highest time machine with over 9000 hours fl own.

According to Snr Sgt Glenn Vaughan, operations manager and Head of Airworthiness and Maintenance Control (HAAMC), the choice of the N3 was the best compromise between what’s practical and what in some cases may represent an overspend on underused capability.

“We could always go to a larger helicopter like an (AgustaWestland) AW139 and be able to provide support to the other units, providing rapid transport of personnel to other locations and when you’re doing SAR, to be able to rescue numerous persons at once, like we’ve seen with EMQ in Queensland,” Snr Sgt Vaughan explained.

“But the problem there is, probably 90 per cent of our policing is based around the metro area, and there’s not that need, so it’s a case of working out the larger helicopter and its needs. Some of us believe the N3 is the ideal platform, from that perspective of the balance between the small and the large, but others believe that the large is the way to go. ” If advocates of the larger chopper do prevail (and an options paper is presently being written, according to Snr Sgt Vaughan), then accommodating them in the Wing’s new hangar presents no problem, with bay sizes more than capable of handling larger machines.

In the meantime, the N3 continues to be upgraded, with the addition of new software for the Star Saffi re Digital HD FLIR. Th is upgraded FLIR provides clearer, sharper imagery at greater stand-off ranges and allows the operator to overlay the FLIR image with low light level black and white images.

Th is can then be downlinked in real time to Police HQ and shared with, for example, Water Police while the aircraft performs an over water, nighttime SAR operation.

Recently, the Air Wing secured funding to deploy the Critical Incident Response team or Special Operations Group with mobile, briefcase receivers to which the FLIR image can be beamed, giving ground units much enhanced situational awareness.

Other recent upgrades to the N3 include NVG (night vision goggle) compatibility, which according to Snr Sgt Vaughan has transformed night time SAR operations.

Searches before were eff ectively hampered by the FLIR’s narrow fi eld of view, but NVGs allow not only a wider search area to be scanned, but also permit safer operations at lower levels. “We’ve had cases where a missing 4WD driver has been spotted from three kilometres away from the light of their mobile phone,” Snr Sgt Vaughan, who joined the Victoria Police in 1974, and has thus seen the Air Wing develop from humble beginnings into the highly motivated, well equipped force it is today, recalled. “It’s been a great asset. ” Betraying its lineage as an Aerospatiale design is the N3’s shrouded or ‘Fenestron’ tail rotor – a feature of the AS365 C1 as well, but now featuring an asymmetric blade arrangement to reduce the aircraft’s acoustic signature. According to Eurocopter’s sales brochure, the AS365 N3 is one of the quietest helicopters in the world, making it ideally suited to air policing.

And while the virtues of advertising one’s presence as little as possible may be obvious to those battling crime from above, it’s a feature prized by the Air Wing for more prosaic reasons: it reduces noise complaints from irritated members of the public. In response to such complaints, the Wing has had a ‘Good Neighbour’ policy written into its procedures.

Melbourne residents annoyed by the sound of the Air Wing helicopter overhead performing vital police work will be delighted to know that as quiet as the Eurocopter AS 365 N3 is, its new Air Wing stablemate, the Eurocopter EC135, is quieter still.

The Ec135

The EC135 was acquired by the Air Wing after a somewhat lengthy tender process common to major capital purchases by state agencies such as the Air Wing. Essentially, the Air Wing evaluates competing airframes for a required task, complies with strict reporting guidelines while doing so, then makes a recommendation that is forwarded to higher command levels. Once approved, the tender for the new system is written.

EC135 VH-PVE was delivered to the Air Wing kit form and assembled in its hangar, and brought up to spec by CHC.

Having been bought to ostensibly replace the Squirrel in the rural support role, the EC135 offers much greater operational flexibility than the machine it replaced.

The single engine Squirrel was unable to perform overwater SAR missions, fly at night or patrol over the Melbourne metro area. Thanks to greater safety margins, the twin engined EC135 can undertake such tasks, being equipped with a FLIR and the fleet wide capability offered the Moving Map Display System. This locally developed technology links the GPS with the FLIR camera and can identify not only the street the helicopter is flying over, but also the house number.

As undoubtedly impressive as such technology is, it does mean one compromise for the smaller EC135. Fitment of the necessary FLIR black boxes in the rear of the aircraft, via its clamshell doors, means it’s unable to accommodate a stretcher to operate as a medevac helicopter.

Air Ambulance Partnership

The Air Wing also maintains a 24/7 first response aeromedical chopper (HEMS 1 aka VH-PVG), which is flown by a crew comprised of an Air Wing pilot and tactical flight officer and an Air Ambulance Victoria paramedic. This distinctive red and white painted N3 Dauphin is specially fitted out with a stretcher bed, onboard oxygen and a sealed floor resistant to acidic body fluids. Despite this mission specialisation, HEMS 1 is equally capable of performing police duties should the need arise.

The close cooperation between the Air Wing and Ambulance Victoria has been formalised under a Memorandum of Understanding covering joint operations.

Snr Sgt Vaughan outlines the relationship between the two services: “HEMS 1 responds as the primary ambulance. When it’s not tasked in other ways, the police can use it. It comes down to about 80 per cent ambulance, 20 per cent police work. So earlier in the week, when the police chopper has finished, they’ll respond to police tasks and on the weekend, when we finish at 2 or 3 in the morning, they’ll take over then as well. We provide crew to give us a dual agency role. ” At the time of AA’s visit, the Air Wing’s Ambulance chopper was undergoing its 600 hourly check, performed by one of CHC’s 12 resident engineers.

The Air Wing employs a backup Dauphin in the medevac role (VH-PVH), which is finished primarily in the blue and white scheme of the unit, but with red and white striping on its underside to denote its ambulance role. This aircraft is also configured as a medical response helo, and carries the crests of both the Victoria Police and Ambulance Victoria on its side. Should either of the unit’s Medevac N3s become unavailable, the Air Wing and Air Ambulance share access to the third N3, ensuring the necessary round the clock availability of this vital asset.

Pilot Training

According to chief pilot Ray Pitts, flightcrew have come to the Air Wing one of three ways: as serving Police personnel who’ve acquired their pilot’s licences, or those who’ve come from general aviation or the military. Typically, a pilot may have joined the Wing with 500 hrs on fixed wing aircraft, before getting endorsed on the Squirrel and getting both command instrument, and night VFR ratings. What followed was command under supervision and further endorsements such as night landings and low level flying. Once successful, the fledgling Air Wing pilot is then released by the chief pilot to the ambulance and is on the way to becoming a fully mission capable line pilot.

The retirement of the Squirrel, however, has closed that avenue to prospective pilots. Due to the sophistication of both the EC135 and N3, pilots now arrive at the Air Wing with a minimum of 2000 hours, deemed necessary to handle both the aircraft and the demanding variety of missions.

As flightcrew, pilots at the unit are required to complete the following to remain current: a yearly medical and command instrument rating; a GPS, Non Directional Beacon check every 90 days; ILS/VOR every 35 days; one hour of IFR flying every 90 days; a minimum of one hour in simulator every 28 days; a minimum four monthly emergency check on the N3 and EC 135; NVG check with an instructor every six months; night flying of three hours every 90 days; night flying unaided for a minimum of one hour every 90 days; and winching one day every 180 days.

The Wing’s Swiss supplied Elite simulator is used by aircrew primarily to maintain procedural currency on skills such as instrument flying. Pitts points out that not every aspect of the AS365 or EC135 can be replicated in the sim.

“Actual, emergency event training needs an aircraft, and it’s done every three months.

Simulated engine shut downs and other procedures are done out of the flight manual.

The alternative is a full motion simulator but the nearest one is in Singapore. ” The imagery of Melbourne used in the simulator was developed by CAE and while mostly low resolution, does feature very sharp representations of the two helipads the Dauphins most often use: those at the Royal Melbourne and Alfred Hospitals.

Simulated approaches can flown to these sites at night and in bad weather but not, as yet, with NVGs.

TFOs

Of the Victoria Police Air Wing’s 40 personnel, just under half are tactical flight officers (TFOs, formerly known as air observers/ crewmen). Drawn from the ranks of serving members, it’s not uncommon to have over 40 applications for a single TFO vacancy.

The selection process is gruelling, as outlined by Snr Sgt Vaughan: “Tests include being able to retrieve articles from the bottom of the pool, levels of fitness, agility, putting on a wetsuit, simulated changing radio channels, simulated flight tests, can they navigate? Spatial orientation is important, especially when we do winching exercises in the bay. We test if candidates are comfortable flying with the door open, at heights, over water and so on. They’re interviewed by a psychologist. After that are a computer test and several other interviews.

“The whole process takes 10 weeks but we try not to make it impact too much on the police stations who are giving up a member to try out with us. ” Once selected and trained for a TFO position, members are expected to remain proficient in over 20 different taskings, ranging from first aid training to driving and operating the Wing’s fuel truck on remote deployments.

The Future

Looking to the future of the Air Wing, Snr Sgt Vaughan indicates that UAVs, now used by law enforcement agencies in the UK, Canada and India, may one day find a place in the inventory. “We’re presently looking at that. We haven’t done a lot at the moment. We’ve got a forum starting with CASA and law enforcement throughout Australia – that’s in the planning stage at the moment, working out what sort of requirements we have to comply with. It’s in its infancy at this time. ” Certainly the appeal of UAVs in policing a city like Melbourne, 100km across at its widest, is obvious. In addition to their greater endurance, inherent flexibility and lower operating costs, they would allow the Air Wing an increase on the 3000 hours a year it currently flies with its manned fleet. A UAV also has the added advantage of being completely deaf to any complaints about its noise.

But no matter the equipment the Air Wing operates, likely to be unchanged is the professionalism of a unit that helps Victorian community daily by protecting life and property.